Chapter Six
Selection

Mina hardly had an appetite for her snack, once she got back to her cubicle. That had been... Not exactly unpleasant. Stephen Baxter was far too bland and good natured for that. But somehow it had been a bit disturbing.

He saw me. Why did that thought keep occurring to her? Of course he saw you, you idiot. You were standing right in front of him, in arm's reach. You shook hands, for heaven's sake. But a tiny part of her mind kept insisting You do that with a lot of people, and they still don't see you. I think he did.

She pushed the thought away, submersing herself once again in the soothing routine of her work. Read, sort, read again, then type, type, type. Or rather, to use the official term for it, enter data, enter data, enter data. Give them a new piece of electronic equipment, and they had to come up with a new term for what you did with it. She was transcribing, that was it: putting information from paper to floppy disk. It was a perfectly respectable occupation, and she had no need to be convinced that it was anything more than what it was.

She worked steadily till five o' clock, then worked an extra five minutes. Wouldn't do to have Hollachuck see her leaving on the dot. At last she saved the last file, turned off the computer, and got up out of her office chair.

Mina stretched, wincing. God, the sinews seemed to get tighter every year. she hadn't started creaking every time she changed position, but she supposed that was somewhere down the line.

Taking her purse, she went out to get her coat, and stopped with a silent groan. Axel Turner was there, flirting, as usual, with one of the office workers. Axel was a security guard who worked the evening shift at the building, four p.m. to midnight. He made it his duty to offer escort to their car to any female employee who was interested. Alex was a good looking guy, and there were a lot who took him up on the offer. A good number of them took him up on OTHER offers, too. Axel was more than a little full of himself.

Mina moved quietly to get her coat, hoping he would be too absorbed in his present occupation to notice her. Not a chance. Axel had radar that could detect female DNA through a brick wall.

He turned a blinding smile on Mina. "Well, if it isn't the prettiest data processor in the building."

MIna smiled in return, slipping into her coat, thinking Axel, you are so full of bull shit that I can't understand why your eyes are blue instead of brown. "You're too kind." And such a fucking liar.

"Need someone to walk you out to your car?"

Do I ever? And in broad daylight? "No thank you, Mr. Turner. I think I'll be safe enough."

"I feel a little nervous, Axel." The other woman, whom Mina couldn't for the life of her identify, batted mascaraed eyelashes.

"Well, that's just fine, little lady. Grab up your stuff, and I can walk you both out."

That pleased neither Mina, nor the other one, but neither of them said anything. It probably wouldn't have done any good, anyway.

Axel Turner was in his mid-twenties, blonde, good looking, and nicely built. He had never had a turn down that he took seriously, marking off the REALLY vehement refusals to a woman being 'on the rag'. Or possibly being gay, or at least frigid. Those were the only reasons he could understand for anyone turning him down. And some women Mina thought with weary astonishment, actually find this attractive.

He stood too close in the elevator, but at least he didn't try to put his hand on her waist, like he did with the other woman. When he tried to rest his hand on the small of her back as they left the building Like I'm a damn shopping cart that needs to be steered, she managed to move out of his reach without obvious effort. She was an expert at putting distance between herself and something unpleasant without drawing undue attention.

Miss Cindy Lou Who? was parked, of course, in one of the front ranks. She obviously wanted Axel to hang about and chat for a moment or two. But to both her and Mina's irritation, Turner sketched her a brief salute of farewell and followed Mina on toward the center of the almost deserted lot. Cindy Lou sprayed gravel on the way out. Hey, don't be mad at me, babe. Mina thought. You can have him.

"Starting to get dark earlier," Turner commented.

Well, at least he could make an occasional intelligent observation. "Yes. The days are getting shorter."

"Pretty soon it'll be dark when you leave, if you have to stay over the least little bit."

"That's true." She unlocked her car. Please, God, let the damn engine start. Don't let me have car trouble with this guy here. I'm not Catholic, but I'll do a few hail Marys, how's that?

She got the door open, and was ready to slip inside, when he put his hand casually on the roof, his arm blocking her way. "I want you to start waiting for me to walk you out. You shouldn't be wandering around out here in the dark." He smiled. "Something big and bad might jump on you."

Something wearing a security guard uniform, perhaps? "Oh, I'm sure I'll be all right, Mr. Turner. Thank you, anyway."

"The name's Axel, darlin'. And you're Mina, right? Nice name, Mina. Real feminine."

"Thank you." What is it with him? I'm more than a dozen years older than he is, and he has the entire female staff to choose from. Hell, and probably some of the male staff, too. Is it just some sort of a knee jerk reaction with him? If it's got double X chromosomes, flirt? "I'd like to chat, but I have to get home. I promised a neighbor I'd feed her cat." Not entirely a lie. I did promise... last summer.

He reluctantly removed his hand, unbarring her way, and she slipped into the car. "All right. But you and I need to have a good, long talk one of these days. I just know we have loads of things in common."

She smiled. Sure. We both breath, be both eat, we both sleep, we're both warm blooded... What more could you ask for? "That would be nice."

Axel wasn't quite as oblivious as Mina thought he was. He heard the hint of sarcasm she thought she had kept out of her voice, and his eyes narrowed. But his smile remained in place.

