Jeremy practically fell into the nearest chair and shakily attempted to unzip his insulated lunch bag. “She scares me.”

“Not to worry.” Before she spilled the beans, Lillian changed her comment to something innocuous. “I mean, you’re just an intern. You won’t be here forever, right?

“Yeah, my internship’s up in ninety days.”

“There you go. Three months and you can tell her to kiss your engineer’s ass.”

Jeremy giggled. “Yeah. Only, I won’t say it out loud. She might type my reference letter.”

“Good thinking. I gotta get back to my desk before the witch docks me a quarter hour pay for taking too long for lunch.”

Jeremy nodded and reached into his bag for his sandwich.

At her desk, the red light was on, meaning she had a voicemail. It was Kalindi. “Lillian, you can’t be serious about taking over the coffee duty. No matter what you do, it’s always wrong. Call me.”

Lillian assured Kalindi she knew what she was doing. Someone came in the front so their conversation was cut short. Lillian caught herself humming as she transcribed the tape which had arrived via FedEx from Mr. Godwin. Nothing really serious...just a little...shock.

The next morning Lillian arrived promptly at 7:30 and headed for the breakroom. She dumped the old grounds into the wastebasket and got out the filters and coffee. Ophelia insisted on a special brand available only by mail-order. It was kept in the refrigerator in an ait-tight container for maximum freshness. There was a story Kalindi told her about the previous receptionist who had been fired on the spot for putting the container in the freezer. Ophelia told the woman she’d ruined fifty-dollars’ worth of coffee and she had fifteen minutes to collect her things and get out of the office.

Lillian carefully opened the container and measured out six heaping scoops into the filter in the basket. Then she put cold water from the bottled water dispenser into the “water only” pitcher. Exactly nine and one-half cups of water. The bubbles hadn’t finished ‘blooping’ to the top of the huge water bottle of the dispenser before Ophelia was in the breakroom doorway.

“Good morning, Lillian,” Ophelia was holding a Starbucks papercup instead of her regular ceramic mug.

“Good morning, Ophelia.”

“You know, it’s just a little thing, but that shiny blue eyeshadow, well, without highlighting or an eyeliner...it looks so ‘disco-esque.’ Have you ever thought of something more becoming to your mature face?”

Lillian swallowed her fury. “Well,” she purred, “Now that you mention it...I have thought the look was a little dated, but I just don’t know what else to try.”

“Oh, Lillian...I know you can’t afford custom-blended make-up like me, but any major department store has several beauty consultants who represent different make-up lines. You should go to the mall and treat yourself. A bit of foundation, a touch of blush, eyeshadow to compliment your eye color and mascara. You’ll be a new woman!” Ophelia smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Lillian forced herself to smile back. “Thanks, Ophelia. I’ll try to do that this weekend.”

“You do that. And next week we’ll talk about your wardrobe.” Ophelia turned from the doorway and Lillian had to count backward from one hundred to keep from screaming with rage. She got her own coffee when she reached sixty-four.

At nine-thirty, Emmett Godwin called to let her know he would be arriving at the airport about two-thirty that afternoon and was bringing a full report back to the office. He needed the engineering studio reserved for him that afternoon and evening.

“Oh, I happened to overhear Jeremy say Mr. Bucknell had him checking stress factors...”

“That won’t interfere with my work, different computer. Just call Gerald and explain I have the architectural drawings and need the studio so neither he nor Charles will be in there. I left a message with their secretaries that we landed the account. Oh, and send a big fruit basket to the address on the bid sheet. Write something nice in the way of a thank-you.”

“Okay, I can do that, too; they’ll have their edible basket by close of business.”

“Great. See you mid-afternoon.”

Lillian was a little nervous about calling the two co-owners. She’d only been briefly introduced to them and occasionally passed them in the hallways. When each of them heard her news they seemed genuinely happy. As she hung up, she realized she had no idea how to go about paying for the fruit bouquet. She called Mr. Bucknell’s secretary.

“If Mr. Godwin didn’t give you his credit card account number, you’ll have to go through Ophelia.”

Lillian groaned inwardly.

“Play up how big the contract is. And good luck.”

Lillian debated whether to call Ophelia or go by her office. A personal appearance would probably be better. Lillian knocked on the door frame before entering her office.

“Oh, Lillian, I meant to call you to say the coffee is delicious. Keep up the good work.”

Lillian nearly fainted. A compliment from the witch? “Uh,...thank you. And I will.” Inwardly, she smirked. “Mr. Godwin just called and asked me to send a thank-you fruit bouquet to our new clients in Ohio.”

Ophelia stoped her mug halfway to her lips. “You do know how to order a gift to new clients, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course. But how do I pay for it?”

“With his credit card.”

Lillian blinked to stop herself for saying something sarcastic. “He’s on travel. He has his card with him.”

“Then he should have given you the account number.” She took a sip of her coffee.

“Isn’t there a record of the account number somewhere here or a petty cash drawer or a special fund for such things?”

“Yes, there’s a petty cash drawer, but client-related expenses are not supposed to come out of it. Those costs get charged against the contract. That’s accounting’s rule, not mine.”

“Aren’t there ever exceptions?”

Ophelia had just sat up straighter and flashed a too-white smile as Lillian finished her question.

“Mr. Bucknell, good morning.” Ophelia said perkily.

“Good morning, Ophelia. Exceptions to what?”

“Mr. Godwin would like to send a fruit bouquet to our new clients, but he forgot to give me his credit card number.” Lillian spoke breathlessly before Ophelia could put her own spin on the topic.

He nodded with understanding. “Yeah, our CPA is very picky about such things. Sometimes I forget and get my ass chewed out over the littlest things. Here, use mine. I’ll deal with the CPA.” He reached into his pocket for his billfold. “We definitely want to keep a five million dollar client happy.”

“Yes, sir! And thank you, sir.” Lillian plucked the credit card from his hand and hurried away from Ophelia’s office. She was certain Ophelia would get back at her later.