Wednesday's Child Read Free Page A

matter how attractive he was. Flipping up the laptop, and hoping she wouldn’t get electrocuted, she tried starting it again.
    Nothing. It wouldn’t even boot up. The black screen stared mockingly at her. Her lap got damper. She sighed. She wished she could have asked for a change of clothes as well. She zipped the laptop into the case, forgetting about saving the case. It would dry out a lot easier than the computer and her clothes needed to dry.
    “Hey.” The voice of her colleague cut through her thoughts.
    Jacqui looked up and managed a faint smile as Eve plumped down on the bench beside her. “Hi, Eve.”
    “You look like the world just ended, or you lost a shilling and found a penny.”
    “My grandmother used to say that. But it may as well have.”
    “So what happened? Other than some guy spilling his water all over your work, that is.”
    “Actually, it wasn’t his water. It was a whole vase of flowers.”
    “I’ve heard of ‘say it with flowers’, but that’s ridiculous.”
    Jacqui scowled. “To add insult to injury, the carnations were dyed green, and you know how much I hate florists faking the color in flowers, by soaking them in food coloring. But as far as the laptop is concerned, it won’t even boot up no matter how much I try. I’m sorry.”
    Eve held up another case. “No problem. It’s hardly your fault. I brought another. I loaded your files on it, plus put a USB pen in as back up. I also put thirty copies of your print outs in there. I know you said twenty, but figured a few extra wouldn’t hurt.”
    Jacqui smiled and swapped the case for one containing the damaged computer. “Thank you so much. I owe you.”
    “You can bring doughnuts to work for coffee break for the rest of the week.” Eve crossed one leg over the other. “So, what’s he like? This mystery man who’s got you all worked up and hot under the collar.”
    Jacqui took a deep breath. “He’s tall, has dark hair, a beard, brown eyes, and an Irish accent. He looks a bit like a movie star and scores an eight on the hunk rating.”
    Her friend snorted. “You managed to take all that in as he knocked a vase of carnations on your laptop? You got it bad, girl.”
    Jacqui pulled a face. She wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “The guy left me his name and number and offered to pay to get the computer fixed.”
    “Did he? That was good of him. It may be fine once it’s dried out. You never know your luck.”
    “I don’t do luck.”
    “This time you may need it. I’ll get the I.T. guy to take a look at it this afternoon. If you give me his card, I can ring this guy if we need it fixed.”
    “Sure I have it somewhere. Uh...” Jacqui fumbled for the napkin in her pockets, and then closed her eyes. “It was on a serviette. I must have used it to mop up the water. How stupid can I get?” She pushed her hands though her hair in frustration. “They better be able to fix it. I don’t want to have to pay for it, especially now I’ve lost his number.”
    “Can you remember his name?”
    Jacqui scrunched her nose up as she tried to think. “Page…Liam Page. I think he said. I wasn’t paying much attention,” she said, after a few seconds.
    Eve’s eyebrows vanished into her fringe in amazement. She tilted her head, waving her foot. “You remember exactly what he looks like, right down to his accent, but you weren’t paying much attention to his name...interesting.”
    “Eve, please, drop it. He’s a man and I’m off men.”
    “For now. It’s probably best not to swear off men for life, though. They do have their uses.”
    “You know very well what Vince did to me. I have no wish to get involved with any man, thank you. And don’t tell me all men aren’t the same. I can’t relax enough around any of them. Not even the boss. I flinch every time he leans across my desk or gets into my personal space.”
    Eve raised a hand in self-defense. “OK, OK, subject dropped. You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s just