At two o'clock that afternoon, they hadn't even stopped for lunch yet. They'd been talking for three hours, and his secretary finally brought them each a sandwich. Both he and Meredith had the same kind of work ethic, the same drive and passion about their work, their love for what they did was not only creative, it was almost obsessive. And they spent the rest of the afternoon talking about new diagnostic tools and new products.
“Meredith,” he said, looking intensely at her late in the afternoon. “I can't do this without you.”
“Yes, you can,” she said quietly, but she had loved everything she had heard since eleven o'clock that morning.
“The point is, I don't want to. I want you here to share all this with me.”
“And the truth is,” she sighed, “I want to be here. But I don't know if I have a right to do it.” She felt incredibly torn between an important career decision, and her personal life. She was still worried about Steve, no matter how good Cal said the local hospitals could be for him. He was already firmly entrenched where he was, as the number-two man in an internationally known trauma unit. And there was no question in either of their minds that he would be the number-one man someday, and probably sooner rather than later. Harvey Lucas had been talking about retiring from trauma work and going into research for years, and Steve had been convinced recently that Lucas was getting closer to it. He was tired, he'd had problems with his heart, and the trauma unit was getting to be too much for him. There was a high burnout rate in trauma, you just couldn't live with that kind of pressure forever. “I have to give Steve a chance to think about this seriously,” she said to Cal. “He's a major factor in this decision.”
“I'll find him a job if I have to, Meredith. I don't want to lose you.”
“You don't have me yet,” she said with a tired smile. She wanted this as badly as he did. She loved his company, and she knew that they worked well together, and she thought that she could do some important things for him, given the right opportunities. He had convinced her. The only real problem was Steve now. She didn't even feel as guilty about leaving her investment banking firm. Cal was right, she realized, they didn't really appreciate her. And if she hadn't hit the glass ceiling yet, she knew she was damn close to it. But at Dow Tech, as Cal said, the sky was the limit.
“What do you think, Merrie? Will you do it?” He had tried not to pressure her all afternoon, but it was hard to hold back. He just wanted her to take the job so badly.
They had also met with Charlie McIntosh that afternoon, and she was surprised that even he encouraged her to take the job. Given the direction the company was taking now, he thought she'd be very good for them. “You won't regret it, if you come out here,” he said, sounding more like an old friend than the thorn in her side he'd been for the entire road show. “And you already know the company, Meredith. There won't be a lot of surprises here for you. Besides,” he smiled at her benevolently, “Cal is a great guy, and a pleasure to work for.” He treated him more like a son or a nephew than the CEO of the company that employed him.
“I've never worked for a publicly held company, and I just don't want to start now. I'm too old to start worrying about shareholders, and whether or not the stock market is going up or down and taking us with it. But you two are young enough to enjoy it.” He seemed relieved by his decision. “I hope you take the job, Meredith,” he urged, and she didn't feel so much pressured as wanted and appreciated. Here, she really was needed.
Cal invited her to dinner that night but she said she wanted some time to herself, to do some serious thinking. She had room service bring her scrambled eggs, and she called Steve at the hospital, and was lucky to find him.
“So how's it going?”
“Great, unfortunately.” She sounded tormented. She had been weighing the pros and cons all night, and she felt more confused than ever. One part of her wanted to leap at the chance, and the other told her that she owed it to Steve to stay in New York and stick with what she was doing. She felt guilty even putting the possibility out there for discussion. But she had come this far, and now she had to. “It looks terrific. And I think I'd love it here, or the job at least. I have no idea what living in California would be like. The job is the real draw for me. But what about you, sweetheart? What do you really think about this?”
“I think it's something you really have to look at,” he said fairly. “That's why I told you I thought you should go out there.”
“But what about you? If I take this job, what will you do?”
“Find another trauma unit,” he said simply. He didn't sound as emotionally invested in the decision as she did, which surprised her.
“But what if you don't like what's out here?” Where he was was state of the art, and in a far bigger city than San Francisco. In many ways certainly, San Francisco seemed very provincial. You really couldn't compare the two cities, although Cal said that the quality of life would be better in California. But both she and Steve had had a love affair with New York since they'd gone to college.
“Do you want me to come out and take a look?” Steve asked sensibly. “I think that's the only way we'll be able to make the decision, don't you? I'll catch a plane tomorrow after work, take a look around, and see who I can talk to in the trauma units out there. Maybe I can take Monday off too, and then at least we'll know what we're talking about.”
“Baby, I love you,” Meredith said with tears in her eyes. He was always committed to make things easier for her, not only in small ways, but in some very big ones. “It would mean a lot to me if you'd come, Steve.”
“Good. Then I'll do it. Besides, I want to take a good look at this guy and make sure he's not too good looking before I let you take the job. I'm not sure about all this stuff about Gary Cooper.” He was only half kidding and she knew it. But Steve knew he had nothing to worry about. They had a solid, happy life together, and nothing could jeopardize that, for either of them. She was certain of it.
“That's not what appeals to me about the job,” she said easily. “It's just such a great company, and he's a good person to work with. He's got integrity, tremendous energy, and some fantastic ideas for the future. I think he's going to triple the size and impact of the company in the next two years, not to mention the profits.”
“Then you should give it some very serious thought, Merrie. I'll be there tomorrow night. Just tell me where to meet you.”
“Let me know your flight, and I'll pick you up at the airport. And Steve …” She hesitated for only a fraction of a second, loving him more than she ever had, because he wanted the best for her. He was astoundingly unselfish, and such a decent person, it was part of what she had always loved about him. That and the fact that he was smart, had a great sense of humor, worked like a dog, really cared about what he was doing, and had the best body she'd ever seen, and she still found him incredibly sexy. It was an unbeatable combination, no matter how different their jobs were. And besides, she liked that part. It stimulated both of them that their careers were so different. “Thank you, baby, you don't know what this means to me,” she said gently.
“Listen, maybe this will be the best thing that ever happened to us. Maybe we'll even decide to have kids in California.” She made no comment and he didn't push it. She felt she had enough to think about, just worrying about his job and Cal's company, without adding babies to it. And as she hung up the phone, she felt as though an irresistible force were propelling her forward, almost as though this had been meant to happen. It frightened her a little bit, but it was also incredibly stimulating.