Excerpt: Touché

“What the hell is this supposed to be?” Summer DeLancey was not happy. “Did you honestly think that I wouldn't notice? That you could slip this into the pile on my desk and I'd just let it pass with the rest?”
“I-”
“This is a business, Pablo. That means we're here to make money. We publish books we think will sell, not just anything we find in the slush pile. And certainly not our own half-baked scribblings.” She slammed the pile of paper into his chest. “Now get back to work and don't ever try anything like this again.”
Pablo slunk back to his desk. He placed the papers lovingly into a box, then slipped the box into a bag with a sigh.
“I told you it wouldn't work.” Eric, at the next desk, was smirking.
“I just thought maybe if she actually read it she'd give it a chance. Why should I spend my whole life fixing up other people's novels instead of publishing my own?”
“So find yourself an agent. Do it properly. Don't rely on finding some little bit of warmth in the Ice Queen's chest, because that's never going to happen. She's frozen right the way through. Ironic, with a name like hers.”
They both looked at Summer, who was now talking angrily into the phone. “Do you think she ever relaxes?” asked Pablo. “Do you think she lets all of that blonde hair out of that tight little bun and unwinds?”
“Her? Are you kidding?” Eric snorted. “She was born uptight. She probably came out criticising her mother for pushing wrong. You know what she does in her spare time, right?”
“Tells homeless people to stop whining and get a job?”
“No. Well, maybe. I wouldn't put it past her. But I was thinking of the fencing.”
“You mean, like sword-fighting?”
“That's exactly what I mean. Twice a week she goes out and hits people with a sword for fun. That's probably the closest she ever comes to relaxing. I'm telling you, she's cold and she's brutal. There's no human feeling in there.”
“You don't think anyone could ever melt her?”
“Not a chance. Not even with a flamethrower.”
Pablo smiled. “I could do it if I tried. No woman can resist me when I turn on the charm.”
“She will. She doesn't have a heart to be charmed.”
“Want to bet? I could get her to come to dinner with me in, say, a month?”
“Fifty bucks says you can't.”
“You're on.” They shook hands, then went back to their work as they saw Summer glaring at them.

That evening, Summer opened her apartment door and was greeted as usual by the excited yapping of her terrier, Pickles. “Hey, boy,” she said, reaching down to scratch behind his ears. “Did you miss me?”
Pickles took off, his claws skittering on the wooden floor, and ran into the kitchen. Summer followed to find him dancing around his bowl. “Of course,” she laughed. “It's never me that you miss, is it? Just my ability to work the can opener.” Soon Pickles was wolfing down his dinner and she was able to go and sit down.
Five minutes later there was a knock at the door and she had to get up again to answer it. Looking through the spyhole she saw Adrian Jasper, her best friend who lived in the same building. Opening the door, she said “What are you doing here?”
“Thought you might like some company when you take Pickles out for his walk. Someone to talk to while he does his business.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“How do you always seem to know when I've had a bad day at work?”
“Is there any other kind for you?” He smiled, a smile which lit up his blue eyes and even seemed to make his brown hair sparkle.
She shrugged. “Some are better than others. You'll have to come inside, anyway. Pickles is still stuffing his face.” As she said it, the dog came tearing out of the kitchen and bounded up to Adrian, his pink tongue still licking the last pieces of food from around his chops. “You always have to prove me wrong, don't you? You do the complete opposite of everything I say, just to make me look dumb.”
“Don't blame the dog,” said Adrian, bending down to make a fuss of Pickles. “He's not doing it deliberately, are you, boy? No, of course not.”
“I thought you were here to talk to me, not him.”
“I can talk to both of you, can't I?”
“You can try. I suppose Pickles is more at your level, though.” She flashed him a smile and grabbed her coat and Pickles' lead. “Come on then. Let's go.”

In the park, Pickles trotted along sniffing at fallen leaves and passers-by. “So what was the big drama at work this time?” asked Adrian.
She shrugged. “Nothing major, really. Just one of my editors tried slipping his own manuscript onto my desk hoping I'd either not notice that it wasn't one I was expecting, or maybe that I'd read it and think it was brilliant. Why he thought it was a good idea I'll probably never know.”
“I take it you didn't think it was brilliant, then?”
“It's about an editor who works at a publishing company in New York. I flicked to the end and he appeared to have averted a nuclear apocalypse and formed a relationship with a beautiful scientist. So no, not really what I was looking for.”
“I hope you let him down gently.”
“Why would I do that? I've got a business to run. I don't have time to pander to his poor hurt feelings. And you'd think that someone who worked in the publishing industry would have a better idea of what a decent novel looked like, and of the right way to get it published. I'm not going to approve something just because the author works for me.”
“The Ice Queen strikes again.”
“Yeah, I'm sure that's what he was calling me afterwards.”
“You love it though. You know you get a kick out of every time they call you that.”
“It's useful, certainly. If I have a reputation for being cold and unfeeling then I get a lot less nonsense in the office. Nobody messes around when they should be working. Nobody tries flirting or asking me out, as if a relationship with the boss is ever a good idea.”
“You could be missing out on something special there, though.”
“I'm fine just the way I am, thank you. Why do I need a man in my life? I've got a good job, a nice apartment and a cute little dog to keep me warm at night. What more would a man add to that?”
“Companionship? Love? Support and care and intimacy?”
“I've got you for companionship and support. And I don't need love. I don't need a man hanging around me like a puppy dog all the time. I've already got a dog.” As if to illustrate her point, she bent down and bagged up the mess that Pickles had just deposited on the grass.
“I think you're being a bit dismissive of the qualities of a real relationship. You're just afraid to open up, aren't you?”
“I'm open with you, aren't I?”
“Yes, but we're just friends. And we have been since kindergarten, so it doesn't really count. You don't have to worry about getting hurt with me. When was the last time you let someone new get close to you, even just as a friend?”
“I don't need any new friends. I'm fine just the way I am.”
“Of course you are. Absolutely fine. But did it ever occur to you that you could be better?”
“What are you suggesting? You want me to be all cuddly and fluffy at work? Go and tell Pablo his manuscript didn't suck? And he wasn't an idiot for trying to get it past me in the first place?”
“Not at work, necessarily, no. That persona of yours is good for the business. But that doesn't mean you have to carry it over to the rest of your life.”
“It's working for me.” She sighed. “But if it'll get you off my case then maybe I'll think about it. Keep an eye out for some little cutie to pass the time with.”
“Well, good. You think about it and I'm sure you'll see I'm right. It'll be good for you.”

Adrian sighed as he stood in the hallway outside Summer's door, having just left her apartment. One of these days he was just going to have to bite the bullet and tell her how he felt, but she really wasn't making it easy for him. He had loved her for years, pretty much ever since he stopped thinking of girls as having cooties. She was all he had ever wanted in a woman, strong, committed, and a good friend already. At first it was just fear of spoiling their friendship that kept him from saying anything. Instead he spent their teenage years picking up the pieces after each of her typically disastrous relationships.
Once they finished college and went out into the real world, Summer began her policy of not dating. Despite his suggestions that the problems she had had with men could be solved by not dating teenagers or college students, she had decided to swear off them all. It seemed he had missed his chance. Now if he told her how he felt he was sure she would reject him as she had rejected anyone else who made advances. And that really would be the end of their friendship.
Still, it was hard to see her, to spend so much time with her, without ever telling her the truth. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to be with her forever, but he had to settle for just talking. For being her friend, instead of her lover. For aching inside every time they said goodbye.