The Empath Cycle: 2010 Carpe Diem - Book 1

"And I want pictures and a full report first thing Monday morning." Nadine called at her retreating back.

At the end of the day, Anne-Marie pulled Ann from her desk. They took the elevator together and, for the first time, she was glad for the crowd. She could brush Ann's hand with hers innocently. What really made her day was when she was pushed back against Ann. The feeling of Ann's body molded closely to hers inflamed her senses. Which might explain how she found the courage to hug her before walking away with a spring in her step.

Here they were, barely a week later, so secure in their love that Ann allowed her to play with another woman and she felt no jealousy as she did the same. Over the week-end, it had been under very special circumstances. This was deliberate and assumed. What had she done to deserve this?

Over the years, there had been only very few occasions where Julia and Ryanna had played with other women away from their wives. Each time they had spoken of it with them before. This time, they had all agreed that the women were honorary members of the family.

Not only did Sylvie owe her life to Ann's extraordinary accomplishment -- which they had yet to understand --, they also were instrumental in the creation of the special channel between Ryanna and Julia, something else that would require much research.

Karlie and Jade had been impressed by their interactions with them, limited as they had been. As for Patricia, she would move heaven and earth for them.

So Julia had been happy to get the occasion to express her gratitude in a more relaxed setting. Anne-Marie was a bundle of energy in her arms... Or so she felt at first.

Julia and Ryanna kept their shields raised tight when around others except for professional reasons and then it was under supervision. It was a sacrosanct rule for all talents. They now found that they couldn't completely close themselves to these women.

Julia was the first to feel it when Anne-Marie was overwhelmed by the realisation of how much Ann really loved her. She cradled Anne-Marie's head in the crook of her neck as she sobbed quietly and her tears of joy fell.

Ryanna felt it too through their link. She leaned on Ann and whispered in her ear. "However much she thinks she wants to play with us, you're the one she needs right now."

They joined their respective partners on the rear bench and cuddled with them.

When Anne-Marie felt Ann close to her, she turned, wide eyed, and cried "I love you so much!" as she lunged at her.

Ryanna and Julia moved to the other seat and watched them with misty eyes as they cuddled and whispered to each other all the way home.

As the car neared Anne-Marie's house, Ryanna cleared her throat to get their attention.

"We're almost there, girls. We should get dressed. I doubt your neighbors are used to casual nudity." Ryanna told them.

"No, they're not, though that may change." Anne-Marie laughed. "What's that truck parked in front of my house?"

"We were all impressed by your computer skills, Ann. Sylvie, in particular. Over the years, she augmented her system to suit her needs. She said you might appreciate the tool for whatever you might need it." Julia explained. "This is a copy of the system you used in her office."

Ann's expression darkened. "I will not be bought by gadgets. I don't even know how I did what I did, but that's a one-time only thing."

"You misunderstand us." Ryanna explained quickly. "This is a gift with no strings attached, from one geek to another, you might say. Sylvie said to tell you it has the same US military grade firewalls her system has -- we have some well-placed family contacts -- and that she and a cousin created some mean ICE. You didn't face it because you rammed through her wall from the inside out, but anyone trying to break in would have some nasty surprises. She also said to tell you that you don't need to hack into most university databases. Here is a list of usernames and passwords. Should you require access that is not on this list, just ask and she can get it for you in no time at all."

"Turn that frown upside down, my love." Anne-Marie told Ann. "If you don't like it, you can return it or dump it in the trash, but just think of all the porn we can watch on such a system."

That got Ann out of feeling indebted for this gift. "You are such a sex fiend. Do you ever think of anything else?"

"I'm not. Not at all. You are the one who brings out the best in me. That's another thing we need to talk about."

"Speaking of which." Ann told Ryanna and Julia. "You said you had much to tell us, but we have to talk to each other too. We came in late last night and were at work early so we could catch up. We haven't had much time to talk. There were already things we wanted to discuss before all hell broke loose. I don't know what your plans are, but... "She exchanged a look with Anne-Marie. "There is a guest bedroom..."

"We will leave you two alone." Julia said. "We have a house in the city. Stéphane can sleep there. The limo is at your disposition for the rest of the week. So, tell us when you want to leave in the morning and we will pick you up. We have some business to conduct during the day, but we will be at your office in the evening. When you are ready, we will tell you what you need to know and answer all your questions."

