The speaker’s voice droned on in Marie’s head, and her chin slipped off the palm of her hand. She instinctively touched her throat out of habit, remembering the feel of the cord around her neck. How in the world was she going to make it through this conference if she kept falling asleep in the first seminar and replaying the nightmare of that tragedy in her head? She needed a cup of coffee, and she needed it fast.
Quietly slipping out of her chair, she headed to the back of the conference room where the catering had laid out a buffet earlier that morning. She spotted the caffeinated pot and quickly poured a cup. As she stirred the cream into her coffee, she admired the beautiful poinsettias aligning the floor around the base of the magnificent Christmas tree standing tall against the back
