Full Circle (2 page)

She glanced up at the TV hanging in the
corner. According to the headline, the talking heads were
chattering about the playoffs.

Playoffs. Something she and her dad had
always enjoyed together in the past. Not so this year. They hadn’t
said more than two words to each other since Thanksgiving, when
she’d shown up with Mark for dinner. Her dad had been furious.
Harsh words had been said, deep lines drawn in the proverbial sand,
and she and Mark ended up leaving to celebrate the holiday
alone.

Even a month later, her dad still reeled over
Mark being back in her life.

In less than a month, she and her dad had
become more like strangers than family.

“Hey, you okay?” Lisa reached across the
table and touched her hand.

Snapping out of her miserable thoughts, Karma
forced a smile. “Yes. I was just thinking about my dad.”

Maybe she could somehow turn this Dad versus
Mark issue into a resolution. After all, it was the one thing in
her life she would like to improve.

“He still hasn’t come around?”

“No, and I’m beginning to think he never
will.”

Before Lisa could respond, Andrew approached
and set their pizza on the table. “There you go, ladies. Enjoy.” He
smiled then returned behind the counter to take another customer’s
order.

Karma gingerly pulled a hot slice from the
platter and dropped it on her plate while Lisa dug in, not even
bothering to wait for hers to cool.

Chomping a huge bite, Lisa winced and fought
not to spit out the hot morsel, panting and fanning her mouth with
her free hand.

“Hungry much?” Karma laughed at her.

Lisa made a noise that was part curse, part
growl, and sounded a little like, “Bite me.”

After she managed down the bite of food, Lisa
said, “What about Christmas? Did your dad even invite you
over?”

Karma shrugged and blew on her slice of
pizza. “Not really. He went through Mom to invite
me
, but it
was clear Mark wasn’t welcome.”

And that shit didn’t fly. She and Mark came
as a package deal now. Until her dad got down with that program,
she wouldn’t be making any trips—holiday or otherwise—to her
parents’ house.

“Damn. That’s harsh.”

Karma picked a mushroom off her pizza and
popped it in her mouth. “It is what it is. But I dropped off gifts
yesterday, and Mom gave me a couple she and dad bought for me.”

“And . . . ?”

“And what? My dad could barely look me in the
eye.” She huffed and took a bite. “I wish he would just get over it
and accept that I’m happy. This is my life, not his, and it would
be nice if he would support my decision.”

“Maybe he feels bad about how he acted and
doesn’t know how to make amends and still save face. Your dad can
be pretty stubborn, you know.”

“I know.” Karma licked pizza sauce off her
finger. “It just sucks. Do you realize this will be the first
Christmas I haven’t spent with him.”

“Give him time,” Lisa said. “He’ll come
around eventually. The separation has to be hurting him as much as
it’s hurting you. You two are so close. He’s got to be feeling it.”
Lisa paused. “And maybe you can look at the bright side.”

“What bright side?”

Lisa offered a sheepish grin. “That you and
Mark can spend your first holiday together, just the two of you.”
Her voice lilted like she was making a suggestion. “Knowing Mark,
he’ll make Christmas extra special for you.” There was that
mischievous grin again. Whatever Lisa was hiding from her, Mark was
somehow involved.

“Have you two been conspiring behind my
back?”

Lisa’s eyes shot wide and her mouth fell open
as if she were affronted.

“I knew it.” Karma dropped her pizza on her
plate and leaned forward. “What are you two up to?”

Lisa shook her head, averting her gaze as she
nibbled her bottom lip. “Nothing.” But her resolve appeared to be
cracking.

“Uh-huh.” Karma wasn’t buying it, but at
least she wasn’t as depressed about her dad shunning her, anymore.
Now she was distracted trying to figure out what Lisa and Mark had
up their sleeves. “If you were really my friend, you’d tell
me.”

Lisa huffed and tossed Karma a plaintive
look. “I’m sworn to secrecy, so stop tempting me. He would kill me
if I let something slip, and unlike you, I still have to work with
him. Just know that it’s killing me not to tell you. You already
know more than you should, anyway.” She was about to fidget out of
her seat. From excitement or guilt, Karma wasn’t sure.

