Read Mythe: A Fairy Tale for Free Online Page A

back over her shoulder and then hurried through.
    “Come on, quick. They’re gaining!” she whispered, and led the way to the elevators. “You won’t be in the way at all. I don’t have anything scheduled until our meeting. You can hide out in the office.”
    The two of them ducked into an elevator just before the doors closed. A young man in a business suit was its only other occupant. He glanced at Richard and Manda and then did a quick double take before staring straight ahead without a word. They rode in silence until the man got off on the thirtieth floor.
    Manda was the first to break the silence. “I don’t think he could decide if it was really you or not.”
    “A couple of more floors and he would have worked up the nerve to ask,” Richard told her. “Trust me.”
    “I suppose that gets pretty old, doesn’t it?” she asked sympathetically.
    “It’s usually not bad one-on-one. It’s the crowds that get out of hand. People lose their inhibitions when they’re in a group, and they start doing things they wouldn’t do if they were alone. And,” he looked at Manda apologetically, “the women and girls are the worst.”
    “You know, a disfiguring accident might help with that,” Manda offered with a grin, then frowned as if reconsidering. “But, on second thought, probably not.”
    Richard rolled his eyes and chuckled. “You’re just a font of helpful advice, aren’t you?”
    “I try.” The elevator opened onto the fortieth floor and Manda stepped out, smiling. “We’ll go drop my stuff off in my office and then I’ll give you the grand tour.” She led him through the glass doors and past the empty reception desk, taking him in the opposite direction from the conference room they’d used during their previous meeting. At the far end of the corridor she stopped at the door to the workspace she and David shared and punched the pass code into a keypad by the door.
    “Welcome to the inner sanctum,” she declared as she opened the door and gestured Richard in with a flourish. The space inside was a dramatic departure from the spare, sleek décor that characterized the rest of the office. The locked door was like the gateway into another world. Manda and David each had their own offices at one end of the large rectangular room, sectioned off by frosted glass panels and pale wood doors. The common area was furnished with an oval table and six leather office chairs, a large leather sofa, and a glass-topped coffee table. A large flat-panel television dominated the wall opposite the sofa. Posters and random images plastered the remaining wall space and a number of beanbag chairs were piled in one corner. Strands of white twinkle lights were strung back and forth below the ceiling tiles and a stuffed parrot hung on a perch in one corner. The back walls of David and Manda’s offices featured expansive windows that faced south. Pikes Peak was just visible in the distance. The adjacent wall, which stretched from Manda’s office into the common area, was another wall of windows that faced east, and the morning sun streamed in cheerily. The windows were cluttered at one end with scribblings and drawings done in dry erase marker—some pertaining to work, others random and amusing. A small refrigerator was tucked into one corner next to a line of shelves packed with books and magazines. The overall effect was casual and fun.
    Richard stood with his arms crossed, absorbing the riot of color and clutter around him.
    “This is definitely more in keeping with the barefooted girl who was assaulting her coworker with soft drinks last week,” he concluded in amusement.
    “That’s why Curt keeps us locked away in the corner. I think he’s afraid we might infect the whole office! Don’t tell him I let you in here. He’d be afraid it would scare you off.”
    Richard laughed and Manda couldn’t help but smile. His laughter was so warm and rich it did funny things to her breathing.
    “My office is over