Some Came Desperate: A Love Saga by Katherine Cachitorie Page B

looking man to show her some attention and she becomes putty in his hands? 
    Nick exhaled.  He knew he should just walk away.  He knew he shouldn’t say another word to this green-eyed woman-child and just leave while he still stood a chance. 
    But he couldn’t. 
    “Go tell your sister that I’m taking you home,” he said to her.
    To Simone’s own amazement, she didn’t question him, or argue with him, or look at him as if he had life bent if he thought she was going to jump at his command.  She jumped at his command, going to Jules and telling her that she was leaving, and then grabbing her purse and heading out the door of that noisy nightclub with a man she was beginning to believe just might be the one she always wondered was possible.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
    EIGHT
     
     
    She was late, over an hour late, but she wasn't about to let that hold her back.  She jumped off of the bus she had caught, which turned out to be the wrong bus, had to run nearly a mile, and arrived at the Colgate building virtually out of breath.  But she didn’t stop.  She jumped onto the B elevator, smoothing down her wild ponytail as she caught a reflection of it on the door's shine, and rested her backpack on the floor as she took the slow ride to the eleventh floor.  It had been three months since she'd heard a word about her petition to the courts, three long months, and no slow buses or even slower elevator was going to keep her from hearing what Nick Perry had to tell her now. 
     He'd phoned two hours earlier, or, to be precise, his secretary had phoned, with a request that she meet with him.  They had an appointment set up for her, but that would have been three days away, and Simone wasn't trying to hear that.   She wanted to see Nick today, as soon as humanly possible.  The secretary had to place her on hold and, undoubtedly, get some clearance from the man himself, but she returned to the phone and stated that Mr. Perry could see Simone for a few minutes at 2, if she could make it over that quickly.  Simone declared that she could, hung up the phone, told Bellini she had to go, and took off.  All she had to do was mention that it was about her petition to get her sister back, and Bellini understood.  Everybody at the Sky diner understood.  Simone appreciated that.
       But now she was late, because no way could she have caught two buses and made it within the hour, but she had to see Nick Perry today, especially since she knew it was about Shay. 
       The secretary, whose nameplate said Irene Grayson, wasn't pleased at all by Simone's late arrival.  Simone stood in front of the large oak desk in her jeans and jersey, her backpack and wild ponytail, and told the secretary that she tried with all she had to get here on time.  Irene, however, was blunt, telling Simone that Mr. Perry was already in a meeting and had one scheduled shortly thereafter.  Simone, however, volunteered to wait, that surely he could spare her a moment of his time if she was already in place and ready to go.  The secretary, who had been fielding Simone's calls for the past three months, who knew better than anyone that she was one hard cookie to crumble, made clear that she couldn't promise her anything, but that she was free to wait. 
    Simone, relieved, took a seat in the leather chair in the secretary's office, just outside of Nick's office, and tried not to panic.  The news could be bad, and that was why he was in no great hurry to tell her about it, or it just as easily could be good, too.  There was no way of knowing with Nick Perry.  She had thought, three months ago, on the night of her birthday, that they'd made a connection, that somehow he was going to be a significant part of her life for some time to come.  He had held her in his arms, and had driven her home.  And she had melted in his affection.  She just knew he would be calling her the very next day, or, even better, stopping by the