Tropical Convergence (12 page)

"Ouch." She flexed her shoulder carefully, reaching over to probe the tightness she could feel still in the joint. It had mostly healed after her injury, but getting a full range of motion back and evening out the strength between her two arms was proving a long and, to her, tedious process.

But a process it was, and she slid down, fitting her legs under the leg press and flexing her thigh muscles to steadily lift up the weights she'd set on it. Aside from their new kickboxing classes, she'd felt the need lately to reaffirm the power she'd taken years to build into her body and she'd started doing a little more weightlifting than she had been for a while.

There wasn't any real reason for it. Dar folded her hands across her stomach and counted silently. Just a phase she was going through, apparently, figuring maybe her running and other efforts were getting her bored at the moment.

Breakfast was also on her mind. As she exercised, Dar went over the possible tacks she could take in their next fencing match with Shari and Michelle. Should she give them the benefit of the doubt and assume maybe they did want to bury the hatchet? Maybe Kerry was right.

Dar slid up on the bench and switched back to the chest presses. Maybe she was letting the personal side of the issue get in the way a little too much. After all, Shari wasn't anything she needed to worry about now. She'd passed her years back in the business strategy arena. She was a successful corporate executive, and she had the stable loving relationship Shari had been so sure she hadn't been capable of.

So it was her game, match, and set, and she had nothing to fear from either her ex-lover, her ex-lover's company, or the breakfast they were going to have in just a few hours.

Right. Dar let the bar drop again, and braced her legs, beginning a set of sit-ups, contracting her torso muscles in a more rapid rhythm. So why did she have knots in her guts?

For a few long moments she turned the thoughts off, concentrating on the exercise instead. Then her eyes lifted and met her reflection's gaze from the mirrors on the wall and she saw the wry lift of her own lips. "I think that whole 'grown up' crap wasn't a hundred percent now, was it, Paladar?" She addressed herself in a mocking tone. "Still smarting from that first blow off, huh?"

Just the articulation seemed to help. The knotted feeling inside her stomach eased, and she felt her body relax in response to it. "Redneck squirt fraud." She stuck her tongue out and slowed her motion, turning the last crunch into a rise to her feet as she ambled over to the leg press with a sigh. "Turn off the hormones, turn on the synapses. Think about what you've got right now."

She loaded an extra plate onto the bar and got under it, lifting it up onto her shoulders carefully and pausing to set her feet. With a deep breath, she went down with the weight, then straightened her legs and eased back up.

She did it again, reveling in the reassuring sense of control as her body responded smoothly.
You are the energy in this, Dar
. She reminded herself silently.
They want something from you. That means you have to drive the situation to your advantage.

I can do that.
Her inner voice responded.
We can do that
.

Dar studied the far wall of the gym.
I hope.

THE NEXT MORNING started off charmingly enough, Kerry reasoned, as she surveyed the chocolate kiss resting squarely on her navel. Dar was nowhere to be seen, but she concluded the kiss could not have come from a Disney waiter, so she unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth as she slid from under the covers and got out of bed.

A rumble of thunder caught her attention, and she glanced outside the window, where a gray, drizzly day met her eyes. "Hm." She lifted her T-shirt from the back of the chair and slipped into it, turning to check the clock by the bed. "Six thirty."

She poked her head into the bathroom, and deduced by the one neatly hung, but still damp towel over the shower bar and the distinct, lingering scent of their body wash that Dar had taken her morning scrub and gone out to do...

To do what? Kerry scrubbed her teeth and ruminated on that for a while. Dar hadn't mentioned going out before meeting their unwelcome breakfast guests, so what was her partner up to?

The answer came quite unexpectedly when the door to the room opened. Kerry stuck her head out and spotted Dar entering, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a cutoff cotton shirt. "Hmph."

"Morning." Dar greeted her with a cheerful grin. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Nph," Kerry pointed her toothbrush at Dar. "Wherf yof gop?"

"Gym," Dar replied. "I woke up at five, and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Hmph." Kerry disappeared, going to the sink and rinsing the toothpaste out of her mouth. "You could have woken me up. I'd have gone with you." She wiped her lips and returned to the doorway.

