An Accidental Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

other.
    “Peter, I would love that,” she breathed. “I’ll check my calendar and make it work if you can.”
    “Good,” he said. “Let’s plan on it.”
    Through the window she watched him back the car out of the driveway. Then, turning back to the paper again, the room spun. She braced her elbows on the table and covered her face. No. No. No.
    Not again. Closing her eyes, she let a few minutes pass. And then she shoved back the chair and hurried through the kitchen and down the hallway, walls swaying around her.

5
    When she reached the office, Rebecca looked up the name of a doctor. She looked at the number she’d written down and put down the pen thinking she was feeling better and perhaps didn’t need a doctor after all. But then her stomach churned.
    Resigned, she picked up the telephone and dialed.
    The appointment was confirmed for four o’clock the following afternoon.
    Just then Rose Marie hurried into the office, breathless.
    Rebecca hung up the phone, turned back to her desk and looked at her secretary. “What’s got you all riled up?”
    “ Spin-it —that new magazine everyone reads?” Rebecca nodded her head. “Well, they want to interview you. They saw the firm’s partnership announcements, and want to fit you into an article they’re doing on ten women in law to watch. But they’re just about to go to press, so the schedule is tight.”
    Rose Marie threw up her hands. “They’ve chosen you as one of the group.”
    Rebecca stared. “Me?” Spin -it was a national magazine, very avant-gard . Her mind spun with possibilities. “What about Amalise?”
    “They didn’t mention her.”
    “Oh.”
    “They’re on the phone right now. They want to schedule the interview day after tomorrow. Asked if that would work for you.” Rose Marie smiled and glanced at the credenza where Rebecca kept her calendar. “Check the date, they’re holding.”
    Rebecca picked up the calendar, still open, and put it on her desk, scanning the schedule. “I could do it Wednesday morning.” If she was to escape to Italy with Peter, she’d need time on Wednesday afternoon to transition the bond deal to Sydney. She smoothed both hands over the pages of the calendar, then looked at Rose. “Is this for real?”
    Rose Marie glittered. “Oh yes. They said they also saw the article in New Woman a few months ago. They want to send a reporter and a photographer and they’ve asked which hotel to book, one that’s close. I told them the Roosevelt.” Rose Marie spun around. “I’ll go confirm it now.” Looking back over her shoulder just before she disappeared through the door, she laughed and said, “Rebecca, you’re going to be a star.”
    Rebecca, smiling, waved her off and pulled a file across her desk. But when Rose Marie was gone, she looked up again, her mind racing. She looked around the office, wondering if it would be possible to get into her new partner’s office before the Spin-it people arrived. The managing partner could make it happen, she knew, and he’d be thrilled about the publicity for the firm.
    Picking up the phone, she dialed Doug Bastion’s office. Wanda Stanford replied that Mr. Bastion was busy at that moment, but that he would call back.
    Rebecca knew better. Hold onto control. She said she’d wait.
    Leaning back in the chair, Rebecca envisioned Doug’s face when she told him of the article that would reach every client’s desk. She was certain Doug would find a way to get her moved into the new office before those Spin-it people showed up.
    For a moment she entertained the thought of inviting Amalise to join the interview. But, quickly she discarded the idea. That could complicate her request for a quick office move. And besides, they had chosen her, not Amalise . . .

    Two hours later, carrying an armload of documents, Rebecca strode into the conference room on the eighteenth floor of Mangen & Morris for the meeting on the bond offering. Today, as an antidote to the anxiety that