"I was running late, and the steps were icy, and I just – " Colleen made a gesture meant to convey her feet sliding out from under her.
"You were lucky you didn't break your neck!" Tanya said.
"I know," Colleen agreed. "I've told the super and told him about salting the steps, but he's just too lazy to get to it early enough in the day."
"Tanya, I need my submission back," Jack McCoy said from the doorway. "I realized – Jesus, Mrs. James, what happened?"
"Slipped on the steps at home," Colleen said, automatically raising her hand to cover the bruise on her cheek. "I was in such a hurry, and I'm clumsy at the best of times, and – "
"And you fell down the stairs," McCoy said. "You fell down those steps last month, too, didn't you?"
"Well, I'm a klutz," Colleen said with a smile.
"You should be more careful," McCoy said seriously. "Really, Mrs. James. You could get hurt."
"Oh, I usually bounce," Colleen said.
"Even so," McCoy said.
"Colleen!" Dan shouted from his office. "Have you got those copies yet?"
"Excuse me," Colleen said to McCoy. She grabbed the pages Dan wanted her from her desk and hurried across the hall.
