Page 86 of Ten Years and Then…
Daniel hadn’t thought that far ahead. But he wasn’t their manager back in Chicago, so it really wasn’t his problem. “You can call each other every morning and coordinate outfits, I guess.” Both women glared at him, until Thomas—the senior employee on the team at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, stepped in.
“Let’s not kill Daniel before the show even starts, okay? Or else,”—he looked at Red Kristin—“I’ll tell everyone what your middle name is.” That settled them down, although now Daniel was curious how bad her middle name could possibly be.
“More important question,” Edward piped up, “Where are we going for dinner? The Team Lead always takes everyone out after the booth is done.”
Mr. Kincaid had warned Daniel about that tradition—and also that the company credit card would cover it.
“That place across the street looked good,” Daniel said. “Hickory Moon? The concierge at the hotel raved about it.”
John spoke up. “Of course she did. They probably pay her under the table to send people over there.”
Once John got started on his conspiracy theories, there was no stopping him. You had to cut him off right away. “Fine. I saw in the guidebook, there’s Smoke and Embers. It’s a couple of blocks from here, but it’s supposed to be really good, too. Let’s just go there. Call it a command decision. Everyone good?”
Thankfully, everyone was good. They all wanted free food more than they wanted to argue.
Nora, fifteen minutes later
Nora was back in the lobby of the Marriott. She’d been working nonstop since eight o’clock in the morning—four demos, six interviews, and an hour sneaking around the show floor, one step ahead of security the whole time.
She deserved a reward. Her per diem was $50 a day, and she hadn’t spent any of it yet. A nice dinner would be just the thing now. She’d be by herself, but she was used to that. She would have asked Kenny the photographer, but he had family nearby, so he was booked tonight.
The guidebook in her room had mentioned a local barbecue joint that sounded interesting. Smoke and Embers, three blocks away. All the better she was eating alone—she wouldn’t have to worry about making a mess with an order of ribs.
“Hey, Nora.”
She turned to see who was calling her. It was a redheaded woman, taller than her and wearing an ingratiating smile. Annette Goddard.
“Hi, Annette. Sorry you missed the Windows NT demo this morning. Maybe you heard some of it from the hallway?”
Yes, that was obnoxious, but did Annette really deserve anything better?
Maybe that was unfair. Annette had behaved horribly in the three months Nora knew her, but sometimes people had stuff going on that wasn’t apparent from the outside. She wouldn’t want to be judged forever for the way she’d acted the spring of her freshman year.
“Sorry, forget I said that. How’s life at PC Magazine?”
Annette’s smile hadn’t wavered at her catty remark, or her semi-apology. “It’s great. I’d love to talk with you about it. What are you doing for dinner?”
Well, that was suspicious. She’d just tried to give Annette the benefit of the doubt, but clearly the woman wanted something from Nora. But that was fine. She could be wary, and still polite.
“I was just trying to figure that out, actually.”
Annette grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a window. “I’ve heard Hickory Moon is fantastic,” she said, pointing at a flickering neon sign across the street. “And I’ve got a company credit card, so dinner is on me. Do you want to change and meet me back down here in half an hour?”
Nora didn’t, really. But it would be a free meal, and, knowing that Annette was searching for dirt, she’d be on her guard, so there wasn’t any downside. She might even get some good information about a competitor, in addition to some genuine Kansas City barbecue.
“Sure, Annette. See you in a half hour.”
Daniel, an hour later
The team dinner was officially a success. It would have been nice to think it was because of his excellent leadership, but Daniel knew better. It was the pitcher of margaritas he’d ordered that was making everything go so smoothly at the table in the dimly lit back corner of Smoke and Embers.
But that was leadership, wasn’t it? Knowing what the team needed? And as far as the rest of them knew, he was paying out of his own pocket, so that was bonus points for him.
The Kristins had even gone along with his idea—they’d dressed in their assigned colors for dinner. Kristin Zachetti didn’t even grumble when Thomas asked her to, “Pass the ketchup, Blue.”
But at the end of the meal, while Daniel was waiting for the waitress to come back with the company credit card, Edward said, “Well, this was a great start to the conference. But I’m looking forward to seeing what the booth babes look like tomorrow.”
Both Kristins spoke in unison. “We’re right here!”
