Wiped Out Read Online Free PDF Page B

But no, not bees. Bees were much too tame by comparison. It was more like Rita had stirred up the mother of all hornets’ nests.
    Several loud raps sounded. “Order, please,” Mimi cried, but the women ignored her. “Ladies!” Mimi rapped sharply again and kept rapping until the chatter finally died to a low murmur. “I think that now would be a good time for our break,” she said, her voice quivering with emotion. “There’s coffee, wine, and pastries in the dining room across the hallway. We’ll reconvene in about twenty minutes.”
    Uh oh . Suddenly realizing that her presence in the dining room could be construed as eavesdropping, Charlotte tucked her feather duster beneath her arm and hurried back into the kitchen. She was bent over her supply carrier when Mimi entered the room only seconds later. Charlotte straightened. Mimi’s face was pale, and she looked as if any minute she were going to burst into tears.
    â€œCharlotte, I’m going upstairs for a few minutes,” Mimi said, an edge of desperation in her voice. “Would you please make sure that everyone has what they need?” Without waiting for Charlotte’s answer, she turned and fled the room.
    Charlotte wanted to feel sorry for Mimi, and she did, but only up to a point. In Charlotte’s opinion, Mimi had no one but herself to blame for the fiasco with Rita. She could have let the group vote again, as Rita had requested. That would have been the gracious thing to do, the fair thing. But she hadn’t, and because she hadn’t, and because of what June had done, Charlotte just couldn’t sympathize as much as she would have under other circumstances.
    With a sigh, Charlotte wandered into the dining room to check on things. Whether she agreed or disagreed with what Mimi and June had done didn’t matter in the long run. What mattered right now was that Mimi was her employer, and she still had a job to finish.
    Even with a dozen women milling around, the dining room was large enough that it wasn’t overly crowded. Charlotte paused just inside the doorway and glanced around. She spotted June almost immediately standing near the buffet with a glass of wine in her hand. Looking as innocent as a newborn lamb, she was laughing and talking to a small group of women. Almost as soon as Charlotte saw June, June glanced up and saw Charlotte. June abruptly excused herself from the group and made a beeline for Charlotte.
    When she reached Charlotte, she took her by the arm and pulled her just inside the kitchen. “Do you know where Mimi got off to?”
    Charlotte didn’t appreciate the accusatory tone in June’s voice at all—a tone that insinuated that Mimi’s disappearance was Charlotte’s fault. She firmly pulled her arm from June’s grasp and fought the urge to rub it, not from pain, but simply because she also didn’t appreciate being manhandled by anyone, least of all someone who was almost a complete stranger. Using all the self-control she could muster, she said, “Mimi went upstairs for a few moments.”
    June’s face wrinkled with concern. “Did she say why?”
    â€œNo, she didn’t.”
    â€œHmm, maybe I’d better go check on her, just to make sure she’s okay.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know how much of what went on in there you heard”—she waved toward the parlor—“but we had a little altercation with one of the members—a slight misunderstanding—and, well, the member got upset, and Mimi—poor thing—takes everything to heart.”
    A slight misunderstanding? First the woman manhandles her, and now she was insulting her intelligence. Charlotte felt her temper rise.
    â€œAnyway,” June continued, “I won’t be gone but a moment, so just make sure everyone has what they need until I get back.”
    Yes, ma’am; no, ma’am; right away,