Mark burst into laughter. ”Boy, did he ever get his lines crossed.”
He patted Kerry’s shoulder. ”Guess he picked on you because you’re the newest, figured the rest of us had our loyalties set by now.” He put his own tray down. ”So, what’d you tell him?”
”To kiss my ass,” Kerry replied, with a hint of a blush. ”More or less.”They both watched as their subject sauntered up, his neck still red from anger, and deposited his tray. ”My mistake.” He oozed savage politeness to Kerry. ”I should have guessed Dar would pick someone who thought just like she does.” He threw his napkin in the bin. ”Your loss.” He left, giving them a disgusted look.
Mark and Kerry eyed each other. ”Asshole,” they both said in sync.
Kerry sighed. ”Well, at least I won’t have to worry about him asking me out on a date now,” she remarked wryly. “That’s a relief.”
”Yeah, but he could get nasty that way,” Mark replied, snagging 30
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two large chocolate chip cookies and offering her one. ”You know how people are in this place.”
”Been there, done that.” Kerry accepted the cookie, and bit into it.
”I think everyone’s over that one already.” She glanced around. “We’ve been pretty careful not to hang out together here.”
”Yeah, but watch out,” the MIS chief warned, as they headed for the elevator. “Doesn’t take much to get that crap started up again and big D’s in a hornet’s nest right now.”
“Yeah, I know.” Kerry sighed, and punched the button for the fourteenth floor, then held the door as she heard footsteps approach.
She couldn’t see outside from where she was, but she knew it was Dar from the weight and rhythm of them.
A smile was already pulling at her lips as Dar stepped inside, moving to the rear of the car and leaning against it. ”Speak of the devil,” Kerry commented, as the doors slid shut. ”I just pretty much blew up my lunch meeting.”
”Really?” Dar crossed her arms. ”You lasted a lot longer than I would have.” She gave Mark a wry look. ”He must have stirred up a pile of crap though, because Mariana just called me and told me they’re calling a meeting of all the upper management staff.” As if on cue, both Kerry’s and Mark’s pagers went off. ”I really don’t have time for this crap today.”
Kerry was listening to the voice page. ”Yep, one o’clock in the big conference room.”
Mark cursed softly. ”I’ve got HP coming in this afternoon about the servers. Damn.” He glanced at Dar. ”What’s it about?”
The executive shrugged. ”Mari didn’t have details. She was waiting on a packet from Houston.” She sighed. ”Alastair endorsed it and it’s from Houston Personnel center, so god only knows what it is, probably another poster campaign.”
Mark snickered. ”I liked the security posters, Dar. I have the one about preventing hackers framed in my bedroom.”
The doors slid open and they walked out, surprised to see Mariana standing in front of Dar’s doorway. ”Uh oh,” the executive murmured.
”That doesn’t look good.” She gave them both a nod. ”See you all shortly.”
”Dar, I need to talk to you,” Mari said as she approached. ”You’re not going to believe what they just dumped on us.”
”Oh, I’ll believe anything...once.” Dar gestured towards the door.
”C'mon.” She led the way into her office. ”Maria, book me for a one p.m. meeting, and cancel the briefing conference call, please.”
”Si.” Her secretary looked up from the phone. ”Dar, your little puppy called.”
”Thanks,” Dar said absently as she went through the door to the inner office, then she stopped short, causing Mariana to crash into her.
”Wait a minute, what?” She turned. ”Sorry. ” She poked her head back Hurricane Watch
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out. ”Maria, who did you say called?”
The older woman smiled. ”Si, the puppy. I got a call, I picked up, is nothing. I said, ‘hello, hello,’ and then, ‘buenos dias,’ but nothing. I almost hang up, and I hear...” She made little whining noises. ”I check caller ID, is your house.”
Dar blinked, ignoring the muffled laugh from behind her. ”She must have gotten out and knocked the phone off the hook in the living room. Do me a favor, call resident services out there and have them go check, will you?” She shook her head and ducked back in the office.
”Great, with my luck she went and called Singapore while she was at it,” she muttered as she closed the door. ”All right, what’s up?”
Mariana threw a packet on her desk for an answer. ”Before you start screaming, I’ve already been on the phone with Alastair, twice, and he’s not backing down.”
Dar circled her desk and sat down, picking up the packet. Her eyes scanned it, and she looked up. ”You’re joking.”
A shake of Mariana’s head. ”Nope. It’s an executive retreat, with a program specifically for ‘team building’. They have a reservation for twelve of us starting Friday afternoon. They’re sending a bus to pick us up.” She crossed her arms. ”Alastair says they’ve been using a very similar program out in Texas for three months and it’s worked great for them.”
Dar covered her eyes. ”Let me see if I understand this” she muttered. ”He wants to send us all on a bus out into the wilderness, to climb over rocks and trees and live in a cabin, and that’s going to help us get along?”
”That’s essentially it, yes.” Mari nodded. ”For the record, I’ve read up on this stuff. I was trying to find some kind of help here, and it’s got its merits, Dar, but it depends on the participants.”
”In our case, it depends on the participants not killing each other!”
Dar ended up yelling, her voice bouncing off the walls. ”Is he nuts?”
She punched the phone. ”Beatrice, is he there?” Then she drummed her fingers until the line opened.
”Now Dar, before you say anything, let me get my spiel in.”
Alastair’s voice was cheerful, as usual. ”Okay?”
Dar folded her hands on her desk. ”Okay,” she responded in a quiet tone.”I got that email yesterday, and to be honest, it concerned me,” the CEO stated. ”Not because I thought it was true, although you can be a stubborn obstructionist when you need to be, Dar, but it’s always been in our best interests if you know what I mean.”
”Uh huh,” Dar grunted.
”I see it as an overall problem company-wide, and that’s why we’ve been using these seminars. They’re wonderful! You’ll love it. Listen, it’s just a weekend out in the middle of nowhere. No cell phones, no computers and the food’s pretty good. We found the damn things really 32
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do work to get people to know each other better.”
”Uh huh.”
”So, I’m sure if this new guy and you get to know each other, things will smooth out, and besides, the rest of the group needs a little team building. I’ve been getting a bunch of grumpies from that office lately.”
”Alastair?”
”Yes? You can go off on me now, Dar.”
”The problem with me and Steven Fabricini is that we do know each other. I got him thrown out of school ten years ago and he’s kept a grudge.” Dar paused. ”You think sending us both out into the woods is a good idea?”
Long pause. ”Ah.” Alastair muttered. ”I see...wish I’d known that.”
“Asking might have been helpful.”
“Arhm...”
”Can we cancel this now?” Dar asked, hopefully.
”Well, see, it’s prepaid, and we’ve already transmitted the payment.” He sighed. ”And if we cancel, we lose all that money...” He paused. ”Let’s do it anyway, Dar. I’m counting on you to set an example and bring everyone back with at least a little more team spirit.”