Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (19 page)

He sighed. “I wish I could type half that
fast. It’d really speed things up.” He got up from the table and
followed Donald out of the meeting hall.

It wasn’t much, but through that dialogue
Georgie didn’t sneer once. It was a start.

As Krista was putting away her computer, she
noticed Sean looking at her out of the corner of her eye. When she
met his soft green gaze, he just winked, then followed everyone
else out of the meeting hall.

He’d noticed the dialogue between her and
Georgie, and he’d thought it was just as promising as she did. It
helped her realize that even though Sean was keeping his distance,
he was on her side. He wanted her to break through just as much as
she did. And for that, she was infinitely grateful.

The regions got a two-hour break to change
and get some lunch. They would then meet at another large,
banquet-style room. As was becoming usual, Krista picked something
out, hit the bathroom to freshen up, and then found a different
outfit waiting on her bed.

Marcus was starting to get overbearing.

When the time came, she headed down alone
again—Sean wanting to stay behind with Janice, and Marcus already
down there. She found the right room, after accidently walking into
someone else’s meeting the first time around, and then found her
region’s table. She sat down with another, “Hey guys.”

Georgie and Donald glanced up but didn’t say
anything. Dean leered and Bob ignored her totally. At least they
acknowledged hearing her voice. Baby steps.

Sean joined them a couple minutes later,
which made Krista wonder what was so important that he couldn’t
walk down with her. She pushed it aside and cleared her mind. She
would get nowhere thinking about him all weekend.

“Alright,” Sean said with his game face on,
“let’s do this. I think we have a real shot, but we have to work
together. We work together, we win. No other way.”

Everyone nodded. No one looked at each
other.

The banquet hall had a bunch of long,
segregated tables that fit eight. On each table was a cardboard
divider down the middle of the table lengthwise. It was like table
tennis except the net wasn’t see-through and was going down the
table instead of across.

Later they would learn that each team needed
to break into pairs. One part of the pair would sit on one side,
the other on the opposite. On each person’s desk space was either a
picture or a bunch of wood shapes. The person with the picture was
supposed to explain using only words—no hand gestures of any
kind—what the picture looked like. Their partner was then supposed
to create that picture using the shapes.

There would be a round for each partner to
try to explain, then listen and place the shapes accordingly. Each
person would cycle through until everyone had worked together. At
the end of what the judge called “practice rounds,” the best pair
would compete against the best pairs of the other regions.

Sean and Krista paired off first since no one
wanted to work with Krista or Sean. They both figured they’d
probably make it to the final round, but would follow protocol.
Krista got the picture first, and then Sean took his turn. Based on
the fact Sean could read Krista like a book—she hadn’t realized—he
did better putting the picture together. They both did great,
though. Each picture was slightly flawed or skewed in some way, but
it was mostly correct. They were far better than any of the other
pairs.

If that wasn’t a metaphor for their life,
Krista didn’t know what was.

Krista was then pushed toward Bob. It was a
mess. He wouldn’t listen to her, she couldn’t understand him. They
each hated the sight of the other, so they wouldn’t meet eyes. The
picture and the pattern didn’t resemble each other one bit. If
there was a piece in the correct spot, it had been an accident.

Totally his fault, obviously.
If only
she had her lucky mug here to agree with her.

Sean and Bob didn’t do much better. In fact,
not many people did well with Bob, not even Dean who was his chum.
It was enlightening for more than just Sean and Krista.

Krista had the same problem with Dean as she
had with Bob, and didn’t bother to finish out the time. This left
her time to look at the other regions.

Most couples were having a hard time of it,
based on the scowls and out of control, though illegal, hand
gestures. The difference between their teams and Sean’s was that
they were at least having fun. Often times the hand gestures would
result in laughing and sitting on one’s hands. When the time was
up, most pairs looked over the divide and broke down in
laughter.

Georgie and Krista did pretty well. They
weren’t as good as Krista and Sean, but they got a few things
right. They didn’t joke, but they weren’t hostile. It was something
they could work on.

