Off Her Game (Excerpt)

Darren stopped, turned slowly and surveyed his friends. He was being a jerk. He knew that. He flashed a hopefully disarming grin. “I’m not going to sit at home and get drunk, okay?”

“You promise?”

He nodded. “I promise. I’ll call you guys later. Enjoy your Friday!”

He left them then, and headed to his car. He’d parked a couple blocks away to avoid the metered parking. It was good, though. He needed the walk to cool off. His whole body raged with hot anger. His hand lifted, touched the papers in his front inside pocket. Cooling off wasn’t quite what he needed. The rage over Angela’s behavior had passed. He just wanted to be numb now.

*                       *                       *

Valerie pulled up to the Teen Outreach Center. Looking at the place now, the building didn’t look right. The parking lot, normally so full on the weekdays, was completely empty. Where were all the people? The clients, the patients, anyone?

The silence turned her stomach, her footsteps echoing through the tiled hallway. The receptionist was there, but didn’t even glance her way as she made her way behind the private areas of the center. The door clanged shut loudly behind her, trapping her.

Of course she could have turned and left, but her feet propelled her forward. She didn’t like being there. It was Friday, so there should have been people there. The board was scheduled to visit today, but even if they voted to shut the center down, there should have been some activity. The fact there wasn’t worried her.

She knocked on her boss’s door, and heard a muffled “Come in!” She inched the door open, drawing it out like she could keep whatever bad news there was at bay longer.

Emery Donaldson sat behind his desk, his hair badly mussed by his fingers dragging through it. He was a high-strung fellow, and how he’d been put into the position of facility director was beyond Val. It wasn’t hard to see that right in that moment, the man was stressed.

“Hey, Emery.” She flashed an uneasy grin in his direction.

Emery froze, his stressed expression darkening. Usually, her smiles disarmed him, but this morning, he looked miserable. “Valerie. Hey.” He shuffled things on his desk and pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

Frowning, Val sat. Leaning back against the seat, she looked at Emery. He was all nerves. His eyes darted everywhere. He bit his lip. A fresh sheen of sweat glistened on his face from the light of the window.

“What's wrong, Emery?”

He let out a long breath that lasted several beats. “The board was here earlier.”

“Oh. I thought I would be here when they got here.” Val said, her body drumming with tension. “It didn't go well?”

“No. Not at all.” He rustled papers on his desk and threw them on a stack.

“What does that mean?”

Emery wasn’t exactly a calm individual, but she’d never seen him like this. Not even when his wife left him. The board being here and Emery’s behavior meant one thing. They’d made a decision.

“Are they shutting us down?” She clenched her fists tightly, her fingernails digging into her palm.

“No,” he stretched the word out for a second or two, matching the rhythmic beat of his fan.

“That's great news then.” Val said, but Emery wasn’t smiling. The ice in her blood dropped a few degrees. Then it came to her. The only reason Emery would be so upset was if he was the one they’d axed. He was the facility’s director. He was a full-time employee, unlike the counselors that were contracted. And he cost more money than they did.