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break.”
     
    Helen stifled her defense of Alec, but just barely. She could just imagine her mother’s curiosity if Helen had countered the “horrible” adjective. Had Helen really painted him as that bad in her conversations with her mother? She’d described how Edna worked long hours and was afraid to ask for the day off for her birthday, but Helen also knew that she wasn’t very objective when it came to discussing Alec. She’d been careful to leave off a description of the handsome man, but possibly some of her anger over his last order came through in her discussions with her mom.
     
    Inside the building, Mick immediately smiled as Helen approached. “What trouble are you going to cause today, Ms. Helen?” he asked and leaned forward to smile down at Jonathan.
     
    The little boy knew his cue. “Today’s my gramma’s birthday!” he exclaimed.
     
    Mick chuckled at his eager explanation for his presence. “And who’s your gramma?”
     
    Helen grinned. “Edna’s up in the tower and can’t get off today. We brought her chocolate cake and a ‘Happy 21 st Birthday’ cake. Think you could look the other way?”
     
    Mick looked warily at the small cluster of people. “ Where’s the boss man today?”
     
    Helen’s smile instantly disappeared, worry and concern replacing her excitement. “You didn’t get into any trouble last time, did you?” She’d definitely have a word with that arrogant man if he’d said anything to Mick.
     
    Mick waved his hand and shuffled his feet slightly. “Nah, he hasn’t said a word,” Mick replied. “I’m not sure what you said to him but thank you.”
     
    Helen was glad no repercussions had fallen on either Mick or Edna for her little adventure last week. She suppressed the disappointment she felt at the lost opportunity to confront him. She denied that she had been looking forward to an excuse to see him again. That was ridiculous she argued with herself for a moment. The man was demented with his own power and arrogance, thinking he could just order someone around and they would simply fall into those orders. Good grief!
     
    Mick laughed and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it this time. Edna already called down to set you up with a visitor’s badge.” He looked behind Helen to the others. “She didn’t mention there would be others. “What’s going on?” he asked.
     
    Helen smiled brightly. “Today is Edna’s sixty-sixth birthday. We have a chocolate cake for her.” She turned to the others in the group. “This is Nancy, Edna’s daughter and her son, Jonathan. And my mother. We’re all going to surprise her with a birthday cake.”
     
    Mick laughed, delighted. “Hold on. Let me get Joe to cover the front desk and I’ll come on up with you. Edna’s a good woman and she didn’t look too happy this morning.” He immediately picked up the phone and dialed a number, arranging for his friend to cover the front desk for the next fifteen minutes. Joe arrived quickly and Mick picked up his walkie talkie and waved the group to the elevators.
     
    In the elevator, four more people heard what was going on and all wanted to help with the surprise, each of them experienced help from Edna in the past and wanting to celebrate this event with her. As they moved down the executive hallway, the large, boisterous group attracted more attention as others popped their heads out of their offices to find out what all the noise was about. As soon as they heard whose birthday it was, they immediately joined in with the fun.
     
    By the time they arrived at Edna’s office, there were twenty people gathered behind Helen as she lit the “21” candle on top of the chocolate cake. They were all standing outside the office, Helen’s intent was to surprise Helen at the last moment.
     
    The large group couldn’t be very quiet so when they actually entered the large reception area where Edna’s desk stood, the older woman was staring curiously at the doorway,