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“I think you probably need a college degree to get it to spit out what you want.” She eyed Natalie from the corner of her eye. “Are you all right, sweetie? You look a little under the weather, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

Natalie swallowed, then shook her head.“It’s my brother. He lost his job and got kicked out of his apartment, so he’s been staying with me. And he’s a good kid, you know, but I live in a small flat, and it’s not been easy sharing the space.”

“I hear you,” said Vesta. “I’ve been sharing a place with my daughter and her husband, and it’s been an adjustment for all of us. I used to live alone, and giving up my own space was tough at first. Lucky for me they’re both great people.”

“You’re the new senior intern, aren’t you?”

“Vesta Muffin. And you’re… Natalie? Madison’s PA?”

Natalie nodded, offering Vesta a weak smile.“So how are you getting on? Settling in all right?”

“Oh, sure,” Vesta assured the young woman. “I’ve been working for my son-in-law for years, you know, as his receptionist. Tex is a doctor, and I’ve been handling his roster of patients. So I never really retired.”

Natalie frowned.“Tex Poole?”

“That’s the one.”

“A friend of mine is one of his patients.”

“Best doctor in town, let me tell you. If you’re ever in any trouble, he’s the person to see.”

Natalie nodded, and much to Vesta’s surprise, tears had appeared in the girl’s eyes. She quickly turned her face away, and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s this whole business with my brother, you see. It’s been pretty rough.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” said Vesta. Though the business with the boss’s baby was probably having an even worse effect on the young PA. She placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “If you want to talk about it, I’m a good listener,” she assured her.

Natalie nodded, but didn’t speak. The machine had finished sputtering and spitting and had managed to produce something that looked like a hot cup of chocolate. Vesta took it and tried a sip. “This is some pretty good stuff,” she said.

Natalie smiled.“You sound surprised. You shouldn’t. Madison takes good care of his staff.” Her smile faltered. “At least he tries to.” And then she murmured an apology and quickly left the canteen, without even having taken a cup of coffee.

“Poor girl,” said Vesta, shaking her head.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Scarlett was taking her mission seriously. She had grabbed a sheaf of documents from her desk and headed over to Tom Mitchell’s desk. The kid looked up when she approached, and plastered a polite smile on his face.

“Hi, there,” she said as she came walking up. “I’m hoping you could help me out with this. Someone from accounting gave me this printout, and I’m having trouble understanding what it is exactly that they want me to do.”

“Well, let me see,” said Tom as he took the stack of paper from her and placed them on his desk. He frowned as he studied the columns and columns of names and numbers. “So these are…”

“The names and addresses of subscribers who canceled their subscriptions,” Scarlett supplied as she glanced in the direction of Natalie, who had just returned to her desk. From where Tom was sitting he had a perfect view of the PA, and also of Michael Madison, whose office was just beyond Natalie’s desk.

“So what is it that accounting wants you to do with these?” asked Tom.

“They want me to cross-check this printout against this printout,” said Scarlett, and dumped another stack of paper on Tom’s desk. “These are the people who took advantage of the digital subscription offer, which is cheaper than the paper one.”

“Okay, so what you want to do is—”

“Is thatGlimmer?” asked Scarlett, pointing to the young man’s computer.

“Yeah, I’m working on an article about spring cleaning,” said Tom. “Why, do you readGlimmer?”

“Do I readGlimmer! I only devour the magazine, and have done since just about forever. In fact my mom subscribed toGlimmer, and before her my grandma. You could say the Canyons madeGlimmer what it is today.”

“Loyal reader, huh?” said Tom. “I wish there were more of you.”

“Readership is dropping?”

“Yeah, circulation numbers are down across the board.” He smiled. “Which is why it’s important to keep loyal readers like yourself happy and renewing their subscriptions. I’m Tom, by the way. And you’re one of the new senior interns, correct?”

“Oh, how silly of me. Totally forgot to introduce myself! Yeah, my name is Scarlett, and me and my friend Vesta are Advantage’s newest hires. Yay!”

“Welcome aboard, Scarlett. Glad to see a new face around here.”

“Yeah, it means things can’t be so bad, if Advantage is still hiring.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are an intern, right? So not paid?”

“Yeah, Madison got a good deal when he got us. Lots of experience, and free of charge!”

At the mention of the name Madison, a cloud passed across Tom’s visage, but it soon passed. “I think you’ll fit right in. We’re a great little bunch here at Advantage.”