Next for Krista was Donald. She had the
picture first.

When the time started, she looked directly
into Donald’s eyes, as she did everyone but that pig Bob, and was
surprised when he didn’t flinch. He just waited patiently for her
to start. When she did, spitting out the first description with the
thorough detail for which she was known, he would look at her, tilt
his head, then place the piece. He would listen to her entire
explanation of the next piece, tilt his head, then place it. They
didn’t get three pieces on the board when the time was up, but what
they did get was exact. No difference between picture and actual
pieces. No skew. Life-like representation!

Krista was faced with a horrible
realization—Donald’s thought process was similar to her own. She
had always thought of him as part robot, and now they seemed to
both speak the same language. Which meant…

She didn’t even want to think about it. It
wasn’t pretty. She just hoped no one else realized it.

They switched roles. Krista understood
Donald’s explanations easily. He was so methodical and organized
that whatever he said made perfect sense. Krista could actually see
what he was saying in her mind. Like he was drawing a map. The
problem was, he needed to give the whole explanation before he
could move on. It was a time waster because Krista didn’t often
need even half the cues.

When the time came to choose a pair, it was
unanimous. Krista and Donald were it, much to Sean’s dismay. He
really wanted to work with her. He wanted the two of them to lead
his team to victory like the foolish romantic he was. He didn’t
need convincing, though. He might have wanted her back, but he
wanted to succeed more.

Which had always been the problem.

Donald and Krista, two misfits, took their
places. The competing table closest was two old-timers from Texas.
New York was beyond them. About half the tables had VPs in the mix.
At the end of the room was Tory, standing impassive, watching the
proceedings. If he noticed Krista, he gave no sign.

“Okay, everyone. Get ready, set…GO!”

“Donald, take the red stop sign and put it in
the middle of your one foot by one foot square playing area. The
top, bottom and sides of the stop sign should be parallel to the
top, bottom and sides of your playing area.” Head tilt, piece
placement. “Nod when finished please.” Nod. “Okay, next take your
parallelogram. It looks like a diamond. There are two. It is the
largest of the two. Place one side on the top of the stop sign so
that, if it could point, it would be pointing right.” Head tilt,
piece placement, nod. “Okay…”

Krista kept her eye on the time and on
Donald’s cues. She could tell when he wasn’t getting something
because he got a crease down the middle of his eyebrows. When she
saw that crease, she altered her explanation until that crease went
away. Only twice did she get a head shake instead of a nod, in
which she had to explain again, using different wording. They
finished with three seconds to spare.

“Tory, please do the honors,” The ref said.
Tory walked between the tables, all smiles and fun. He gave a
couple nods to groups that had done a good job, and once outright
laughed. That pair probably didn’t hit the mark.

When he got down to Sean’s region, the last
in line, he stopped abruptly. He looked up and met Krista’s eyes in
surprise. He angled his head to look at Donald, who was
complacently looking over Krista’s right shoulder—much like a robot
on sleep mode. Tory then looked beyond them to Sean, who had to
wait toward the back of the hall for the results with the rest of
the regions.

“Well, this is a first,” Tory said to the
ref. “The image is almost exact.”

The ref walked over and looked at Donald’s
work. He looked at Krista’s image then said, “Los Angeles is the
winner!”

Donald and Krista met eyes over the divider.
She was in awe. She never actually thought they’d win. Donald
looked just as surprised. That was about when the rest of the team
descended on them with smiles and jeers. Sean looked at Krista with
incredulous eyes. She wanted to hug him, he wanted to kiss her, but
they settled instead with smiling radiantly at each other and
missing what they had.

Krista would also need to get a new pair of
underoos. Sean looked damn good when he was on top of the
world.

“Next up, egg walk,” The ref boomed as he led
the way out of the exit door at the back of the room.

“Great work, Geegee!” Sean said as he fell in
line with her. The other guys were saying the same to Donald.

