He flushed again. “Didn't think about coming back like this.” He indicated his lower body, one leg missing mid thigh and the other below the knee. His pants legs were drawn closed with twine, dirty and ragged. “Dead's one thing. This?”
“No you don't think of that when you're going in. I saw people coming back with half their guts missing, and saw my dad hurt, and I still didn't think about it. When you're that young, you think you're invincible.”
She saw his neck muscles relax, and he straightened up, looking at her. “Yeah.” He studied her briefly. “What made ya back out?”
Dar smiled briefly. “They wouldn't let me get a berth where I wanted it and I wasn't going to settle for anything else.” She said, honestly. “I'm a hard ass that way, and always have been even back then.”
He considered that. “Ballsy.” He said. “You want intel or something?”
“Special forces.” Her eyes twinkled a little at his reaction. “So I ended up doing technology instead. Worked out better for me in the long run.”
“Fuck.” He snorted a little.
Dar pulled her Handspring out and studied it, then tapped out a message. “Are your friends going to be pissed off by you coming here to talk to us?” She glanced up at him.
For a moment he didn't answer, then he took a breath. “Yeah.”
“That going to be a problem for you?”
For a very long moment he didn't answer, his eyes going past her and unfocused. Then he looked back up at her with his most straightforward, honest expression yet. “Don't care.”
She glanced down at the phone, as it's message light stuttered red. “Well, we'll try to make it worth the hassle then.” She looked back up at him. “Let's go inside.” She stood up and went to the door, keying in the alarm code and opening the door with her hard key.
“For what?”
Dar's brows lifted and she held up the folded paper. “You want a job? I'll give you a try at one.”
He looked around with a stunned expression. “Don't you have to talk to that other lady?”
“I did.” Dar held up the Handspring as she pushed the door open and held it. “C'mon Let's get the ground rules settled before everyone comes in and freaks out.”
He stared at her for a very long moment. “Sorry I was such a jackass then.” He said, as he swiveled the chair and started rolling in the door.
Dar smiled. “Takes one to know one.” She closed the door after them and indicated the right hand turn down the hallway “Let's go to the HR office. You can start filling out paperwork.”
“You're really going to hire me?”
“Yup.”
“Somebitch.”
**
“Ho boy.” Kerry tucked Mocha under her arm, and got the door open to her SUV. She put the puppy down on the seat and hopped inside, getting the door closed before Mocha could get any clever ideas in terms of jumping out. “C'mon, Mochie. Let's go to work and see what trouble mommy Dar's gotten into.”
“Yap.” Mocha sat down on the passenger seat, his tongue hanging out.
It hadn't really surprised her in the slightest that her partner had hired their crippled veteran troublemaker. She had sensed a sympathy in Dar for the guy, and it had been she, herself, who had handed him the list of open positions. She was a little surprised though, that he'd showed up after the grandstanding play by his buddy last night.
She navigated the busy city streets carefully, not wanting to spill Mocha on the car floor with a sharp stop. They'd been the first ones at the vets, and Mocha had passed his exam with flying colors, happy to be the center of attention even when that center meant various things being stuck in him and in unpleasant places.
So now this new employee. It hadn't surprised her, but her mind had started to count up the issues she figured they would need to face which would start with, did this guy actually have a place to live?
Did he have a place to shower? Did he have clothes to wear to work? If he stayed around with his buddies, would he be reliable?
Was she being a little too WASPy about it?
Kerry pulled into the office lot and parked, sticking her sunglasses up in the visor and opening the door. “You hang on there, Mocha. I'll come get you.” She got out and shut the door, walking around to the passenger side as the puppy raced around inside, barking excitedly.
“Relax!” She chuckled, as she got the other door open and collected the bouncing fur ball.
“Hey Kerry!” Mark appeared at her side, two cups of coffee in his hands. “Crazy morning already huh?”
Kerry put Mocha down and looped his leash around her wrist. “You mean our new employee?” She grinned. “Hey I never argue with Dar's hiring.”
Mark chuckled too, as he walked alongside her up the path. “He kinda surprised me. He's got some skills.” He admitted. “I thought Dar was just being.. like she was humoring him. But he knows what end of a cable to plug in stuff.”
“Dar sees things in people.” Kerry acknowledged. “Sometimes she sees things other people don't and sometimes she sees things the people she sees them in don't”
Mark grinned, as he pushed the door open for her with his elbow and stood aside to let her enter. “I had you pegged the second I saw your file.”
Kerry eyed him. “You did, did you?”
Mark nodded. “Yup.” He winked, and headed up the steps to his office.
“Good morning, ma'am.” The receptionist greeted her. “Only one dog today?”
“Only one. Chino was very upset I left her behind, but if she'd known we were going to the vet, I bet she would have laughed.” Kerry headed up the steps herself, carrying Mocha since his legs were still a little short to handle the stairs well. She got to the top and waved hello to Maria, then ducked through Mayte's office towards her and Dar's. “Hey Mayte.”
“Good morning, Kerry.” Mayte grinned at her. “I have some messages for you, on your desk.”
“Thank you!” Kerry went in and put Mocha down in the puppy playpen Dar had constructed, which had a plethora of toys and bones and a dish of water and one for kibble inside. “There you go, little man. Chill out for a while so I can get my phone calls done.”
“Hey.”
Kerry paused in the middle of sitting down to look up and find Dar in the inner doorway. “Hey hon.”
“Hey, beautiful.” Dar responded amiably. She came over to the play pen and leaned over to give Mocha a pat. “Our new employee is going through the typical orientation routine.” She commented. “His name's Scott Brewer, by the way.”
Kerry leaned back. “So how did that all come about?” She asked. “Did you know he was going to come back here?”
Dar stepped inside the playpen at Mocha's urgent, paw scrabbling request and sat down with the puppy. “He was on the porch when I got here.” She glanced up at Kerry. “Had one of your job requests on him. I wasn't expecting to see him there, but I wasn't surprised either.”
“Isn't that going to piss off his obnoxious friend Joe?”
Dar nodded. “He said it was, but he didn't care. That's why I hired him. That and the fact he actually was his high school nerd with the projector, and knows how to disassemble and reassemble a laser printer.” She grinned briefly. “Naturally he also brings complications.”
“Of course.” Kerry agreed. “At least the tech support office is going to be on the first floor, though he can use the freight elevator.”
“He wants to use the stairs.”
Both of Kerry's brows shot up. “Our liability insurance is going to skyrocket.”
Dar chuckled. “No kidding. If he looses his grip halfway up he's going to take out our reception desk on the way back down. I said I'd see what we could work out.” She gave Mocha one last scrubble and got up, stepping over the fencing. “Sorry buddy, gotta to back to my programming.”