A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

an ethical code of conduct, you know." He'd never change,

but she needed to push back a little.

As expected, her anger had no effect. "Yeah right. We

both know that international deals require extra measures.

Spare me your ethics lecture."

Rebecca clenched her fists and turned away from him.

Best not to even give him the satisfaction of seeing her

seethe. She left his office and returned to hers.

When Rebecca got back to her desk, the phone started

to ring. She took a second to calm herself before answering.

"Rebecca Moore."

"Ms. Moore, my name is Barbara Angelo, a nurse here at

Barnaby Medical Center. I'm calling to tell you that

someone you know is here, a man who calls himself O.E."

Oh no. Poor O.E. "In the hospital!" Rebecca cried out.

"What happened? Is he all right?" She worried that her

rejection of him was somehow related to this.

"He's fine. They want to watch him tonight, but then

he'll be going home tomorrow. I believe he got into a little

trouble at a bar last night."

"Is he there? Can I talk to him?"

"Well, that's going to be hard because they had to wire

his jaw shut for a few weeks. He can talk, but not very well.

That's why he asked me to call."

O.E. had his jaw wired shut? She blurted out a laugh,

then realized that this wasn't supposed to be funny so she

muffled it quickly. So the big-talking egomaniac couldn't

talk. This was perfect. More than perfect, it was cosmic,

perhaps even divinely inspired. She struggled to keep from

giggling while the beauty of the moment overtook her. "I'm

sorry, but I have to tell you that O.E. with his jaw wired shut

is somewhat amusing."

The nurse snapped back. "Hey, there's nothing funny

about it. This cute guy's got his jaw wired shut. He can

barely eat!"

This cute guy? It seemed that O.E. was already able to

put his moves on the nurse, even without talking. Rebecca

took a deep breath. "I'm sorry-you're right. I would like to

see him. What room is he in?"

"He's in C-402. Fourth floor. Visiting hours are until

eight tonight."

"Thank you for calling me, Ms. Angelo. Tell O.E. that I'll

come by after dinner." After she hung up, Rebecca

considered the situation. The poor egomaniac couldn't talk.

This was something she needed to see.

Hours later, Rebecca wandered down the halls of the

hospital, reading the room numbers. When she got to his

room, she knitted her brow. Every other room in the hall