“I probably need your computer. I don’t have one of my own, and don’t a lot of the appointment requests come through your e-mail?”
That was one step too far. My desk I could take or leave, but I didn’t want her having access to my e-mail. If she took my computer and e-mail account, she’d be one step away from becoming the office version of Single White Female and stealing my entire life. “I’m sure we can set you up with a computer, and I’ll forward you any e-mails that are pertinent to your duties.” I mentally scored a point for myself. I thought I’d handled that situation rather professionally.
She glared at me, but it would have been unreasonable for her to insist on taking my computer, so there wasn’t much she could say. “I put all of your other things together here, so I wouldn’t get them mixed up with my stuff,” she said. My desk calendar, planner, and coffee mug had all been shoved to one corner of my desk. She already had a potted plant and a few photos set up on the bookcase. I got the feeling that the paint color would be different the next time I dropped by.
“Oh, thanks,” I said halfheartedly. “Let me get those out of your way.” I disconnected my laptop from the network and closed it, then put the rest of my things in my tote bag, grabbed my coat, and hauled everything out of the office. “I’ll probably be working out of Owen’s lab for the time being,” I told Trix as I passed her desk.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “She didn’t waste much time, did she? I can’t believe you’re letting her kick you out of your own office.”
“Who would you rather share an office with, Kim or Owen?”
“You’ve got a point there.”
The intercom on Trix’s desk buzzed, and Kim’s voice said, “I need you to get IT to bring me a computer right away, and I’d like some coffee.”
Trix rolled her eyes. “Her majesty calls. She’s lucky she’s immune to magic, or I’d be tempted to put a good curse on her.”
As I lugged my belongings down to R&D, I reflected that what I really needed was a fairy godmother for work. True, my love life wasn’t always spectacularly successful, but I didn’t necessarily have the skills, experience, or raw material to be a love goddess. When it came to work, though, you’d think I’d know how to handle myself. I’d started more or less running a business when I was still a teenager, I had a business degree, and I’d survived in the New York City business world for more than a year, but I still felt out of my element when office politics came into play.
Why was it that you could only get a fairy godmother to help you snag Prince Charming with a glass slipper? Where was the benevolent soul who provided the killer presentation, the perfect thing to say to the office backstabber, and the fabulous Armani suit to wear to the crucial meeting? Of course, you’d probably have to make sure you got out of the meeting before the stroke of five, or else that Armani suit would turn into polyester separates from JCPenney and your high-end laptop with the killer presentation would revert to being an Etch-a-Sketch.
If Ethelinda really wanted to help me, she wouldn’t be meddling in my relationship with Owen. She’d help me find a way to hang on to my job and my place in the company without making unnecessary enemies while I worked on what I hoped would be a temporary and one-time-only project. I wondered what she’d say if I told her she needed to update her fairy godmother duties for the twenty-first century now that women had a lot more on their minds than finding a good husband to provide for them.
The door to R&D swung open as I approached, which meant Owen was expecting me. I still had an access crystal Merlin had given me while I worked on my last assignment, but since my hands were full, I was glad for the touch of magical chivalry.
Owen’s eyes widened when I entered his lab with all my worldly office goods. “You’re planning to stay awhile?” he asked.
I set the laptop down on one of the lab tables, let my tote bag fall at my feet, and threw my coat over the back of the nearest chair. “Apparently Kim’s been assigned to handle my administrative and clerical tasks, and she’s already taken over my office. I figure since we’re supposed to be working together, I might as well work down here. Otherwise, it could get ugly.”
“Did you talk to Mr. Mervyn about it?”
I hadn’t even thought of that. I was the youngest child in my family, so I should have honed the tattletale instinct to perfection. “No,” I admitted. “But it does make sense, even if I’m not crazy about her appropriating my desk so quickly. She’s even got a plant and pictures.”
He gestured around the lab. “Well, if you can handle the mess, you’re welcome to claim a spot as yours for the duration. Just don’t rearrange anything.” Owen’s one of those people who looks disorganized but who has everything sorted into piles only he can understand.
“Don’t worry about that. I can’t read half of what you’ve got in here, and I’m not sure I want to know everything you’re working on.”
He looked around the room, as if seeing his own clutter for the first time and suddenly realizing that there was no spot I could take at any of the tables without disturbing his piles, then he waved his hand. A desk appeared in one corner of the lab. “I think there’s a network connection near there. And let’s see, you’ll need walls.” He pushed a wheeled freestanding whiteboard over to shield the desk from the rest of the room. “Anything else?”
It wasn’t as nice as my real office, the one Kim had usurped, but I reminded myself that my office mate more than made up for the difference. The only amenity missing was a phone, and I didn’t mind that so much. It meant I was less likely to be disturbed. “It looks great. Thanks.”
I set up my computer, arranged my few office belongings on the desk, and hung my coat on the top corner of the whiteboard. I’d just settled in when Owen stuck his head around the whiteboard. “Telephone call for you.”
Surprised, I went to his office and took the phone from him. “This is Katie,” I said.
“I thought I’d find you there,” Trix’s voice said in my ear. “I’ve got a call for you. I’ll put it right through.”
A second later, Marcia’s voice said, “Katie?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Do you have any plans for Christmas?”
“Nothing set in stone yet. I was planning to tag along with whatever y’all came up with.”
“Well, I just found this insane bargain airfare to Dallas, in case you want to go home. The catch is you have to leave tomorrow and come back Christmas day, but it’s less than half the usual cost. Gemma and I decided to surprise our parents, so we thought we’d let you know in case you wanted to get in on it, too.”
“I’m not sure I could do it,” I said.