Running From Fate (12 page)

“I’m quite fam
iliar with your reputation
Ms. Anders
. 
You wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t think you were qua
lified for the job
.
You
r
quality of work is excellent.
”

“
Thank you,” she stammered, a little dumbfounded by his praise.  “I wasn’t even sure that I would get an interview after all that’s happened in the past few months.”

“
You
certainly did receive
a lot of media coverage when you left your previous job.”

He paused and stared at her
as if
expecting some sort of
elaboration
.
Mira
clamed up. 
She really didn’t feel like saying anything more about it.
  The media coverage had dominated her life
for month
s
.  The rumor mill had run rampant.
Some sources had
even
claimed she had
sold out
the company because she had caught the CEO,
Mitchell Haines
, cheating on her.  The fact that they hadn’t even be
en invol
ved was never mentioned.  S
he’d be damned if she would appease his curiosity.

She crossed her arms and waited for him to continue.
Instead of speaking he continued to sit and stare at her as if som
ehow he could force her to talk
by the force of his will alo
ne.
She was having
none of it.  T
hey would sit here all day if
that’s what it took.
James may think that he was good at intimidation, but he hadn’t spent years at a school like St. Catherine’s.
The mother superior could have taught intimidation tactics to the mafia.

“
Are you sure you wouldn’t
like some coffee?” James finally asked
, breaking the silence
.

He was vaguely amused and somewhat impressed that Mira had managed to outwait him.
It was something that very few people had ever been able to do.
In fact only two people c
ame to mind
,
his father and Sean
Sweeney, his old mentor.
Of co
urse, his growing fascination with Mira Anders could have something to do with his lack of concentration.
The tension in the room had grown so thick that it was almost tangible.
The faster this interview was over, the better for his piece of mind.

“
No thank you
,
Mr. Kelly
,” Mira said, interrupting his mental ramblings.
“I’m not quite used to the heat yet.
I think that I’ll stick to colder drinks until I become accustomed.
”

“You’re from California aren’t you?”

“Most recently, yes
. 
I went to UCLA’s school of Arts and Architecture for my master’s degree and then I worked in San Francisco for several years after that.”
She settled back a little more comfortably and crossed her legs.

“It’s slightly unusual that you opted to get a master’s degr
ee in design, most people don’t
take it that far.”
  James mentally cursed.
He had meant to speed things along, not prolong the conversation, but it was difficult when he found himself unaccountably interested in her thought processes.

“I realize that, but I wa
nted to be the best in my field.”

“From what I’ve been able to discover you were very close to attaining that goal when you left your former position.”

“As I’m sure you are a
ware,” Mira
qualified
.
“I didn’t leave my job.
I was fired after I refused to bury a document that
deeded
a
valuable
piece of
land to
the Nature Conservancy.”

“I realize that
,” he soothed.  “I
n fac
t
it’s one of the reasons I agreed to talk to you.
It’s not often that one finds a truly ethical person in this business, especially one who has your skill
at creating beautiful designs th
at
manage to
in
tegrate architecture into the natural world.”

After his standoffish attitude, Mira was astounded by his abrupt change.
She opened her mouth to form a reply, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.
She opted
for silence.

“Contrary to popular opinion, Ms. Anders, I am not an ogre, I merely have high standard
s
.
If you didn’t meet those standards we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
”
He made a snap decision, praying he wouldn’t regret it.  “
Because of that
I have decided to offer you a position.
I realize that you will need time to move so I suggest that you s
pend the
rest of the
week finding a place to stay and getting settled
.  I expect you to
report to Barry Sims
n
ext Monday morning.
  If you need anything before then call Mary.
”

“Thank you Mr. Kelly.
I’ll look forward to it.”
When he didn’t say anything more, Mira assumed the meeting was over.
She stood, gathered her papers, and quietly left the room
.

When she was gone, James leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes
. 
The
tension drained out of him.
He would have to be very careful around his newest employee if she caused him this much turmoil.
Perhaps it would be better if he
stayed away from her entirely.

“Mr. Kelly, there’s a phone call for you,” Mary said from the doorway.

He opened his eyes and stood up.
“I’ll be right there,” he told her. 
It was time to get back to business.

“What was wrong with that one?” Mira asked in frustration.

“It was fine,” Lily
said
, “but didn’t you think it was a little small and cramped?
The neighbors were so close that I could practically taste the spaghetti sauce they were burning.”

“I didn’t think it was all that bad
.
B
esides
,
I can’t afford to be extravagant anymore
.  The suit against me was settled, but it wasn’t cheap
.
Besides, s
mall is better anyway.
Since I sold my furniture I’ll have trouble filling up
a large apartment
.”
She stepped out of a covered passageway and immediately pulled on her sunglasses.
The clear blue sky was beautiful, but it left no clouds to dim the sun’s
harsh
glare.

Lily followed her and pulled on her own sunglasses.
“I still don’t understand why you had to sell
all that beautiful
furniture
when
you could have stored it at my house.
”  She pouted prettily.
“
I have plenty of room to spare.”

Mira paused and grinned at her friend.
“That’
s an understatement,” she retorted.  “Y
our new place is not a house
. 
It’s
a mausoleum.
There’s enough space
in there
to store the Titanic.”

Lily sniffed.
“
My work is an art form
. 
I need the space to wo
rk. 
If you ever came to visit, you would see why I bought the house
. 
The
light in the studio is simply marvelous.”
She flipped her sleek
blond
hair over her shoulder and reached for the handle of the rental car.
“I don’t understand why you rented a Civic
instead of a convertible,” she said.
“
I like riding with the top down.”

“We’re in the south
and
it’s
summer
.
A hot, humid breeze isn’t enough to keep us cool
, we need air conditioning.
Besides, the
wind always messes up my hair.”  She
pulled open the driver’s door and slid in.

Lily climbed into the passenger’s seat and shut the door.
She raised one elegant eyebrow and glanced at Mira’s unruly mop of brown hair.
It had started out in a sleek, high ponytail, but the humidity had
played havoc with it.
The hair tie
had slipped down to
her shoulders and random
strands
of hair
had escaped to float
around her face.

The car started and the air immediately came on
, making both women moan
with pleasure as the cool air blew over them
.
After adjusting the vents to blow the air in her face, Mira turned on the radio.

Lily
reached over and turned it o
ff. 
“We need to talk,
honey
” she said.
“I might be able to understand why you sold your furniture when you decided to move, but I don’t understand your insistence on living in a place like this.
We’ve been friends for a long time and I know you.
You
enjoy luxury almost as much as I do so, tell me, what gives?”

Mira sighed and tried to decide what
to tell her.
If her friend knew the whole situation she would immediately commiserate and then
offhandedly
offer to pay for everything. 
It would be so easy to take the financial help and lay
that part of her burden on someone else, but it wouldn’t be right.  She needed to do this on her own.  A little bit of emotional support, however, was just what she needed and that’s what friends were for.