Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01 (27 page)

Tory leaned back slightly and
smiled. “You’ve thought a lot about that topic.”

The salad had come by this point
and she speared a piece of lettuce. “Not really, no. I hate being wrong, so I
can make up a great argument on the fly. But all that is common knowledge to a
woman. It’s explaining it to a man that gets sticky.”

Tory’s smile grew. “You have a
sapphire ring. Self-bought, or did you get it from one of your boyfriends?”

Krista was mid-bite again. She
chewed furiously until she tasted the symphony of the dressing and the blood
orange.

“Hmmm,” she said, slowing down. She
pointed at her salad with her fork, rolled her eyes in ecstasy, and ignored him
again. You just didn’t get in the way of a hungry woman, bottom line.

When she was finally done, she
said, “That’s good stuff. Anyway, I have issues with picking the right
boyfriend, so no. Dare to dream. No, this was my Nana’s. She loved gems. She
loved to dress up. She would put on her best dress and her jewelry and make my
grandpa take her somewhere nice. He gave her a lot of jewelry over the years,
but I only got this one piece.”

“Why is that?” Tory had dropped his
scrutiny, and now seemed genuinely interested.

Krista thought a minute, eating
another forkful of salad. She got a little sentimental when she talked about
her Nana. She was a riot of a lady. Krista missed her dearly.

The old dude probably picked up on
that because he gave her the minute she needed to organize her thoughts.

“Well, she had two girls and a
boy,” Krista continued. “The boy was my dad. Men are great at broad strokes,
and he took care of the estate like a pro, but just like a man, he missed a lot
of the details. His sisters made off with all the jewelry and porcelain and
silver and all the little commodities that add up. This was overlooked.” She
nodded to her ring.

“May I see it?”

Krista held out her hand for
inspection.

“The design is a work of art in and
of itself. Beautifully cut gem, too.” Tory leaned away.

“Oh, do you know jewelry?”

Krista got a moment of extreme
anxiety. If he knew sapphires she quite possibly had been blabbing to the
elusive client, which would be bad.

He interrupted her thoughts of
suicide with, “My wife makes me buy her jewelry just like your grandmother.
I’ve learned.”

Krista relaxed. “Yes, I love it. My
grandpa had good taste.”

“So if you got a chance to research
about jewelry, you would probably have a vested interest?”

The scare still rattling through
her brain, she had the presence of mind not to mention that she was now a pro
at jewelry, statistically speaking.

“Um …not really. Well, maybe…” She
sat and thought about it for a minute. “I guess it would be interesting to see
where I fit in the scheme of things, but it really goes right back to learning
about the larger group of people, which is fascinating in and of itself. So I
wouldn’t have any more of a vested interest than if I were doing the sports
drink, although I would have more ideas.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, okay, you see a lot of older
people with gems, but not as many people my age, right? People my age are
wearing ugly, cheap jewelry mostly, unless we get an heirloom. But then, that’s
only cool when you dress up.”

He nodded and said, “But as you
said, your generation, currently, doesn’t have money. You are what,
twenty-one?”

“Twenty-five actually. True, we
don’t, but we are also idiots with credit. I’ve already learned my lesson,
kinda, but many people my age are still stupid with money. Take my friend
Jasmine. She just bought a Louis Vuitton handbag. Do you know what that is?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Okay, well she bought a $1200
handbag because it was high fashion and because it had status and because
people would be envious. The bag isn’t all that cute, really. But it is an
LV
,
so there you go. Could she afford it? No way! It’s more than a month’s rent.
And she has no money. But she has a credit card. Hence stupid decision and new
expensive handbag. That bag will last five years probably, and then it’s just
money wasted.”

“Okay, but how does that relate?”

“Don’t you see?” She was getting
animated now. “If jewelry, which is more affordable then a $1200 handbag, and
lasts way longer, was more in fashion and was pushed on younger people, they
would buy it. It wouldn’t matter if they could afford it or not.” He still
looked skeptical. Her debater mode set in; he would see it her way—she could
argue the cross off a nun when she got going.

“You see, older people have the
money, but they also have more to buy, and they also have more self-control. Do
they really need that sapphire ring? No, because they have a kid, or a house,
or a new car. They responsibly say no. A girl my age? We don’t have squat. No
reason not to buy it, no reason to learn responsibility until we have a child,
and nothing else to spend our money on. So why not?”

“You don’t buy it because you don’t
have the means.”

“A lesson we will learn when the
collectors start calling. And trust me, that won’t happen until way after you’ve
stuck your foot in it, but look fabulous for your trouble. I didn’t have the
means for this dress, but could I say no to looking this good? What are credit
cards for, if not buying things above your means?” She laughed and took a sip
of wine. Point proven.