Dar stripped out of her sweatpants and slipped past her, giving her a kiss on the back of the neck. "I know. But I was doing heavy presses, and I know you hate those."

"Mm." Kerry wrapped her fingers in the fabric of Dar's half shirt and followed her like a puppy toward the shower. "That's true, but I didn't have to do them and I do like watching you when you do."

"You looked too cute to wake up." Dar removed her shirt and sports bra, then tugged on Kerry's T-shirt. "Share a shower with me?"

Mollified, Kerry removed her shirt and stepped into the shower as Dar adjusted the spray. "Thanks for the kiss, by the way." She picked up the scrubber, still damp from its earlier use, and squeezed some gel onto it.

Dar joined her. "No problem." She stretched both arms out and flexed her hands. "I thought you'd want to get as much sleep as you could, since we're starting early, and it's gonna be a long day."

Kerry stifled a yawn and managed to not quite suppress a rueful grin. "Yeah," she admitted. "Now I wish I hadn't been such a smart mouth and suggested breakfast at the crack of dawn." She scrubbed Dar's chest industriously. "Though, it was worth it to see their sour pusses."

Dar slid her arms around Kerry and held her for a brief moment, giving her a hug before she released her again. "You know what?"

Cautiously, green eyes peered up from between a few wet strands of pale hair. " Are you going to make me blush again?" Kerry asked.

"Not that I minded the compliment," she added.

"It was true." Dar exhaled contentedly. "But what I was going to say was that I'm sort of looking forward to this damn breakfast."

Kerry gave her a light scrub around the belly button. "Why?"

"I just am," Dar replied, stroking Kerry's cheek with the backs of her knuckles. "We may even have fun at it."

We just may.
Kerry chuckled silently to herself. She had always fiercely defended Dar, even from the first. Now, faced with someone who had quite deliberately hurt her beloved friend and lover, Kerry found a very unexpectedly fierce protective instinct rearing its head inside her.

Kerry finished her washing, and they stepped out to dry each other off. She wanted to kick Shari's ass and the violence of the thought almost surprised her.

Almost.

DAR RELAXED ON the bench in the lobby, stretching her legs out and leaning back as she watched Kerry circle the pretty atrium examining the birds. Arriving a little early, they settled in to wait for their guests, as the rain continued to drum on the plate glass windows.

She hitched one denim covered knee up and rested her ankle on its mate, examining the little blue and white cross stitches on one side of her sneaker. It was cool in the lobby, and she briefly wished she'd put on a long sleeve T-shirt instead of a short sleeved one, but considered that the writing on the front of it was probably worth a little chill.

Kerry returned from her impromptu bird watching and took a seat next to Dar, kicking her heels out a little listening as her sneakers squeaked a bit on the newly polished floor. "Nice weather," she commented.

"Mm," Dar agreed, with a nod.

"Hope they got caught in it." Kerry went on, in a mild voice.

"Your wish to the god of thunder's ears." Dar pointed through the window. "Nice work."

Kerry peered through the rain-streaked glass to see Shari and Michelle running awkwardly through the rain to get to the door from the parking lot. "Heh," she chuckled. "Must be tough running in those heels."

"Mmhm," Dar agreed. "Must be."

The two reached the doors and entered, their smart and well-fitted business suits spotted with rain, which also glistened in droplets on every square inch of them. Both shook their hands in disgust as they looked around.

"Hi." Kerry waved. "Over here!"

Dar waited for them to walk over before she uncrossed her legs and stood. "Morning," she greeted them briefly. "Dining room's that way."

She turned and headed for the steps, clearly expecting them to follow.

"Good morning," Michelle greeted Kerry in a polite tone. "Lovely weather." She glanced at Shari, who merely started off after Dar. After a second she started walking as well, and Kerry fell into step next to her. "So, is this where you start the good cop, bad cop routine?"

"Hm?" Kerry cocked her head. "What routine?"

