“Did she tell you then?” I grin, acting as though I don’t notice the awkwardness.
“Tell me what?” Joe asks.
“I’ll take that as a no,” I say.
I grin at Kimberley, a friendly grin that I hope she reads as an apology, because it’s the closest she’ll get to one.
“I can’t believe you didn’t come clean as soon as I left the table,” I laugh.
She looks confused, but she laughs along with me, clearly wondering where the hell I’m going with this, but staying on her best behaviour after Joe’s dressing down of her.
“I apologise,” I say to Joe, giving him my most charming smile. “We probably took it too far. Past the point where you saw the funny side. The danger of working with old friends I guess.”
I turn back to Kimberley.
“Let’s just stop messing around now before Joe here has an aneurism and get back to the proper deal.”
“Wait. This was a joke?” Joe demands.
I laugh and nod my head.
“Of course it was. As if a pro like Kimberley is going to blow up a merger based on the office she gets,” I laugh. “I must admit though, I didn’t see the restaurant thing coming. Nice improvising.”
Joe and Gary look at each other, and for a moment, the tension around the table intensifies.
“I’m not sure we want to work with people who don’t take this seriously Gary. What do you think?” Joe says.
Gary nods solemnly.
“I’m inclined to agree,” he says.
Ok, this is going south quickly. I glance at Kimberley who looks almost ghost white. She gives me a look that says fix it. I open my mouth to speak, but before I do, Joe bursts into laughter.
“We had you there didn’t we?” he laughs. “You’re not the only ones who can have a bit of fun you know.”
I laugh with them and Kimberley joins us. There’s a shaky quality to her laugh as she plays along as though we set this whole thing up.
“That was a risky little game,” Joe says to me. “How did you know I would take it as a joke?”
“I told you him you had a good sense of humour,” Kimberley jumps in.
“Ah you know me so well,” Joe laughs. “Now, just to clarify, the restaurant clause stays in. And Kimberley? You’re getting the worst office I can find.”
The mood around the table lightens and by the time Sasha brings us our desserts, we’re no longer talking about the idea the merger may or may not happen. We’re actively making plans for future projects.
We finish desserts and rather than ordering coffee, Joe orders two bottles of good champagne. He proposes a toast to a great working relationship and we all drink to it.
“So you two obviously know each other pretty well then,” Joe says, nodding at me and Kimberley. “Did she tell you about her first day at Benton’s Sebastian?”
I shake my head.
“We kind of lost touch after high school,” I say.
“Then you’re going to love this,” Joe says.
Kimberley blushes and shakes her head, but she’s laughing and when Joe looks at her, she gives him a subtle nod, letting him know he can tell me the story.
“She came to us as this quiet, shy little thing, but she had ambition. I took her under my wing and yes, I take full credit for the woman she is today,” Joe laughs.
I don’t think that’s entirely true. I reckon I should get at least part of the credit for that one, but that’s an observation I keep to myself.
“She walked into my office on her first day as an intern in our finance department. She looks me straight in the eye and says that she’s not here to mess around. She tells me that she expects to be CFO within three years and she asks me what she needs to do to get there. Can you imagine it Sebastian? This kid straight out of high school telling me she’s here to take over the whole finance department? It took everything I had not to laugh out loud, but she had this quiet determination, and I didn’t want to kill her spirit. I told her what I expected, not thinking for a second she’d do it. And yet here we are.”
“I can imagine that,” I laugh. “Kimberley always knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after her dreams.”
“Knowing what I know about her now, I’m only surprised she came to me instead of attempting to fire the CFO I had at the time,” Joe laughs.
“Hey, I’m still here you know,” Kimberley laughs. “And let’s be honest. If I’d done that I’d have been doing you a favour.”
“That’s true,” Joe concedes.
Kimberley drains her glass.
“Should we order another bottle of wine?” she says.
“None for me thanks. I think I’m about ready to call it a night,” Gary says.
“Yeah, me too,” Joe agrees.
“Oh, ok,” Kimberley says.
“Don’t let us stop you,” Joe says. “Stay on a while and have a catch up with Sebastian. Just no cooking up anymore tricks between the two of you, you hear me?”
“No, it’s fine if you want to call it a night,” Kimberley says.
“Nonsense. Stay, I insist,” Joe says. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been dying for us two to leave for the last half hour.”
“Huh?” Kimberley says.
“Oh come on. You think we can’t see the chemistry between you two?” Joe laughs. “Stay and enjoy yourself.”
“There’s no chemistry,” Kimberley and I say at the same time.
Joe just laughs.
“There’s no need to deny it. I like that you two click together. It will help the merger too run smoothly,” he says.
He stands up.
“Thank you for a pleasant night Sebastian. We must do it again some time and the next one’s on me.”
I stand up and shake Joe’s hand and then Gary’s who has also got to his feet. Kimberley looks like she isn’t really sure what to do. She must
