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to be able to sleep just yet. She still
hadn’t decided how she was going to handle things in the morning.
So she pulled out her yarn and knitting needles and settled on her
couch. If there was ever a time she needed the comfort of knitting,
it was now.
    Her needles and fingers moved
rhythmically as her mind raced. She should quit this job. Working
with people who hated her was not exactly fun. Yes, they’d judged
her on her past and who she was, and she fucking hated that. But
she also hated that she might be causing problems for an
organization that did a lot of good. She did not want to mess
things up for them.
    And if it wasn’t going to be a real
job, what was the point? She could quit. Surely to god she could go
out there and pound the pavement and find something that was real,
something she could be proud of.
    By the time her mind was calmer and
she felt more settled and ready to go to bed, that was her plan of
action for the morning—quitting.
    But by morning, things didn’t seem so
black and white. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe they really were
just trying to ease her into things on her first day and not
overwhelm her. Today she would work hard at figuring out everything
she needed to know and showing people that she was there to really
work. She’d give it a little more time.
    And she had that meeting with Matt
Heller.
    Which had nothing to do with her
decision.
    She and Dulcie spent the first part of
the morning reviewing the projects that Matt was working on in
preparation for the meeting with him. Honey had a lot of questions,
but Dulcie’s answers were brief, meaning Honey had to ask more
questions, which led to Dulcie frowning and looking at her
watch.
    “I’m sorry,” Honey finally said. “I
can tell my questions are annoying you. I know you’re busy. I’d
really like to learn so I can help you.”
    Dulcie sighed. “I have so much to do
before I leave on mat leave.”
    The foundation had a number of
existing projects that were well-organized and which Honey felt
would be easy for her to step into in Dulcie’s place. Well,
relatively easy, once she got to know them all. When it came to
finding generous corporate donors to sponsor some of the events,
ideas were popping into Honey’s head as she looked over the list of
past years’ sponsors.
    “When is your baby due?” she asked
Dulcie.
    “In about a month. But I’ll be going
on leave in two weeks.”
    Ack. Honey’d been hoping that before
Dulcie left she’d be able to learn enough to step into her shoes
and show everyone she could really help out. That wasn’t very
long.
    “And when do you plan to come back?”
Honey asked.
    “I’ll be taking my twelve weeks of
maternity leave.”
    Honey nodded. Even though they
apparently had no intention of her actually filling Dulcie’s
position, she was making that her goal. They might not have any
faith in her abilities but she was going to show them. The
temptation to quit still lingered, but she had a stubborn streak
that was being riled up and dammit, she was not going to let them
push her into a corner. So she had two weeks to learn as much as
she could before Dulcie left and then three months to prove to them
she could do the job. No pressure at all.
    Matt walked in to the office just as
she was walking back to her cubicle with a coffee from the small
kitchen/break room. He smelled like shower gel, his hair damp, face
still a little flushed. Her heart skipped a beat at his presence,
filling the room with his size and big smile.
    “Hi,” she said. “I’ll just let Dulcie
know you’re here. Um…would you like some coffee?”
    “No thanks. Don’t drink
coffee.”
    “Anything else…juice? Water?” She
wasn’t sure if they had juice, but they had a water
cooler.
    “I’m good. Just drank a few gallons
after practice.”
    “Okay. Have a seat. We’ll be right
with you.”
    She hustled down the corridor toward
Dulcie’s cubicle, her spiky heels muted on the carpet. She could
hear