worked, because Poppy hadexpected a much bigger protest from Pixie.

Poppy cleaned up the rest of the kitchen and got ready forbed. She set the completed packet down on her nightstand and smiled. Hopefully,having finished it would give her a chance to relax. She gazed up at theceiling as she lay down, her belly fluttering at the thought of the future andhaving her own handsome warrior to keep her company at night. Letting out asigh, she reached for her bedside drawer. As she picked up the vibrator frominside it, she admitted, “I know who I’m going to be thinking of tonight.”

Chapter Seven

Driving up to the Intake Center in her ancient Honda, Poppynoticed the building was flooded with protesters outside its front gates. Afterparking, she jogged up the steps, hoping this would be a quick trip in and outwith no lines. For one thing, the grocery store was calling her name since shewasn’t in the mood for leftovers and all her hard cider was gone.

The armed guards waiting by the door made her pause in her steps.All of a sudden the building seemed much more daunting.

“Do you have an appointment, miss?” one of the guards asked.

Her yoga pants and Star Wars T-shirt didn’t make herseem as if she were there on business. Pixie would have been totally rightabout the jeans and nice top today. She hated it when Pixie was right.

“Ummmm…yes I do. I mean, no I don’t, but I’m just droppingoff my packet to the office,” she stuttered, taking in his military dress andintimidating gun.

“We will need you to walk through the security zone and alsosee your ID for the sign-in sheet.” He opened the door and steered her to thearea indicated. Her apprehension at all the security she was seeing made Poppyrethink her decision.

“Miss? Miss? You need to keep moving through security.” Theloud voice was coming from one of the desks located in the security area.

Poppy walked to the counter just past the entrance andsmiled weakly at the guard sitting there.

“Good afternoon. I’ll need your ID and also a signature. Areyou just turning in your packet?” He nodded toward the folder Poppy wasclutching to her chest.

“Yes, sir, I am. What’s all this security for? Did somethinghappen?” She could feel she was being filmed and glanced up to see cameras onthe ceiling about every ten feet.

“Unfortunately, we received a bomb threat last night. TheState Department has decided that we need to up our security so they sent inthe National Guard until private security measures are implemented. Theprotesters showed up last night right before the bomb threat so my money’s onthem being the ones behind it, but better safe than sorry. I’ll also need tocheck your purse and take your cell phone while you’re inside.”

After walking her through a set of metal detectors, hehanded Poppy her bag and ID and pointed to the elevator she needed to take toturn in her papers. Nodding at her to continue moving on, he turned to the nextwoman coming in behind Poppy.

She hurried to the elevator. Once on the third floor shefound the correct door and walked inside. An older woman was sitting at thedesk facing the door, sorting papers. She smiled warmly as Poppy walked up toher.

“Welcome to the Intake Center, miss. My name is Suzie. Isthat your application to turn in?”

“Yes, ma’am. I finished it last night. I still haven’t had achance to get my physical yet but I wanted to get the ball rolling.”

“Poppy? Is that your legal name or a nickname?” Suzie peeredup over her glasses with another smile.

“Legal name, ma’am. My parents weren’t exactly traditionalwith naming their daughters. My sister’s name is Pixie. I think they may havebeen closet hippies.” She smiled at Suzie and noticed that all the otherfolders on her desk were also applicant packets. “Can I ask how many applicantsyou have so far? What are the chances of being selected?”

“Well, so far we have about thirty at this center. Therewould be more but the protesters have scared some women off and then ourcomputer system was hacked and some applications deleted. So it’s actually agood thing you filled out a paper application, otherwise you would be needingto go over all this again.”

Poppy smiled again and said, “You know, if I don’t getselected, maybe I could apply for a job here? It seems like you could use somehelp with this stuff and I have office experience.”

Suzie leaned across the desk and patted her hand. “Well,aren’t you just a sweetie! It actually isn’t too bad. I just scan all this inand don’t actually have to read or retype any answers into the program. It’spretty simple but it does set me back a bit when somebody fudges with mycomputer.” She started flipping through the packet and noticed the dates ofPoppy’s last medical exams. “Do you have appointments set up for these or wouldyou like to use our physicians on the sixth floor while you are here today? Wecan bill your insurance.”

“I didn’t know there was a medical center here. I thoughtthe whole building was just an Intake Office.”

Suzie walked around the desk and reached for a pamphlet in aclear holder on the wall. “Here, sweetie. We have doctors available that takemost insurances so our applicants don’t have to wait for appointments to becomeavailable at their family doctors. The doctors here are all certified andworking through contracts with the State Department. Would you like for me tosee if one is available?”

“Sure, I’d just planned on grocery shopping so I can evenwait a bit if they can’t fit me in immediately. I haven’t even called my doctoryet to see when the soonest he could get me in was so this would help me out.”Poppy searched for her cell to text her sister before remembering it was at thesecurity office. “Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my sister and let herknow I may not be out of here when I said I would.”

Suzie smiled and said yes while marking down a room numberon a card. “Just hit which line you

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