Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love)

by O'Connor, Liza

  A sadness overcame Dan and he stood, breaking eye contact and rubbing his butt. “Anything else on your list?”

  She glanced at it. “Is it okay if I put a note on the refrigerator reminding people not to eat other people’s food?”

  He softly groaned. “Is someone eating your food?”

  “I’m not positive. They could be throwing it out. The teamwork around here could use some improvement.” Seeing a hint of anger flare in his eyes, she hurried to him and patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll win them over. I haven’t had time to make friends this week. But next week I’ll have plenty of time.”

  Dan nodded and left her ugly space. Much preferring Jeff’s office, she joined her master matcher, carrying his black coffee and her green tea.

  He smiled when she entered. “I’m going to miss you next week.”

  “I’ll no doubt be bored, but little birdies have to leave the nest.”

  Jeff huffed and opened his scheduler. “My first appointment is with a former competitor of yours. Under no circumstances mention Lancaster Chairs.”

  “Who?”

  “Top Value.”

  “And who’s coming in?”

  “CEO, Dave Massey.”

  “He knows me. I’ve met him several times before.”

  Jeff frowned. “And how did you get along?”

  “Very well, I thought.”

  Jeff’s pencil wrapped on his desk.

  “Do you want me to sit this one out?”

  “No, but the client may. When he arrives, say hello and then offer him something to drink. Once you step out, I’ll ask him. If he gives any indication he doesn’t want you, then once you return and give him his drink, I will thank you and you’ll leave. If I say nothing, sit down and join the meeting.”

  “Okay, but watch for a twitch in his left eye. It’s his indicator he’s not happy. I know, because it went off anytime Trent would speak to him.”

  Jeff shook his head.

  “It’s his aggravation tell,” she explained, worried he hadn’t taken her seriously.

  He leaned back. “Shall we review my notes? Feel free to add anything you think I should know about the man.”

  ***

  Dave Massey’s eyes grew to the size of saucers at the sight of Carrie. When he learned she no longer worked for Lancaster Chairs, he smiled from ear to ear.

  “But why didn’t you come work for me? I would have hired you in a second.”

  She almost mentioned Trent wouldn’t have liked her going to a competitor, but recalled how much the man disliked her fiancé. Putting Jeff’s client in a negative mood would not help matters.

  “Oh, you know, those pesky non-compete clauses.”

  He nodded. “How long are you tied up?”

  “Three years.”

  “So she’s working for us and making a very fine start,” Jeff stated, no doubt wishing to regain control of the conversation and move it to business. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No, I’m short on time, so let’s get through this as fast as possible.”

  Dave evidently believed giving half-answers would speed the process. Carrie knew better, and would mention the missed information. After he agreed to her additions the first two times, Jeff wrote down Carrie’s comments even before Dave agreed with them.

  After the fifth time, Dave threw up his hands and laughed. “Hell, you don’t need me. Carrie knows more about my business than I appear to.” He turned and frowned. “Does your former boss know this much about me?”

  “No. He had no interest in the details. I needed them, so I could assess what your next moves would be.”

  His brow furrowed. “And how’d you do?”

  She grimaced. “I had thought you intended to sell your Taiwan manufacturing site and move production to India, but you never did.”

  He snorted and shook his head. “Damn, I wish I could hire you.”

  “Why? I completely botched the assessment.”

  “No, I ruined it. I failed to learn the cultural expectations of India and insulted the political official needed to clear all the roadblocks. Now my plans hang in permanent limbo.”

  Jeff cleared his throat and glared at her, no doubt to get matters back on track.

  Carrie focused on Dave. “I know you’re in a hurry, so we should return to these questions. I’m sensing you don’t see the value, but I assure you they’re vital for us to match the perfect employees to the position. For example, knowing you still desire to move to India, we can search for someone highly knowledgeable about the country, perhaps from the high caste. Had you not mentioned your continued interest in the region, which I didn’t even know about, we might have missed the best candidate for your international team.

