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  REPRESENTED

  A Novel by K’Anne Meinel

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  K’Anne Meinel on Kindle

  Copyright © K’Anne Meinel March 2013

  REPRESENTED

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  K’Anne Meinel is available for comments at [email protected] as well as on Facebook, her blog @ http://kannemeinel.wordpress.com/ or on Twitter @ kannemeinelaim.com, or on her website @ www.kannemeinel.com if you would like to follow her to find out about stories and book’s releases or check with

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  “One Million Dollars!” the voice screamed over the speakerphone in outrage. The woman listening sat back as it seemed to echo through the phone and around the room.

  “You can pay me one million dollars or you can pay them. With me you will get value for your money and a return on the investment, with them your reputation is in tatters, you look like a schlump, and you lose contracts. I can turn this into millions of dollars of free publicity, advertising, and promotion that you can’t buy with mere dollars. People’s perception is everything as you well know.” She sounded cold. Cool and confident as well.

  “But a million dollars?” the voice sounded resigned and was that a whimper of defeat she heard?

  Karin outwaited them and then heard a drawn out sigh.

  “Okay, what do I have to do?” was the next question.

  “Sign my contracts and have them messengered over to my office, I’ll start work immediately. We will handle the press, you answer every one and I do mean every one of my phone calls, don’t talk to anyone else. Meanwhile, lie low, don’t call anyone but your children, and I will handle everything. Got that?”

  A greatly cowed voice answered meekly “yes.”

  “Good, I’ll look for those contracts then later” she said coldly before pressing the button to hang up the call giving them no chance to change their mind or reply. She was surprised when a beep came in almost immediately.

  “Yes?” Karin answered the beep on her intercom.

  “Ms. Myers, there are some people here to see you by the name of Green” her assistant told her.

  Karin looked up from the report she was now reading and stared for a second at the intercom. “Green?”

  “Yes ma’am, that’s what she said.”

  “Miranda Green?” she asked to confirm.

  Karin could hear the receptionist ask for the woman’s name but the reply was muffled and then “Yes ma’am, Miranda Green.”

  Karin was stunned for a second and said “I’ll be right out” and hung up as she gathered the papers on her desk together and stacked them.

  The assistant looked in surprise at the message, she had never heard Ms. Myers use that phrase ‘I’ll be right out.’ She looked up at the woman who stood in front of her desk and said “she will be right out if you’d care to have a seat” she indicated the comfortable couches that lined the office. The woman and the two girls with her sat down to wait.

  Karin looked around her office distractedly for a moment and gathered the papers into her briefcase and slipped her laptop alongside it. What the heck was she doing here? She wondered that as she gathered her things together. Then realizing she was futzing which she abhorred she took a deep breath, checked her reflection in a mirror on the back of her door, fixed her hair, and went out into the atrium. “Miranda?” she asked as she saw the woman and her daughters sitting in the lobby.

  Miranda studied her friend for a moment and it gave her pause. Long gone were the jeans and T-shirt and in its place was a stylishly dressed, perfectly coiffured woman. She was a long way from Wisconsin. Miranda gave her a million watt smile and rose to envelope Karin in a hug.

  “What are you doing here?” Karin asked surprised as she returned the hug from Miranda.

  “We are on vacation and thought we’d stop in and surprise you!” she was told.

  “Well, you succeeded, I’m astounded to see you here!” she took in her friend and then glancing at the girls who had also risen she hugged each of them as well. “Molly! Jana! This is a nice surprise!” she enthused. “Look at how you two have grown!”

  She sensed rather than knew that the cubicles behind her all had people standing in them with necks craning and ears open. Her eyes narrowed before she rounded on them and asked “don’t you people have something better to do?” her voice was cold and the words sharp, totally different from the warmth that had been heard in greeting her friends. Her jade green eyes took in each of the miscreants who immediately pretended to be busy, bodies popping back down into their cubicles, heads pretending to be in deep conversation so those deadly jade green eyes didn’t fixate on any one of them individually.

  Turning back she said “why don’t you come into my office” before ushering the three of them towards the corner. They were watched the entire way. No one had seen Karin Myers so warm and friendly before. No one hugged Karin Myers; she just wasn’t that type of woman.

  “You look nice” Miranda told her admiring the impeccable pinstriped gray suit she was wearing with a chain link waistband. The white silk blouse was a nice touch. The heels she was wearing emphasized her physically fit legs. But a skirt? She didn’t remember the last time she had seen Karin in a skirt. Her hair was in a bun at the nape of her neck emphasizing her long neck.

  “Thank you” Karin smiled briefly but her voice was the cold one that everyone else had heard as she led them into her corner office.

  “Wow, this is something” Molly enthused as she looked around at the room.

  “Yeah, you’ve really come up in the world” Miranda said as she too looked around the cold and meticulously neat office. A bank of windows lined two sides of the office. A large desk dominated one side of it with a matching credenza behind it. Books, a desktop computer, and that was all that could be seen. Impeccably neat its starkness made the observer wonder if anyone actually used this office.

