Promptly at 1 pm, Nick called the meeting to order. He then introduced himself and Sarah and commented that she would be his right hand and that information intended for him could and should be passed to her. He then asked the team members to introduce themselves with a short history of their time with the company. When the preliminaries were ended, he started the serious business of discussing the project.
Nick recapped the problem as it had been explained to him by Gene and asked for any additional information any of them might have. When no one volunteered anything, he commented that he would be working under the assumption that what he stated earlier was, in fact, the truth.
He explained that he had a little more homework to do before starting on the problem and in the meantime, he wanted to meet separately with each of them. He asked Julie to schedule one-half hour meetings with each of them starting at 2 pm today, the order didn't matter. He then stated that the meeting was over and they should make their arrangements with Sarah.
"We will meet again at 9 am tomorrow in this room unless you are notified otherwise. Thank you all for your attention and I expect that we will be able to solve this problem to everyone's satisfaction. Good-Day."
Nick turned and left the room leaving Sarah to organize the individual meetings. This was her first test. Would the team realize that he was the leader and would Sarah complete her assigned task quickly and efficiently? In any case, he would have his answers before the day was over.
As expected, Sarah completed her task and returned to the office. She handed him the schedule of visits and asked if she should stay until he was finished with the last session at 6:30. He replied that it wasn't necessary. At this stage she should take whatever free time she had because he expected things to get hectic as they progressed.
"Where are you staying? Have they booked you into a hotel yet?"
"Actually, I don't know. Could you check on that for me? I'll need directions as well. This is my first visit here and I don't know my way around yet."
"Sure, I'll take care of everything. I don't suppose you'd accept an invitation to dinner at my place, would you?"
"Perhaps we could have dinner at my hotel, if they have a dining room. At this stage, I think we should stay in public."
"Whatever you say, boss, I'll make the arrangements."
Sarah heard a noise and turned towards the open door. She saw the first member of the project team standing at her desk. She walked out and indicated that he should go in. When he entered, Sarah quietly closed the door behind him and the interview was on.
One by one, the team members showed up at their appointed times. Nick kept the interviews simple, allowing them to do most of the talking and express their opinions about the project. When the last interview was over, he sighed deeply and closed the notebook on his desk.
Just as he was about to leave, his phone rang.
"Nick Nelson."
"Hi, Nick Nelson, Sarah Ward here. I have the hotel information for you, if you'd like to know where to go. How did the interviews go?"
"OK. I'll tell you more later. For now, where am I staying and how do I get there?"
"It's easy. When you leave the building, go two blocks down the street to your right - that's towards the big tower clock - to Maple. Turn left and go one block to the Regency Hotel. You're booked in at company expense so all you have to do is sign in. There is a covered parking garage behind the hotel for your bike."
"Well, that's easy. What about food? Does this place have a restaurant?"
"Yes, it does, but I thought we might eat outside at a little place along the river. OK with you?"
"Sounds good as long as they have food and drink. How will we get together?"
"I'll pick you up at the hotel in about an hour, OK?"
"Fine. I'm on my way now. See you in a little while. Bye."
An hour later, Sarah was in the lobby as Nick exited the lift. He smiled and walked toward her, noting she was less formally dressed than earlier in the day.
"Good evening, Sarah, you look great."
"Thank you, Nick, are you ready to go? My car is out front."
They drove a short distance and Sarah parked in the lot by a riverside restaurant. They walked close together without touching to the door and were seated in the outdoor eating area. Nick commented on the beauty of the place and scanned the menu. After they ordered, he looked directly into her eyes and asked his first question.
"What do you think about you mother going out with me?"
"I think it's great. Mom says you make her heart sing and nobody has ever done that for her. But I must admit I'm kind of jealous. After all, I've had her mostly to myself these last two years."
"I understand that there is a very close relationship between you two. Are you afraid that your relationship with her might change because I'm now in the picture?"
"Initially, I was afraid. When she first told me she found someone, I got kind of scared. You know, she's been thru a bad period recently and the timing bothered me as well. Now that I've met you, I'm not really scared anymore."
"Thank you, I don't intend to scare anybody. I also don't intend to replace you in your mother's affections. The relationship that Julie and I have should not have a negative effect on the relationship between the two of you. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, Nick, I think I understand. Just for the record, what exactly what did Mother tell you about our relationship?"
"Just that you were very special to her. She also mentioned that you prefer women to men, apparently, but she thinks you might possibly be a switch-hitter if the right man came along."
"My God, she actually said that? I don't believe she'd say that to a complete stranger!"
"Sarah, calm down please. First of all, I wasn't a complete stranger when she told me and secondly, she said it with a great deal of love and compassion. She is very concerned about your welfare and wants only the best for you. I should explain that I have many friends whose sexual orientation is non-standard, so to speak, and that has no bearing on whether or not I like them. It also is not an issue where job function is concerned, so there is no reason for you to be frightened because she told me these things."
Sarah twisted the napkin in her hands tightly with her head down. After a short while, she raised her eyes to look at Nick and found the deepest pair of blue eyes looking back at her. Her heart leapt in her chest and a wetness formed in the vee of her panties.
"I'm sorry, Nick. I guess I wasn't expecting Mother to be so open about me with someone else."
"Thank you, Sarah, I understand. Ah, here comes our dinner. Let's just relax and try to enjoy each other's company, shall we?"
The remainder of the evening passed quietly. Nick and Sarah exchanged views on many topics but didn't really disagree on anything. After dinner, they walked the shoreline for awhile, then Sarah drove him back to the hotel. He said a polite good night without touching her and walked into the hotel. Sarah was impressed with his easy manner and decided that the issue of her sexual preferences might not be a problem. She found that he was in fact turning her on as no man had before and that was another interesting issue.
On Wednesday morning, Nick assembled the project team and gave out their assignments for the week. He stated they would meet again on Friday at 2pm to report on progress.
The remainder of the week flew by. Nick and Sarah had dinner together every night and discussed the project most of the time. They got along well and by Friday morning, they were casually touching each other when no one was around, indicating their willingness to close the distance between them. Unknown to Nick, Sarah had several heated phone conversation with Julie but their issues were resolved by Thursday night.
At 2pm on Friday, he called the meeting to order and asked for their individual reports. Sarah was keeping minutes of the meeting. After all the reports were in, Nick took a few minutes to review them, then announced his plans for the following week. First, he reviewed the overall plan of attack, then he broke it down into weekly elements, starting the following Monday.
Each member of the team was assigned a specific task for the week. Nick stated he would visit with each of them on Wednesday to assess progress and they would again meet the following Friday. At 4 pm, he called a halt and wished them each a good weekend. After they left the room, only he and Sarah remained.
"I'm heading for Brisbane tonight, Sarah, are you going to visit Julie this weekend?"
"No, Nick, I see her every other weekend and I was there last weekend, as you know. You have her all to yourself this weekend. I'll see you on Monday, if that's OK?"
