"I wouldn't talk like that about Kerry because she's the very best at what she does," Dar went on. "And because she's proven herself to be a person of high skill and integrity. Can you say that about Meyer?"
Godson frowned.
"Do you trust him?"
"Well, I..."
Dar got up and roamed around the room. "Stewart, you're my customer." She stopped and gazed out the window again, blinking as she spotted Hans on the street below. He was pacing up and down, frustration evident in every line of his body. She exhaled, reluctantly censoring her words. "I don't want to upset you. I just call them as I see them, sometimes."
She watched his reflection in the window, his face folding into a pensive expression. Well, good. Maybe he'd think about it a little. In the meantime, that left her with her own problem down there on the street.
What if she couldn't talk Hans into it?
"Oh, I know that, Dar," Godson finally answered. "Listen, I'm the one who asked you to come here, remember? If I didn't respect your opinion, would I have done that?"
Dar felt a moment of almost dizzying doubt. What then? What if the programmer refused, and really did walk out?
"Dar?"
"Yeah." Dar swallowed before she turned back around. "Sorry. Just thinking." She returned to the table and sat back down. What would she do? Her eyes fell on Hans laptop, left invitingly close to hers. Could she take the code and, if he refused, do it herself?
Godson clasped his hands together. "Well, look, Dar. Why not let me take you and Jason and Hans out to dinner tonight, hm? We could go down to the Italian place on the corner. How about it? You guys will be ready for a break by then, right?"
Would that be ethical? "Stewart, mind letting me look at the contract you have with these people?" Dar asked. "Just want to see what leverage we have."
He shrugged. "Well, sure, Dar...sure. Let me get legal to bring you up a copy. "
"Thanks." She nibbled the inside of her lip. "Let's hold on dinner until we know how far we're gonna get today."
"Fair enough." Godson stood up. "I'll leave you to it then. Seems like you and Hans are getting nice and chummy!"
Okay. Dar finally decided. He's just an idiot. "Not really how I'd put it but..."
"Oh, sure, I saw you two."
The door slammed open, smacking against the wall and making a resounding crack. Hans strode in, brushing past Godson and slamming his hands on the table in front of Dar. "This is what my decision is." he barked in German. "And if you do not like it, then it is just too bad!"
Godson's eyes turned to saucers. "Hey!..ah..."
Dar leaned forward, and rested her chin on her fist. Her eyes narrowed a little, and she allowed a rakish grin to appear. "Talk," she replied. "Or walk."
Hans grabbed the paper they'd been discussing and shook it at her.
"I will make one, ONE change in this. In only this one module, and then you will show me this big difference it will make. I will see it with my own eyes how this is the big problem you claim."
Ahh. Gotcha. "All right," Dar agreed. "One change."
"And if it does not make anything better? Then?" Hans demanded. "What will you do? Because I will make no further changes."
Was she confident in her own analysis? Dar felt uncharacteristically unsure.
"Well?" Hans barked.
Stewart Godson was looking from one of them to the other, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging. "Ah..." he stammered. "Now, everyone relax, okay?"
Dar exhaled. "If I'm wrong, I'll give him the bandwidth," she said, in an even tone. "On me. How's that?"
Hans drew back and studied her. Then he grunted eloquently. "Good." He held his hand out to her. "We have a deal."
Dar accepted his grip, and released it. She sat back as Hans flopped into his chair, almost pushing Stewart out of his way as he pulled his laptop over and started pecking at the keys with long, agile fingers. After a second, she looked up. "Rain check on dinner, Stewart?" she suggested, in English.
"Uh...well, yes." Godson lifted a hand and started to back away. "Glad you two...uh... got things settled. Listen, if you need anything, just give me a call, okay?"
"Sure."
Godson left. Silence settled over the conference room again, punctuated by Hans' typing, and low, under his breath German muttering. Outside, faint sounds of the city filtered through the thick glass, but they were mostly obscured by the air conditioning cycling on.
Dar slowly let out a held breath, and picked up her PDA. She flipped it open and tapped a new message into being.
Ker?
A few seconds later, the message light stuttered.
Hey! How's it going?
Very good question. All right. Think I found something. How's it going there? She answered, then waited for a reply that seemed to take a while to come back.
Could be better. I just bumped into Michelle in the bathroom.
Dar winced. You didn't drown her, did you? This time the answer came back much faster.
I wish. I just want the day to be over. I'm trashed. Any idea when you'll be home?
Dar could sense the wistfulness in the words, subtly reassuring. I'll know better tonight. Cross your fingers.
(smile) Everything I have is crossed. I miss you.
Dar glanced furtively at Hans, but he was oblivious to her, his attention focused completely on his laptop screen with an intensity she recognized. She went back to her scribbling. Same here. Call me when the meeting's over, okay?
You got it. Love you.
Love you too. Dar folded the cover over the PDA and chewed on the back end of the stylus absently. Hans was working hard, but she found herself suddenly wondering to her own shock, if she shouldn't just open the pipes and have it over and done with.
What was going home worth?
Dar bit down on the stylus, lost in thought.
KERRY PAUSED FOR a moment outside the conference room to gather her composure. Consciously, she relaxed her shoulders and straightened her spine, and then she worked the latch on the door and pushed it open.
Inside, ten people were already circling uneasily around the big oak conference table. They were dressed in typical business attire, the worse for wear given the heat outside, and they all looked up as Kerry entered and crossed to the table.
"Afternoon," Kerry greeted them briefly. She laid her leather portfolio and her PDA down by the chair at the head of the table and walked over to the well stocked sideboard to get herself a glass of iced tea. Even with her back turned, she could sense eyes on her, but she took her time pouring her drink, mixing a spoonful of honey into the glass before she returned to the place she'd chosen.
Her conference room, her chair. Kerry sat down and leaned on the chair arm, sipping her tea as she regarded the room. "Mr. Quest? Are we ready to start? I've got a full afternoon scheduled besides this." Of course, if Dar had been there, it would have been her chair. It was the one she always used in this room and if Kerry concentrated hard enough, she could almost convince herself she caught a hint of Dar's usual perfume lingering on the leather.
Looking like he smelled cabbage, Quest walked stiffly over to the other end of the table and sat down in the seat facing Kerry. "Thank you for allowing us to use your conference space, Ms. Stuart. I'm sure we all appreciate being out of the heat and sitting somewhere comfortable." He looked at the rest of the room's occupants. "Would you all like to take a seat? I don't really want to waste..." His eyes flicked to Kerry's briefly. "Anyone's time."
"Fine," Michelle replied for all of them. She took a seat mid-way down the table, and Shari settled in next to her. They were both in smart, well-cut business suits, and despite the heat Michelle at least, had managed to retain her air of crisp professionalism.