  Jana went over to the window and looked out, both sides and then down, a long way down. “What are we up about 25 floors?” she asked.

  “Yes” Karin answered distractedly as she watched her friends take in the signs of her success, the corner office, the suit, the persona that was now Karin Myers. She wondered why they were here.

  “You’ve come a long way baby!” Miranda laughed knowingly repeating the line from a cigarette ad. She had always been able to read Karin’s mind, it was one of the annoying things about their friendship.

  “I can’t believe you’re in New York, what brings you here?” Karin asked, not very subtly.

  “We’re visiting my brother” Miranda said automatically.

  Karin narrowed her eyes, she didn’t believe her. But then, she knew Miranda as well as anyone, or had. “Where are you staying?” she asked knowing that her brother had about a 500 square foot apartment somewhere in Manhattan.

  “We’re in sleeping bags at Uncle Brad’s” Molly informed her. She knew that Karin knew very well how uncomfortable it was for them to be there.

  Karin nodded as she cocked an eyebrow. “Why don’t you stay at a hotel?” she asked knowing the answer before Miranda answered.

  “Yeah, at $150 a night, right....” she laughed.

  Karin wondered if
Miranda was being deliberate or had come to ask a favor. Their long standing friendship dictated that she make the offer even if Miranda didn’t ask. “You can stay at my place if you’d like....”

  “Oh no, we’re fine at Bradley’s” Miranda quickly assured her.

  Karin looked at her with a sardonic look on her face, she knew her too well to fall for that. “Okay, but let me at least take you to dinner” she said generously.

  “What will we do with our luggage?” Molly asked and that was when Karin knew she was being set up. Molly couldn’t have cared in the least what happened to their luggage. A normally selfish teenager Karin knew this had all been rehearsed before they got there.

  “Okay, why didn’t you just ask? I have the room, you can stay with me, and I live in a fairly decent neighborhood, so just quit acting like you didn’t plan this?” she directed at Miranda with an eyebrow raised.

  Busted, Miranda’s look said and then she grinned sheepishly and docilely said “thank you?”

  Karin grabbed her briefcase and slung the strap over her shoulder double checking that her laptop was safely inside. “Come on, let’s go” she said as she walked out of her office.

  “Cara, I’ll be working from home” she said to her assistant when she stopped in the lobby again. The petite blonde nodded once as she looked curiously at the three trailing her boss. The gossip around the office was running rampant. No one had seen Karin behave in such a warm and friendly manner before and speculation was that this woman was a sister at least, but could be a potential client, one never knew with Karin Myers. They were watched as they got into the elevator and Karin pushed the ground floor button. “Where did you park?” she asked Miranda.

  “At a hopelessly expensive lot about a block from here” Miranda laughed. New York was an expensive city; there were no two ways about it. Everyone knew it, everyone expected it, and everyone complained about it, nothing changed.

  They walked out into the sunshine. Time and again men and women looked at the tall brunette who whipped out a pair of designer glasses and put them on her nose to cover her eyes. Admiring glances followed her from her impeccable suit to her own crisp lines. Miranda watched in surprise, this was a side she had rarely seen on her friend when she knew her, now it seemed to be part of her persona; she seemed ambivalent of the admiring glances she was receiving.

  Miranda unlocked her Saturn and the girls got in the back. Karin tucked herself in the passenger seat and buckled up. The car was filthy from the trip with used soda cans, bottles, and candy wrappers littering the floor, but Karin could see it probably hadn’t been clean before they set out by the condition of the dash. It was obvious it had been smoked in by the smell and the ash that covered the console. She swallowed her ire as she directed Miranda to her apartment building. As they drove along the girls talked about the long drive from Wisconsin. It had taken 20 hours but only because they frequently stopped to stretch and get out.

  “You drove straight through?” Karin asked only to have them go off on a new tangent of complaints. Karin looked at Miranda who was concentrating on driving.

  She directed her to her underground parking where an attendant stopped them at the entrance; he looked from the dirt of the car to the Wisconsin license plates with disdain. Rolling down her window crank, she was annoyed to see it wasn’t automatic, Karin said “It’s okay Gary, it’s me” she tipped her sunglasses so he could see her face better.

  Gary’s stern expression changed immediately. “Of course Ms. Myers, here’s a guest pass” he handed her a rear view mirror hanger and waved them on their way. She directed Miranda to her parking spot and opened the door. She was very relieved to get out of the small and cramped car.

  Each of them took a suitcase. Karin shook her head at Miranda. “You never did learn how to pack small” she said annoyed at the size of the immense suitcases that barely fit in the back of her Saturn and then only sideways.

  “You never know what you’re going to need” Miranda defended herself.

  Karin didn’t offer to help with the ginormous suitcases and instead headed for the elevator from the parking garage level. “Hey, give me your key?” she asked Miranda for it and held out her hand.

