Read Monahan 02 Artificial Intentions for Free Online Page A

pursed her lips to try and control the tears. I knew the feeling.
    “Good. I’m glad to hear that. Tommy was a great guy. I’ve just read a letter he left me and it seems he wants me to have some involvement with the company.” Some involvement. Nothing like understating the situation.
    “Yes. Yes. That’s good,” she whispered. “Mr. Connaught always spoke highly of you.” She took a deep breath and I could see she was trying to regain control.
    “If I might ask, Ms. Monahan, what is it you do in Toronto?” she asked me.
    “Do? You know what I do. I work with Cleve Johnston. At the law firm.”
    “Yes. I know that. But are you a securities lawyer, or a tax lawyer, or a corporate lawyer? I wasn’t sure since Mr. Johnston hadn’t had time to fill us in on his new partners.”
    I was dumbfounded.
    “Uh. I work in the securities and corporate field. But I’m not a lawyer Carrie. I’m a secretary. Like you. A legal secretary, but a secretary just the same. In my last job I had the high and mighty title of Corporate Securities Paralegal. But I was just a glorified secretary.”
    As I was telling her this her eyes got a little wider and a slight smile showed at the corners of her mouth. I waited for the inevitable bitchy response.
    “I’m glad to know that,” she said genuinely. “And I hope I can stay around and help you out here.” She mischievously wrinkled her nose and I knew her offer was genuine.
    “Thanks Carrie.” I knew I had a comrade in arms. “Are all of the directors in the boardroom?”
    She nodded.
    “Then show me how to sneak out of here without running into any of them.”
    Tommy’s driver, the same one who had picked me up at the airport, drove me to The New York Palace Hotel and whisked me through the reception up to the 54th floor. He assured me he had already checked in for me and that my suite was ready. I was feeling a little like a movie star.
    He left me with his card and told me to page him, at any time, if I needed his services. The name on the card read “Lou Cardenello”.
    “Thank you, Lou,” I told him. He handed me the key to my room and silently walked back down the hall. I closed the heavy door and turned around to survey the room. Or rooms. The suite was huge. And luxurious.
    I threw my suitcase on the bed and proceeded to unpack. My clothes seemed seedy and worn in this room, and I wished I had taken the time to pull out some of my good outfits. Okay. One good outfit. I called the valet service from the phone beside the bed and asked how soon I could get clothes dry-cleaned.
    “Immediately, Ms. Monahan. Within the hour. Just put everything in a bag you’ll find in your closet on the floor by your door, and I’ll send a bellman to pick them up right away.”
    Now that was service.
    I stuffed everything I had brought with me except a clean pair of panties and sweat socks into the laundry bag and tossed it out to the front door. Then I grabbed the thick, terry cloth robe hanging in the closet, and locked myself in the bathroom for some privacy and a long, hot soak.
    The bathroom was the size of a small gymnasium and the sunken bathtub could hold a family of six. While I waited for the tub to fill, I found a well stocked bar hidden in a mahogany armoire. In the bathroom. The height of decadence. I filled one of the large crystal glasses with Diet Coke and slid into the tub.
    I dozed off for a few minutes and the electronic ringing of the telephone woke me. The buzzing sound irritated me and I thrashed around in the water for a moment, trying to get my bearings and came perilously close to going under. I made a mental note to wear a lifejacket in the tub next time I took a bath.
    The phone was conveniently located on the wall beside the tub and I grabbed at it to make the buzzing stop. I had been asleep longer than I thought because the water in the tub was cool.
    “Hello.” I started shivering.
    “Kate?” Shit. It was Cleve. My hiding was over.
    “Oh. Hi.