  He breathed in. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you’ll let me take you to lunch, I’ll answer Jeff’s questions to the best of my ability.”

  Oh, God! Did he expect her to have sex with him?

  Dave turned towards her, giving Jeff the opportunity to point to himself.

  “Can Jeff come, as well?”

  Dave rolled his eyes. “No, I’m taking you to a non-Orthodox restaurant.”

  Jeff held his cup out. “Carrie, can you get me more coffee?”

  She grabbed it and escaped the room as if being chased by wolves—horny male wolves.

  Once in the break room, she sat in a chair and buried her face in her hands. She should have let Jeff ban her from the meeting.

  A moment later, Dan’s comforting hand rubbed her back. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head but didn’t reply, fearing if she did, she’d burst into tears. The rumor Trent had a harem caused men who had always been respectful to treat her like a whore.

  The door closed and locked. Damn it, Dan had no intention of leaving until she explained.

  Breathing in deep, she steadied her nerves as he sat down on the other side of the small table.

  “I’m no doubt overreacting, but Dave Massey of Top Value promised to give complete answers to Jeff if I’d go to lunch with him. Jeff tried to invite himself, but Dave said he planned to take me to a non-Orthodox restaurant. I’m afraid he’s heard the lie about Trent having a harem and, like Mr. Harmon, thinks…” She couldn’t even say the words out loud.

  Dan stood and held out his hand. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I need to discover where Dave is taking us to lunch.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief and rewarded him with a smile. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me too much. Dave will still want you there, but I’ll make sure he behaves himself. When we sit at the table, you sit on the opposite side of him, and I’ll sit between you two.”

  Now saved from a nightmare situation, Carrie relaxed. Together, they rejoined the meeting.

  Dave Massey laughed at the sight of Dan. “So the big guns arrive to make me answer Jeff’s questions better. Does he have a button beneath his desk to call you?”

  Dan smiled at the man. “No. I happened to run into Carrie getting coffee, and she told me you planned to take a lunch today, so I’m here to remind you of the lunch you owe me.”

  “No offense, Dan, but I want to catch up with Carrie.”

  “If you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll eat while Carrie and you talk.”

  Dave chuckled. “You’re a pain in the ass, but I do owe you a dinner, so you can come. But the moment you try to dominate the conversation, I’m reminding you of your promise.”

  Dan squeezed the man’s shoulder. “What time is this lunch?”

  Dave glanced at Carrie. “When would you like to eat?”

  Carrie looked to Jeff, who studied his schedule. “One looks good.”

  “One, it is,” Dan said. “We’ll meet you. Where are you planning to go?”

  “Not sure, I’ll give you a call.”

  Dan nodded and left.

  The moment the door closed, Jeff returned to his questions.

  Dave a
nswered them in great detail and when they ended, he pointed his finger at Carrie. “If you hadn’t shown me how the detail could get me better employees, I wouldn’t have been half so forthcoming.”

  “I’m glad you were. I think you’ll like the candidates we send you.”

  He shook her hand then Jeff’s, and they escorted him to the elevator.

  When they returned to the office, Jeff closed the door. “I don’t think Dave had any intention other than having lunch with you, but I saw your concern. I’m glad you asked Dan to intervene.”

  “I didn’t ask him. He happened to come into the break room.”

  “Is his secretary ill? Because she always gets his coffee.”

  Carrie shrugged, having no idea why Dan had decided to get his own coffee, but she thanked God he had.

  Chapter 9

  Lunch was delightful. Dave Massey did not insist Dan remain quiet, but neither did her boss dominate the conversation. Dave spent most of the time picking her brain on the chair market. “Where do you think the market’s going: lower costs or better ergonomics?”

  “Both. Employees are demanding better ergonomic chairs.”

  “They are,” Dan quipped.

