Barb called down to Sasha, the night doorman on duty, who let Danita in and overrode the elevator lock for the top floor. Meanwhile, Barb threw on a robe and made a cup of drip brew. By the time the elevator doors opened, she was standing in her entrance hall, sipping kopi luwak.
Danita barely waited for the doors to open before pushing her way through. She took a couple of steps and stopped, looking around.
“This whole floor is your apartment?” she said. “There isn’t even a lobby?”
“That’s right.”
“You really are rich, aren’t you?”
“Let’s just say I’m in the oh-oh-one percent but not the oh-oh-oh-one percent.”
“What’s that you’re drinking? Thousand-year-old scotch?”
“From a coffee cup? No, dear, this is coffee.”
“But it’s expensive coffee, right?”
“Well, wild-collected kopi luwak does tend to run a bit pricey.”
“How do you spell that?” Danita got out her phone and typed the letters Barb gave her. She was quiet for a moment and then burst out laughing.
“‘Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, ’” she read off her phone. ‘Kopi luwak’ is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. The cherries are fermented as they pass through a civet cat’s intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected.’”
“It’s a bit of an acquired taste,” admitted Barb. “But there’s nothing quite like it.”
“You’re rich all right, paying $1300 a bag to drink cat shit.”
#
Barb showed Danita to the guest room and helped her get settled in.
“Sleep as late as you like,” said Barb. “We’ll talk when you wake up.”
She shut the girl’s door and walked to the kitchen. The coffee she’d drunk so far had helped her be alert for Danita’s arrival, but if she finished the cup, she knew she’d be up for the rest of the night. She poured the rest down the sink after looking around to make sure she was alone.
She wasn’t exactly ashamed of wasting the money, but she wouldn’t want to be teased about it. A woman did have her pride.
#
When morning came, Barb was surprised to find her bedside clock reading 9:55. She hadn’t slept this late in ages. As she sat up, her head swam just a little, and she yawned in unison with Marmalade, who stood and stretched, arching her orange back toward the ceiling.
Barb stood and grabbed for her robe. She padded through the hallway so as not to disturb her guest, but when she got to the kitchen, Danita was already up.
“How do you like your omelette?” said Danita.
“After my coffee.”
“I got you covered.” Danita handed Barb a steaming mug.
Barb took a tentative sip and found it to be brewed perfectly. She also noted a second mug sitting on the counter.
“Not above trying a cup yourself?”
“You only live once.”
“What do you think?”
“Those civet cats have pretty awesome digestive enzymes.”
After making them both omelettes, Danita led Barb out onto her own balcony. The table was set with a white tablecloth, Barb’s best silver, and a carafe of fresh-squeezed orange juice beside a split of Moet & Chandon and a plate of chocolate croissants.
“How did you manage all this?” said Barb.
“I called the front desk. They were more than happy to help out.”
“You’ve made your point. You’re competent and resourceful.”
“I bring other qualifications to the table as well.” Danita pulled out her phone. “Here’s my résumé.”
Barb’s phone pinged with an AirDrop. She accepted and scanned through the document.
“You have a Bachelors in Business?”
“I was in the first year of my MBA when I met Dave. At first, he pretended to be supportive, but later, on he said no woman of his was going to be flouncing around in an office full of rich businessmen. He forced me to drop out. I was lucky he even let me work in the coffee shop.”
There were plenty of pointed comments Barb could have made about the dead man, but after the previous night’s discussion, she decided the wisest choice was to keep her silence.
Over the rest of breakfast, they hashed out the terms of Danita’s employment. She would have the title of “Executive Assistant.” Her salary would be substantially higher than what she’d been earning at the coffee shop, and as part of her remuneration, Barb would supply her with a fully-furnished one-bedroom apartment in the building.
“You’re shitting me.”
“I assure you I’m not.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
“Because I can. And because if you’re going to be any use to me, I can’t have you distracted worrying about where you’re going to live.”
Danita and Barb cleared the table and carried the dishes to the kitchen.
“I can do this,” said Danita.
“If I’d wanted a maid, I’d have hired one. And at considerably less than I’ve just agreed to pay you.”
Once everything was cleaned and put away, they retired to the living room. As Barb dialed the number for her contracts lawyer, Danita slipped off her shoes, sitting on the sofa with her legs up under her. She pulled out her phone and began reading.
