Running From Fate by Rose Connelly

to make an appointment?”
    “No, I would not like to make an appointment. He’s been ‘busy’ for weeks .  He can see me right now.” She reined in her anger and tried for some courtesy. “Could you hold his calls please Mary?”
    Without waiting for an answer, Mira stalked past Mary’s desk and entered what she had begun to call the inner sanctum.  As the door shut behind her, she thought she heard Mary say “Good luck.”
    She looked like an enraged fairy, James thought, as he hung up the phone and watched Mira barrel into the room. Her thick , mink brown hair stuck up in all directions as if she had just shoved her fingers through it, her petite body seemed to quiver, and her green eyes were sho o t ing fire at him.  He should have been angered by her abrupt entrance but, instead, he felt amusement and, although he didn’t like to admit it, even to himself, a strange sense of relief as if some tight knot inside him had loosened.
    “Hello Mira,” he said.   “ What can I do for you?”
    The amuseme nt evident in his voice yanked Mira from the temporary daze that had hit her upon seeing him again and her pent up anger boiled to the surface.  She marched toward him , slammed her hands on his desk, and leaned forward. Her mind wanted to be distracted by the beauty of his eyes, the thickness of his lashes, and the dimple that peeked out from one check, but she ruthlessly smothered the impulse .  
    “How can you expect me to get any work done in these kind of conditions!?” s he bellowed into his face.
    He quirked an eyebrow and tried to contain his laughter. “I wasn’ t aware that you were having any problems. If there was an issue you could have brought it to me.”
    A low growl trickled out of her lips before she could stop it. Mira took a deep breath and tried to reign in her emotions.  “Ah, yes, ” she purred. “T h at’s exactly what I should have done , made an appointment to see you.”  I f sarcasm had managed to creep into her voice she couldn’t help it. She tapped her index finger on her chin .  “ Wait a second I did try that.  I’ve been attempting to see you for over a week, but you’re always too busy.” Her voice was edging toward anger again so she took another breath and tried for a more moderate tone. “Look, you gave this project to me without a whole lot of guidelines. Then, when I had questions, you refused to meet with me. How can I work without all the information?”
    “You could have left a message for me ,” he said reasonably. “O r you could have talked to Barry Sims .  He is the project manager.”   He was getting quite a kick out of pricking Mira’s temper, but it was time to stop.  It was a little juvenile and considering what he knew of her temperament he didn’t want to piss her off too much.  “I apologize.”
    “That’s a little better,” Mira’s grouched, somewhat placated , but she wasn’t going to completely let him off the hook .  His behavior had still been reprehensible.
    “Besides,” he ad ded .  “ That project is no longer your responsibility.  I have something else for you to do.”
    Utter ly deflated, she sank backward.  If there hadn’t been a chair behind her, she might have landed on the floor. As it was, she ended up almost reclining in the plush leather seat.
    “If you’re calm now?”  He raised an imperious ey ebrow and watched the emotions flit across her face.  When her expression finally moved from anger to a weary kind of acceptance he felt it was safe to continue.  “T here is something — another project — I want to discuss with you. I just got off the phone with a man named Samuel Williams. His name is not well known in this country, but he’s quite an influential man overseas.”
    When he paused Mira nodded for him to proceed .  Her previous anger was quickly becoming eclipsed by curiosity .
    “ At this time ,” James continued.  “He is the liaison for a multi-million dollar development