[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
would you ever want to leave all that?"
"When you put it that way, I don't know." Laurel took a sip of the hot liquid Anthony
had given her. "I sure did miss your coffee, though. One thing the British aren't very
good at is making a decent substitute for tea."
"You'll drink anything as long as it's got a lethal dose of caffeine in it," Anthony
chastised.
"True," Laurel conceded. She sat back in her chair and propped her feet up on the
desk. "So tell, me. What new and exciting things have been going on around here
lately?"
"Same old same old," Anthony said with a toss of his hand.
"We can talk about Eastland later. I'm dying to find out about your trip. Did you
meet any interesting women over there?"
Laurel shrugged. "Not really. Lilly met a boy she quite enjoyed, so I double dated his
mother, you know, to keep an eye on her."
Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Your idea or Claudia's?"
"Not Claudia's!" she said, laughing. "In fact Claudia ended up pushing the poor
woman down." Laurel suddenly stopped, realizing that she hadn't intended to tell
anyone about Claudia s appearance in London.
Anthony s eyes widened. "Oh, this does sound juicy! You didn't tell me that Claudia
was joining you."
"It was quite unexpected, I assure you. But I really don't feel like discussing it now.
Beside, nothing juicy happened." Laurel started to shuffle some of the papers on her
desk. "I can't believe all that has to be done before the next conference starts."
"I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. Now start from the beginning and tell
me every detail."
61
62
Laurel blushed. "There's nothing to tell. Claudia arrived late one night as a surprise
for Lilly. She saw a woman try to kiss me, she saw me resist, so she gave the woman
a shove when the woman wouldn't respect my wishes."
"Then what happened?"
"Nothing. That's it."
"That's all there is to the story?" Anthony asked, obviously not pleased with Laurel's
brevity. "Are you sure there wasn't a look of jealousy on our favorite Chair's face?"
"Of course not." Laurel's voice was a little too high and a little too weak to be
convincing.
"And that's the end?"
"The end. Claudia stayed with us for the rest of the weekend and she was on her
best behavior, I'm sure for Lilly's sake, not mine. Then she returned to New York
and Lilly and I went about our plans in London. It really is a fascinating city. I took
lots of pictures. I'll show them to you when I get them developed."
"Right," Anthony said, disappointment evident in his voice. "I'd love to see them."
"Great, now let's get down to work. Okay?"
Anthony got to his feet begrudgingly. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"
They went on to discuss the various tasks that had to be completed by the first
group s start date and a time line for their completion. It was easy for Laurel to get
back into the swing of her job. She was going into her fourth year as Director and by
now she not only knew what had to be done, but also the most efficient way of going
about it. She knew where she needed help and where she didn't. Lack of
organization was not one of her shortcomings.
The next week passed quickly without any real surprises. Claudia came up to the
center at the beginning of the second week, but she only stayed for the day. During
the few hours they did have together, it struck Laurel that Claudia was being
unduly cautious with her. Claudia even let Laurel take the lead in setting the level
of intimacy that would exist between them and naturally Laurel fell back on what
was most comfortable -- professional courtesy.
It was what Claudia really wanted, Laurel told herself. After all, Claudia had put up
no arguments when Laurel greeted her with a handshake. Claudia never once tried
to steer the conversation toward a more intimate level nor did she ever mention the
weekend they had shared in England.
62
63
But things were good between them, Laurel continually reassured herself. Maybe
they didn't love they way she had hoped they would, but at least they weren't
fighting, a refreshing change, she thought.
"What's the matter, Lilly?" Laurel asked into the phone late Thursday afternoon,
two days after Claudia s last visit.
"It's Mom," she whispered. "She's in the next room and I don't want her to know that
I'm calling you."
"Is she sick?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
would you ever want to leave all that?"
"When you put it that way, I don't know." Laurel took a sip of the hot liquid Anthony
had given her. "I sure did miss your coffee, though. One thing the British aren't very
good at is making a decent substitute for tea."
"You'll drink anything as long as it's got a lethal dose of caffeine in it," Anthony
chastised.
"True," Laurel conceded. She sat back in her chair and propped her feet up on the
desk. "So tell, me. What new and exciting things have been going on around here
lately?"
"Same old same old," Anthony said with a toss of his hand.
"We can talk about Eastland later. I'm dying to find out about your trip. Did you
meet any interesting women over there?"
Laurel shrugged. "Not really. Lilly met a boy she quite enjoyed, so I double dated his
mother, you know, to keep an eye on her."
Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Your idea or Claudia's?"
"Not Claudia's!" she said, laughing. "In fact Claudia ended up pushing the poor
woman down." Laurel suddenly stopped, realizing that she hadn't intended to tell
anyone about Claudia s appearance in London.
Anthony s eyes widened. "Oh, this does sound juicy! You didn't tell me that Claudia
was joining you."
"It was quite unexpected, I assure you. But I really don't feel like discussing it now.
Beside, nothing juicy happened." Laurel started to shuffle some of the papers on her
desk. "I can't believe all that has to be done before the next conference starts."
"I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. Now start from the beginning and tell
me every detail."
61
62
Laurel blushed. "There's nothing to tell. Claudia arrived late one night as a surprise
for Lilly. She saw a woman try to kiss me, she saw me resist, so she gave the woman
a shove when the woman wouldn't respect my wishes."
"Then what happened?"
"Nothing. That's it."
"That's all there is to the story?" Anthony asked, obviously not pleased with Laurel's
brevity. "Are you sure there wasn't a look of jealousy on our favorite Chair's face?"
"Of course not." Laurel's voice was a little too high and a little too weak to be
convincing.
"And that's the end?"
"The end. Claudia stayed with us for the rest of the weekend and she was on her
best behavior, I'm sure for Lilly's sake, not mine. Then she returned to New York
and Lilly and I went about our plans in London. It really is a fascinating city. I took
lots of pictures. I'll show them to you when I get them developed."
"Right," Anthony said, disappointment evident in his voice. "I'd love to see them."
"Great, now let's get down to work. Okay?"
Anthony got to his feet begrudgingly. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"
They went on to discuss the various tasks that had to be completed by the first
group s start date and a time line for their completion. It was easy for Laurel to get
back into the swing of her job. She was going into her fourth year as Director and by
now she not only knew what had to be done, but also the most efficient way of going
about it. She knew where she needed help and where she didn't. Lack of
organization was not one of her shortcomings.
The next week passed quickly without any real surprises. Claudia came up to the
center at the beginning of the second week, but she only stayed for the day. During
the few hours they did have together, it struck Laurel that Claudia was being
unduly cautious with her. Claudia even let Laurel take the lead in setting the level
of intimacy that would exist between them and naturally Laurel fell back on what
was most comfortable -- professional courtesy.
It was what Claudia really wanted, Laurel told herself. After all, Claudia had put up
no arguments when Laurel greeted her with a handshake. Claudia never once tried
to steer the conversation toward a more intimate level nor did she ever mention the
weekend they had shared in England.
62
63
But things were good between them, Laurel continually reassured herself. Maybe
they didn't love they way she had hoped they would, but at least they weren't
fighting, a refreshing change, she thought.
"What's the matter, Lilly?" Laurel asked into the phone late Thursday afternoon,
two days after Claudia s last visit.
"It's Mom," she whispered. "She's in the next room and I don't want her to know that
I'm calling you."
"Is she sick?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]