Free The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots by Loretta Hill

Lena saw Harry quickly scoop a coaster that had the Fremantle team’s emblem and colours on it into a drawer at his elbow.
    She bit her lip to keep from laughing. Carl remained oblivious. His attention was still on her.
    ‘Your schedule is asap. Your due date is yesterday and your pace should be the speed of light. Don’t fuckin’ get me to explain fuckin’ common sense concepts. Just fuckin’ hurry up.’
    ‘Carl,’ one of the secretaries called out from across the office, ‘phone for you.’
    ‘Fuck!’
    Lena watched with relief as he disappeared back into his office. ‘Close call,’ she said to Harry.
    ‘T-tell me about it,’ he stuttered.
    ‘Well, thanks.’ She turned to go back to her desk, dragging her feet on the dirty vinyl floors.
    What am I supposed to do now? Carl wasn’t any help at all.
    ‘If . . . if I may.’ Harry tentatively solicited her attention.
    At this point, Lena was desperate for help of any kind. She turned back without hesitation. ‘You may.’
    Harry opened a large black file and ran a nimble finger over several coloured dividers before finally resting on the tab of his choice. He flicked open this section and turned the file around so that it was facing her. ‘This was the original plan for headstock installation.’
    In front of her was a bar chart, with dates running along the horizontal axis and milestones running along the vertical axis.
    Lena gasped. ‘According to this we’re supposed to be putting in four headstocks a day.’
    ‘How many are you putting in now?’ Harry enquired.
    ‘Two.’
    ‘I’d say you’ve got room for improvement.’
    ‘But how?’ Lena said, more to herself than to him. ‘Mike’s just . . . Urgh! ’
    Even if she did come up with a solution, it was highly unlikely that Mike would cooperate with it.
    ‘I . . . I know.’
    Lena’s eyes flicked back to Harry. His hands fidgeted on the desktop like he wanted to say something but was too afraid to.
    What does he know that I don’t?
    ‘Don’t go quiet on me now, Harry,’ she warned. ‘Spit it out. I won’t bite.’
    His Adam’s apple bobbled in his throat. ‘Sometimes I hear the guys bitching about Mike after work.’ He lowered his voice. ‘They say he’s got tunnel vision and doesn’t listen to any of their suggestions. Maybe –’
    A flash of light! ‘It’s all right, Harry. I know exactly what you’re telling me. In fact,’ Lena’s grin stretched from ear to ear, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.’
    She headed back to her own desk, eagerly rubbing her palms together. Mike was an obstacle and the only way to deal with obstacles was to walk around them. After all, what did she do when the shoes she owned didn’t match her new outfit?
    She bought new shoes, of course. True, she probably had too many pairs. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, Mike was a pair of shoes that didn’t go with anything. She had to stop trying to fit him into her plans, when she could do much better without him.
    Excitement made her move faster. She rolled up a couple of drawings to take with her and went outside to catch the bus. Sharon was leaning against it, munching an apple and waiting for the hour to tick round. She threw the core in a nearby bin when she saw Lena and boarded the bus. ‘I suppose you’re coming with me.’
    ‘You bet.’
    Sharon started the engine as Lena got on. Once again, there was no one else making the trip out to the wharf. She took the seat directly behind Sharon and the redhead drove the bus out onto the dusty site track.
    ‘So,’ Sharon looked at her in the rear-view mirror, ‘I’ve been hearing some interesting rumours about you.’
    ‘You have?’ Lena tried to look innocent as images of Bulldog’s incredible calf muscles flashed across her mind. She veiled her eyes. Sharon couldn’t possibly have heard about her run-in with Dan at the gym, could she? Nobody knew about that.
    Not even Radar.
    Of course, Sharon wasn’t