Read Online Earth Bound by Emma Barry & Genevieve Turner - Free Book Online

vain enough to never want a woman who was less than enthusiastic.
    But Parsons wouldn’t believe her, not unless she told him far more about her life and experiences than she was willing to.
    “I can manage him,” she said at last.
    Parsons nodded. “The astronauts are basically children. Your work will go better if you think of them that way.”
    Charlie laughed. “What do you know about children?”
    Lord, was Parsons married? Did he have a bunch of squally kids in one of those monotonous houses in Lake Glade or some other suburb? She glanced at his hand. No ring.
    He made a face. “Nothing. Just conjecture.”
    That made more sense. For a long moment, they shared a look. In the half-light, his features were softer, younger. The day had taken a lot out of him too, she knew. For as mad as he got, his frustrations were always about the work, about incompetence. She understood that. Appreciated it even.  
    She swallowed and glanced down at her pumps. “I should finish my notes.” Her words were offered so quietly they surprised her.
    When he made a noise of affirmation, it was equally muted. And that was why she didn’t look up, until she heard him leave. But then she watched him go, all the way across the room.

    “Wait, let me get this straight.” Dot poured a generous measure of sugar into her coffee. “Parsons asked if you were offended by Lee Carruthers?”
    Charlie swallowed her smile. It had been fairly amusing. “Yes. And I told him—”
    “We’re not ready to discuss your answer yet,” Beverly interrupted. “We haven’t finished digesting the fact that Parsons is aware people have feelings.”
    “He didn’t ask how I felt about it,” Charlie insisted.
    “But he thought it might be wrong for someone—”
    “Not just someone, one of the astronauts.”
    “—to comment on your appearance.”
    That was one way of putting it, but it emphasized entirely the wrong thing. Although it wasn’t inaccurate. “Well, yes,” Charlie agreed.
    Dot and Beverly looked at each other before turning back to Charlie. “It isn’t that we don’t believe you,” Beverly said.
    “We believe you implicitly .” Dot nodded to emphasize this, her eyes wide. “You’ve been here for eight months, and by now we know you well: You don’t lie.”
    What Dot wasn’t saying was that somewhere along the way, Dot and Beverly had decided to trust Charlie. Charlie still hadn’t figured out what they’d overheard that had make them think they were going to be fired, but she’d insisted they each be given their own desk rather than sharing. She’d agitated for their promotion to the next GS grade. She’d done what it took to earn their confidence and friendship. And Dot and Beverly were damn competent, so Charlie wanted their respect.
    Dot went on. “I once saw Parsons berate an engineer for omitting he’d dropped a prototype during testing.”
    “Rumor has it he once showed up at the office forty-seven days in row.”
    “And when he did miss work it was because it was Christmas Day, and Jensen ordered him to stay home.”
    Charlie sipped her coffee to avoid smiling. None of this was surprising to her. She’d known the man for the better part of a year. “Yes?”
    Beverly smirked. “So this man, this almost robotic man, was uncomfortable with how Carruthers was treating you. Uncomfortable enough to ask you about it.”
    “He didn’t like asking me. I have no idea what, if anything, he would have done if I’d said yes,” Charlie said.
    “But he asked. That’s important.”
    Charlie looked at the door, confirming again that no one was there. In the time she’d been at ASD, she’d become accustomed to this daily ritual. She’d arrive early and enjoy an hour or so of quiet work before Dot and Beverly would show up. They’d drink coffee, engage in a half-hour of gossip, and then Hal and everyone else would trickle in.
    She just liked it less when she was the object of the gossip.
    “We’re getting