Free Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruise Page B

office. Except
there wasn't enough room. Maybe the desk—

No.

She looked at him, reading the stupid WBBB handbook, that lock of
blond-brown hair falling over his forehead. The best thing she could do
would be to stay away from him as much as possible. While he was on the
air, there would be a glass wall between them, so that was safe enough.
And maybe they could discuss the show through memos instead of
face-to-face.

Eace-to-face made her think of his mouth.

Definitely memos.

Charlie read something that was particularly inane and groaned.

"I told you it would be bad," Allie said unsympathetically. She had to
get away from him. She had
to do things that did not include
fantasizing about being pressed against a wall while his hands—

She grabbed her coffee cup and stood up. "Listen, if you're happy here
for a while, I promised to talk
to some people. If you want coffee, the
break room is down the hall, turn to the left, first door on the
left.
You can't miss it."

"Coffee is not going to make this garbage better," Charlie said.

"Be sure to mention that to Bill at the meeting at five," Allie said
and made her escape.
    *  *  *
Allie got coffee from the break room, smiling absently at Mark and
Harry
the Howler who were
talking cars. She wasn't even mad at Mark anymore.
Amazing what good sex and a new shot at a
career could do for a woman's
outlook. Mark looked at her strangely, so she ignored him. She had
enough to do without worrying about Mark, especially since worrying
about Mark was no longer
her job. This was an incredibly cheering thought in a day that had been
pretty cheerful to
start with.

Buoyed beyond reason, she left the break room and went back to doing
what she did best: keeping
the station ticking. She picked up the
ratings from Albert, promised Marcia they'd have a late lunch
the next
day to discuss her show and headed for the receptionist's counter.

"Hey, Karen," she said as she breezed into the lobby. She picked up a
cookie from a plate on the
counter and bit into it. "Where did the
almond cookies come from?"

"Mrs. Winthrop brought them in for Grady again, but he said to leave
them here for everybody."
Karen looked around and then crooked a finger
at her. "Come here for a minute."

Allie popped the rest of the cookie in her mouth and went behind the
counter, mystified.

Karen picked up a basket covered with a baby quilt. "I'm in big
trouble, Allie, and I don't know what
to do."

Allie prayed there wasn't a baby in the basket. Some things were beyond
even her ability to fix. Then
she looked at the dark circles under
Karen's eyes and felt ashamed. "You look awful," Allie said.
"What's
wrong?"

"I have to feed him every hour and I can't get to sleep in between.
I've been doing it for two days
now, and I'm afraid he's going to die."
Karen started to cry, and Allie took the basket from her,
expecting the
worst.

It was almost that bad. Under the blanket, nestled in soft flannel, was
a tiny black puppy, no bigger
than two of Allie's fingers. "Oh, no."
Allie shot ah anguished look at Karen. "What happened?"

Karen's words came out in a rush. "Mopsy had her puppies, but there
were too many, and he came
last, and he can't suck or something, and
she doesn't even seem to notice him." She gulped in some
air. "And I've
been trying to feed him every hour, but I'm not getting much down him,
and I think
he's going to die." Tears started in her eyes, and she sniffed them
back. "And I'm so tired, Allie.
I just can't think what to do."

Allie put the blanket back over the basket. "Is the formula in here?"

Karen nodded. "And the bottle and everything."

Allie patted her on the shoulder. "Go home at five and sleep. We'll
take
it from here."

Karen blinked. "I don't have permission to have him at the station.
Bill doesn't know."

"Bill doesn't have to know. Charlie and I can handle it until two, and
then Grady's in." Allie grinned
at her. "And you know Grady and nature.
He'll probably have this little guy sitting up and