Running From Fate (15 page)

“
Hey, hey.” 
Lily
tried punching her in the arm and missed.  She sprawled across Mira.  She laughed and pushed herself upright.  “
You can’t go to sleep till I do and, first, I need to know what you were going to say.”

“All right, I’ll tell you.”
Mira
forced
her eyelids to open
.
“Just as soon as you stop shaking me.”

“Sorry,” Lily said.
She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms in front of her.
“I’m ready now.
What is it?”

“Right,
James. 
The thing is I didn’t tell him.”

“Didn’t tell him what?”

“That I was Mira Sweeney not just Mira Anders.
It seemed easier.”

“Why was it easier?”
Lily yawned and put her legs on the coffee table.
She looked ready to pass out.

“Because
he’s avoided me for years.
He might not have
hired me if he knew who I was.” 
She stretched and put her own legs up.
It was
probably
time to think about going to bed, but the sofa was comfortable
. 
She
might just stay here.

“
Maybe he avoided you because he really wanted to see you.”

“That’s,” yawn, “what Pat said, but
that ki
nd of thinking doesn’t make
sense
.”

The t
able
shifted slightly
as Lily
moved
her legs off and sat up straight.
She pulled her fingers through her tousled hair.
“Please tell me that old meddler didn’t put you up to this.
It so
unds like something he’d
do.”

Mira
mirrored her friend
and sat up
, pulling her legs of the table
.
She shook her head in an effort to clear it.
It did the opposite and she leaned forward and took deep breaths, trying to combat a wave of dizziness.
“Pat loves me
,” she gasped.
 
“A
nd
he’s one of the most straightforward men I’ve ever met
.
I can’t see him manipulating me like that.
”

“Not intentionally, no, but he also loves his son and
that man
wants grandkids
desperately
. 
He would like nothing better than to see the two of you married.
 
This is a really bad idea
.
  Wait I know.
 
You haven’t started
work
yet
. 
Tell
him you changed your mind.
”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?
I know you could get a job somewhere else.”
Lily turned her head and looked at her friend.
Mira’s eyes were dark and tormented, but her expression was dreamy.
“Oh shit.
Tell me you don’t
still feel that stupid infatuation that you did as a teen
.
”

“Worse.
”  She sighed.
“
He walks in a room and I can barely breathe.
It’s all I can do to keep my hands off of him.”

“Damn it.
If you were anyone else, I would say it’s just lust and tell you to get over it
or spend a few days in the sack
.
Know
ing your extreme stubbornness, though,
it’s not something you’ll get over.
”  She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion or vexation
. 
It
was difficult to tell which.  Eye shadow smeared her porcelain cheeks but she didn’t seem to notice, intent as she was
about having her say
.  “
I’d tell you to be careful,
” she continued, “b
ut I know you won’t.
Just
try not to
get hurt
ok
? 
I’ve got a show in Paris to prepare for so I won’t be able to rush to your side.”

“
I’m not as stupid as I was then,
” Mira grouched, slightly stung by Lily’s attitude.
Best friends, she
reflected
hazily, were supposed to support you.

“For your sake I hope so.”
Lily
stood up and stretched
, almost falling backward
.
“I’m the guest so I’ll take the bed.
You have the sofa.” 
She
crossed the living room and slowly
weaved her way up the stairs.

Mira lay down and closed her eyes.
She would be careful, but she wasn’t going to give up
, she vowed as her earlier caution fled
.
The young man that she had fallen in love with was still
in
there and she would find him.

She would have to do some
major shopping
soon, Mira decided, as she stood in front of her open closet
. 
Her once extensi
ve wardrobe had been decimated.  She had
sold
it off piece by piece first to help see her through her time of unemployment and, later, to help finance her move across the country.  The loss of each carefully selected piece had been a small pain because it had felt like she was letting go of a lifestyle that she had worked hard to build.
Now, a
ll that was left of her
once
expensive collection
was
her blue
Armani
, the red suit, a few mix and match pie
ces, and a killer sheath dress.

Her hormones urged her to choose the dress. 
It was royal purple, a color that complemented both her eyes and her hair
. 
In design it was quite sedate with long sleeves that ended in a point, a demure neckline, and a hem that came down to just above her knees
. 
When she moved however, it clung to her like a lover,
first
revealing and then concealing her curves.

It might be decent, she
tried to convince the logical part of her brain
, if paired
with a fi
tted jacked and, maybe, a belt.  After a minute or two of debate s
he sighed loudly and gave up
. 
It
would
never be appropriate office attire
. 
The dress went back
in the closet
and she pulled out a pair of tailored black slacks and a button-down dress shirt in dark blue.

She pulled them on and glanced in the mirror.  It was a good alternative t
o the sexy dress.  In the close
t the outfit had looked kind of
mannish and severe, but on her it was anything but
. 
The pants
were tailored to her
body, emphasizing the curve of her hips and
subtly clinging to her
rear
.  When she had worn them to her previous job they had never failed to elicit at least one admiring comment
or slow whistle. 

She
turned her head and glanced at the clock. 
Damn it!
She was going to be late on her first day.
Thank God she had already done her makeup
and hair.  She quickly slipped into a pair of black heels
and
rushed down the stairs. 
On her way past the kitchen she glanced longingly at the coffee maker
.  No time now, it would have to wait till she got to work.  She grabbed her keys and her purse and ran out the door.

The first day at any new job was always nerve-wracking
, Mira thought as she pulled into the parking lot and climbed out, but this was extreme.
She
hadn’t felt this nervous since she had walked onto that construction site almost 15 years ago and tried to make a 22-year
-old James see her as something more than a child.
It was ridiculous that, at 29, she could still feel that sick, fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach
at the thought of seeing him
.
She was a beautiful, successful, mature woman now and
not an emotional,
overweight,
hormonal pre-teen.  Well not a
n overweight
pre-teen anyway.  S
he would handle this.
She paused briefly to compose herself and opened the glass doors.

It was a bit of a letdown to see Mary
Beecham
waiting for her and James nowhere in sight.  Fighting her disappointment, she pasted a smile on her face
and followed Mary to
the door
of
the large room that contained the creative department of EcoSpace.

The space was airy and open with workspaces only separated by what furniture the employees deemed necessary
. 
A
line
of windows covered one wall
and
each work area had its own, adjustable lights
. 
There was a seating area
to
one side of the long room with a
soft, cream colored
sofa and two
matching armchairs surrounding a low coffee table
. 
Snack machines
and a coffee cart
sat against an adjacent wall.

When Mira saw this last item, she nearly wept with relief.

“Would you like me to fix a cup for you?” Mary asked wryly.

“Is it that obvious?
” she asked with a self-deprecating smile.
“
I was running late this morning and didn’t have time
. 
I don’t mi
nd making my own coffee though
if you show me where everything is.”