Karma shot her a dramatic glare. “I’m not
sure I like leaving you two alone together at Solar. Especially if
it means you’re going to gang up on me like this.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “You make us sound so
devious. We’re not ganging up on you.”

Stewing over the great void of not knowing
what awaited her at some unforeseen future moment, Karma grumbled
as she picked at her pizza. “Just remember paybacks are a bitch,
Lisa. Maybe I’ll return your Christmas present.”

“You already gave it to me.” Lisa smiled
smugly then sank her teeth into another bite of pizza.

Karma sneered at her then grinned. “Your
birthday present then.”

“Oh, calm down.” Lisa giggled
conspiratorially. “And oh my God, Karma, you’re going to love it.
You’ll thank me later for keeping it a secret.”

“We’ll see.”

But she knew from experience that whatever
Mark had planned, she would, most definitely, love it. Without even
making an effort, Mark possessed an uncanny ability to make the
mundane spectacular, the boring riveting, and the everyday
extraordinary.

“Well, since you’re dead set on not telling
me about whatever it is you and Mark are planning”—she narrowed her
eyes in a fake glare—“at least fill me in on how the search for my
replacement is coming along.”

“Slow but steady. Mark’s pretty picky, but I
think we’ll eventually find what he needs.”

What he needs.

As far as Karma was concerned,
she
was
what he needed. For as long as they’d known one another, she’d been
his assistant. That had been her identifier and what, ultimately,
had brought them together. Now she worked elsewhere. The connection
that had defined so much of their relationship was now fading into
the past.

They no longer needed to hide their
relationship from the public. They no longer needed to maintain
secrecy. For the first time, they were free and clear to be openly
together.

Which was a tiny bit scary, because now they
needed to find where they fit with one another when work didn’t
dominate so much of their relationship. When she’d worked with him,
she’d seen him almost every day at the office. Now, he still worked
at Solar. She didn’t. And even though she had no reason to doubt
his feelings, a tiny niggle of insecurity fed the paranoia just
waiting to launch an all-out assault on her emotions.

Okay, confession time. She was jealous of his
new assistant. There, she’d admitted it.

She dropped her gaze to her fingers, picking
at the corner of her paper napkin again. “You know, this really
kind of sucks. I miss working with him. What if—”

“Stop.” Lisa held up her hand. “Just stop
right there, sweetie. Because I’ve known you too long not to know
what you’re thinking.” Lisa sighed and shook her head. “Honey, you
are the apple of Mark’s eye, and no one’s
ever
going to
replace you. And that’s coming from him, not me.”

Karma perked up. “What do you mean? Did he
say that?” An unexpected thrill shot through her.

“No, but he might as well have.” Lisa washed
down a bite of pizza then plunked her cup on the table. “That man
is as bad as your father, Karma. So damn stubborn. Do you realize
we’ve brought in six temps, and Mark has found something wrong with
every single one of them?” She rolled her eyes. “That man is the
damn pickiest man I’ve ever met. He wants another you, but I can’t
make him realize you were an exception. Most of these gals don’t
have the level of education you do, nor do they have the
experience. And you think differently than the typical
administrative assistant. You think more like a manager.” She
sighed, her eyebrows raised. “But Mark is looking for that needle
in the haystack. And he is getting seriously frustrated we can’t
find it. And as a result, he’s seriously frustrating
me
.”
She planted her open palm in the center of her chest.

Karma giggled then forced herself to stop
when she saw the irritated expression on Lisa’s face. “I’m sorry,
Leese. I don’t mean to laugh, but you have to admit, this is a bit
of an ego boost.” The thought that Mark couldn’t find a suitable
new assistant secretly elated her. It shouldn’t have, but it
did.

Lisa leaned across the table. “Karma, I like
Mark, but if he doesn’t find his new assistant—and I mean soon, ego
boost or not—you could end up with a eunuch for a boyfriend.”

Karma laughed. “Don’t you dare touch my man’s
manly parts.”

“I can’t make any promises. I mean, really,
Karma. I’m about to hurt him. Seriously.” Lisa’s eyes opened wide,
emphasizing her frustration over the situation.

