Switched, Bothered and Bewildered (3 page)

"Thanks." Jana Lee stuck her tongue out at Jillian. Then she raised her eyebrow. "Of course you'll need to be putting some on if you want to fool the clerks at Central Market."

"I'll just tell everyone I slimmed down and had a makeover at the spa," Jillian replied.

"You always win. You are a brat."

"Just bratlike. We have much planning to do, sister in crime."

"Well, you don't have much to do because I never see anyone but my daughter, and she'll be glad to see Aunt Jillian, if she even notices you've arrived. And listen, I'm only considering doing this to help you keep your job, and to see to it you

actually rest. Plus, I'd get to see if I actually want to enter the workforce or stay at home and take in ironing for the rest of my life. It would be sort of a test run. Can't I just say I'm me, taking over for you?"

"That's not anywhere near as fun, plus I'd still get fired. Besides, think what horrid trouble you could get me into while I'm at your place, mopping floors."

Jana Lee smiled. "That has possibilities." "And I promise I'll get a nice rest at your place." "Oh, I forgot, I do see someone. There are the four mouseketeers I watch for a few hours after kindergarten, and their various parent pick-ups. Did I mention I've been doing a little babysitting?" Jana Lee poked her fork into a piece of cantaloupe and gestured to Jillian calmly. "Is that going to be a problem? It's only three days. Their school is almost out."

"What? Well, I guess I can endure three days of rugrats. They can't be any worse than the advertising department." That was true. Jillian was so tired of all the office politics and ego-moments she'd endured over the last ten years that even a pack of grubby, whiney kids didn't sound bad. Not to mention that big stupid kid Ron.

What was wrong with her taste in men anyway? He'd dumped her right after their trip to the
Bahamas. The trip
she
had paid for. What an idiot she was. And worst of all, she'd actually con-

vinced herself she liked him, when really he was the rebound guy from having
Jackson bolt away from her at the Christmas party just before that.

Jillian felt her hand shake as she stabbed at a bean sprout with her fork. She was actually scared at how unraveled she'd gotten. She had to get some rest. She hadn't even told Jana Lee about the panic attacks she'd been having.

Jana Lee was the intuitive one, and she usually saw right through Jillian's little white lies. This time Jillian was grateful she hadn't. She'd been to three doctors already and only managed to get a temporary medication to deal with her problem. They all talked about long-term therapy and used words like "disorder," which made her have an even
worse
sense of panic.

But truly, even though she was thinking mostly of herself at present, she'd been worried about Jana Lee, too. Nothing seemed to be able to spark her out of her mourning for Bill. It was understandable, but so sad. Jillian stuffed another piece of melon in her mouth and thought of the many ways to remake her sister's house, her in-grate kid Carly, and maybe even . . . her sister's love life.

Surely there was some cute land baron or yachtsman Jillian could start something up with and leave for her sister to finish. A little flirting, a little smile, and Jana Lee's phone number dropped

in the right direction? Who knows what could be waiting for Jana Lee when she got back home.

A huge grin crept across Jillian's face, and she put her napkin up to hide it from Jana Lee. Surely she could do all that and get some rest too. Of course she could.

Jana Lee stared at her like she knew what she was thinking.

"Okay then/' Jana Lee said. "I'm willing." She held up her hand, palm toward Jillian, fingers apart.

Jillian matched her hand to her sister's, like they had since they were babies. It was their secret sign. She remembered looking at Jana Lee when they were very young children, dressed the same as she was, and wondering if she was looking into a mirror or if Jana Lee was real. It was one of her first memories.

She also realized that Jana Lee hadn't offered that hand since their terrible year in college, and she knew it was an act of forgiveness on Jana Lee's part. It moved her deeply to know that. Jillian felt a tear stream down the side of her cheek. She wiped it away with her other hand.

²

Fair
Trade,
Agreement

Jana Lee Tompkins wobbled down the hall of Pitman Toys Inc. on her sister's black sling-back Ferragamo high heels. She also had on the shortest skirt she'd ever worn, which was the longest skirt in Jillian's closet. She'd topped that with the least revealing blouse she could find. She'd strategically tied a soft yellow silk scarf at the neck to cover up her cleavage just a little more, and she'd added a short black leather jacket that zipped up the front to cover her bare arms. She wasn't used to being displayed in a sleeveless blouse. The jacket was very
Jillian,
anyhow.

She had to admit that she felt pretty. Her reflection flashed back at her from office windows as

she moved down the hall. Her new dark brown hair looked very pert in the short bob Jillian always wore. She probably should have cut and dyed hers years ago instead of wearing it in that long Earth Mother braid. Their hair was thin and straight, and this was a much better look.

That nasty health food, plus the horrible things Jillian had subjected her to at the Serenity Spa, all in the name of relaxation, had resulted in a six-pound drop in her weight that actually made a tiny difference. That was lucky, because of the fifty outfits she'd tried on last night, this was one of three that fit. She'd just have to wear those three over and over again for the next week. According to Jillian, no one paid even the slightest attention to her anyway. With that in mind, she'd skipped the fake tattoo.

Jana Lee jumped and joggled her purse and briefcase as a severe looking woman came down the hall toward her, smiled oddly and said good morning. Jana Lee reassembled her load, responded and kept moving, her heart pounding twice as hard. Was she just a dead giveaway? Was the woman turning around and staring? Jana Lee didn't want to glance back and find out.

She was seriously scared out of her wits.

Jillian had a way of leaving out huge details, and even though she'd faxed Jana Lee a ten-page itinerary and short profile of everyone she might

encounter, Jana Lee had that sure sense there was going to be some very big surprises around the corner.

The main plan at the moment was to get hot water for her tea, find Jillian's office, shut the door and hide for the rest of the day. She smelled the familiar scent of Java and followed her nose to an open lunchroom area. Where there was coffee, there was hot water.