Epilogue

By the end of the week, Ann had requisitioned a large closet to serve as a storeroom for basic supplies. For the moment, the inventory flow would be managed on the honor system. There was a bottom number for everything at which point the item would be ordered to a pre-determined maximum quantity.

She had made an inventory of all the unused equipment left over from finished projects or obsolete but still salvageable or useful for minor applications. To the teams' shame, they realized that they had bought instruments or pieces of equipment they already had in stock. She pushed out one of Jules' walls, taking some unused space in the adjacent office, and created a stockroom. All the IT guys had pitched in to set up an in-house electronics department to which all the teams would refer to before ordering new equipment.

She had emailed the salespersons for each of the suppliers who had gouged the division for years and politely requested their presence for a meeting on Thursday morning. A few called Mr. White to know what that was all about and tell him that they were busy people not at the beck and call of some junior admin. These received a second email telling them their presence was no longer required. They were proud of themselves until their respective supervisors asked why their sales had dropped significantly in the previous month.

The others she met. She asked them why they had let the situation go on for so long when they knew perfectly well they were stealing from their client. Those who tried to bluster their way through were thanked for their presence and escorted out. Some explained that they had pointed out the need to consolidate the purchases, but had been told that it was the way things were done. She already knew who these were before they arrived. To them, she explained the new way things would run. She gave them conservative estimates of the quantities required over the next year. She also told them she already had quotes from other suppliers who could beat the best prices they had listed previously -- even with shipping from as far as North Carolina --, so they should sharpen their pencils if they wanted to keep the division as a client.

She had had a meeting with the head of the mailroom where she learned all she needed to know about shippers and the contacts in each company. By Friday morning, she had renegotiated all the contracts but two who refused. These were simply dropped from the list they would use in the future.

All these were the nitty gritty, the routine stuff she felt could have been done by any admin worth her salt.

The accomplishment she was proudest of was the introduction of open source software. She had already been aware of the trend and of the enormous amount of money they could save the division in licenses only. To everyone's surprise, all the programmer knew that too and were using them on their personal systems.

When it became known that Elexis and André were working on a secret pilot project, they all asked to join in. They were put to task on the program to manage the Purchasing Office.

After lunch on Friday, they crowded into Jean-Luc's office where his old-school dry eraser white board was ceremoniously replaced by a seventy-two-inch flat screen and the IT people explained to him the three input method at his disposal: graphic tablet, keyboard and light pen.

Ann stepped out to let the geeks play with the new toy. She was walking to her office, already deep in thought planning the next step in implementing her vision in other divisions when she had to step aside to avoid an unexpected obstacle in the corridor.

"Good afternoon, Ann." Sylvie said gaily.

She was in a wheelchair which was guided by a beaming Patricia.

"Hi, boss." Ann replied. "You're looking good."

"That's thanks to my attending's physician's prescribed regimen and Nurse Ratched here." She said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "She won't let me get away with anything. Could you please tell her that Thai food is healthy too?"

"You do look much better than the last time I saw you, but what are you doing here? We didn't expect you for a week or two more."

"Honestly? I was bored." She dropped her voice. "Studying your work on my computer was fine enough, but I wanted to move around. They won't let me go back to see if I can repair the island. That's right, you don't know what happened there. We'll talk about it at some time."

"They're right, you know, boss." Ann told her. "Until you're in full health, it may be dangerous and we don't know if our... hum... special intervention would work a second time. I for one am not ready for you to risk it."

"I know. I know. But they won't even have make love to me." She whined.

"The anticipation will do her good." Patricia grinned. "See where it got her when she indulged herself without thinking of the consequences. Speaking of which. How are Ryanna and Julia?"

"They're fine, as far as I know." Ann said, "Why?"

"After you left, they were feeling so guilty about what happened they stayed in their room and cried all day. We tried everything we could think of to bring them out of this funk, but nothing worked." Patricia told her.

"That's when this wonderful woman had the idea that seeing you and interacting with you would help them." Sylvie said.

"I didn't know about all that, but they sure helped us. We had lots to process ourselves. They've been a great help." Sylvie grinned when Ann used her special formula. "I don't know how good therapists they are, but we sure appreciate their help. We took them out for a ride a couple of evenings. They are... nice passengers." Ann blushed at she remembered feeling of Ryanna pressed against her back with only the two thin layers of material of their t-shirts separating them, of her wandering hands around her waist... most of the time. "They invited us to eat at this fancy restaurant tonight. Won't you join us?"