Michelle shook her head and snorted. "Never mind." She exhaled. "Looks like the convention's going to start on time, if anyone comes in this mess, that is."

"I think they will," Kerry said. "But in any case, the people who we really want there are already here, and with this weather, they're really more likely to attend the con than skip out and go to the parks. So it works in our favor."

Michelle glanced at her, and then made a small sound of grudging agreement. "So how are things otherwise?" she asked. "We tried to get into Vista, but I heard they signed a long term with you this year."

"True." Kerry motioned Michelle ahead of her as they reached the restaurant. Dar and Shari were already at the server's stand, waiting for them so they could be seated. "We were able to put most of their stuff up on our new net, and it meant a good cost savings for them if they signed now. So they did," she continued, as they followed a uniformed woman to a table near the front.

They sat down across from each other, Kerry neatly slipping in next to Dar as the woman handed them their menus. "Thanks." She let hers sit, already knowing what she was going to order.

And what Dar was going to order, for that matter. She watched Dar fiddle with her fork, and then she shifted and leaned forward, bringing her knee into contact with her partner's. "So, how are things with you?" she asked Michelle. "Are you having fun doing this start up?"

"It's been a blast," Michelle responded amiably. "Until this week, that is. I forgot how lousy the weather was here this time of year." She took her napkin and attempted to dry herself. "Or maybe I deliberately blocked it out of my memory."

"I've gotten used to it down south," Kerry said. "I remember the time I saw my first tropical thunderstorm I thought the world was ending."

Dar chuckled.

"But we have lots of plans for the future," Michelle concluded. "How about you?"

The waiter arrived and stood poised, a look of polite inquiry on his face. "Ma'am?" He addressed Michelle first. "Would you like to order?"

"I'd like to be put through the spin dry cycle," The short redhead answered. "But I'll take a continental, please," she added. "Coffee, wheat toast."

The waiter scribbled for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Shari. "Ma'am?"

"Juice and a bowl of whatever dry cereal you have," Shari answered shortly. "Skim milk."

Kerry folded her hands together on the table and made eye contact with the waiter as he looked inquiringly at her. She shifted her gaze to Dar's profile, and then looked back at him. "Two orders of French toast with crispy bacon, coffee, and two large glasses of milk, please."

The man beamed at her, and took the menus she handed over. "Be right back."

Dar leaned back and rested her elbows on her chair arms, steepling her fingers together, then folding them inward. "We have plans for the future as well," she allowed. "We've recently started development work on G2 of our net."

Shari frowned, but Michelle blinked and sat forward. "But you put it up only last year," she objected. "You can hardly have a baseline yet."

"We've got one," Dar replied. "I've projected out five years, and with current trends in applications development, I'll need a G2 in twenty four months at the very latest. We short wired some whole development cycles in firmware."

"Impressive." Michelle nodded, with a serious expression. "But if your projections come short, it could be an expensive white elephant."

Dar's expression remained relaxed. She flexed her fingers a little, the lights catching on the ring she wore on her third finger as they moved. "It's circular." She shook her head. "Right now, we've provided a pipe for some companies that allows them to triple their production cycles. That's speeding up their demand, which they'll come back to us for. No one else can do it right now."

"So your marketing hype says," Shari interjected. "But there's more to it than expensive hardware."

"The system capabilities aren't hype," Kerry said. "Or else the accounts of ours you targeted for conversion wouldn't have been the external and programming services ones. You didn't go after anyone with our infrastructure."

Shari looked over at Kerry, her eyebrows lifting slightly. Kerry gazed back at her with a mild expression. "Contracts are contracts," she countered. "We only started with those."

Dar chuckled. "And service is service. What's gonna happen the first time one of them calls you up and wants their contract expanded on the spot to new coverage, or they move to a different system that you don't have?"

"We can handle that," Shari answered quickly. "We've got the best people in the business...some of them were damn glad to come over from you, in fact."

"If they came from us, they weren't the best in the business." Dar let her chin rest on her fist. "We don't let the best go."

"Maybe they got tired of the same old same old then," Shari shot back. "We've got a whole new attitude about what we do. People like that."