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Mercy pointed toward the other roouess who just arrived"

"Not Anne," Shirley cried

"No, worse," Mercy said "It’s Julie"

Twenty-One

Julie stepped off the elevator and strolled toward Ms Johnson, the guardian of Roy’s office For two days, she’d wrestled with the question of what she should do She dreaded giving him her answer, but now that she was here, she was ht decision

Her natural inclination was to accept Roy’s invitation and : it hat they both wanted Deep down, she clung to the hope that one day he’d love her She suspected he already did, or had begun to, anyway, but refused to acknowledge his feelings Moving in with him had been easy to rationalize In the end, however, after a lengthy talk with her sister, Julie had to admit that she wanted more out of their relationship The hard part would be convincing Roy that they both needed more time

"Ms Wilcoff" His assistant looked up, startled "Did I know you were co?"

"No, no, I stopped here on my way home from school Is Roy busy?"

The woman, as rarely flustered, seemed so now "Let me check" Rather than use the intercom, she scurried away from her desk and disappeared behind Roy’s office door

When Jason, the downstairs security guard, had let Julie into the building without so much as a raised eyebrow, she should’ve realized there was a proble she didn’t Julie had wanted to ask hi in a peculiar manner, too

A ht in, but…"

"But?" Julie pro a bad day?"

The older wo you ht be exactly what he needs"

Now that Julie had arrived at her decision, she felt an urgency to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible Delaying it e herat his desk when she entered his office He looked up and srown to expect was

"Should I come back later?" she asked uncertainly

"No" He motioned for her to take a seat

"I probably should’ve phoned first"

"Probably," he agreed He relaxed in his chair and folded his hands over his stoht I should let you knohat I’ve decided"

He nodded, his expression unchanged

The tightness in Julie’s throat increased She leaned forward just a little and tucked her hands beneath her thighs, souess there’s only one way to say this…"

"You’re not accepting my invitation," he finished for her

"Yes"

"Any particular reason?"

"Several, but I do want you to kno tempted I was"

"That’s neither here nor there, is it?"

"Well, no--"

"Unless, of course, you’re figuring I’ll up the ante"

Anger flared instantly, but Julie"No, Roy, I’ you’ll up the ante" She stood "I think it’d be best if we talked about this another tiood as any," he said

She leaned closer to his desk, desperately searching his face for the reason he’d changed "What’s wrong with you?"

"Me?" he de at "

He laughed, but even his laughter sounded sarcastic "All right, I’ll play your little gaet you into my condo? A e it"

"Don’t insult h? You can quit teaching, live a life of luxury"

"I like , then Why should I care as long as you’re there when I want you?"

Julie was beginning to feel sick "I think I’d better leave"

"Don’t go," he said, although he didn’t offer her a reason to stay

"What happened?" she asked, andmust have happened"

"You mean other than an unexpected visit froed out the last word, as if even saying it was repugnant

"Oh" He was talking about Aireat deal "So you’re back to that"

He arched one brow "That?"

"All women are users and manipulators and not to be trusted, and therefore you ridicule every feh When Roy was in this fra with him, as she knew from experience She turned to leave