  She smiled, certain he referred to her request this morning. “And the CFOs are pushing for reduced costs. The only way to provide both is to move production to a low-labor country with firm control on quality.”

  Dave glanced at Dan. “I should be paying her for this advice.”

  “Well, she is in desperate need of a decent chair, but her cheapskate boss won’t buy her one because everyone will want a new chair, and it’s not in this year’s budget.”

  “I hear you there. If not for my international sales, I’d be in trouble.” He smiled as if a brilliant thought had occurred to him. “We are coming out with a new product and need user feedback on the prototype. Would you be willing to fill out a survey on the chair, if I give you one?”

  Carrie smiled. “I’d love to.”

  “I’ll send it over this afternoon. Any particular color?”

  “You have a beautiful maroon.”

  “The color was my wife’s contribution. She insisted I had missed a whole segment of the home-office market, which she calls ‘people with taste’.” He chuckled. “Opened new avenues for us and helped to penetrate European markets. Turns out they have my wife’s taste.”

  “It’s a beautiful chair,” Carrie admitted. Also pricey, but worth it if she couldn’t buy a Lancaster chair, which she liked almost as much, and it cost a hundred dollars less.

  However, she didn’t want Dan thinking about Trent cheating him every time he passed her soon-to-be pretty office.

  “My wife had input on this product, as well. The chair is designed for smaller people.”

  Carrie smiled. “What a great idea. There are more of us than you would think, and the back support on larger chairs can be uncomfortable for us.”

  He nodded as if he already knew this, then frowned. “You’ll have to sign a confidentiality contract before the product manager will release the chair to you and because Allan knows who you are, he’ll add specific terms surrounding Lancaster.” Dave’s eyes twitched.

  “I’ll sign whatever you want, but rest assured, I am honored to test your chair and I would never share anything about it to anyone, especially not Trent.” With good reason. His refusal to pay Dan made her worry about his ethics.

  The waiter arrived to take the dishes away. Dan’s and Dave’s were empty, hers looked as if it had just arrived.

  Dan asked the waiter to box up her meal to go. He then turned to Dave. “My new employee requires many small meals a day.”

  Instead of staring at her like she’d escaped from a freak show, Dave waved off the issue. “My wife’s the same. When we go out to dinner, she sits next to me and nibbles my food. Drives waiters crazy, but I don’t care. I think she’s adorable.”

  Carrie smiled. Not only had he not heard the ‘harem’ rumor, but he clearly loved his wife. She would have felt terrible about Dan wasting his time chaperoning their lunch, but she couldn’t. By the relaxed smile upon his face, he’d enjoyed the break from work and his meal.

  Once inside his car, Carrie asked Dan how long he’d known Dave.

  “We were close during his bachelor years. Then he met Anna and things changed.”

  “How?”

  “His rare moments of spare time go to his family now.” He glanced at his watch. “I asked Helen to order two iPads. They should be here Monday. I want you to make it a priority to set up the search feature matching client specs to candidates. I want us to find Dave the best employees we can. Otherwise, his four kids will forget what he looks like.”

  “I will.”

  “And keep an eye out for someone with similar attributes to you, who could help Greg.”

  “An assistant?”

  “Yes, one with the knack for taking initiative, not waiting for work to be given.”

  She recalled how Greg resisted showing her how to do client specs. “You’ve tried to give him an assistant before, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, and they quit within two weeks. He won’t let them do anything.”

  “Okay if I hop into my change specialist role and modify Greg’s behavior, once I find the perfect candidate to assist him?”

  Dan smiled. “Yes, please.”

  “Would he prefer a male assistant?”

  “Tried it. He thought I wanted to replace him with a younger guy.” His brow furrowed. “Do you remember who showed you to your office?”

  “I remember what he looked like, but he didn’t tell me his name.”

  “Then Greg didn’t give it to you.”

  “No, I know Greg’s name,” she teased.

  He thwacked her leg for being a smart ass. “Describe the guy.”