Barb quickly gave the lawyer the details for Danita’s employment contract. He asked a few pertinent questions, which she quickly answered. He promised to have something ready for her by end of day, and Barb hung up, content. What a pleasure it was to deal with a true professional. The next professional she called was the sales agent for the building. In this case, not only was the agent a professional, she also worked on commission, which meant she was more than happy to meet them on short notice.
As Barb was finishing her calls, Marmalade came wandering out of the back. She walked over to the intruder and studied her. Barb waited to see what the verdict would be. After a moment, Marmalade jumped up onto the back of the sofa and strolled across to where Danita was studying her phone. She stared at Danita, waiting to be acknowledged.
When Danita didn’t look up from her phone, Marmalade took a step closer, crowding her. Catching the motion out of the corner of her eye, Danita looked up, gave the cat a small smile, and reached out a hand to pet her. This was the moment of truth. Marmalade would either deign to accept the pet or reject it with a snarl—or a nip of her teeth.
The tips of Danita’s fingers made contact with Marmalade’s head. The cat’s body tensed, and Barb was certain a nip was forthcoming. Before Marmalade could attack, Danita lifted her hand and, looking straight in the cat’s eyes, let loose a fierce hiss. Marmalade flinched, and when Danita re-extended her hand, the cat, cowed, accepted the petting and even leaned into it.
Barb was impressed. This girl had hidden depths.
#
That afternoon, the sales agent met Barb and Danita and toured them through the available units. They were all spectacular, but Danita’s clear favorite was a newly renovated corner apartment one floor down from Barb. When the sales agent quoted the price, Danita looked sick, but Barb merely nodded.
Barb phoned her lawyer to handle the paperwork, made an appointment for the afternoon with her interior decorator, and took Danita downstairs to introduce her to Fernando.
“He’ll take care of you,” said Barb. “Won’t you, Fernando?”
“Absolutely, Ms. Barb,” he said, then turned to Danita. “You need anything at all, Ms. Danita, you just come to Fernando.” He gave her a smile and a wink that somehow managed to be fatherly rather than creepy.
“Actually, I could use a little help unloading my backseat and carrying my things up,” said Danita.
“Consider it done.” He held out his hand for her keys.
The decorator showed up promptly at two. He was a fussy little man, trailed by a pair of assistants loaded down with sample books. First, he insisted on touring Danita’s new place, dictating copious notes to the older of the assistants. By that time, Fernando had arranged to have Danita’s possessions brought up, and the handful of cardboard boxes looked pathetically meager in the middle of the spacious living room.
After that, they returned to Barb’s penthouse, spreading the samples on the dining table. Barb was impressed with how decisive Danita was and how she didn’t let herself be cowed by the decorator when he made a face at her choice of window treatments.
“I wouldn’t,” he said.
“Then it’s a good thing I’ll be living here and not you, isn’t it?”
#
After the decorator left, Danita returned to her perch on the sofa, pulling out her phone. Marmalade roused from the chair where she was curled up and trotted over to jump into the girl’s lap. Danita petted her absently as the cat purred loudly enough for Barb to hear it across the room.
“Traitor,” she said.
“Excuse me?” said Danita, looking up from her phone.
“Nothing.”
“How soon do you think you’ll be ready to tackle a new project?” said Danita.
“I suppose when the right opportunity presents itself.”
“How will you know when that is?”
“I’ll feel it. Why do you ask?”
“I think I have one right here.”
#
“What have you got?” said Barb.
“It’s an email from my mom.”
“Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“It’s not her. It’s the neighbors down the road. The Sanchezes. An older couple who are about to lose their farm.”
“I don’t mean to be callous,” said Barb, “but isn’t that what happens?”
“That’s not the whole story. Apparently, some Silicon Valley billionaire set his sights on the farm. Instead of offering a fair price, he paid off the County Ag Agent, who cited the family for all kinds of bogus infractions. Are you starting to feel it?”
“Go on.”
“Before they had the chance to respond, the county shut the farm down, the bank called their loan, and the sheriff set a date to auction off their farm.”
“I’m starting to feel it,” said Barb.
“There’s more,” said Danita. “The husband has liver cancer. He was scheduled for a really promising experimental treatment, but all their money is tied up by the bank.”
“How does your mother know all this?”
“She says everyone knows it. But no one speaks up for fear they’ll get the same treatment.”
“Does this billionaire have a name?”
“It’s kind of a funny one.”
Barb had a sudden, ugly premonition. “It wouldn’t be ‘Peter Jackery,’ would it?”
“How did you know?”
“Let’s just say I learned long ago that the universe has a very dark sense of humor.”