Deadly Dosage (44 page)

     Satisfied, I crawled back in bed. Ten minutes later,
I was up again packing a little bag of extras. Jeans, socks, gray and cream
knitted, button-down long sweater and my little, black suede boots. No telling
where I ended up after our meeting, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of the
evening in a suit.

     Now I could sleep. Less than two hours to go. I
crawled into my full-size bed and pulled the spare pillow close, imaging Lloyd
next to me. That image only served to make me more restless, so I tossed the
pillow aside and tried to concentrate on problems at work. Within minutes, I
was resting peacefully.

The forecast included steady twelve mph winds, gusting
to twenty-five mph, with the chance for instability snow showers for the
immediate area and the northern Chicago suburbs. No accumulation was expected,
which was good.

     I pulled out of my parking lot swiftly, almost
hitting a car parked in front of the dumpster. I heard a guy shout something to
the effect of ‘dumb bitch’ and continued driving without looking back.

     My fingers reached over to scan through the radio
stations. Since my car came with an introductory subscription to Sirus radio, I
tuned in an all 70s station. Might as well enjoy it while I had it. No way could
I afford to pay for it after the free period ended.

     Singing along to the songs made the drive go fast
and before I knew it, I was locking my car at work.

I naturally forgot to take my
boots along, so I ran tiptoe as quickly as I could in my three-inch pumps. The
fact that I wore my mid-length, wool dress coat, exposing my stocking clad legs
to the cold, didn’t help matters.

My feet hurt by the time I
burst through the front doors. Good thing my job required little walking or
standing.

After I punched in and dropped
my stuff off in my office, I took a quick walk to Mr. Harper’s room. I had ten
minutes before I needed to open the front office and I wanted to check on him
and Mr. Schroeder.

Neither man was sleeping when
I entered the room. “Hi, Mr. Harper,” I said warmly. “Mr. Schroeder. Just
checking to see how you both are doing.”

“Hi, Sunny. You look pretty
today,” Mr. Harper said. “Is that for me or my son?”

“You of course,” I flirted.

“Hear that Roy. We old guys
still got it.”

Roy smiled.

“Feeling better?” I asked him.
His coloring looked much better and he was sitting up rather than lying down in
his bed.

“Much better.”

“I knocked over his juice
yesterday so he wouldn’t have to drink it.”

Mr. Schroeder laughed. “Made
my daughter furious.”

“I bet. Well, I have to open
the front office up. Glad you’re both doing all right. Take care.”

I smiled and left, feeling
relieved that Mr. Schroeder was doing better. Maybe it was sheer coincidence,
but once the orange juice was removed from his diet his health improved. Could
it be the guy was allergic to it? If that turned out to be the case, I’d really
feel like an idiot getting Alan and Lloyd’s lab friend involved. But as they
say, better safe than sorry.

Better safe than sorry. Did
anyone play it safe? No risk, no gain. Falling in love with Lloyd wasn’t safe,
it was risky, but there was a lot to gain from doing so. There was also a lot
to lose. I sure didn’t want to end up like Lauren, chasing after him after he
had moved on, making an ass of myself. Yet I knew I’d be sorry if I didn’t risk
heartache for love. Problem was, I didn’t know how he’d react if I told him.
Saying I love you to a guy could be the kiss of death to the relationship. 

Somehow, I made it back to the
front desk while my mind was in la la land. I wish I could turn my mind off.
Sometimes all this thinking proved to be a real hindrance. It kept me from
acting on things. No thinking leads to failure. Over thinking leads to failure.
What leads to success?

I busied myself with the tasks
of making coffee, running letters through the postage meter machine and sorting
yesterday’s mail. My mind kept returning to Lloyd. At least I knew he liked me,
a lot. Fred had told me that much and he was his best friend. I turned on
Shantel’s computer and took the multi-line phone off night ring. A ringing
phone never allowed for much thinking. Today I would appreciate the shrill
ringing and rude doctors.

Phyllis gave me the once over when I told her I was
leaving early. Suspicion raced through her veins and spit forth from her
twisted lips. “Slow leak. Why didn’t you get it fixed yesterday?”

     “My tire was flat this morning. I filled it up
with a can of fix-a-flat, but I need to have it repaired at lunchtime or it
will be flat by the time I leave work.” I lied to the best of my ability, while
willing my legs not to shake from nerves.

     She glared at me. “Nice outfit. Plans?”

     I swallowed hard and adlibbed. “Interview, after
work. Need a second job for spending money.”

     “Will it interfere with your work hours here?”
she asked quickly.

     “No. Part-time nights or weekends. Not many
hours.”

     “Where?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

     I cleared my throat. “Ah, Barnes and Nobles. I
like books.”

     “Very well. Morning meeting begins in five
minutes. Let Shantel know before you come into the conference room.”

     I exhaled exiting her office and went straight to
Shantel. She snagged Donna to watch phones for the last half an hour of her
lunch period. I agreed to sit for the first half.

     The weekly morning rehab meeting began a minute
after I arrived. Same treat as the week before, so I opted out and went for the
coffee. As far as meetings went, this one was par for the course. No surprises.
Mr. Harper’s therapy was ending tomorrow and his discharge per the therapist
was set for Thursday afternoon. I made a mental note to inform Lloyd. I’m sure
his mother would be happy to have her husband back. It also would free up
Lloyd’s Saturdays. Yay!

     An hour until phone duty. Just enough time to
make some collection calls and enter some trust fund withdrawals. I couldn’t
wait to leave.

Chapter
50

Based on Lloyd’s expression, he was either
oblivious to the gawking women or accustomed to them. I found it difficult not
to stare myself. Every woman that walked into the office for one thing or
another stopped to admire him.

