บท 55: Chapter 55: Gift Exchange

On Saturday morning, Maggie’s phone rang.  Cautiously, she looked at the screen.  Karen.  She frowned a bit.  “Hello?”

“Hi, doll, how are you?” Karen said cheerfully.  “Meet me for coffee.”

Half an hour later, she entered the coffee shop Karen had indicated.  The two women hugged each other, and Maggie slipped onto a seat across from her old friend, who smiled winningly.  “So how was your first week in your new place?” Karen asked.

Maggie thought of her new office with its lackluster beige everything.  She smiled deliberately.  “Oh, you know, it’s an adjustment, but it’s going well.  How are things…” she trailed off.

Karen looked down for a moment. “Well, Michael’s a mess.”

Maggie frowned.  “What do you mean, a mess?”

“I mean, he pretty much locked himself in his office all week.”  Karen looked at her intently, lowering her voice.  “And when he wasn’t in his office, he was in yours.”

“What?” Maggie shook her head.  “What was he doing?”