Chap. 4

The next day Mimi woke early and called her insurance agent. They agreed to send someone done to the scene immediately. Mimi agreed to meet them there. She had to get her business back on track soon. There was no time to be wasted. She only had a small window of time this morning before she had to meet the stockholders and plan what they were going to do.

She dressed in one of her best suits and wore her fabulous new Manolo's that Philip had bought her. He had bought her and Jan a matching pair for starting their business. They were the most expensive thing she owned, almost. There was no way that either she or Jan could afford $600 dollar shoes.

Mimi pulled up to the fire scene and scanned the area. She had to choke back a sob. It looked far much worse in the light of day.
The insurance man wasn't there yet. But someone was still there and looked as if he had never left.
****

Jason watched as Mimi pulled up and looked over the destruction. Part of the building still stood, but all was ruined. Jason made his way over to her car.

Mimi got out when she saw him approach her. She stepped daintily around the debris.
Jason looked at her shoes and snorted. Those things wouldn't last a minute. He walked over to his truck and pulled out an extra pair of fireman's boots. He tossed them at her feet.
Mimi looked up at him. "Are those for me?"
Jason smirked, "Wouldn't want to ruin those precious shoes, now would we?"
Mimi grudgingly admitted he had a point and stepped into the boots. She didn't even want to think about how ridiculous she must look in her suit and those boots.
Jason was wise not to say anything about it.

"So I guess your here to see how bad it is?"
"Yes, and I'm supposed to meet the insurance agent so they can start processing."
Jason eyed her critically, "How much are you insured for?"
Mimi meet his gaze and gasped. "You don't think I had something to do with this do you?! I can't believe you would think that, Jason."
Jason sighed, "I'm sorry Mimi. It's my job. I have to look at every angle. I know that you didn't have anything to do with this. I could tell last night when I saw you."
Mimi sighed in relief.
"Do you want me to run you through this before the insurance guy shows up?"
Mimi nodded.
****

"Okay, so this is your point of origin. The arsonist made a trail of gasoline on the floor and up the stairs. He must made disabled the alarm and sprinklers, seeing as how they didn't go off. This window here is where he got it. He didn't break it. He must have known it would be open. He put packs of matches along the way to help fuel it and then lit it right here."

Mimi listened to Jason, feeling as if she was in a movie. It didn't seem real. But she was grateful for Jason. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
Mimi followed him around and stopped buy a heap of charred mannequins. She stared at them numbly.

Jason followed her gaze and grinned. "They didn't suffer, I swear."
In any other circumstance, Mimi would have laughed, but this was her life. She glared at him coldly and was saved from having to say anything. The insurance agent arrived.
****

Jan woke slowly, and panicked when she realized she wasn't at home. Then she relaxed remembering Philip bringing her home. She stretched out in the bed, feeling the expensive sheets against her bare skin. Then she remembered the fire. The terrible fire that claimed her future. Jan decided that she wasn't going to let it faze her anymore. She and Mimi would survive, they always did.

Jan looked down at her clothes on the floor. She didn't want to put the soot smelling items back on. Jan wrapped the sheet around her and went looking for Henderson or Philip.
****

Philip was in his study when she knocked on the door. He didn't want to leave her, so he was working out of his home office today. Without looking up he bid her to enter.
"Phil?"
Philip continued to study the papers in his hands. "Hmm?"
"Um, I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes or a robe or something."
Phil finally looked up and the words he was going to say stuck in his throat. There she stood like a vison one of his wildest dreams. Her dark curly hair, rumpled from sleep and a white satin sheet wrapped around her sleek body. She even had a pouty look on her face and it was all Philip could do not to groan.
"Phil?"
Her voice rocketed him back to reality. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, sure. Just let me get Henderson." Philip didn't trust himself to be alone with her.
Jan waited in the study for Henderson. She looked at the pictures on Philip's desk and picked one up of him and his family. He was happy then. He smiled all the time back then. Jan realized it had been a long time since she had seen those dimples. She vowed to see him smile again.