I was sitting at my desk at work when a memo appeared on top of my "in" basket. I always wondered how these things seemed to just materialize when I'm not looking. I read the title "Management Consulting Team Visit", and thought to myself "oh shit, here come the 'hatchet-men' and followed by whatever the latest buzz-word is for 'down-sizing' or 'right-sizing."
"Might as well sharpen up my old resume." quipped Valerie, one of my co-workers across the hallway.
Everyone thought the worst since the company had not been doing so well for the past three quarters. Some say it is the sign of the times.
I read further into the memo and read that vacant office space will be utilized for the various team members. Looking around my office (a converted storage room), I was the only one in it and it was much more spacious than the others. I knew where one of these loathsome bloodsuckers would have to use as his base to sharpen his knives. I pictured a little weasel-looking, coke-bottle bottom glasses wearing bean-counter, the likes of which one would see in some bad 40's movie saying "vee have vays of making you talk".
Sure enough, I was right. The next morning Fred, our always congenial Janitor came in with a folding table, two chairs and a power-bar for their computer equipment. I stared at the empty table-turned-desk, and approached this experience like a good old-fashioned root canal (without Novocain).
To my surprise, two young women showed up with laptops and a stack of files. Being the gentleman that my mother raised me to be, I got up from my desk and helped these ladies with their things. I thought to myself "this is a pleasant surprise" and proceeded to get lost into naughty thoughts of these two young things. What can I say, I am a healthy red-blooded Canadian guy.
I chatted them up and learned that one was named Chow-lee but went by the name of Shirley for those of us who do not speak Mandarin. She seemed quite shy. Her partner was named Nina was a little friendlier. She was originally from Pakistan, but grew up in the west. They both went about their work like a couple of eager beavers. I suppose being as young as they were, they couldn't have been with their firm very long.
At coffee-break, Valerie asked me "So, how are your new room-mates from Exocet?"
"Huh?" I asked, not knowing what Exocet was.
"You know Executech, the hatchet-men. We've been calling their company Exocet like the missile… can't see it coming… but when it hits… WHAM … game over."
"Oh, I get it." I laughed politely since Valerie's jokes aren't usually very good, but she is a good friend.
"I see you got two of them rooming with you eh?" asked some new guy that I couldn't remember his name.
"Ya, I guess I will have to watch my step." I replied.
Back at my desk, I couldn't help but stare at Nina. She must be the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had the face of a model, and the most proportionate petite body imaginable. I have always had a soft-spot for South-Asian women ever since I can remember. I don't know if it is their soft brown eyes, or the copper skin, or perhaps it is that eastern charm they seem to magically possess. I looked at her more-than-ample breasts and thought "those must be fun to play with". Nina looked up and caught me staring at her. She seemed to almost be embarrassed by the attention and smiled uncomfortably.
As time progressed, I saw much less of Shirley and more and more of Nina. I suppose that Shirley was a little uncomfortable in the cramped quarters and preferred to do her research out in the plant. This suited me just fine since I don't think I ever heard more than 10 words from her the entire time she was here.
I noticed that Nina came a little more provocatively dressed with each successive day. I thought at first that she was trying to get the attention of the Mail-boy Brad since he was the sort of hunky guy that I thought good-looking girls went for. I just brushed her aside in my mind as a passing fantasy since I thought an average looking guy like me had no place even THINKING of playing in her league.
A few more days of working, and she asked me totally out of the blue "What sort of food do you like?"
Well, I was a little taken by this. I replied with "Oh, I like it all, but I am partial to Indian."
She then retorted with "Well, I know a great place for Indian food. Would you like to have dinner with me?"
I was so dumb-struck, you could have pushed me over with a feather. This was totally unbelievable. Here was the most beautiful woman in the world, and she is asking ME out to dinner. I replied with "Um, er, well, OK." Yes I do get so articulate at times like this.
"OK, how does Saturday sound, around 7?" She stated in a rather business-like manner.
"Great"
"Alright then, pick me up at 7 then."
I was in heaven for the next day. I felt like a little child on Christmas eve. This was still unbelievable. Why wasn't she drooling over Brad the Mail-boy? Why did she want to see me? OK, paranoia began to set in… maybe this is a ploy to find out some of the real workings of the company… maybe this is a clever way to let me know that I was the next on the chopping-block… maybe… maybe…