It was funny how life turned out. Her parents had been killed in a freak auto accident her senior year in high school, and amid the devastating grief and bottomless sense of loss, she’d been surprised to learn that her parents had actually written a will, and that they’d specifically earmarked funds for her and Josh’s college education. She never would have suspected such a straight request from either her mother or her father, but it was there in black and white, and the lawyer said that the money could only be used for books and tuition. Anything else, and the money would be donated to Greenpeace.

So, in a way, her hippie parents were responsible for her becoming the business executive she was today.

She had the feeling they’d be proud of her, though.

A half hour later, Hoffman finally finished talking, the meeting finally ended, and the various department heads went back to their offices. Tom Jenson, the division development coordinator, asked her if she wanted to go out for drinks after work, but she begged off, saying that she wanted to get a head start on the weekend.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “It’s been a crappy week.”

Laurie smiled. “See you Monday.”

She left work an hour early, walking downtown. A cable car filled with Japanese tourists clattered past her, and she waved at one man who snapped her picture.

As she did each Friday, she stopped off to see her brother at The Shire. He’d been managing the bookstore for three years now, and it was nice to see him finally find a job that he liked, but recently he’d been delving a little too deeply into Eastern religion and philosophy books.

An interest he’d inherited from their mom.

It was one of the reasons she liked to check up on him.

Josh was helping a customer when she walked into the shop, and she waved at him and busied herself with the magazines while he talked with the customer about the works of Carlos Casteneda.

The customer finally bought a book and left, and Laurie walked over to the counter. “How goes it?” she asked.

He looked at her. “I was about to ask you the same question.”

“That bad, huh?”

He nodded.

She placed her purse down on the counter and sighed. “It’s been a long week.”

“Tell me about it.”

She described the petty infighting and office politics that had been indulged in since the division’s recent restructuring, moved on to the boring meetings and endless memos, and finished with a lawsuit being filed against the company by an ex-clerk whom she had hired.

“Sounds like a party.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“How are things with you and Matt?”

“Fine. No problems there.”

“You could always get another job.”