Unlikely Places

Chapter 12 Tingly Again

I parked outside the office building and looked up through the front windshield. Luc Enterprises took up almost a third of the space in the high-rise. I had come here often when I had been an intern. Since that time though, I had hardly been. When a meeting was needed Mr. Jones always came to me, but even those times were few and far between.

That was why my anxiety levels were spiking right now. Between being summonsed, something that never happened, and the guy's continuous harping on Pierce's possible ulterior motives I was a bit of a nervous mess. And between the two I didn't know which I was most jumpy about.

My work was important to me. It was something that was mine completely, something I had done alone. For a person like myself that was a really big deal.

It seemed like for most of my adult life I always had someone standing nearby lending a hand, helping me out, even fighting my battles. But not with my work. I did that all by myself; my anxiety ridden, antisocial, nerdish self.

As far as accomplishments went, it was a big one, so when it came to the thought of it being in jeopardy in any way, butterflies didn't come close to describing the pterodactyl sized wingspan of the thing flailing in my stomach right now.

That combined with all the different scenarios Archer, Mick, and Branson had come up with last night I was a feeling a bit jumpy. For the most part I thought they were overreacting. I had even told them that.

It had made Branson and Mick angry but it had actually made Archer back off a bit. He had stared at me for a long moment as if considering something and then he had simply nodded his head. That hadn't made Branson or Mick happy but I had appreciated it.

I had finally managed to get them to leave. Branson and Mick had left first with instructions to call the minute I needed them. Archer had stuck behind for a few minutes. I knew it meant he wanted to talk privately.

He had looked down at me for a long minute.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" he had finally asked.

I nodded up at him.

"Anything," he had repeated with emphasis. "Like I did with you," he added, his eyes searching mine and sudden understanding had dawned.

I knew my eyes had widened and my cheeks had flushed. Archer had grinned down gently at me and patted my shoulder.

"Just in case you're not as ace as we thought," he said, hinting with his words what I had been trying since Friday night to hide from.

With a sigh, I climbed out of the car and started walking towards the entrance. Mr. Jones's email indicated he would meet me inside the door and escort me the rest of the way. I was glad for that. I did not know my way around the place and this would save time.

As I walked through the doors, Mr. Jones was right where he said he would be. His short stocky frame dressed in a navy-blue suit walked towards me with a small smile of greeting. The smile bolstered my spirits a bit. Mr. Jones's expression tended to reflect his mood rather obviously. The fact that he was smiling was a good sign.

Thankfully, Mr. Jones and I didn't feel the need to exchange formal handshakes. We had agreed years ago that the handshake was implied. Neither he or I enjoyed the practice. Today, considering how nervous I felt, I was pretty sure Mr. Jones wouldn't have enjoyed the clamminess of my palm.

I swiped my hand down my pant leg as I stepped into the elevator with him. I focused on my breathing as the lift carried us upward. It stopped on floor eleven.