Morrison with his ruggedly handsome face, or his kind, gentle and magical hands on her body. Those moments had haunted the back of her mind all morning, hovering, sending surges of warmth swirling through her belly at odd moments. For some reason, she couldn’t get that last kiss or the feel of his hands on her out of her mind. The memory of his finger sliding inside her sent heat spiraling through her to the point where she nearly gasped out loud. It had been too long since anyone had touched her.
Shoving those thoughts to the back of her mind, she tried to concentrate on resolving the issues but shimmers of warmth moved through her now and then.
She tried to ignore them.
The afternoon training session went well enough as she walked that group of employees through the basics of the new software.
It was a very sophisticated accounting information system, designed just for finance companies and tied to tracking and marketing software. Once installed, Marathon would be able to follow every client through their database seamlessly, including all their calls, giving them a database their marketing department could use for everything from client information through daily, monthly and weekly reports. It was a nice little program.
Ariel had been working for Titan for about two years. She liked the product but the demands of travel were difficult.
They always were.
Her heart twinged at the reminder.
She’d been in Atlanta when the news had caught up to her. She pushed the memory away. It always brought tears to her eyes. She wouldn’t think about it now.
Forcing herself to concentrate, she smiled brightly at her trainees as they filed into the room and kept her mind on them.
The conflict she’d been trying to resolve reared its ugly head in that session as well, though, so she resigned herself to staying until it was fixed.
She called the Help Desk as they filed back out.
Marcus answered. She could picture him sitting at his desk, relaxed, mellow.
“Hey, Ariel,” he said. His voice was a smooth baritone layered with the musical cadence of the Caribbean.
“Marcus,” she said, “I’ve got a doozy of a conflict going here.”
“Yeah, well, Paul wants to talk to you, too,” he said, warning in his voice.
She was too tired for this. A late night last night – the memory brought back a rush of exhilaration, fear and that swirling warmth – added to a long day didn’t really put her in the mood for talking with one of the bosses.
Especially Paul.
Of medium height with a mouse-brown receding hairline and a mouth so thin that it always looked as if he’d tasted something vaguely unpleasant, Paul always sounded pleased to see her. Unless you listened closely and heard the false note underneath his tone or felt the distance he kept between himself and the staff.
The job was interesting and the pay was good, though. She didn’t have to like the boss and was lucky enough not to have to work out of the office on a day-to-day basis so she rarely had to interact with him anyway.
“Transfer me but get Luke working on this conflict for me first, would you?” she said, rattling off the specifics.
“No problem, Ariel, I gotcha,” he said, “Hold for a sec.”
“Ariel,” Paul said, his voice mellifluous and warm, falsely hearty. “How are things at Marathon?”
Restraining a sigh, Ariel said, “All in all, pretty well. There are a few conflicts but Luke is working on them for me.”
She’d warned them of the possibility. Zeus, the software, had never been tested against some of Marathon’s.
“Good, good. Excellent, actually. Keep me posted, would you?” he asked.
That was it. The gist of what he wanted. Even though he couldn’t see her, she nodded but mentally she stuck her tongue out at the phone, making faces, something he couldn’t see either. Childish maybe but it got her through the call.
“Absolutely, Paul,” was all she said.
“You’ll let us know if there are any major problems?”
Shoving those thoughts to the back of her mind, she tried to concentrate on resolving the issues but shimmers of warmth moved through her now and then.
She tried to ignore them.
The afternoon training session went well enough as she walked that group of employees through the basics of the new software.
It was a very sophisticated accounting information system, designed just for finance companies and tied to tracking and marketing software. Once installed, Marathon would be able to follow every client through their database seamlessly, including all their calls, giving them a database their marketing department could use for everything from client information through daily, monthly and weekly reports. It was a nice little program.
Ariel had been working for Titan for about two years. She liked the product but the demands of travel were difficult.
They always were.
Her heart twinged at the reminder.
She’d been in Atlanta when the news had caught up to her. She pushed the memory away. It always brought tears to her eyes. She wouldn’t think about it now.
Forcing herself to concentrate, she smiled brightly at her trainees as they filed into the room and kept her mind on them.
The conflict she’d been trying to resolve reared its ugly head in that session as well, though, so she resigned herself to staying until it was fixed.
She called the Help Desk as they filed back out.
Marcus answered. She could picture him sitting at his desk, relaxed, mellow.
“Hey, Ariel,” he said. His voice was a smooth baritone layered with the musical cadence of the Caribbean.
“Marcus,” she said, “I’ve got a doozy of a conflict going here.”
“Yeah, well, Paul wants to talk to you, too,” he said, warning in his voice.
She was too tired for this. A late night last night – the memory brought back a rush of exhilaration, fear and that swirling warmth – added to a long day didn’t really put her in the mood for talking with one of the bosses.
Especially Paul.
Of medium height with a mouse-brown receding hairline and a mouth so thin that it always looked as if he’d tasted something vaguely unpleasant, Paul always sounded pleased to see her. Unless you listened closely and heard the false note underneath his tone or felt the distance he kept between himself and the staff.
The job was interesting and the pay was good, though. She didn’t have to like the boss and was lucky enough not to have to work out of the office on a day-to-day basis so she rarely had to interact with him anyway.
“Transfer me but get Luke working on this conflict for me first, would you?” she said, rattling off the specifics.
“No problem, Ariel, I gotcha,” he said, “Hold for a sec.”
“Ariel,” Paul said, his voice mellifluous and warm, falsely hearty. “How are things at Marathon?”
Restraining a sigh, Ariel said, “All in all, pretty well. There are a few conflicts but Luke is working on them for me.”
She’d warned them of the possibility. Zeus, the software, had never been tested against some of Marathon’s.
“Good, good. Excellent, actually. Keep me posted, would you?” he asked.
That was it. The gist of what he wanted. Even though he couldn’t see her, she nodded but mentally she stuck her tongue out at the phone, making faces, something he couldn’t see either. Childish maybe but it got her through the call.
“Absolutely, Paul,” was all she said.
“You’ll let us know if there are any major problems?”
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