"I'm sure something can be arranged. Hey what's all this?" Sylvie exclaimed as they entered Ann's office. Every available surface was covered in flowers. Her wall were decorated with laminated reproductions of old Coca-Cola posters and there was an antique Coke machine with a stack of six-ounce green bottles in wood cases beside it.

"You see, boss, these started to arrive Tuesday and I get a new delivery every day. By yesterday, I had to shuffle the overflow to other offices. I tried to put a stop to it because the smell was getting so thick it was giving me a headache. That's when the posters appeared on my wall when I was out of the office. When I came back from a meeting this morning, the Coke machine was there."

"I see." Sylvie said with an evil grin. "I expected something like this, though not that they would go to such extremes."

"Oh, I also got season tickets in the reds to the Bell center. I mean, I don't even like hockey, boss."

"That's all right. There are a few Habs fans who will be happy to take them off your hands, but before you give them away, take Karlie with you to a couple of games. She'll show you how to enjoy yourself there."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I only wish they would stop with all that. They said it was in appreciation for my work with the purchasing, but it really wasn't a big deal."

"It's about more than that." Sylvie told her. "They want to poach you so you will work for them even though I told them I had seen you first and that you were mine. Don't look so shocked. Of course you will work for the other teams. It's only a figure of speech. Even team leaders can have their fun now and again. Which reminds me... This is your cue, love."

"Oh, sorry." Patricia fished around in her purse and handed a small package to Ann. It was wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon and bow. Looking at her watch, she went on. "Perfect timing. Now, darling Ann, you pick up whatever you want to bring with you and take the elevator to the garage. Wait until you get there to open the box."

"But it's only three pm. I still have work to do. I want to..."

"No buts, missy, and I would hurry if I was you."

"Yes, boss."

Ann hurried.

Mr. White was at the elevator bank holding one for her. He showed her a key in the selector panel and told her he wanted it back. He pressed the button for the executive garage and wished her a great week-end after asking for a picture.

Ann had no idea what he meant. She was fidgeting when she realized she was in the executive car. She had heard of it, but to actually be riding it by herself...

She was still examining the reproductions of famous paintings on the walls when the elevator pinged.

When the door whooshed open, her jaw dropped and she blushed to the tip of her ears.

Parked right in front of her was a brand new burgundy Honda Accord LX Sedan with a huge red bow on top to match that on the box in her shaking hand.

There was a crowd of onlookers around the car, held back by Karlie, Jade, Ryanna and Julia. Whether they were gawking at the car or at Anne-Marie who was lounging on the hood wearing the 'bikini' she had worn on the picture she had 'accidentally' sent Ann, there was no doubt as to where Ann's eyes were fixed.

"What?" Anne-Marie grinned. "Haven't you ever seen a new car before?"

Ann was still rooted on the spot when the elevator car opened behind her.

"Hey! I asked you to take pictures." Jack laughed.

"Surely you remember your younger days, Jack." Patricia teased. "Hélène told me how you two would..."

"I'll have to remember to thank my lovely wife for this." He grumbled good-naturedly.

"That's all right, Uncle Jack." Julia told him. "We already took lots of pictures of Anne-Marie alone and with us. We're waiting for Ann to get over the shock and we'll take some with her too."

"Dear Ann." Jack told her. "This is a token of our appreciation for all the good work you did here, but mostly for the family. We got the idea when you told Ryanna about your plan to buy a used car and use the metro system from Angrignon station to avoid the traffic. You could always do that or use your reserved parking space in the employee's section of this garage. There's an electronic tag on the windshield to get in and out. The car was Sylvie's idea. It may not be your very own Coke machine in your office, but she hoped it would tilt the balance in her favor when you choose who will get the first priority when it's time to select a project to work on."

He jumped out of Sylvie's reach as he said the last.

"The parking pass was my own touch. If it means you will arrive earlier and leave later, well, so be it."

"You really are slave drivers." Ann laughed with them.

"Hey!" Said a sultry voice from behind Ann. "What about me? I'm not chopped liver." Anne-Marie pouted.

"No, my love, you definitely are not." Ann exclaimed as she rushed to her. She was crying with happiness when Anne-Marie took her in her arms.