Della typed out the rest of the letter and went on with her work. If Perry wanted to talk all day to some...some woman, and lose time he should have been working, that was entirely his business. Della answered the telephone.

"Yes, Gertie?"

"There's a Miss Elna Rance on the line and she sounds frantic," the receptionist replied.

"Put her on."

"Mr. Mason?!" Elna Rance cried out.

"No, this is Mr. Mason's secretary, I will-"

"No! No! NO! I must speak to Mr. Mason," wailed Elna Rance.

"Let me connect you with him," Della pushed the button and spoke into the intercom, "Mr. Mason, there is a telephone call for you, a Miss Elna Rance," she told her employer.

"Did she say what she wanted?"

"No, but she insists that she must speak to you."

"Then put her on," he said, and he had not turned off his end of the intercom when he said, "I'm afraid you'll have to go now, Laura, but this is business."

A minute later, an irritated Laura walked out of Perry's office. Della smiled at the woman, genuinely. If this was Mr. Mason's girlfriend, why make things unpleasant?

"Will that be all, Miss-?" she asked.

"I guess," Laura jammed her gloves on, "Is he always that busy?"

"I'm afraid so," Della responded.

Laura gave her a sharp look, "I suppose you two work very close together?"

"I can assure you that everything we do is strictly business," the question caught Della off guard, but she did manage to answer it.

"Are you sure?" Laura's eyes narrowed.

Della was getting annoyed, but she answered calmly, "Don't you trust him?" She was referring to Perry.

"Of course!" Laura snapped, "But can I trust you?"

Della's jaw dropped open. Paul Drake chose that moment to walk in. Della closed her mouth and sat down. Laura smiled triumphantly. Paul looked from one female to the other.

"Do you need to make an appointment? Mr. Mason cannot see anyone unless it is scheduled. He is much too busy," Della said.

Laura did not respond and huffed her way out of the office. Della sighed in relief, "Hi, Paul."

"Hi, Beautiful. Who was that?"

"Mr. Mason's girlfriend," Della answered, hitting a stack of papers on the table to make them all even.

"Perry's gir-?... Perry doesn't have a girlfriend."

"That's what she is."

Paul scowled at the door Laura had gone through as he sat on the edge of Della's desk. Perry buzzed Della just then. She grabbed her notepad and hurried into his office. Work was in full swing for the rest of the day. Laura was not mentioned, and her presence was nearly forgotten, until Perry suggested,

"Miss Street, you have been working very hard all day, and I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do. Would you like to get dinner with me?" he smiled at her so sweetly, she almost said yes on the spot.

But then she remembered Laura. No matter how much she disliked Laura, she would never ever go out with another woman's man. Perry was off limits, even if she was not entirely sure he wanted to date her in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mason, but I can't," Della answered.

"Oh," Perry's shoulders sagged a bit, but she did not notice, "You're sure?"

"Yes," she answered firmly.

"I think that is all for the day, then," Perry said.

Della gathered up her things and left, leaving a disappointed lawyer behind.

~~~~~PM~~~~~

The next day, just as Della unlocked her office door, she heard the sound of clicking heels and a sultry voice asked,

"Is Perry in?"

Della turned and there stood Laura, dressed to kill even more than she was yesterday.

"No, he isn't, and I don't expect him in for an hour yet," Della answered crisply as she hung her purse and jacket up.

"Oh. Well, I'll wait."

Laura made herself comfortable in the chair near Della's desk and proceeded to watch the secretary scrutinizingly. Della ignored her and sorted the mail. In only a few minutes, which felt like hours to the poor girl, Della's trained ears heard Perry enter his office from the back way. She did not tell waiting lady.

Della went over and made the coffee, then gathered up the mail to take into Perry's office. She had opened the door for herself, when suddenly she was shoved to one side as Laura pushed past her and into the office.

"Good morning, Perry!" she beamed.

Della felt very inadequate indeed, and hitting the doorknob with her sore side did not help matters. She tried unsuccessfully to hide her wince.

"Now just a minute," Perry stood up, "I will thank you to respect my secretary."

He went around his desk, past the surprised Laura, and asked the equally surprised Della if she was all right.

"I'll be fine," she nodded.

Perry turned to Laura, his hand still on Della's arm, "Do you have an appointment?" he asked crisply.

"I-I-w-well, no! But you-," Laura sputtered in surprise.

"I am afraid I am very busy today and cannot be bothered unless you are scheduled," Perry held the door open for her, "Good day, Miss [insert what ever Laura's maiden last name was here]."

Laura turned on her heel, gave a death glare to Dell, and sashayed out of the office as if she owned the place. Perry turned back to Della.

"I saw how she treated you. You needn't take that kind of treatment from anybody," he told her.

Della was still too speechless to say anything.

"I have even allowed that woman to push me around. She has some strange attraction to me," Perry shook his head and sat down.

"That 'strange attraction' is her attempts of trying to catch you," Della said, wondering if he had had really been that clueless about Laura's intentions.

"Well she'll never catch me!" Perry exclaimed emphatically, "I do not like her kind."

Della looked at him, a small smile twitched the corners of her mouth, "She even told me lies, that you two were already a thing."

Perry hit the tope of his desk with a fist, "Lie is correct," he then stopped and looked at his secretary, "Is that why you didn't go to dinner with me? Because you thought that she and I...?" He laughed out loud.

"I am sorry, but I really had no idea-"

Perry held up his hand, "Forget it! Would you like to go to the party Miss Elna Rance is throwing tonight? I am there mostly to do some investigating, but having you there would make me less suspicious."

"I'll go," Della agreed.

Perry's smiled nearly melted her. They both worked in silence for a minute, then Perry added quietly,

"Laura could never make a black eye as pretty as you do."

Della beamed at the clumsy, but sweet compliment.

I am so, so, so sorry I have not updated sooner! I had strep throat and all of this stuff happened and I have not been able to write. That also explains why this chapter is not up to my usual standards.

Please leave me a review!

Stay tuned for the next chapter, because, after all, we have not found the dirty scoundrel who blackened Della's eye. Hopefully it will be posted sooner than the last one.