Unfortunately there were also groupings of employees, and she hadn't read the material enough to clue in to any names.

But she was on a mission—morning tea. She sucked her breath in, slapped on a Jillian-like smile, and tried to adopt her sister's braver-than-the-average gal demeanor while she made a bee-line to the coffeepot hot water area.

"Hi there, good morning, thanks." Her three-word vocabulary got her through the short line, where she snagged Jillian's cup off the peg rack and filled it with hot water. She braced Jillian's briefcase against the counter with her legs, dug in the purse she'd brought, and found one of her special tea bags. She felt many eyes upon her.

Uh-oh. From the looks of the cup, Jillian drank coffee. Damn. Well, Jillian must have had a revelation at that spa and sworn the stuff off. That's right. Jillian now drank Red Zinger tea. She plopped the bag in the water and watched it turn a lovely deep red color. She loved Red Zinger.

As Jana Lee turned out of the line she came smack up against a very tall,
Man Zinger
of a man. Wow. He had on a pale gray suit, and his tie looked vintage forties, with palm trees on a yellow background. She hadn't seen a whole lot of suits in the room, so this must be someone important. He had that air of authority around him. If he wasn't, he sure was one heck of a hunk of a good-looking nobody. He had intense brown eyes and well-behaved, wavy brown hair.

"Good morning," she flashed a bright smile at him, shaking in her sling-backs all the while.

The man looked startled. "Good morning, Miss Tompkins." He looked her over like a prize
Jersey cow, from hoof to tail, then zeroed in on her eyes.

Oh God, not already. Did he see something? She broke eye contact and moved past him. "Excuse me," she whispered.

"You look very rested after your trip."

"Thank you." End of story. Jana Lee split out of there fast. She was never going to survive five days of this.

Jana Lee made it past a truly scrutinizing stare from Jillian's assistant, Oliver Abbott. She mumbled something about not feeling well so please don't disturb her, bolted through the office door and shut it behind her. She leaned her back against the closed door, let out a huge audible sigh and hoped Ollie didn't hear it.

Jillian's office was neat as a pin.
If this was Lilian's office]
She'd just assumed that since Oliver was at the front desk with his nameplate, this was Jillian's office.

There was way too much window glass involved in this whole deal, so Jana Lee quickly rounded the room and dropped the shiny, brass-colored metal mini-blinds down. The tinny rustle of a thousand strips of aluminum dropping into place gave her the willies.

The large glass desk left no hiding place for clutter, but of course there was no clutter—only a black leather desk set that included a blotter, a pencil can with pencils neatly contained within, all black, all sharpened, a letter opener with black leather handle, a black leather stapler, and a sleek container for brass paper clips, all large, all the same size. Joining the paper clips was a slot for a large sticky-note pad, and there it was; plain white with black block lettering that read Jillian Tompkins. Whew, right office.

Next to that was a phone that looked way, way too high-tech for Jana Lee's taste, and centered on the desk was Jillian's laptop computer, keeper of all things she should know. Suddenly, she felt extremely grateful that she'd taken that basic computer class in college. She was right in thinking that whatever she did for a job, computers would be involved.

It'd been a good four years since Jana Lee had been to
San Francisco to visit Jillian. Since before Bill died. It always astounded her what a neat freak her sister was. She did recall a whole lot of sister fights about the state of their shared bedroom, and how finally Jillian had insisted on her own space when they were about fourteen, and how all her socks used to line up in the drawer like obedient show dogs.

There was a large, low, black credenza with brass accents situated behind the glass desk, and Jana Lee brightened up to see there was a framed photo of her and Carly sitting upon it. She set her tea on the glass desk, then dumped Jillian's too small purse and Jillian's sleek black leather briefcase on the credenza next to her picture.

Flipping the combination locks—fortunately, the code was their joint birthdate—Jana Lee opened the briefcase and dug out Jillian's file. Even though she'd already read it twice, she'd have to make some notes. She'd have to bone up on this operation and see if she could match faces to people.

Her mind reeled with how crazy this whole thing was. She tried to remember why she'd agreed to it: to give her sister a much-needed rest before she ended up in a less pleasant place than Serenity Spa? To keep her sister from getting fired? To jump-start her own stagnant existence? To gain some insight into the work world? Right. All that.

Once she felt less like crawling under the desk she might be able to snoop around and get the feel of this big company—the great Pitman Toys Inc. This city
was
pretty exhilarating after being stuck in the sticks for so long. She spun the rod on one of the blinds and peeked out the window to see the shore side of
San Francisco, so vibrant and alive.

Jana Lee peeled off the black leather jacket and flung it on an upholstered bench next to one of the water-facing windows. She slipped behind Jil-lian's desk and sat in the cushy leather office chair. It swiveled. She rocked and twisted and spun around. She felt like a kid.

Something buzzed. She turned to look at the phone and saw that a light was flashing. She picked up the receiver, but it dial-toned back at her. She hit a few buttons. Nothing happened. The buzz came again. Now, how would she explain her inability to answer that, whatever it was? Better think fast before Ollie nailed her. She jumped out of the chair and headed toward the tall office door.

Too late. It swung wide open, barely missing her. She caught it with her hand. The very amazing-looking
Man Zinger
stood in the doorframe with a quirky smile on his face.

"Urn, phone's on the fritz," she croaked.

"Intercom," Oliver's voice called flatly from behind the hot and suited gentleman with the vintage tie.

Jana Lee stared at his tie. He stepped in without an invitation.

"What can I do for you?" Jana Lee found herself backing up to the wall looking for some kind of support.

He removed the door from her hand and closed it behind himself. "I came to return that Christmas present you gave me." His brown eyes danced with a devilish grin.