Perfect Partners

clear Bigley was in the dark. “The hell with it. I’ll go see what she’s doing myself.”
    “Yes, sir.” Arthur was enormously relieved to be off the hook. “Oh, I almost forgot, sir. There have been a couple more calls from that Philip Dixon person. I informed Mrs. Sedgewick.”
    Joel, who was already turning away, paused. “You told him what I told you to tell him?”
    “Yes, Mr. Blackstone.” Arthur risked an anxious smile. “I told him that Ms. Thornquist could not come to the phone, just as you said.”
    “And you didn’t mention the calls to Ms. Thornquist?”
    “No, sir. Absolutely not. You said not to bother her with them, and I’ve been very careful to follow your instructions.”
    “Very good, Bigley. Ms. Thornquist has enough on her mind these days without having to deal with annoying phone calls.” Joel inclined his head in a brisk, brief nod of approval. “You’re doing a fine job. Keep up the good work.”
    “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Arthur appeared on the verge of collapsing from sheer relief. He reached for a fresh sheet of typing paper and started to insert it into his machine. Then he abruptly leaped to his feet as if he had been stung. “Oh, no.”
    Joel frowned. “What the hell’s the matter, Bigley?”
    “Nothing, sir. My contact lens just popped out, sir. I’ll find it right away, sir.” Arthur dropped to his knees and began sweeping the rug with a cautious hand.
    Satisfied that damage control operations were in effect and functioning in the president’s office, Joel headed down the hall to the stairs. He never took the elevator. You had to wait forever for the damn thing. At least it seemed to Joel that he had to wait forever. He noticed a lot of other people did not mind the short delays. At any given time he could find a large percentage of his staff standing around in the hall, wasting time while they waited for an elevator.
    He opened the stairwell door and started down, frowning in anticipation of what he might find in the conference room. During the past two weeks Letty had turned out to be energetic, unpredictable, and potentially the most explosive of the incendiary devices Joel was trying to juggle these days.
    She had thrown herself wholeheartedly into the business of learning all she could about Thornquist Gear. She was spending twelve hours a day in the building, working on the sales floor, out on the loading dock, and in the accounting department.
    Three days ago he’d found her trying on down jackets in the clothing department. The memory made him smile faintly. The thick, voluminous coats had swamped her small frame. The added layers of padding over her already pleasantly rounded bosom and hips had done amusing things to her figure. She had looked like a plump little pigeon with feathers fluffed against the cold.
    Joel, who had started to grin, had stopped immediately when she blithely informed him she thought Thornquist Gear needed to add a line of petite-sized down jackets.
    “These things look great if you’re six feet tall,” Letty said. “But for those of us who are five feet four or under, they’re a bit much.”
    “We’ll talk about it later, Ms. Thornquist,” Joel cut in before the floor manager could add his two cents to the discussion.
    She nodded, temporarily satisfied. “I also want to talk about widening the color range. Look at these jackets. Rows and rows of dull blue, flat green, and off-red. Not very exciting.”
    That observation annoyed Joel. “Those colors happen to be called midnight, khaki, and burgundy. They’re the most popular colors in down jackets.”
    “Well, I think we should consider carrying jackets in yellow, bright red, and turquoise,” Letty said, waxing enthusiastic. “At least in the women’s styles. Women like bright colors.”
    The floor manager started to nod in agreement.
    “I think we should discuss this at another time also, Ms. Thornquist,” Joel said very politely through his teeth.
    “Certainly. I’ll just make a note.” Letty whipped out a pen and jotted a few words down on a clipboard she carried with her everywhere.
    Joel had given strict orders that Ms. Thornquist was to be treated with the respect due the president and owner of the firm, but that she was not to be bothered with petty details. Unfortunately, Letty had a way of prying details out of people. Just last Wednesday, Joel had walked into her office and found her immersed in a printout of extensive data about last