"You're late." AJ said.
"Fuck off." Em replied.
"You're like, never late."
"I'm late sometimes."
"By like, a minute. You're never actually late." AJ stared at her. "What happened?" Em decided on a version of the truth.
"I overslept." She turned to Kate. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Kate laughed. "You're still here before Jenny." That was true. Jenny was one of those people who were late by nature. Em was not. She sat down in her chair and opened up her laptop. AJ rolled over to her.
"What actually happened?"
"I overslept, asshole." If she'd been fucking anyone but Quentin Blake, she would have told him all about it. Once she found someone else to fuck she and AJ could go back to their usual gossip.
"If you say so." He shook his head. Then he turned his laptop towards her. "Look at the online response to the new market research event info. People are going crazy. The event is completely sold out."
"... It's free?"
"The sign ups are maxed out. You know what I mean!" AJ groaned. "People are talking about Novatech, Em. I mean, they're always talking about Novatech but now they're like, really talking about us. Apparently we're setting a new industry standard. Base Electronics is already trying to book out the ballroom of The Grand."
"Sick." Em said.
"You're not as excited about this as I thought you would be." AJ said. "You understand that this is crazy, right?"
"It is crazy, and I am excited. I don't have the energy to show you how excited I am right now, but I am excited." She smiled. "We've got what, three days? We have the event staff sorted, and the dev team has prepared the demo for us, but we still have to adjust the catering order for the new venue, rethink our entire layout given the size of the room, and bag four hundred complimentary gifts and thank you cards for the participants. Oooh, and we have to come up with some kind of thank you gift for Dominic, since he helped us out at the last minute and we need to maintain good relationships with them"
"Yeah, I bet you want to maintain a good relationship with him." AJ poked at her side.
"It's common courtesy. I wouldn't use the company's money to try and woo someone." Em rolled her eyes. "If I want to fuck him I'll do it on my own merit."
"Of course." AJ rolled his eyes. "Let's just get to work. I'll get in touch with the caterers and inform them about the changes. You can talk to the Pavilion people. We are supposed to have twenty stations set up, and the people will go through in groups of five over four sessions. We also need to figure out the walkways between the doors and the conference room."
"On it." Em and AJ locked in. The two of them talked a lot, which Em loved, but she loved their silences even more. They didn't have to talk to each other to work together. They'd known each other for less than a year but it felt like forever in these moments. It seemed impossible for two people to be so in sync. It was their synergy, combined with Jenny's genius and Kate's effective leadership, that made the four-person department possible. To the extent that it was possible, of course.
The documents came together within the next two hours, thanks to the prompt responses of the Pavillion staff. They arranged to go downtown and meet the team for lunch, and see the venue in person. AJ and Em had to leave in about twenty minutes, which meant twenty minutes of them frantically making sure all the documents were ready and asking everyone if their outfits were nice enough for the Pavillion. They weren't, but there was nothing they could do about it now.
Their car came to the front of the building, a plain black sedan. Classy. Em wasn't usually someone who cared about fancy cars or appearances in general, but she knew how much it mattered in this world. That's why she went out of her way to find brand-name clothes for work, even if they were thrifted. That's also why she let out a little sigh of relief when the car pulled up. If they were seen stepping out of this car they wouldn't be immediately written off as broke assholes.
The two of them were silent for the ride, both of them going over their documents and staring out the windows while their driver fought through standstill traffic to get them to the Pavillion. It was an hour-long drive in the afternoon traffic, which meant they would get there just before their 1:00pm dinner. It was perfect. Early looked desperate and late was either lazy or narcissistic. On time was professional. Respectful, while also demanding respect. Em tried to be on time for everything.
They arrived at 12:55, just as planned, and walked into the building at 12:59. She spotted the events manager immediately, and walked over to him. She almost tripped when she saw who was standing next to him.
"Dominic's here." AJ whispered.
"I can see that!" Em whispered back. "Be cool!"
"Are you panicking?" He stopped walking for a moment, and Em grabbed his arm. "You look like you're panicking."
"I'm not panicking!" She yanked him, and he fell back in step with her.
"He looks good." AJ poked at her side and gave her a look.
"Why, are you interested?" Em snapped back. AJ was way too locked in on her and Dominic. They'd literally only had one conversation. If they were interested in each other they certainly wouldn't know it that fast. Besides, Em wasn't looking for a relationship.
"I could be."
"You're so straight, AJ."
"Don't put me in your boxes." He stuck his tongue out at her, and then looked forward and put on his game face as they approached Dominic.
"Hi, Em." Dominic said.
"Hi, Dominic." She replied.
"Hi, Dominic." AJ said. "So nice to see you again. Will you be joining us for lunch?"
"I will! Steve mentioned that you all were meeting today and I happened to be free. I'd love to help, if I can."
"Why?" AJ said. Dominic choked, and Em elbowed AJ.
"Well I… Uh.. I just…"
"We really appreciate it, Dominic. Should we head over?"
"Absolutely!" Steve said. Em had sort of forgotten he was there. Steve seemed nice and regular and he looked a regular sort of nice. He didn't seem to mind that no one said hi to him, which Em was only now feeling bad about.
"Thank you so much for making the reservation, Steve. And for all your help with the whole event."
"I assure you, you've thanked me enough. The table is ready for us, so we can go ahead and sit."
"That's perfect." The four of them walked towards the hotel's restaurant. "As thanks for accommodating us at the last minute, Novatech is going to cover the cost of our meal today." Em expected some polite refusal from Steve, but instead he just looked confused. He turned to look at Dominic, who kept his face completely neutral.
"Um… We've already covered the costs of the meal… since we have an arrangement with the restaurant, but I very much appreciate the thought." He laughed nervously at the end.
"Ah, I see. I'll find some other way to thank you then."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not necessary."
"No, please…" Em continued to pander back and forth with Steve all the way to the table. She'd always been pretty good at sucking up to people, and it seemed like Steve was a worthy competitor. The whole interaction was completely unbearable, yet she found herself enjoying it. When they arrived, Dominic pulled out a chair. Em pulled out another one and sat down. Dominic continued to stand behind the chair he had pulled out. It occurred to Em at that point that he had pulled the chair out for her, but it would be completely insane to stand back up. AJ sat down in the chair, and thanked Dominic. Em briefly wondered if the man was actually straight. Maybe she had put him in a box? But then he looked at her with a twinkle in his eye and she realized he was still riding the Em-Dominic train. Steve and Dominic both sat down, each of them taking a side of the square table.
"Well then. Shall we begin?" Steve said. He pulled out some files, and they began to work.