Whatever the reason, she'd chosen to make some kind of stand in this city, to become a new and better person, to leave childhood behind. But making a fresh start was harder than she'd expected; changing her life turned out to be more difficult than changing her address. And childhood, she learned, could not be left behind. Not ever.
The sudden shrilling of the phone on her desk startled her. She blinked, coming out of her reverie, and picked up the handset.
"Communications Department," she said.
"Communicate with me," a male voice purred.
"Hello, Lee Bareun," she said, automatically lowering her voice, even though there was no company rule against taking personal calls.
"Hello, beautiful."
Nervously she swiveled around in her chair, away from the doorway of her cubicle. "Don't….don't call me that."
"You like it."
She didn't, actually, and she'd told him so, but Lee Bareun never listened.
