Free The Organization by Lucy di Legge

intensity.  In her downtime, she felt herself happily relaxing, humming as she walked, savoring her private mental replays of the moments she had spent with Harriet.  She knew there was something about the situation, about Harriet, that she couldn’t quite figure out.  She had the distinct feeling that Harriet was trying very hard to keep some secret part of herself closed off, but Charlotte clung to the fleeting moment of when Harriet’s guard had come down.  It gave her hope that Harriet would let her guard down again.
    “Collins can’t stop raving about the good work you’re doing,” Joanna said at lunch, sitting on the bench under the flickering lights.
    Charlotte gave a short laugh.  “Not true.  He isn’t allowed to talk about the work we do.”
    “Well, he doesn’t talk about the details, of course, but he said you’re an innovative thinker, that your solutions show a kind of creativity that surprises even him,” Joanna said with a hint of some emotion that Charlotte couldn’t quite place.  Was it admiration or jealousy?
    Charlotte took a drink of soup from her company-issued thermos.  “That’s nice of you to tell me,” she said.
    Joanna shrugged.  “What are friends for?  I’m glad to see you’re finding a good fit in our lab.  Maybe I’m being selfish, but I hope you’ll stick around,” Joanna said, smiling.
    Charlotte felt a twinge of guilt at having suspected Joanna was jealous.  She decided to change the subject and repent by confiding in her friend.  “You may have been right about Harriet, by the way.”
    “What do you mean?” Joanna asked.
    “It’s just, I mean, you’re right that I like her,” Charlotte admitted.  She felt Joanna tense and she began to second-guess her decision to confide in her.  She added quickly, “But it’s nothing.  There are lots of interesting, attractive women out there.”  What was it that Maggie used to say?  That’s right, Throw out the shovel.  You’re just digging yourself a deeper hole. Charlotte could still hear Maggie’s voice telling her that, teasing her, but the situation felt more serious now.  On top of that, her heart began to ache at the thought of Maggie.  She pushed the thought of her dead wife from her mind.
    Joanna was quiet for several long moments before she said, “Like I told you before, just be careful.”
    Charlotte made herself take a deep breath before responding.  “Oh, of course.  You have nothing to worry about,” she replied in what she hoped would pass for a casual tone.
     

Chapter Fourteen
    With her canvass bag full of glass and scrap metal, Charlotte waited in line with the other scavengers.  The day was similar – hot, humid, crowded – as the last time she had stood in this line.  She thought back to the strange series of events: the papers fluttering down, landing in puddles and disintegrating as everyone scattered, then the man asking if she were a friend of George and telling her an address to seek out.  She still didn’t know what to make of it all.
    She made it through the line, her bag emptied, without anything out of the ordinary happening.  She half-expected to see the man in the tan overcoat and plaid hat, but he was nowhere to be found.  She wasn’t sure if she were relieved or disappointed.  She walked for only a few blocks before the mood around her changed considerably, where the passersby wore visibly more expensive clothes and walked at a more leisurely pace.  The shops looked more like boutiques and sold luxury items: chocolates and candies, loose tea and coffee beans, and flowers of all varieties.
    The shop that Charlotte entered was full of flowers of every color that she could imagine and in at least a dozen varieties: tulips, roses, daffodils, lilies, daisies, orchids, peonies, and more for which she couldn’t immediately come up with the common name although she knew the scientific names of some of them.  She hadn’t been in a flower shop since she had