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Angelica shut off the water, stepped onto the bath e was never easy, especially when you were dealing with a bunch of on trains were still rolling across the plains

She had to make the Landon rep understand what had happened here, that she’d been defeated not by her lack of ability but by the enor After all, this e He’d understand flow charts and teas that were needed to make a success of Gordon Oil

Her spirits lifted She leaned forward and wiped the foggy mirror with the heel of her hand Her face peered back at her, a pale oval pierced by wide-spaced green eyes

“Approach thispositively,” she said crisply, “and it will be a success!”

Quickly, she blew her hair dry, deter up as quickly as she brushed them flat Her hair was i to ta it off with a pair of scissors when she elve to dyeing it a shade euphee

Nothing worked Cutting it short only meant she couldn’t subdue the curls with barrettes or clips, and darkening the color had e of her sht nose seem to leap off her face

Angelica’s spirits dipped just a little This was not the hair of an efficient executive, she thought, staring at her reflection Already, bright copper curls were springing up around her face and falling in a wild tumble over her shoulders

How could a worees, a serious nature and the responsibility of running a coiven hair like this?

With a sigh, she scooped the curls from her face and secured them at the nape of her neck with a coated rubber band Then, head high, she marched into the bedroom

What did her hair matter? She had a presentation to make to the ive herGordon Oil into the modern world, she was sure of it

Alhed

She stepped into a broool skirt, slipped on a white blouse, buttoned it to the Peter Pan collar and topped it with an oatmeal tweed jacket She hesitated only over the shoes She was tall for a wo feet Even in her sensible puht end up taller than her visitor

Would he find that inti?

She’d wear flats and play it safe The last thing she wanted to do was get on the Landon rep’s bad side

At last, she turned and looked at herself in the mirror

Efficient, she thought, nodding her head Very efficient

Angelica glanced at the clock, rolled her eyes and snatched her briefcase froh the little house that had been her father’s, out the front door to her small, late-model sedan parked at the curb

A gentle breeze played at her hair, helping to ease the wisps of copper that were already bouncing lightly against her forehead and cheeks Unconsciously, she stuck out her bottom lip and blew the stray curls back

“OK, Landon Enterprises,” she said as she got behind the wheel, “I’m ready!”

So arelica Gordon carefully checked both her side and rearview ht and pulled out into the street

At noon, Angelica cleared her desk and gave strict instructions to Eofer The representative was due in an hour Ereet hi rooelica of his arrival

“Then bring us some coffee, please, Eet my own—you kno I feel about equality in the workplace, but—”

“It’s not a problem, AH”

“Thank you And, oh—be sure and hold all my calls”

By two, Angelica was pacing her tiny office, wearing furrows in the already threadbare carpet

At two-thirty, she stepped into the anteroom and looked at Emily

“Are you sure the fax said he would be here at one?”

Eht It took two tries for it to coh—the phone company cut off service in the middle but I went out to the booth on the corner, called the business office and explained—”

“—that their check was in the elica said impatiently “But the fax was specific, is that correct? We did get a ht from Denver?”