Page 19 of Not Bad for a Girl

Pssst—Heidi, it was me.Patrick.I created a diversion.

So I don’t need to run?Heidi.

Exit in a calm and orderly manner, Patrick responded.Don’t you know anything about fire safety, Heidi?

But if it’s not an actual fire, Imma take my time,she wrote back.

It might be by now, I threw in.He legit set the break room on fire.

Allegedly, Patrick answered. What’s the boss’s name, Ana?

Melon Hamster-pants I think, Heidi texted.

I frowned.Are you Ana? His name is MELVIN HAMMER.

I jammed my phone in my back pocket, feeling a weird mixture of intense relief and dread, as I sprinted up the five flights of stairs to the twentieth floor, against the crowd heading downward. No one seemed to pay me any attention. I was sweaty and breathless by the time I arrived at the break room. Sure enough, there was a smoking bag of popcorn placed on top of the refrigerator, which was directly under the smoke alarm. Why did he have to put it up so high? I grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the kitchenette and, balancing carefully, grabbed the smoking bag. I threw it in the sink and turned on the water. There was some hissing but no flames. I was thoroughly soaking the bag when someone touched my shoulder. I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Oh, hey, Taggart,” I said, leaning against the sink and trying to look casual despite the smoke hissing behind me.

He flipped the blond hair out of his eyes and grinned at me. “Hey, how you been? Are you setting the fire or putting it out?”

I stared at him. What kind of question was that? “I’m putting it out, Taggart. I’m saving your life right now.”

We both looked back over at the pathetic-looking wet bag in the sink and then at each other.

“Thanks,” he said. “I guess I owe you one.”

Um. Okay.“So great to catch-up, but we should probably vacate the building, don’t you think? And, you know, maybe keep this whole thing a secret? Whoever microwaved this bag is totally embarrassed and doesn’t want to get in trouble.”

“For sure,” he said. “Evacuation time!”

I fled the break room too quickly for him to follow, to head back down to the main lobby. I blended into the crowd in the stairwell, trudging down floor after floor. Most people were booking it, but I took a little more time. There wasn’t a real fire, at least not anymore, and my shoes didn’t mix with the cramped steps. After a few flights, Patrick caught up to me, breathless.

“I should have thought this through better,” he said between gasps. “I forgot they don’t let you use the elevators in a fire. We work way too high up for this kind of bullshit.”

“Thanks for helping,” I told him. “Melvin said we, or basically,I, have to land some new client or lose my job. Or, you know, Mr. Aaron does. The guy who plays rugby and barbecues or skydives or whatever men do.” I sighed. “Not Ana, the intern who eats Oreos and drinks bitter coffee.” At this point, the waning adrenaline had me winded, too. “I hate lying, Patrick.”

He nodded. “I know. I love that about you.”

We had let pretty much everyone go ahead of us, and I waved to a woman who was rounding the landing below us. I used to see her in the break room sometimes before my transfer. I thought her name was Molly. She was struggling with the stairs, and she stumbled starting down the next flight. I picked up the pace and grabbed her arm. “You okay?” I asked.

She was breathing heavily. “I never use the stairs.”

“Let me help you,” I told her, “and slow down. It’ll be all right, promise.”

She held on to my arm as she limped down the last few flights. I felt awful putting her in this position. Once we got outside, she thanked me and headed for the parking lot.

I found Patrick again in the crowd. “I didn’t know Molly was pregnant,” he whispered to me. “I feel bad we made her go down twenty flights of stairs in her condition.”

I made a slicing gesture with my hand at my neck. “I don’t think she’s pregnant,” I whispered back. He winced and looked around to see if she had heard us.

“My bad,” he stage-whispered. “Just carries her weight low. Glad I didn’t congratulate her.”

“Never, ever do that,” I said. I heard the sirens through all the other noise in the courtyard. It sounded like the whole fire department had come. It was the perfect amount of chaos to blend into and would hopefully give me enough time to escape.

Patrick looked around, then squeezed my hand. “I’ve got one more thing to do. Meet you by the fire trucks in a bit.” Before I could respond, he took off. I looked around until I found Heidi, who waved from the parking lot, where she was leaning against the hood of her car. “Isn’t this exciting?” she asked once I made my way over.

“No,” I answered distractedly. I moved behind her for cover and glanced around for Melvin, but I couldn’t find him. I did, however, catch sight of Patrick. He was talking to someone, then made a beeline across the grass. I turned to see where he was headed and gasped.