CHAPTER 9

Shana walked into the imposing headquarters of Anderson Group the next morning and she could have sworn the security at the door gave her a second look.
She made her way to the elevator, her thoughts revolving around the problems that came with her assignment, failing to notice the interesting glances she was getting.
In the short period of time she had worked with Asher Anderson, she had observed two things about him; although he could be overbearing and bossy, he was very considerate and secondly, his employees respected him. At first glance it just seemed like everyone was scared of him because he held the power but it was more than that.
Although he was not the type to fish out compliments and give back slaps, he definitely appreciated his employees. He gave them bonuses and the work was so flexible with many hands on deck. She had always assumed big cooperation's had geeky, overworked staffs with irritable temperamental CEOs but he had proved her wrong.
The blonde who happened to walk by her with a tentative and obviously interested smile on her face at that moment looked robust and under worked because Shana could feel her eyes boring into her instead of going about her work.
So were the three men and two women in the elevator when she got in. They all seemed to be giving her looks that were longer than necessary.
Did she have something on her head? Her hand automatically went to the hair, smoothening her not so well kept curls.
Or was it her face? Her hand also went to her face. She ran her hand over her cheeks and licked her dry lips, trying to get dome moisture in.
When the elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and they all got out, she took a deep breath and finally had the opportunity to examine herself well.
She bent her head to the side and tried to get s view of her backside.
Plain black skirt without a single stain covering a big ass at that moment jutting out and announcing to the world about the extra pounds she carried; nothing unusual there. She also examined her front and found nothing out of place before the elevator stopped and a woman got in.
The woman, with straight black hair and blue eyes stood stiffly at one side of the elevator for few seconds, staring pointedly at her.
Why was everyone staring at her for goodness sake?
"Hi." Her fellow occupant said all of a sudden, jolting her out of her curiosity.
"Hi," she said and tried to smile.
"I'm Liby," she said stretching out her hand. Shana took it and introduced herself.
"It's nice to meet you Shana," she said before she got off on her floor with a knowing smile on her face
What was going on that no one was letting her in on?
Then the elevator stopped on her floor and she hurried out quickly, feeling choked in the small space.
She almost ran into her office to retrieve s mirror to look at herself.
Big brown boring eyes that almost took over her whole small face stared back at her. Her face was pale as usual and she pinched her cheeks to get some color in them and her pink bow lips looked dry. She tried licking them again, knowing that was just going to make them drier but she had no other choice. She was not the regular female that went around with a lip gloss or even owned one. She had never seen the use for them until recently. Her hair was out of place as usual and strands were struggling to take residence in her eyes but that was not out of the ordinary too.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she concluded that if she was going to seduce Asher and make him fall for her, she was going to have to do a better job and change her shabby appearance.
But how to do that, she had no idea.
She soon forgot all about her look and settled in to take care of the reason she had reported to work.
Normally, she had nothing to do since she was supposed to be with Asher on his trip but that had fallen through.
She chuckled to herself when she remembered the livid look on his face when he had discovered she could not travel with him.
Served his cocky, egoistic ass right. She had not put up much of a fight when he had been decreeing she was coming with him because she had known there was no way she could leave the country without a passport.
If he had just a tiny little bit of chivalry in him and communicated with her politely about coming on a trip with him when she was not even needed,she would have also given him the courtesy and told him about her lack of a passport.
But no. He had been the ego ladened male until the very end and see where that had gotten him.
Shana would have loved to go on the trip with him. Her body even tinged at the idea of staying with him alone in his penthouse for days but she was scared.
She had set out to fulfill Adam's wish and perform her duty at all costs, after all, that was all there is to being a Crier. But all that had been before she met the man, Asher Anderson.
The enemy had stared up feelings in her she could not ignore but so also could her duty not be neglected.
He had told her he needed her, whatever that meant. It had seemed like he was making it all easy for her and she could have latched on to that confession at the time to lead him on.
But it had felt wrong.
Definitely, she had felt her heart needing him too, felt her body clamoring for his and she had wanted to confess to him how being in his presence alone without even touching made her feel. They had all been the right feeling but it had all felt wrong.
Her reason for being there was wrong, the underhanded way she had gotten her job-she still had no idea how that came about tho, had also been wrong.
Shana felt like she was living a life that did not belong to her. If Adam had never come into her life, she would never be working at a desk.
Scratch that.