Karma understood. After all, she’d worked for
the guy and dated him for five nonconsecutive months. If anyone
knew how particular Mark was, she did.

“I’m sorry, Leese.” But she liked knowing she
was irreplaceable. “Maybe things will turn around soon.”

Lisa huffed. “Do you realize he’s in my
office within a day of a new temp starting, complaining about how
this one isn’t proficient enough in PowerPoint or Excel, and then
the next one isn’t assertive enough. The one we dismissed Tuesday
was too gossipy.”

“Mark detests gossip. You know that.” Karma
sat a little higher, her ego inflating by the second.

“Exactly.” Lisa calmed as if a moment of Zen
had come over her. “Hopefully, the gal we brought in yesterday will
work out. Mark hasn’t complained about her yet, so there’s reason
to hope.”

“Oh?” Karma’s bubble deflated, her shoulders
slumping.

Lisa gave her a suspicious sidelong glance.
“I saw that. You like that he’s having so much trouble finding a
new assistant, aren’t you? You little sadist.” She tore off another
slice of pizza and held it in front of her mouth, her eyes never
wavering from Karma’s. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Karma sighed and wrinkled her nose as if
she’d smelled a rotten egg. Sometimes it sucked that Lisa knew her
so well. “Fine. I’m secretly happy he’s having so much trouble
finding a new me.”

Lisa laughed. “I knew it.”

“What can I say? I’m possessive.”

Lisa’s eyebrows bunched. “You’ve never been
possessive before.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I was and just didn’t
know it until now. After all, Mark
is
my first real
boyfriend.” She didn’t count the guy from high school, who’d been
more of a friend. And she didn’t count the jerk she’d spent a few
weeks with in college, who ditched her the day after she slept with
him. And Mark had come along before Brad, who she’d never felt a
strong connection to. “Maybe I’m learning that I’m more possessive
than I thought.”

“And Mark
is
all about teaching you
new things, right?” Lisa narrowed her eyes knowingly.

Karma had told Lisa all about the sex lessons
Mark had given her during their four-month affair two summers ago.
He’d been a brilliant teacher, too, helping Karma feel things she’d
only read about in books or seen in movies.

“Something tells me jealousy and
possessiveness weren’t what he had in mind,” she said.

Lisa wiped a dab of tomato sauce from the
corner of her mouth. “Hey, it comes with the territory,
sweetie.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to be
that
girl.”

“Please.” Lisa waved her off. “You will never
be
that
girl. Besides, it’s perfectly normal to feel a
little territorial and hate the idea of someone else stomping
around on your turf. And don’t forget I know how you put Jolene in
her place a time or two, as well. You have a possessive streak in
you, missy. Admit it.”

Jolene. Karma simply wanted to forget that
bitch had ever existed.

“It’s just that he and I worked so well
together.”

One of Lisa’s eyebrows shot up, and she
acerbically lowered her chin. “Girl, I think everyone knows just
how well you two worked together.” She sucked cola through her
straw, innocently batting her eyelashes, before adding, “And that,
my dear, is why you no longer work for the company.”

Karma rolled her eyes to glance out the
window at the fat, lazy snowflakes drifting to the ground, where
they melted on contact. “Quit reminding me.” She was happy with her
new job, but sometimes she missed working with Mark to the point of
distraction. Once she was up to her ears in manuscripts, she had a
feeling she’d get used to the new situation, but for now, putting
the past in the past proved challenging.

Without missing a beat, Lisa added, “I can
only imagine what could have gone on in your private meetings had
you stayed.” She snickered as she set down her cup. Lisa knew what
had gone on between her and Mark at the office, right down to the
wicked conference room sex against the wall two summers ago.

Karma kept no secrets from Lisa.

“Okay, fine. So Mark and I have a disease
called we-can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other. Sue me.”

Lisa’s loud laughter broke through the other
conversations in the dining room, making several nearby diners turn
their way.

“But . . .” Karma raised her
index finger. “We always got our work done.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure you did.”

Karma sneered at her. “We did.” Deciding to
get back on topic, she asked, “So, who’s this
scag
you’ve
brought in to try and fill my very unfillable shoes?” She pushed
her empty plate aside and crossed her forearms on the table.