She was wearing scrubs that had pictures of Hello Kitty on them. All that should have made her look cheerful. I’m not sure a clown nose could have made her look happy. She sat behind the desk, a sour expression on her face, and looked at the piece of paper Ted had handed her and then back at us. “You want to talk to Michael?” “Yes, please.” Ted gave her a smile, the one that seems to open doors, especially when the doorkeepers are female. “He’s not having a good day.” She handed the note back, apparently immune to my sweetheart’s smile. Ted gave her an apologetic look. “We won’t take long.”She snorted. “No. You won’t. Not if you want to talk.” She stood up and came out from behind the desk. “Come with me. He’s in his room.” We walked down the hallway. I could hear a television playing somewhere and smelled cigarette smoke. I wasn’t sure how that could possibly be legal. Smoking was banned pretty much everywhere in California. On the other hand, this place certainly wasn’t new.