If she had not been a vengeful bitch and not attracted a vengeful and bitter ghost, she would be working at the cafe, living her ordinary life and not having to worry about what she had to wear daily or how she looked in it.
She would not have her heart beating, a heart that threatens to fly off whenever she was near her boss. If only she had continued being Miss Goody Two-shoes.
Enough of self pity, she chastised herself. When Asher got back, she was going to stick all over him like gum to teeth. She was done being righteous, done being good.
Even in the face of love, she had to pick her duty. Her grandmother had taught her that.
That decided, Shana picked up the phone on her desk and punched in the number she knew in her head. She could have used a phonebooth like she had always done instead of coming all the way to the office but she had been restless staying home and had felt the need to leave her little room.
After her trance, the room had remained colder than it used to and she had been feeling the need to stay there as little as possible as days went by because it seemed to get colder.
Adam was definitely lingering around her. Why?
Probably the ghost was checking out her progress and making a progress report in his realm.
"Hello. This is Birdman Hardware Store. How may I help you?"
The gruff, merry voice at the other end of the line snapped her out of her thoughts and she could not help smiling, a real smile, different from the one she had plastered on her face as she made her way through the interested looks that morning. The teenager on the other end muttered another "Hello" impatiently when she did not talk immediately.
"Hey Quinn. It's been a while."
"Holy cow! Shana. It's you," he replied excitedly, recognizing the voice immediately.
He was the only human close to a friend she had even if they never hang out together.
Quinn was the son of Abigail, the leukemic boy whom his mother had tried all her best to raise money for his bone marrow transplant before her traumatic death. When she had appeared to Shana to get the money needed for her son's surgery to him because she had no other relative, Shana had felt the need to stay by the lost teenage boy through the surgery.
She had met him once after the surgery, claiming she was a friend of his mom and she had watched him recover before she disappeared for good.
But she never truly left him. She had watched the social services help him after his mother's death and they had put him in foster care where he was well treated.
Quinn was now a high school senior and in robust health. He was even doing well in sports after his successful surgery and he was certainly going to bag a sports scholarship.
By her own choice, she called him on every birthday and sent him a card.
Just like she did for Debby, the friend she had lost.
"Shana?," he said hesitantly into the phone when she was not saying anything,thinking he had made a wrong guess.
"I'm here Quinn. You sound so grown up," she said, the smile evident in her voice as she tried to picture him in her head.
"I'm really. I'll bet I'm a couple feet taller than you are now. It's so good to hear from you," he continued excitedly.
"Happy birthday Quinn."
"Thank you but I'm left wondering how you know where to send the card all the time and how you always know the number to call. Do you stalk me or something? Are you a pervert? Do I need to watch my back?," he asked teasingly.
The questions made her laugh. "You should definitely watch your back young man but not for me. Watch for those hearts you've broken. I bet there's a long line of them," she said through her laughter.
"Oh please. The ladies aren't that into me."
"Tell me about it," she invited.
"You know I'll love to but only if I get to see you. I'll tell you a lot more than my adventures with ladies," he said, his voice growing quiet.
Just like it was playing out, it did every single year whenever she called him.
Quinn wanted to see her, maybe because she had told him she was a friend to a mother he still missed or it had to do with the fact that she had been there through his surgery. Whatever the case, she could hear the love, and maybe a teeny weeny bit of hero worship in his voice.
That was an emotion that was rarely ever directed at her and she loved it. Also, she wanted it to stay that way. If Quinn got to know who she truly was, he was bound to leave her, running with his tails between his legs just like Debby had. She was never going to risk the thin cord of friendship by meeting up with him.
Like she had said several times in the past, she repeated again in a monotonous voice, "Someday Quinn but I'm kind of busy at the moment."
"I knew you were going to say that," he said, sighing in defeat "But I truly wish our meeting happens. I never really got to thank you, you know," he carried on gloomily.
"Staying healthy is enough thanks for me Quinn."
"Still haven't gotten a cell phone?"
"No."
He sighed again. "I can't even contact you when I feel like talking."
"I'm sorry Quinn." She was going to budge. She loved the connection they had. "Are you good? School OK?"
"Perfectly fine. Like you already know, I got a part-time job at the hardware store close to school."
"I'm so proud of you Quinn. So would Abigail."
"Yeah, right." He took a long pause, probably thinking about his dead mom. "Are you good? Wanna tell me about your adventure with the guys?"
Shana laughed again, harder this time around.
If only he knew what her true adventures were all about.