"Shanna Swendson - Enchanted, Inc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swendson Shanna)

This was another occasion when I was glad of the nearly hour-long walk home. I
needed to think. For one thing, I needed to find a way to explain to my roommates
that I was pursuing that job offer after all, but I figured I'd wait until I had the job
sewn up. In the meantime I needed a reason I was getting home so late, but in New
York that was easy.

Even Marcia, the workaholic, was home by the time I got there. She and Gemma
looked up at me from where they sat on the sofa eating Chinese takeout. "You're
home late," Marcia commented. "Bad Mimi day?"

"The worst," I said, kicking off my shoes and dropping my purse and briefcase. "I
did some window shopping on the way home to help me recover."

"And you didn't buy anything?" Gemma asked with a raised eyebrow. "I admire
your restraint." I refrained from telling her that it was easy to be restrained when you
had no money to spend. She patted the sofa cushion next to her. "Take a load off.
We've got plenty of kung pao."


***

The next person I had to fool was Mimi, but I knew that shouldn't be too difficult. I
didn't wear any makeup the next morning, so I'd look pale and sickly. As I walked
into lower Manhattan, I kept an eye out for the building that supposedly housed
MSI, Inc. According to Rod's map, it was across from City Hall Park and down a
side street.

I tripped over my own feet and had to steady myself against the side of a building
when I saw it. It looked like a turreted medieval castle looming over the more
Victorian storefronts. Why hadn't I seen that before? I was usually too busy trying to
look into the lobby of the Woolworth Building when I walked that stretch of
sidewalk, now that I thought about of it.

That whole day at work, I played the "I'm coming down with something" game. I
looked as listless as possible, coughed every so often, and made my voice hoarser
as the day progressed. By the time the day ended, most of my coworkers were
telling me I should stay home the next day. Even Mimi had commented on my
illness, but without much sympathy. She seemed more worried that I'd spread the
germs to her.

That meant no one would be the least bit suspicious when I called in sick the next
morning. As I walked home that evening I wondered if I'd managed to convince
myself that I was sick. I had a headache, my legs felt heavy, and every time I heard a
subway train pass beneath a sidewalk grating I envied the people who weren't
walking. It would be so nice not to have to worry about every little dollar, to be able
to ride whenever I felt like it. I reminded myself that they were crammed up close to
one another, while I was aboveground, enjoying fresh air and exercise, but this time
the mind games weren't very effective. It wasn't that I wanted to have a ride to and
from work every day. I just wanted the option without feeling guilty about it. I
wanted not to have to keep a running cash register tape in my head so I'd know