thanks, Carter!” she said with a wave, then settled down into her chair.
Eve took a sip of the eggnog and grimaced at the thick, creamy liquid. Gross. How did people drink this stuff, anyway? She set it aside on her desk and resumed work.
The reveling outside in the main area continued for hours. But after a while, it was easy enough to shut it out when she kept her attention on the task at hand. She reviewed the stocks banners and scrawled down notes for her existing clients as discussion points on how to improve their portfolio. She had a hunch one tech stock in particular was going to take off—an up-and-coming company with cutting-edge innovation, from what she’d read—and she wanted to be right on the forefront of it when it did.
By the time Eve decided to call it a night the entire building was silent and dark. She closed her office door and walked out. Yes, the work day was technically done, but she could do a little more business on her way back home. No sense wasting the time, right?
She dialed Ted’s number and headed out into the snowy night air, her breath puffing around her in soft clouds. A woman at a food stand called out offering chestnuts, but due to her nut allergy, she declined as she waited on hold.
The woman said “Merry Christmas,” but the other side of the line answered, and Eve said into the phone, “Hey, Ted, it’s Eve Morgan from Crestlane Financial. I’m just gonna come right out and say it, let the chips fall where they may. I know you’re with West Trade Brokers, and I just wanna—”
Eve’s high heel slipped on an icy patch, and she hollered in surprise as she flew through the air and fell. Hard.
Her head thunked on the sidewalk, and a flash of brilliant pain enveloped her before everything went dark.
Eve blinked her eyes open and looked around in confusion. The room she was in was white, pristine, and she was lying on a bed—a bed that wasn’t hers in a room that wasn’t anywhere she’d ever been.
What happened? Where was she? Her memories felt scattered, and she couldn’t wrap her head around what led her here, to this strange place. She frowned. Why couldn’t she remember anything?
“What… ?” she whispered, glancing at the bed—and the white cat lying curled up against her leg in an eerily familiar fashion. Her throat grew tight with emotion as she said, “Snowball?” She reached down to pet his soft fur. Was this real? “Hi, kitty,” she whispered. How was he here?
No, this couldn’t be possible. Snowball had passed away a long time ago, when she was a kid. She’d loved that cat like crazy.
“You look just like a cat I had when I was little. Except he had a… black tail,” she trailed off when she shifted the covers to reveal that this cat, too, bore a black tail.
Something in her chest felt odd. This wasn’t right. Nothing felt normal here. Was she awake? Dreaming? In a hospital bed on drugs? She scooped the cat into her arms and sat up on the white bed, looking around again.
What is going on?
“There ya go,” she said, letting the cat onto the floor. It scurried under the bed.
Nearby was a mirror; Eve stepped up to it and examined herself. She wasn’t wearing her usual dark business outfit. Instead, she had on a silky white dress. I know I don’t own anything like this. Something was majorly off.
“Miss Morgan,” a light voice said from behind her.
Eve spun around to see an older woman with bobbed brown hair, her body also clad in all white like Eve, standing right behind her. The woman’s smile was wide and welcoming.
“Hello. I’m Pearl,” she said in a smooth tone. “I’m going to be with you during this transition.”
Eve stared blankly in shock. “Transition?” What could she be talking about? None of this made sense, and she was starting to feel freaked out, her hands trembling. Everything about this place was weird. Her pulse stuttered in her veins, and she struggled to maintain her usual calm sense of control. She had to be sick or something. That was the only thing that was logical. “Okay. I don’t know what kind of hospital this is, or why I’m here, but as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.” She looked down at herself, taking stock of her body. “In fact, I’ve never felt better,” she realized. “So, hopefully, you bill insurance—I have 90/10 group coverage.”
Pearl chuckled. “We don’t take insurance up here.”
Eve swallowed. Was she in danger? Why would this woman laugh about that? No matter. She would pay up and get out of here. “Okay, then I’ll just, uh, put it on my credit card.” She walked over to the white dresser nearby and pulled the top drawer open, searching for her purse.
“Credit cards aren’t necessary here, either,” Pearl said.
“But… where’s my bag?” Eve asked. “Where’s my phone?” Panic swelled in her, and she began to dart around the room. Nothing felt right here. Nothing made sense.
“They don’t matter here.”
Here? Where was here? Eve searched the bed to see if maybe her bag was tucked under the sheet. Nothing. She turned and eyed the woman with suspicion. “Do I have a concussion?”
Pearl chuckled. “No.”
Okay, scratch that idea. “But… I am on some kind of medication though, right?” It was the only thing that would explain why she’d have a hallucination like this. The surreal surroundings… Her deceased cat… No personal belongings to help identify her… “’Cause I think I’m having a reaction. Everything… is white.”
“Yes,” Pearl whispered with a grin. “Isn’t it beautiful? So peaceful.”
“No, it’s not peaceful, it’s crazy!” Eve blurted out, frustration pouring into her voice. “Or I am.” She eyed Pearl, a sudden suspicion about what was going on coming to mind. “Did Carter put you up to this?” It would be low for him, really low, but maybe he was more desperate for the partnership than he’d let on. Had she underestimated his drive? Had he made her think he was more of a family man than he was?
“No.”
“I mean, that is devious,” she said, taking hold of the idea. Maybe that was what was going on, even if she didn’t want to admit it. How well did she really know the man? To plan something insane like this just to get her to back off… “He’s got that warm, friendly smile. Wow, he must really want the partnership.”
“You know,” Pearl said with a knowledgeable shake of her head, “as I see it, he’s going to get it.”
“Over my dead body,” Eve declared hotly.
Pearl made a noise of agreement and pointed at her, brows raised.
Eve frowned. No. No way. “What?” The woman couldn’t possibly mean…
“Miss Morgan, do you remember when you tripped and fell on the ice and hit your head very hard when you were making that cold call?”
Eve’s stomach flipped as a flash of memory swept into her. Oh, right—she