It took her three tries to get the engine to turn over, and then the car stalled twice while she was backing out. Axel watched it limp out of the lot and into traffic. Several cars swerved around the slow moving vehicle impatiently.

He walked back into the building to start his rounds. Miss Mina O'Connell. You're the only one who doesn't slaver like a bitch in heat. That makes me curious. I'm gonna have to pay a little more attention to you, girlfriend.

That evening, while Mina was trying to decide between Rice-a-Roni or Tuna Helper, Stephen was sitting down to his first course of herbed cream of mushroom soup. As he had requested, Dominic joined him at the table. "Dominic, you're not eating?"

The younger man shrugged. "I had a burger earlier."

"Your taste for mass produced junk when you have the services of the talented Miss Fulham constantly amazes me." He shrugged again. Stephen sipped his soup. "Did you see the young person safely back to her domicile?"

"Yeah. She was a little stiff and sore when I got through with her, but a soak in some Epsom salts will heal that up, quick enough."

"Good. And what else did you do today?"

"Nothing much more than the usual. Got your dry cleaning, picked up the mail again, grabbed a few groceries for Fulham."

"And?"

Dominic nodded, grinning, "And checked over The Tank, and spruced it up. I didn't forget."

"I didn't really think you would." Stephen nibbled the Melba toast that had accompanied the soup. He preferred it to saltines: much less messy. Stephen saved his messiness for places other than the dining table.

"I've been giving it a touch up once a month, anyway. I figured you'd need it again, sooner or later. All I had to do was dust a little, make sure the toilet was flushing okay, and change the sheets."

"Good, good."

"I... um. I also... cleaned out the Meditation Room. I hope you don't mind. I didn't actually throw anything away. I have all the photos boxed up, if you want them."

"No, I don't mind, Dominic. That was actually very thoughtful of you, since I will, of course, be redecorating the Meditation Room, once I choose my new pet. Just put the photos in the closet downstairs with the others."

"Speaking of the new pet, any possibilities? I know it's kinda soon."

"Yes, there are several likely prospects. Have you your notebook?"

"Sure." Dominic pulled a small spiral notebook out of his pocket, and clicked a fountain pen. "Shoot."

"Adrianna Barenski, Accounting. Torrie Schulburg, Accounting. Kenya Desmond, Housekeeping." Dominic wrote busily. "Leeanne Potter, Personnel. Su-Lin Liang, Mailroom. And Mina O'Connell, Records."

"Six. Sounds like a good start. Want me to pull the standard company records?"

"Yes, please." Miss Fulham removed the soup plate and replaced it with a spinach and bacon salad, with a raspberry vinaigrette. "We'll wait on pulling outside information till I narrow the field a little." He munched. "She's really outdone herself on the garlic croutons tonight."

"Fulham's big on the details, all right."

"Did you notice what else she has back there? I know she likes to surprise me, but... well..."

"Chicken Marsala, orange rice, and roasted asparagus with Hollandaise."

"Mm. I wonder if the woman is capable of making a simple meal? It almost killed her the last time I requested a plain steak. She nearly cried when I wouldn't let her dress it with a sauce or grilled mushrooms and onions. What does she have for dessert?"

"Some sort of white pudding-custard thingy."

"Was there a sprinkling of brown sugar on top, and the little blow torch on the counter?"

"Uh, no."

"Then it's probably blanc mange. If she had out the torch, it would have been creme brulee. Have the agency I used last time for the surveillance contact me tomorrow, and I'll make arrangements. They were quite satisfactory."

"Will do. I was talking to one of their guys the other day, and they just laid in some new equipment. They might be able to get you video, if you want it."

"Really?" Stephen was so interested that he laid down his fork for a moment. "That would be helpful in making my decision. It's always preferable to see how they act in their home environment, but I've never really been able to do that with my big pets."

"He claims he's done some work for the government, though I'm pretty convinced the establishment wouldn't pay him enough to keep him interested, and he DAMN sure wouldn't offer his services out of patriotism. Claims he can get you a full view of a room, no distortion, from a hole that..." He held up his fingers, nails of thumb and forefinger less than a quarter inch apart, "big."

"The more I hear, the more interested I become. Yes, I'll definitely want to speak to him. Not on the phone, I think, for a matter as delicate as this. Have him call me, and I'll chose a place to meet him."

"But you want them to start with straight identifying photos, right?"

"Yes. I will need them to help me visualize as I begin working out the pros and cons concerning each candidate. If you would, you might begin a bit of personal observation. You know that I value your opinion."

"Happy to." There was nothing Dominic would like more than an excuse to do a bit of stalking, and he would be well paid for his indulgence.

Miss Fulham removed the salad plate and replaced it with the plate of artfully arranged chicken, rice, and asparagus. Stephen smiled at her, "What a charming symphony of aroma, flavor and color contrasts. This will be a feast for the soul as well as the body, Miss Fulham."

She blushed, a rather alarming phenomenon. "Stop, sir. You know it's my pleasure. I just can't understand why such a charming man hasn't married."

He said, quietly, "Marriage would interfere with my hobbies..."