My Not So Secret "Secret", by Ron Cole
"Don't go," she said, in a low voice so alien to me that I visibly recoiled. "They can send someone else. This isn't who you are anymore," she added in the same tone. She was staring daggers at me. I couldn't tell if she was angry or about to burst into tears. In either case it was more genuine emotion from her than I'd ever seen; my best friend and business partner who was not known for exhibiting emotion like that. I was actually speechless, another oddity of the moment. Of course I had to go, if they put me on a plane, precisely because there was no one else who could take my place. If lives were at stake, and they certainly were, I couldn't put her feelings above that level of responsibility. I'd told Carrie, my partner, about what was happening out of necessity. If I was going to be on the other side of the country for some period of time, she was the only one who could keep the business running in my absence. But, beyond that, no o