  Frowning Miranda asked “what for?” as she handed it over with its huge keychain.

  “They keep the key on hand in case of an emergency, like a fire or something so they can get the cars out.” She went over to a cage by the elevators and handed the huge keychain to the man behind the bars. “Thanks Stan” she smiled as he looked incredulous at the amount of keys she had just handed him and hung them on her hook. She headed to the elevator where the door had just opened up. Putting a key in the control box the upper floors lit up and she pressed 25.

  “Doesn’t the elevator go up above a certain level without the key?” Molly asked.

  Karin shook her head “no, you pay for that security and normally there is an attendant who accompanies guests to the various levels.”

  They were impressed. When the elevator arrived at the 25th floor it opened into a large and wide hallway with wood floors with a set of double doors directly in front of them and identical sets at each end. Karin headed for the one directly in front of her and unlocked the door. Holding it wide she gestured the others in. A large black and white dog came bounding, barking, growling, and promising all sorts of mayhem to greet them. “Shh” Karin said and he stopped mid-bark wagging a tail madly in apology and happiness to see her. Karin closed and locked the door.

  “I have three bedrooms, two on the left, and the master bedroom at the end of this hall” she indicated the hall behind the doors to the right. “You girls chose from the two on the left and your mom can have my bedroom.”

  “Where are you going to sleep?” Molly asked.

  She wanted to say ‘with your mom’ but knew that flippant answer would upset things so she answered “I have a study on the right that has a comfortable chair for me to sleep in.”

  “I can’t take your bedroom, I’ll sleep in your study” Miranda protested.

  “No, I need to be able to work at random hours so I need access to my computers and phones. The study is the best place for me.”

  Miranda didn’t argue anymore after that but she looked around the spartan apartment they had entered. To their right was the hallway Karin had indicated with the tail wagging dog waiting to be introduced. Karin bent down to greet and pet the dog who seemed happy with the attention. Miranda and the girls looked at the kitchen which contained modern stainless steel appliances, oak cabinets, and a large counter with high-backed chairs that separated the room from the living room; it was very clean, very modern, and very boring. An area beyond it should contain a dining room set but was open and empty to a set of patio doors with a doggie door in one of the panels and which flowed into a fairly large living room. A rounded couch was the only furniture besides brown Tiffany lamps facing them and away from the windows along that side of the room. To one side near the wall was a bike. There were a few modern pictures on the walls but nothing else, the walls were painted a boring shade of gray. Miranda wondered what the rest of the apartment contained and soon was shown.

  Each of the bedrooms contained a queen sized bedroom set but that was all, no pictures on the off white walls, no personal items, no trinkets. Each of the beds was neatly made but there were no personal items in either room, nothing to indicate a ‘lived in’ look. A bathroom between the two opened to both rooms and the hallway. The master bedroom contained a king sized bed and the room warranted it but there were few personal items here either. The dresser was meticulously neat with nothing on top. The double set of louvered doors contained a walk in closet with many suits similar to the one Karin was wearing. A set of shelves contained row after row of shoes and boots. The bathroom beyond contained a shower, a tub, a toilet, and a sink, nothing ostentatious, merely functional. Nothing warm and cozy about this room except for the amount of plants lining the windows. Here was something Miranda knew was pure Ka
rin. She had row upon row of plants lining almost all the available space of her windows. Long spider plants, aloes, and jade plants in pots and hangers of all kinds as well as a few that Miranda had no idea of the names. In a row along the window sill were long pots of Gloxinia’s and African violets their beautiful and vastly different blooms providing a splash of color and cheering up the place. This was the only ‘homey’ thing about the apartment that Miranda had seen yet. Otherwise it was spartan, unlived in, and boring. Clean lines and a coldness, similar to its occupant.

  Karin gathered a few things and said “my service was in today so there are clean sheets on all the beds, just make yourselves at home” she said as Miranda put her suitcase by the door. She went into a door they had barely noticed and the three followed to her study and in this was the first warmth any of them could see. Cherry wood shelves lined the walls with books, videos, and cds of every kind. One wall was taken up by an enormous fish tank that seemed to be two with a set of tubes connecting them and enormous angelfish swimming majestically between the two tanks. In the corner was an upright fish tank full of goldfish who, sensing someone’s presence in the room began swimming agitatedly to get their attention and fed. Karin ignored them as she put her briefcase on the beautiful cherry wood desk; behind the desk was a matching credenza with a large flat panel television on top of it. A warm colored set of reclining leather chairs could be turned towards the desk or the fish tanks; these too had a red hue to them. The room was totally warm and cozy and more in line with the Karin that Miranda and her girls had known from years ago.

  “Are you guy’s hungry? Do you want me to order in or shall we go out?” Karin asked after she set her briefcase on the desk and took out her laptop computer.

  “I’m hungry” Molly confirmed as Jana said the same thing at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

  “I could do with some food” Miranda answered. “I take it you don’t cook?” she laughed knowing the answer before Karin could voice it.