Page 17 of Memphis

“So, we’re good?”

“That depends. We need to know if the projected changes were documented and if Smithson signed off on them. If so, we should be able to shut this thing down during mediation.”

“That would be great. Do you want me to put in a call to his office?”

“No, that’s okay.” As I reached for the phone, I told him, “I’ll do it.”

I quickly dialed the number to Mr. Smithson’s main secretary and requested that she look for the additional documents. I felt a huge sense of relief when she assured me that she’d found them and would send them over. As soon as I hung up the phone, I called out to Mark, “You ready for that lunch break?”

“Absolutely.”

It was a pretty day, so Mark and I decided to skip the car and walk the two blocks over to the restaurant. We started talking about the ins and outs of the case, and it wasn’t long before we were hit with a scent of freshly smoked BBQ. My mouth started to water as I told Mark, “Well, it certainly smells good.”

“It definitely does. Let’s hope that’s a good sign.”

“We’ll see soon enough.”

When we got to the restaurant, Mark opened the door and waited as I started inside. We followed the waitress to a booth in the back, and after a quick glance at the menu, we both placed our orders. I was tired of talking about the Smithson contract, so I gave Mark a smile and asked, “So, how was the big date this weekend?”

“How did you know about that?”

“I might’ve overheard you talking to Rose about it.”

“Rose? That was days ago.”

“Oh, I know.” I gave him a look. “It’s been killing me that she got to hear about your new Mr. Right, but I haven’t heard a thing about him. Well, at least, not from you.”

He chuckled as he said, “I can’t believe it took you this long to ask me about it.”

“I wanted to, but I was too hurt to mention it.” I gave him a slight pout as I teased, “I thought we were closer than that.”

“Ah, now, don’t be like that. I was going to tell you. I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”

“Um-hmm.”

“I’m serious. I was going to tell you all about him, but we had a crazy day on Thursday, and then Smithson came in on Friday. I just haven’t had a chance.”

“Well, you do now. So, tell me...”

My cell phone started to ring, and I was about to silence it when I saw that it was my father calling. I held up my hand, letting Mark know I had to take the call, then sighed before answering, “Hey, Dad. I’m in the middle of something. Can I call you back?”

“That’s not necessary. I was just calling to see if you wanted to meet me for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, okay...” I couldn’t remember the last time he’d asked to spend time with me, especially alone, so I asked, “What about Kay? Is she going to be joining us?”

“No, it’ll just be me and you.”

“Why? Is something going on?”

“Wes has been in an accident, and she’s gone to the hospital to see how he’s doing.”

My heart started to race as I asked, “What kind of accident?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t really tell her much.”

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, they didn’t really tell her much.” I was still trying to process the bomb he’d just dropped on me when he said, “So, I was thinking we could meet up at that little Japanese place that’s a couple of blocks down from your apartment.”

---