Deadly Blessings Read Online Free Page A

have
dinner tomorrow night? What do you think? Give us a chance to
talk?”
    “ Yeah, that’s probably a
good idea.” I wondered if my voice sounded as fake as it
felt.
    “ Catch you later,” he said.
He started talking to someone nearby and hung up before I had a
chance to respond.
    They say bad news always comes in threes. I
couldn’t wait to see what was next.

    * * * * *

    “ Here she
comes.”
    At Jordan’s whispered warning, my eyes shot
up. Emerging from the elevators, Gabriela, an “I just broke a nail”
expression on her face, walked with that famous-person wiggle of
hers toward the glass doors at the front of our office. Even from
this distance I could tell that her eyes were focused on the
reflective surface, checking out her flawless looks, no doubt. One
hand reached up to pat the side of her face, tucking aside errant
hairs. Then, with a flash of a grimace, she stopped her approach,
taking a moment to reach inside her open suit jacket and, giving a
bit of a squirm, she straightened out her snug red dress. With a
happy little tilt of her head, she plastered a mega-watt smile on
her face and came through the doors.
    While Gabriela rarely graced us with her
presence here in the newsroom, she had to know that we’d been able
to see every move she made as she approached. Maybe she just didn’t
care.
    I exchanged a look with Jordan before
returning my attention to the files on the desk before us. As
assistants go, I couldn’t ask for a better friend. Jordan had come
to the station fresh out of secretarial school, pride in her top
grades evident on her café-au-lait face. A beautiful girl, she
reminded me of Halle Berry. The resemblance was so strong that when
I interviewed her, I’d expected a prima donna attitude, but she
surprised me with a maturity and enthusiasm that the other
candidates for the job couldn’t match. My instincts hadn’t let me
down; I was lucky to have Jordan on my team.
    Most of the secretaries in the hub nearly
fell over themselves whenever Gabriela stopped by. Their brush with
glamour, I supposed. I felt a tinge of regret for having taken that
wide-eyed awe away from Jordan. Through lack of tact, lack of being
able to hold my tongue, and the occasional, yet intentional,
disparaging comment, I believed I had single-handedly influenced
her cynical views of our star.
    Gabriela made a beeline for my office,
stopping up short at Jordan’s desk as though surprised. Almost like
she’d expected me to scurry back to my office when I saw her
approach.
    “ Alex.”
    I knew my name. While I assumed she knew
hers as well, just to be sure I said, “Gabriela.”
    Her face went through a curious blinking,
pursed-lip movement. Then she scrunched her nose. At last year’s
Christmas party, drunk, she told me she’d hired an image
consultant. Cost her a bundle, but through hiccups and grins, she
admitted that it was money well spent. The guy, whose client base
was so stellar that he refused to name names, had told her that the
nose scrunching was her signature. That she should use it. I’d
never reminded her of our conversation; I’m sure she wouldn’t
recall it anyway. But now, with her scrunching that perfect little
nose at me, I had to fight the urge to make a biting, un-PC
wisecrack.
    She expected me to ask what she needed. I
knew that, but the woman was such a priss that I decided to make
her ask for it herself.
    I gave her a little smile, resisting the
temptation to scrunch my nose, and turned back to Jordan. “Will you
be able to get this done by three?”
    Jordan avoided looking Gabriela’s way. “Not
a problem.” With a nearly imperceptible grin, she took the folder
from my hand. That left me with Gabriela, still hovering in the
area of my right shoulder.
    “ Alex?”
    Oh, this time we were going to phrase my
name as a question.
    “ Yes, Gabriela.”
    “ Did Mr. Bassett speak with
you about my story?”
    They were all her stories. Week after week,
feature after feature, it