Running Blind Read Free

behind and there were opportunities for advancement, if she stayed for a while, kept her nose clean, and didn’t screw up. When she put her mind to doing something, sheer stubbornness made her keep at it until she could do a good job. Working in billing wasn’t glamorous, but so what? It paid the bills. Now and then she’d think about going back to school, but until her mind settled on one career path, what was the point? She needed a job; she didn’t have a calling, andthat was okay with her because that made her more flexible, instead of being focused on one thing.
    Jina was antsy, up and down from her desk, bringing Carlin—and herself—coffee a couple of times. Just before lunchtime, she jumped out of her chair and crossed into Carlin’s cubicle. “Did you bring your lunch?”
    “Yeah. A sandwich and a bag of chips.” Cooking wasn’t her thing. Some of the women who worked in the office brought in little individual containers of homemade soup, or lasagna, or casserole, which they heated up in the break room microwave. Carlin preferred a sandwich any day over going to all that trouble.
    The “yuck” face Jina made was almost comical, but then she was into gourmet stuff. “That doesn’t sound very good. I’m going down the street to pick up a veggie pizza. Split one with me?”
    Pizza sounded good, and Jina obviously needed company, so Carlin agreed. She pushed away from her computer, stretched out the kinks in her shoulders, and reached for her raincoat. “I’ll walk with you.”
    Jina cocked her head and pursed her lips. “I was kinda hoping to borrow your raincoat. I left mine at home, along with my umbrella. And I really do need to walk off some of this … let’s call it excess energy.”
    “If you’re sure.” It didn’t seem fair that Jina should brave the rain alone for the pizza, but on the other hand Carlin definitely understood needing to work off some temper.
    “Positive.” Jina snagged the raincoat and slipped it on, then rubbed an appreciative hand over the sleeve. “Nice. I wish I could find a raincoat this color! If you ever decide to get rid of it …”
    “I’ll hang on to that raincoat until the day I die—but I’ll look online this weekend and try to find one for you.”
    “Oooh, shopping. I’m in serious need of some retailtherapy, though a mall is more my style than a computer. It’s more interactive. Plus there are restaurants. We should do that this weekend.”
    “Sounds like a plan.” Carlin smiled, glad enough that she didn’t have to go out in the rain. Spending part of the coming weekend shopping with Jina didn’t sound like a bad idea; she could use some retail therapy herself. “I have a couple of Diet Cokes in the fridge, if that suits you.”
    “Yep. I’ll be right back!” Jina hurried toward the elevator, dialing the pizza place as she walked. Carlin went on into the break room to get the drinks, paper plates, and napkins. Over pizza Jina could tell her all about this latest boyfriend issue, if she wanted to talk. Maybe she needed a place to stay until she could get the live-in cleared out, if this was a serious breakup and not just an argument. It wouldn’t hurt to offer, Carlin thought.
    They could make plans for shopping. She sat down and stretched her legs out, relaxing. She felt better, and ready to laugh at herself. Okay, not laugh, but at least she wasn’t about to come unglued. That hadn’t been Brad’s Toyota; Brad was in south Texas, and had no idea where she was. She had a new life here, was making friends, and not even Brad Henderson was going to ruin it for her.
    B RAD STOOD ACROSS the street from the skyscraper and watched the front entrance from the shelter of a green coffee shop awning. He sipped on his second cup of coffee, a tall, hot latte, and wondered which floor Carlin was on. If he knew exactly where she was, he might be able to corner her somewhere inside the building, in a restroom or an empty office, but that was