“I didn’t think we’d do so well. Our practice
wasn’t that good,” Krista explained, ignoring the others.

“Oh, you’d be surprised with Donald. You tell
him something once and you never have to remind him again. You on
the other hand…”

“Har har, funny man. What’s this egg walk?
And where are we going?”

“All in due time. Listen, what are you
planning to wear tonight?”

“I’m
planning
to wear a pretty, long
red dress. It is sparkly and I love it. What Marcus will
let
me wear is an entirely different story.”

“I’ve noticed that he’s obsessed with your
fashion.”

“Obsessed is the right word for it! He is
like a pageant mom. Why do you ask?”

“I just don’t think you should look too
pretty, is all.”

Krista’s step hitched. “Sorry, I think I
misheard. What?”

Sean laughed. “That came out wrong. Blake’s
got his eye on you. But he’s also got his eye on a couple of the
admins. Then there are all the old codgers that think business is
no place for a lady. You might keep things toned down like you did
last night.”

“The red sparkly one is cut conservatively.
Nothing shows.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Krista got a surge of adrenaline. Sean was
joking, mostly. It was the part that wasn’t joking that nearly made
her swoon. He was getting far too close. He was butting up against
the soft part of her that was supposed to be closed for
renovation.

“Actually, Marcus will, but thanks for
showing an interest,” Krista said to shut off that
conversation.

They were outside the hotel beyond the
parking lot in bushes and shrubs and not a lot else.

“This is the egg walk,” The ref said loudly
when they’d all gathered. “You will break off into partners. One
partner will be blindfolded, holding an egg on a spoon. The partner
will talk the person with the egg through the field and across the
line, getting them to walk around and through obstacles using only
instructions. Both parties may talk. There will be one point
awarded for each group that crosses the line with egg intact.”

“Partner?” Sean asked Krista. She nodded. “Do
you want to be blind folded, or shall I?”

“I will. I had to explain in the last
one.”

“Fair enough.” Sean collected a blindfold, an
egg, and a spoon from a guy walking around.

Bob and Dean had paired off, leaving Georgie
and Donald. Georgie and Bob were putting on blindfolds.

As Sean stood behind her, fastening the
blindfold to her eyes, things got weird. A vivid flashback rocked
Krista’s world, working in harmony with her stress and
vulnerability from the struggles of the weekend: Jim surprising her
right after she’d gotten home one day and blinding her with a sack
over her head. He’d then tied her hands, ripped off her panties and
rammed himself inside of her.

She clutched at the blindfold, whimpering,
trying to stay calm, knowing it was not real, but unable to relax.
Doing this now was all kinds of bad. It wasn’t the time or place to
show weakness. They were in the middle of a ring of professionals
who all thought she was soft and shouldn’t be there. If she were to
come apart at something so trivial as being blindfolded, it would
undo everything she was hoping to achieve!

Acting fast, Sean let go of the blindfold and
put his hands firmly on her shoulders.

“I’m right here,
Pet
,” he said softly,
using his Irish Grandmother’s term of endearment. “I’m right here.
You’re safe.”

How many times had she suddenly woke up in a
cold sweat, feeling imaginary hands on her throat, and been stilled
by Sean’s soothing voice? Too many to count. She trusted in that
now. She let go of the blind fold without ripping it off, and
reached out and felt his arm. She felt it move and his hand grasp
hers.

“You and me, remember? Just you and me. I’ll
take care of you.”

Krista sighed and nearly leaned back into his
body like she used to. He must have seen it, because he said, “You
and me,” and his voice was all kinds of mushy.

Krista took a few more breaths, heard the
people around her chatting and laughing, and relaxed again. She
focused herself, got herself out of her nightmares, and let her
hands drop to her sides. She couldn’t remember winning ever being
so hard.

Krista felt a spoon enter her hand. She
reached her other hand out for the egg.

“Can you do this, or do you want to switch?”
Sean asked quietly.