A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

Thursday, September 27

Rebecca came home from work and punched a few

pillows. Every part of her life was conspiring to annoy her,

from her work to her family. She needed someone she could

vent to.

Good thing Quentin wasn't around anymore-she

could never blow off any steam with him. He had a

surprisingly short attention span, and often glazed over

when she discussed unpleasant subjects. Sharing your bad

day with Quentin was like talking to a block of wood.

O.E. seemed like the type who would actually discuss

her day, rather than keep quiet. Too bad he had to keep

mostly quiet. Still, if he said two words of comfort, he'd be

ahead of Quentin.

Call him, already. She briefly considered sparing him

from her woes, but then thought-why not? If he expected

to ride with her, high in the air, he would have to deal with

her lows, too. She dialed his number, wondering if he'd

avoid her by playing his I-can't-talk card.

"Hi, Bec."

"Hi, O.E." She paused to take a noisy breath. "Mind if I

blow off some steam with you?"

O.E. spoke economically through his wired jaw. "Sound

unhappy. What's up?"

"Where do I begin?" She groaned. "I had to deal with

two people today who I wish I'd never have to see again."

O.E. gave her a sympathetic grunt and let her go on.

"Unfortunately, they're both pretty permanent parts of my

life, so I'm stuck with them. One is my supervisor, Mark,

who is a total and complete jerk. The other is my sister,

Lauren. She's coming to the city in a few weeks and expects

me to be happy about it." She wailed a desperate cry. "I can't

even begin to tell you how much they annoy me. How much

better my life would be without them."

"Tell me."

"Who do you want to hear about first?"

O.E. chuckled. "Start simple. Mark."

"What makes you think Mark is simple?"

"Boss gone someday. Sister problem forever."

That's really true. Rebecca laughed at his analysis,

which already made her a little less upset with Mark. "I

guess you're right. But he's more of a pain right now. I have

to endure his stupidity every day. Lauren rarely shows up."

"Wrong. Sister bothers you even when gone."

Amazing. He really gets me. In a few well-chosen words,

O.E. showed remarkable understanding of her situation.

Rebecca exhaled. "Okay. Let me tell you about my

supervisor. He heads the International Relations

department at Ultra Threads. Like everything else, clothing

manufacturing has gone global, and our group makes deals

with foreign companies. We're pretty busy.