I scanned over the faded text below the picture. Their names were listed. Professor Marlette Robbins. Sue Ann Grey.
It wasn’t like me to be confrontational. In fact, I did my best to avoid conflict and to keep the peace. But after seeing an image of Marlette’s younger self—a man who seemed so normal, so grounded and self-assured—my anger flared. I knew it made more sense to wait and show the photo to Sean, but when I recalled Marlette’s pathetic appearance and confused eyes on the day he died, I had to act. It was impulsive and aggressive and totally out of character, but I decided to confront Luella now.
“Let’s see how she’ll react to a little trip down memory lane,” I whispered to the fresh faces in my hands and then carefully put the photograph back in the bag. On the way out of the coffee shop, I grabbed my latte, waved at Makayla, and marched upstairs.
I’d barely made a copy of the photograph, placed it inside a transparent sleeve, and then settled into my desk chair when Zach burst into my office. “Zach Attack!” he shouted, and I was so startled that I nearly overturned my coffee cup.
“Can you stop doing that, Zach?” I glowered at him. “Most people knock.”
“Whoa, sorry! The Zach knows how important the morning cuppa Joe is! I was just stopping by to tell you that I scored two extra tickets to the Dunston Bulls baseball game. I thought your son might like them.” He plunked an envelope on my desk. “Great seats, right behind the dugout. Zach loves the stadium dogs with chili and cheese. Tell your kid to get at least three. That way he won’t miss any action taking a second trip to the concession stand.”
I felt horrible for just having snapped at my exuberant coworker. “You are too sweet, Zach. Thank you so much.”
Before I could indulge in a rosy vision of Trey and I bonding over baseball, Zach did a drumroll on my doorframe. “Step lively, über-intern! We’ve got a staff meeting in five!” He spread out the fingers of his right hand to emphasize the point.
Examining my day planner, I found no mention of a meeting in its pages. “Did I miss a memo or something?” I asked Zach.
He shook his head. “Boss Lady has big news. She only calls us in for these kinds of meetings if there’s a reason to start opening bottles of Cristal or a reason to get out a jumbo-sized pack of tissues and cry your eyes out. Trust me, I got no vibes from Bentley either way.” A movement down the hall caught his eye. “Ah, remember how I said we had five minutes? Make that zero.” He cupped his hand into a big O and then gestured for me to follow him to the conference room.
Bentley was seated at the head of the table like a queen waiting to grant an audience to her subjects. She’d paired a cobalt blouse with a charcoal gray skirt suit. Multiple strands of irregular pearls hung as low as the second button on her jacket, and there was an enormous pearl and diamond ring on her right hand.
“All right, people,” she began, giving each of her employees an intense stare as if we weren’t already giving her our undivided attention. Satisfied, she put on her reading glasses and examined the notes she’d made on a legal pad.
“I have some news,” she said, her eyes twinkling with pleasure. “A Novel Idea and the Inspiration Valley Community Center will be joining forces in order to produce the very first Central Carolina Writers’ Conference.”
The agents broke out in spontaneous applause and immediately began to exchange animated small talk about the event. I happened to have sat down directly across from Luella, and despite the energy created by Bentley’s announcement, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
In this room, in these circumstances, it was difficult to see the girl known as Sue Ann in my coworker, a woman who nodded agreeably to the list of tasks Bentley began to assign. After scribbling a few items on her to-do list, Luella touched the back of Zach’s hand as he complained about the date of the conference.
“But college basketball starts that weekend,” he protested in his quietest voice, which was still several decibels above normal. “And it’s Halloween! Inspiration Valley has the best costume parties!”
Luella smiled prettily at him. “Just think of the fresh talent you could discover. And of all the good-looking women who’ll be simply dying to attend your panel. The Great Zach Cohen, in the flesh. I bet your workshops will sell out the fastest.”