“Bonjour Zoe. You’re a little early. Are you ready to get back to work?” Henri asked just as Zoe was walking in the Cartier Transport office’s side door Monday morning. She stopped just inside the door and frowned at her boss. “Don’t look at me like that. You don’t appear to be dressed like you’re ready to get back to work.”

“I’m ready to work,” Zoe replied. “And good morning to you too.”

“She looks ready to work, but perhaps not for courier duty,” Chloe teased walking into the office. She walked up to Zoe and reached down lifting the helm of Zoe’s green skort. “A skort?”

“Hey!” Zoe exclaimed slapping at Cee’s hand. “Yes, this is a skort. It’s hot already and the so-called climate-controlled clothing really doesn’t do anything for keeping me cool.”

“You’re just finding that out?” Henri laughed.

“The bike riding clothing does a decent job of keeping you warm, but yeah, keeping you cool is a different story,” Cee said. “The denim wasn’t cool enough?”

“It’s alright. I just wanted something that would be cooler to wear,” Zoe replied. She tugged on the jacket she had on. “Besides, I’m still wearing my jean jacket.”

“The jacket and white shirt go fairly nicely with the skort, but I’m not sure about the ankle boots,” Cee said. She grinned. “You’ll also be able to tan your legs some.”

“Uh. Could we…” Henri tried to interrupt the two women. He sucked in a breath.

“I only have these, the knee length ones, or running shoes, so I opted for these,” Zoe shrugged. “I don’t need a tan. The wind flowing over my legs is nice and cool though.”

“Perhaps I should go change into something cuter and more comfortable too,” Cee said continuing to ignore her fiancé.

“Enough with the fashion talk,” Henri said blowing out a long-held breath. Chloe laughed and winked at him. “Zoe, I’m sending you to Queens County Criminal Court. There, you’ll pick up some files and take to Chase Law at 292 City Island Ave. They’ll have something for you to take to the Long Island City Courthouse in Queens.”

“I do have a skort I could wear,” Cee said. Henri shook his head. She winked at him. “You know you love the way it looks on me too.”

“That’s a long drive,” Zoe said ignoring Chloe. “Do you have anything else for me?”

“I’ll have something else for you by the time you’re done at the Long Island City Courthouse,” Henri replied. “As always, see if any of them have anything else too.”

“Zoe, what made you comfortable enough to wear a skort while riding?” Chloe asked.

“An upgrade to my Subdermal Weave and my new GT4,” Zoe answered.

“I like the idea of dressing more comfortable while working too. This is something I should have been doing. I’m going to go change,” Cee said turning heading back to Henri’s and her apartment.

“See what you’ve started,” Henri mock complained. His smile and tone of voice let Zoe know he was joking. He shook his head. “People won’t take Cartier Transport serious anymore after everyone shows up wearing skirts, shorts, and skorts.”

“Right,” Zoe said trying not to laugh and taking the data cable from the counter. She plugged it into her port. “Send me the data so I can get going to the Criminal Court.”

*

Zoe stopped after exiting the office and catching sight of her friends and co-workers examining her new GT4.

“Is this Zoe’s new ride?” TK asked.

“It must be,” Terr answered. “She’s the only courier I know of that rides a GT4.

“I love the blue,” Newt said.

“It is pretty,” Vee agreed.

“What are you guys gawking at?” Zoe said in as deep a voice as she could manage, which wasn’t deep at all.

“Just a pretty blue toy,” Vee answered giving Zoe a smile.

“Was that voice supposed to scare us?” Terr asked. Zoe shrugged. “You need to put more bass into it if you want to scare people.”

“Zoe’s voice just doesn’t have that range,” Newt said.

“Yeah, her voice is more like a mouse’s,” TK added. He grinned and winked at Zoe.

“Don’t get any ideas kitty cat,” Zoe replied. “This mouse will bite back.”

“Promises, promises,” TK said.

“Anyway, Newt said. “Riding a new bike while wearing a skirt? That’s brave.”

“I bet it’s a skort instead of a skirt,” Vee said.

“You’d win that bet,” Zoe replied.

“Has Henri already given you your route for today?” Terr asked.

“He’s given me three runs to start the day with,” Zoe answered.

“That explains why you’ve come back out of the office, the orc replied.

“Yep,” Zoe agreed. “And I better get to it.”

“Are we meeting for lunch at Zoe’s place?” Newt asked.

“Of course,” TK answered.

“Not going to ask me?” Zoe asked.

“Nope,” the others chorused before laughing.

Zoe shook her head and disabled her GT4’s security system. She mounted and put on her helmet. She cranked it and revved the engine.

“Isn’t that quieter than your Triple Black was?” Vee asked.

“Yeah, I think it is. I still love that sound though,” Zoe answered. “It’s something to do with the new standards in Europe. See you guys for lunch.”