E. Godz Read Online Free PDF Page B

I-want-to-work-with-orphans-and-small-animals speech. "Po' ittoo
Peezie-pie," he said sadly. "No friends then, nothing but business acquaintances now. No
one you can really talk to but me."
    "You are not the only one I can talk to," Peez insisted angrily, rising partway out of
her chair. "My life is made up of more than just business acquaintances."
    "Of course it is." Teddy Tumtum couldn't blink, lacking eyelids, but he still managed
to project the effect of a Southern belle coyly batting her lashes at some helpless beau.
"There's always your family."
    Peez sat down. Hard. Her mouth became a hyphen. Teddy Tumtum smiled. "And how
is your beloved baby brother these days?" he asked, letting syrup drip over every syllable.
    "How would I know?" Peez shot back. "The only time I see him or hear from him is
when we need to discuss the business. And that's the only time I want to see or hear from
him, the self-satisfied, smug, egotistical, unbearable little jerk!"
    The bear looked bemused. " 'Little'? The last time I saw him, he was taller than you
by a head."
    "An empty head," Peez gritted. "Not that it's doing him any harm in the Miami office.
He could have a double lobotomy and still be sharper than half the population of South
Beach." In spite of herself, Peez felt tears rising in her pale blue eyes. Furiously she tried
to fight them back by shouting, "It's not fair, Teddy Tumtum!"
    "What's not fair? The fact that Dov's tall and blond, tanned and toned, charming and
handsome? The fact that he's only got to whistle once if he wants to find himself covered
with starlets and supermodels? The fact that from the time you were both kids he always
managed to have friends—real friends—and you couldn't do it to save your life?"
    "The hell with all of that." Peez spat. "What fries my tail is the way that bubble-
brained son of a bitch wouldn't recognize what real work looks like if it spat in his silly
face, but Edwina still put him in charge of the Miami office!"
    "Is that all you care about?" Teddy Tumtum gave Peez a curious look. "The
business?"
    "Why not?" she replied. "The business is all I've got to care about. You just proved
that yourself. And it's the only reason anyone on earth ever cares about me. A kiss is just
a kiss, but if all I can hope to get are kiss-ups, I'm willing to settle for that."
    The bear pretended to wipe a tear from its green glass eye. "Ah, my child, you have
learned your lesson well. You can leave the monastery. Do not pass Go, do not collect
two hundred dollars, do not let the doorknob hit you in the butt on your way out."
    "Would you just shut the hell—?"
    Peez's exasperation was cut short by the hum of the fax machine in the corner. The
silver amulet affixed to the front of the machine added its two cents to the interruption by
announcing: "Personal message from Edwina Godz for your immediate attention and
reply, Ms. Peez."
    Peez cast a jaded glance at the fax machine. "Isn't that just like Mother? Probably just
some stupid little nitpicky reminder for me to update the client database when she knows
that I do it automatically twice a week without being told. I'll bet she never bothers Dov
with this kind of garbage, even though he's the one who could use the nudge. Well, this
time she can wait." She sounded as sulky as a two-year-old on a naptime strike.
    "No, she can't," said the fax machine amulet.
    Peez leveled a warning finger at it. "Don't you start with me. I'm not in the mood."
    "Who's starting?" the amulet argued. "I'm just doing my job."
    "By enforcing my mother's bidding? By making sure I jump high enough when she
says 'frog'?"
    "By making sure you don't get turned into one," the amulet snapped back. "There's a
whole lot of things your brother could do with all that power."
    A suspicious look crossed Peez's face. "All what power?"
    "Oh, so now you're interested? Well, you'll find out soon enough." The amulet was
gloating. "That is, you'll find out the hard way