Monday morning came too quickly for Darcy but as soon as she walked into the building, she felt stronger and better than she had on Friday afternoon. She quickly fixed the server issue and several other minor crises that came up after that. She was amazed at how easy the problems were solved since she was refreshed from her weekend. It was already four o’clock in the afternoon and she wasn’t as tense as she usually was.
Then the phone call came.
“Darcy Madison, ATI,” she answered the phone absently.
“Darcy! Good to hear your voice again. What are your plans for tonight?” Norman Finch asked, his whiny voice coming across the phone lines.
Darcy instantly was alert and she had to struggle to be polite to the irritating man. “Me and my team are working tonight. You moved up the deadline to next week so we’re all burning the midnight oil to make our demonstration shine.”
“Well, meet me for breakfast tomorrow morning then and I’ll help you with that,” he said. He gave her an address to a restaurant and then hung up.
Darcy didn’t understand what was going on but she wrote down the instructions. As soon as she hung up the phone, she dialed Jim’s number. He wasn’t available, so she dialed Micahel’s. But as soon as she finished the last number, she got an e-mail from him saying he had to go out of town tonight and would call her as soon as he got back. She hung up the phone and sighed. What harm could a simple breakfast have?
Darcy dressed carefully the next morning. She was tired, having worked until almost midnight the night before so she could prepare some slides for Mr. Finch to review this morning. And she wasn’t really in the mood to deal with some man who she suspected had an ulterior motive.
The restaurant was quiet when she arrived but there were other patrons having business meetings. She made sure she was early so Mr. Finch wouldn’t be irritated again. But as soon as he walked through the doors, she knew there was going to be trouble. He looked around the lobby and didn’t immediately see her and his brow furrowed in irritation.
“Mr. Finch?” she said, stepping out from behind a chair that must have been blocking his view of her.
He startled and threw his hands up in the air, ready to run. When he realized who it was, it took him several moments to compose himself, and slick his hair back over his balding head.
“Darcy! I didn’t see you when I first walked in. I thought you were going to keep me waiting again. I’m a very busy man and don’t have time for that, you know,” he said, admonishing her again for the previous lunch issue despite her being on time for this meeting.
Biting her tongue on a caustic reply, she said simply, “You’re right, Mr. Finch. And I apologize again. That was inexcusable of me. I promise I won’t waste your time in the future. I believe our table is ready if you’re hungry.”
“Well, at least you’re here now. Let’s eat. I’m haven’t had my morning coffee yet so I’m afraid I’m a bit of a grouch.”
Darcy didn’t reply to that comment but followed him to the table. She considered him a grouch all the time, but she knew he wouldn’t appreciate her opinion of his personality. The hostess handed them both menus and she hid behind hers for a moment, trying to gain a little more time.
The waitress came and poured each of them hot coffee and they put in their orders. Norman filled up his coffee with four, large teaspoons of sugar. The coffee spilled over the side as he stirred the sugar in his cup. As soon as the waitress went away, Norman Finch moved his chair closer to Darcy’s. “Well? Tell me about the progress you’ve been making.”
Darcy pulled out the slides she’d been working on the previous evening and started to show him the details of their progress. “Well, we’re almost there,” she said and winced as the man moved closer still with the pretense of looking at the slides even though she handed him a set for his own viewing and didn’t need to look at hers. She stressed the flexibility of their application and how much stronger the files would be when set up with her system versus the normal operating system.
Norman didn’t seem very interested in her explanation and she wracked her brain to remember something that might pique his curiosity and want to go with their solution over the competitions.
Thankfully, their breakfast came quickly and she was able to move away slightly in the guise of needing some elbow room to eat. But he still leaned closer to her.
By the end of breakfast, his elbow was constantly touching hers no matter how much room she gave him. Finally, she snapped. “Mr. Finch, I just can’t work this closely with another person. I need a little more space to think.”
At first his eyes showed his surprise at her outburst but after several moments where he vascilated between irritation and humor, Norman Finch chose the latter and just smiled in an odd and patronizing way. He patted her hands condescendingly and said, “I understand. I feel the same way about you. Meet me for dinner tonight and we’ll discuss what to do about it.”
Without another word, he inefficiently wiped his mouth and stood up, immediately leaving the restaurant with scrambled egg on one side of his mouth. Darcy stared at his retreating back as if he were some sort of slimy lizard that had come up out of nowhere, wreaked havoc, then disappeared without a word.
He wanted her to meet him for dinner? Was he nuts? He barely looked at any of the slides she’d worked on late last night. That man had to be up to something and she didn’t like where she suspected his actions were going. He was definitely barking up the wrong tree if she thought he could get anywhere with her.
She paid the bill and smiled gratefully to the waitress, leaving her a big tip for getting their food to the table quickly and making sure that the irritating man always had a full cup of coffee. While she gathered up her slides and headed over to the office, she wondered about his last comment. What did he mean when he’d said he ‘understood’? She was wary about what he thought he understood about her feelings. Either he was completely misunderstanding, which meant he knew how disgusting she thought of him, or it was the exact opposite and he was now under the impression that she was somehow attracted to the small man.
Heading back to the office, she was determined to talk to Michael and make sure someone else accompanied her on this dinner meeting with her potential client.
As soon as she walked into her office, several team members approached her with both problems and solutions. Some weren’t sure which direction to take on the user interface. Others just wanted reassurance that they were still on track to meet the deadline for the end of the proposal. She worked with her team to finalize the presentations to the committee, putting the idea of dinner with Mr. Finch out of her mind.