  “Five-eight, dark hair, black glasses, slight acne, about thirty pounds overweight.”

  “Fred Anderson.”

  The dark tone in his voice worried her. “Why did you want to know?”

  “Because he gave you the worst one available.”

  She pressed her hand on Dan’s arm. “Please don’t make an issue of it. We need to know which people wish to dump on the newbie. If you come down on them, they might stop the petty acts, making it harder for me to focus on the most likely colluders.”

  He shifted in his seat so he faced her straight on. “Explain how being a jerk has anything to do with my collusion problem.”

  “Stealing my food and giving me a crappy office are clear indicators the perpetrators have no interest in making me a happy, long-term employee.”

  Dan’s head tilted. “And the colluders would have the same mind-set. In fact, they need you to quit so they can exploit the next newbie.”

  “Right. Because once I get established, I won’t want their ‘cast off’ candidates, and with experience, I might see what they’re doing.”

  His jaw tensed.

  “You don’t agree?”

  “I do. But their actions, thus far, make me think they want to remove you immediately. You’re too smart and scare them.”

  “Let’s wait and see what happens next week when I cease to be ‘Jeff’s girl’. It’s possible the animosity is coming from his favoritism and has nothing to do with their ultimate goals.”

  “Then the two may not be related?”

  “The pranks can still be their ‘tell’. People act on more than one motivation at a time. There may not be any relationship between the two, but the underlying attitude toward a newbie could bleed over.”

  Dan had his driver pull into the underground parking lot. He pointed out his parking space, then Jeff’s. When the car stopped next to the elevator, he said, “Jenson, I’ll need your parking placard.”

  The man grimaced. “I won’t be able to get in here on Monday. The new guard wouldn’t let his mother in without a placard.”

  “Remind me when you pick me up Monday to pull the one from my Volvo. And if we forget, I will go up
stairs, retrieve yours from Carrie, and bring it down to you.”

  The man relaxed.

  As they rode up in the elevator, Carrie suggested a better solution.

  “Since your driver isn’t concerned about leaving here without the placard, I’m guessing you only need it for coming in.”

  He nodded.

  “So I can give it back to you when we finish.”

  “Except Destiny and I are only available on Saturday. Sunday we always do a father-daughter thing. Last week, she got to choose, so we climbed a wall of knobs until my fingers grew numb and the muscles in my arms fainted. This week, we are going to a Broadway show, where we will sit very still and laugh a lot, or so I’ve been promised.”

  “What are you going to see?”

  “Tall and Tiny. They’ve changed their show and the Times declared it their best ever.”

  “Oh, I’m so jealous. I saw their original show, but if they’ve changed it, Trent and I need to go back. Given his current mood, I’ll have to make sure he’s not seated in the front row this time.” She told him of the stuff Tall and Tiny had done to Trent.

  “You sound as if you’re acquainted with Tall and Tiny.”

  She nodded. “They happened to show up at the same restaurant as us.” She chuckled. “Tiny is as hysterical in person as he is onstage. They also came to my rescue the night when I tried to get my Europa turtles out of my system guy’s hands. Tall made them disappear. He worried Tiny would devour half the bag and be hooked on Europa for the rest of his life.”

  The elevators door opened but as she stepped into the lobby, Dan didn’t follow.

  “Are you okay?”

  Her words jarred him into action. He hurried to his office. Since she had her food to put in the fridge, she walked in the same direction, but Dan didn’t wait for her. He rushed ahead, spoke to his secretary, and then disappeared into his office.

  Carrie couldn’t make sense of his abrupt behavior. He must have remembered a meeting.

  ***

  Carrie’s story of narcotic turtles, which she fed an employee and then needed magicians to make them disappear, stunned Dan to his core.

  He hurried to his secretary and leaned over, whispering, “Helen, I need you to acquire the home phone number of Trent Lancaster’s penthouse and get his butler on the phone.”