Accidentally Yours by Bettye Griffin Read Free Book Online Page B

these men were dates. In both cases we had just met. So what if one cut his arm? People have freak accidents like that all the time. It was pretty mild as those things go. And people also get hurt skiing all the time. A twisted ankle isn’t a serious injury. The way Gordon was tangled up in his skis he’s lucky he didn’t break his leg. These two incidents are nothing more than unfortunate coincidences, and I think you’ve got a lot of nerve suggesting otherwise.”
    “ I didn’t mean anything by it. You’re right, it’s just coincidence. And just to prove I don’t think you’re a jinx, let’s hit the slopes together.”
    “ Only if you promise to run into a tree,” she snapped, beginning to walk again.
    Zack put his hand over his heart and looked wounded. “Ouch.”
    Vivian really didn ’t wish anything bad to happen to Zack, she was just still smarting from his inferring she was bad luck. She remembered how Gordon twisted his ankle and hoped Zack wouldn’t feel he had to outdo her.
    As it turned out that was an unnecessary concern. Zack was an excellent skier, zigzagging down the hill with true agility and gliding to a smooth stop at the bottom. It was all she could do to keep up with him.
    “Hey, you’re really good,” she said to him as they rode the lift. “You’ve been at this for a while, haven’t you?”
    “ Only a few years. NBP is big on skiing. I went to Switzerland with them last winter and practically lived on the slopes the whole time I was there. What about you?”
    Vivian recounted her background in the sport.
    “Ah, so you were one of those privileged Negroes from the suburbs.”
    “ Why, where did you grow up?”
    “ I’m a city kid from St. Nicholas Avenue, where we played on the sidewalks and any grass around was for viewing only and was cordoned off, like the Mona Lisa on exhibit.”
    “ New London was a nice place to grow up. I guess maybe I was a little privileged. But does that have to be dirty word?”
    “ No, of course not. It’s really what you make of yourself, not what your family has. And our generation had a lot of opportunities our parents, aunts, and uncles didn’t.”
    “ That’s very true. I’m sure your family is proud of you. Where did you go to school?”
    “ Howard.”
    “ What made you choose emergency medicine?”
    “ I know this sounds corny, but I wanted to help people. Believe me, there’s no difference in the length of time it takes to be an ER doctor than there is in being an ophthalmologist.”
    “ That’s true. But it probably requires a lot more practice.”
    “ All right. Now that I’ve told you all about me, don’t you think it’s your turn?”
    “ All right. You know where I’m from. I went to U. Mass, and I’m a human resources administrator.”
    “ You’re the one who summons the unsuspecting to your office on Friday afternoons and ruins their lives, huh?”
    “ No, but I conduct their exit interviews. We leave the firing to the individual managers, although a couple of the bigwigs have occasionally been too cowardly to let their secretaries go. That’s fallen to my manager, not to me.”
    “ Do I detect a bit of wistfulness?”
    “ I guess you do. I love my job, Zack, but I’m ready to be a manager myself.”
    “ So you can fire executive secretaries?”
    “ No, silly. I just want to be a manager. I’m qualified. I’ve been working in human resources ever since I finished college. My goal is to become a vice president, but I need a manager’s position first, then a director’s position, before I can even think about becoming an officer.”
    “ Ah, the pitfalls of corporate America.”
    “ It’s not so bad. There are perks.”
    “ Yes, I know. My buddy owns his own company, and every year he and his partner give themselves nice, fat bonuses.”
    Vivian almost said, “Austin,” but she caught herself. Once upon a time she had had an eye—all right, both her eyes—on the stealthily handsome Austin Hughes,