Page 11 of Dimitri
Chapter 4
Her office was cramped and tiny and just the way she liked it. It was windowless and stifling most of the time. She didn't need a lot of space for what she had to do. A battered file cabinet in industrial beige stood to one side of her scarred desk. And it was covered with files. A single chair was in front of the desk and did not encourage loiterers. She had been ordered to have it upgraded but balked and stood firm. She hated people sitting down for a chat. She was a strong believer in delivering what you had to say standing up.
She did not indulge in office gossip and every one of her colleagues was aware of her stance. She had no friends where she worked. So, there was no need to stop in for a chat. She was too busy, too much to do with too few hours in the day.
It was a Saturday, and the rest of the staff were out for the weekend, which gave her enough time to get some work done. She had a hearing coming up on Monday and was prepping. The hard ass, hard-nosed and completely biased judge would be sitting on the bench, and she hated the son of a bitch. But she was also a diplomat and if it meant kissing his meaty cheeks to get her client from serving a sentence, she was going to play ball.
So, here she was, instead of doing laundry and cleaning her place. She had someone who came in two times a week, but she had run out of clean underwear. Which meant she should probably stock up on some new ones. She also hated shopping with a passion and felt as if she was being tortured if she had to buy anything.
She had tried to get out of the party at the McKenzies', but Elizabeth was as tough as they come, and she owed the couple an arm and a leg and possibly a kidney. They came through for her every time, without question.
So, it did not matter that she would rather be eating cardboard and strung up by her fingernails instead of dressing formal and slapping on some makeup to socialize with a bunch of people she did not know. They had issued the invitation, and she was goingto have to suck it up and attend. She would make an appearance, smile and grit her teeth for a few hours and consider her duty at an end. She would also check on Jaime in the process as well as the others who were at the farm. She received regular reports and knew they were adjusting, but still, it would not hurt to see them face to face.
She probably did not have anything suitable in her closet to wear. Closing her eyes briefly, she sat back and rubbed her temple and tried to do an inventory on her closet. Suits, casual wear, mostly jeans.
Snarling, she reached for the phone and dialed Jessica.
"I have an emergency."
"Are you on fire?" her friend growled.
"No. Why?"
"Because it's bloody seven on a Saturday morning."
"You have a business to run," Allison pointed out reasonably, squashing the guilt.
"Which opens at ten and my husband and I decided to have a sleep in. Just because you don't have a damn life, doesn't mean we should not."
"Hi Jared."
"Hi Ally," the amused drawl had her grinning.
"Sorry."
"You are not interrupting anything. Yet."
"Okay, I'll make this quick. I'm going to a party at the McKenzies' and need something to wear."
"We're not the same size," her friend pointed out.
"You were a model, and you know the deal. Find me something to wear. Nothing scandalous. Please bear in mind that it is cold as a bitch. I have some boots."
"No boots, you're not a whore or in combat."
"I love boots," Allison protested.
"You have great legs; you should show them off."
"You do have great legs," Jared chimed in with a laugh.
"Please don't encourage her. Nothing that's going to break my neck."
"You'll accept what I send over. You're the one asking for a favor."
"I'll remember that next time you ask me for one. Okay, I'm hanging up now."
Her friend beat her to it.