He wore a long,
black wool coat, midnight blue suit, crisp white shirt with burgundy pinstripes,
a matching burgundy silk tie with a 14k gold bar and polished black dress
shoes. If anyone believed I was leaving with him to get my tire fixed, they
were mentally handicapped. A quick exit was necessary if I didn’t want to lose
my job.

I walked past
Donna, avoiding the pile of drool on the floor and opened the door. “See you
tomorrow,” I said to the group of women.

“If you say so,”
Donna said smiling ear to ear.

“Jeez,” I replied
as I walked out the door. “Hi, Lloyd,” I said, possessively kissing him on the
cheek.

“Hi. All set?” he
replied, before stepping in front of me and opening the facility door.

I nodded and
stepped out into the cold. He followed me out and took hold of my arm.

“Still no gloves?”
I scolded.

He glanced down at
his bare hands. “My cat ate them.”

“That I believe,
judging from his size.” Rufus was tipping the scales at twelve pounds.

He smiled. “He’s
all muscle.”

“Uh huh, sure.” I
started pulling him along. The temperature made it unpleasant for a leisurely
stroll to the parking lot and my legs were freezing. When we reached the end of
the building, out of eyesight, I stopped and kissed his warm lips.

“What’s that for?”
he smiled.

“I couldn’t help
myself. You look absolutely gorgeous, Lloyd. Just like you were ripped right
off the cover of
GQ
magazine.”

“That good?” he
laughed. “Thanks. You look pretty amazing yourself. Sexy legs.”

     I kissed him again. “Thank you.
Cold, huh?” I started pulling him along again as the icy wind cut through my
clothing. “Should I follow you home or are you following me to my apartment?”

“I’ll follow you
home, so you don’t have to drive back from my place tonight.”

“Maybe I have no
intention of going home tonight,” I replied confidently. He arched an eyebrow.

We reached my car
and I beeped it open. “See you there!”

He gave me a quick
kiss. “Drive safe, brat.”

“You too,” I said
and hopped into my car. I let it warm up three seconds and pulled out. I didn’t
waste any time getting on the main road. The sooner I was away from Ageless
Grace the better.

I pulled into my parking lot fifteen
minutes later with Lloyd on my tail. I jumped out, remotely locked my doors,
and went over to his car. He already was waiting for me to hop in.

“Hey, should I run
up and get some CDs or get my guitar?” I asked.

“I have some CDs
along. If we have time for a lesson, you can use my guitar. But I doubt we
will. Remember, we have to give the report to Alan when we get back.”

“Oh yeah, I
forgot.” I shrugged and hopped in. He closed the door, went around the front of
the car, got in the driver’s side, and slammed the door closed. A Boston tune
was blaring on the radio. “Mind if I turn this down a bit?”

“No.” He reached
over and turned it down to an acceptable volume.

I started digging
through my handbag as he pulled out. “I think I have some change for the tolls.
It’ll probably cost around four bucks one way.” I pulled out a couple dollars
in coins.

“Put your money
away. I have an I-Pass,” he said pointing to a contraption on his windshield.

“Oh. Good thing,
since I don’t have as much change as I thought. Spent too much on sodas.” I
attempted to spill the coins back into the zippered section of my handbag and
dumped half in the wrong section. I’d worry about it later. “Gum? Mints?” I
asked pulling out each, respectively.

“Why, does my
breath stink?” he asked.

“No. Mine probably
does from that nasty coffee at work.” I popped a mint to my mouth and one into
his mouth. “How long is the drive?” I asked.

“Little over an
hour depending on traffic.”

    
“Not
bad. So whom should I work for? Doctor’s office? Clinic? Hospital?”

He turned onto the
expressway ramp on Ryan Road and I checked the time. He glanced over at me with
assessing eyes. “Too young looking for a hospital. You can be a central supply
manager for ah, Lakeshore Medical Clinic. I already do business with them.”

“Gee only a
manager. I want to be a director.”

“Someone might ask
you questions you can’t answer.”

I glanced at him.
“You didn’t say I had to answer questions,” I panicked.

“I’ll keep you
away from any likely interrogators.” He looked over his shoulder and switched
into the fast lane. His speed was nearing eighty.

“You better. I’m
not that good at bluffing. Hey, watch out around this corner. There were a
bunch of cops out here Saturday.”

“Oh. Where did you
go Saturday?”

Oops. Nice slip. I
gave a little smile. “Auto show. Chicago.” Before he could ask whom I went with
I added, “Kind of boring, but I saw some cars you’d look hot in. Like the new
Dodge Challenger with the racing stripes.”

“Yeah, that’s not
bad. Still like the older style though. Everything nowadays is too round. Too
sterile.”

Whew. So far, so
good. Keep him talking. “When are they going to let you trade in this car? This
gold grandpa car has to be one of the ugliest on the road.”

“Goes with my
grandpa name.”

I laughed. “So it
does. You sure keep it clean. Spotless. I think you need something sleek and
black. Maybe a BMW. Solid company car.”

He looked at me as
though I were high. “My boss drives a crappy Yaris. Don’t think I’m getting
anything better than this.”

“Too bad. Suppose
it’s better than putting miles on your own car.”

“
Radar Love
”
began playing and he
turned up the volume on the radio. He beat the drum introduction on the
steering wheel and then sang along.

“One of the songs
on your band’s playlist?” I questioned.

“Not yet. Fred’s
not completely comfortable with the drumming. I think he sounds great but he’s
a bit of a perfectionist.”

     “I guess I can see that. Try my song yet?”

     “What song?” He glanced at me.