Flash Flood by DiAnn Mills

her heart for over six years sent her stomach into a twist worse than a roller-coaster ride.
    Unable to sleep, she threw back the blankets and headed for the shower. With all this extra time, she’d edit her résumé and send it to a few prospective employers. Two companies in Columbus had indicated interest. The commute from Columbus to Anna’s home was about an hour and a half. Definitely doable.
    She stretched. About two o’clock this afternoon, she’d be searching the drawers in the break room for toothpicks to hold her eyes open.
Thank you very much, Mr. Ryan Erikson. One more time you succeeded in robbing me of precious sleep
. He held the record for the cause of her insomnia. If only … the truth could be hidden from him, but she feared he’d one day learn her secret.
    A tear slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. Emotional rain. Love showers. A flood of regret. No matter how she termed it, remorse always came in the form of Ryan Erikson.

nine
    Tuesday, 9:30 a.m
.
    “Alina, how are things with the terminator?” James poked his head inside her office right after Ryan disappeared with Deidre to access records on the second floor.
    James’s stance on the buyout had nearly gotten the best of her on numerous occasions. “Your attitude is not my idea of cooperation. Neither is it a way to respect Fred. Even if you don’t like Ryan, you could still honor Fred’s request.”
    “So he’s won you over? I thought you had more sense than to side with the enemy.” He stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. “I’m disappointed in you.”
    “Ryan is not the enemy, and neither is Neon. Fred went to them when his health dictated retirement and he realized customers needed better service. You know that as well as I do. And you, of all people, should recognize Flash’s inability to stay up-to-date with technology.”
    “People here in Radisen are fine with our service. You have a degree that will help you land another job, even if you’re one of the unlucky employees who won’t have one. I don’t have a college education, and neither do my guys. We have families to feed. Kids to clothe. Rent to pay. You don’t have a clue about finances.”
    Alina’s temperature gauge registered above the boiling point, and anger took over. She stood and clenched her fists. “If you don’t leave my office this instant, I will go to Fred with the recommendation that he replace you. Then you can tell Becky and the kids how you lost your job.” She took a deep breath, and common sense flowed back into her veins. “James, you’ve been coming to Bible study for the past few months. Your family has regularly attended church. Harboring bitterness and resentment is not what God wants for any of us. I admit I’m having a hard time with the buyout, but I want to please God and do my best for Him. By improving my attitude, I help Fred.” She took a deep breath. “I apologize for spewing at you—not for the words but for how I said them.”
    James’s jaw tightened, and he whirled around. The keys on his belt jingled down the hall. Alina stood and watched him head back to where the servicemen gathered when not on calls. He might not have appreciated what she said, but she felt God had spoken to James through her words. Ironic, yet so like her heavenly Father.
    “Good job,” Deidre said.
    Alina turned to see her friend grinning like a child with a bag of candy. “You heard?”
    “Every word. James received a heavy dose of reality from you. He’s been stirring up trouble among the employees, and I don’t like it. Sooner or later he’ll have to make a choice, or Fred and Ryan will have him escorted out the door.”
    Alina nodded. She swallowed a lump the size of a golf ball. Tears for James Ferguson? Why not? God wept oceans for His children.
    “Here comes Ryan now,” Deidre said. “I opt for not telling him about your recent visitor.”
    “He won’t hear it from my lips.”
    “Have either of you seen James?”