He nodded slowly as the salad
plates were cleared.

“Okay, I can see that,” he conceded
with a smile.

After a beat, he said, “Are you
always so firm in your opinions?”

Krista laughed animatedly and
raised her hand, “Number one on the debate team.”

“Huh,” he said, his smile getting
wider.

“So, what do you do?”

He sobered a little. “I am a CEO.”

“Eww. Intense.”

To her surprise, he started
laughing. “Please elaborate?”

“Oh well, sorry to be rude, but
it’s just that a girl in my situation, which is to say a ‘peon,’ has one boss.
I have a good work ethic, so my boss tells me to do something, I do it, I turn
it in. If there’s a problem, no big deal. He tells me, I fix it, life continues
as normal. You, however, as a ‘big-wig,’ have the world on your shoulders. Is
it a global company or national?”

“Global,” he replied seriously.

“There you go. World economics on
your shoulders. Public or private?”

“Public.”

“Oh, well, nail in the coffin. You
get results or get to have a ton of bosses telling you what’s wrong and what
you should fix. Forget about looking at the big picture, you have to look at
the universe-sized picture and make decisions that will trickle down and affect
everyone under you, including me, the pe-on.”

“That is, if I care to look so far
down the chain of command?”

“That’s true.” She smiled. Point to
him on that one. “Many don’t, true. But the best-run companies have CEOs who
do.”

He was quiet for a moment so she
fussed up, “I don’t actually know if that last part is true, but it sounds good
to the peon.”

He laughed again and they fell into
silence as dinner showed up.

Krista, embarrassingly, made a few
sounds of delight as she tasted the steak and fingerling potatoes. The flavors
rolled around the tongue and melted in the mouth. They were oh-so-good!

“You seem to be excited about all
this food, but you barely touch it,” he noticed.

“I don’t have all the room in the
world in my stomach. I have to take a bit of everything. I’m going to stuff
myself with dinner, though. It tastes amazing.”

“What about dessert?”

“I have a separate stomach for
dessert. It always fits.”

They ate in silence for a second.
He was a man of money and excellent table manners. The way he handled his
cutlery and his bearing screamed rich socialite. He must’ve been in charge of a
large company. But then, they all were. The peon was the odd man out at this
dinner, and it showed.

Come to think of it, that was
probably the reason for the scrutiny. Young, hot—ahem—and poor. Yeah, she was
an anomaly with this crew, which was why he probably didn’t believe she wanted
to come alone. He probably thought she was the forgotten trophy of someone at
the dinner. Hopefully not John. Anyone but John!

“So, what do you do for fun?” she
asked him.

“Golf, mostly.”

She made a sound like a buzzer
going off, “No way. Too cliché. Pick something that not all white business guys
do.”

“You sound like my wife,” Tory said
in mock disdain.

“Smart woman.”

“Well …I collect art, swords, and
comic books.”

“Comic books? Eww. But swords?
Cool! Just so happens, I have a sword.”

“Do you?” he said, obviously
surprised. “That is rare for a woman.”

“I know, right? I have Sting from
‘Lord of the Rings.’”

He chuckled, “I own Andúril.”

“Nerd!” She laughed.

“Look who’s talking!” he shot back.

“Touché. I’ve actually always
wanted a real samurai sword. Well, maybe not real, but, you know, good
quality.”

“I actually have a real one.”

“Shut up! Well, now you are just
being a one-upper!” Lost in the fun, she said it too loudly. A few people at
their table turned from their conversation to glare at her. She hid her face in
embarrassment.

“It was my second acquisition,” he
said after people went back to eating.

“I will admit I am a little
jealous. In a different life I would invite myself over to your house to see
it. As it is, when I become a huge businesswoman, expect a knock on your door.”

They ate in silence for another
second before he said, “So you work with Sean McAdams.”

She was no longer surprised by his
conversational hairpin turns. The guy’s brain probably never shut off. Give him
a second and he’d come up with something completely out of the blue.

“Yup. He was the lead salesman on
the presentation I did. He’s the one who finally gave me a challenge.”

“And what do you think of him?
Off-the-cuff.”

“Well, I don’t know him super well.
I know nothing about his sales tactics or whatever, so I have no idea how good
he is at his job. But ...” Now it was her turn to be suspicious. “Are you a
spy? Who are you going to report this to?”

He looked taken aback briefly
before a giant smile creased his face. “I might ask you the same question.”

“Yes, because anyone cares what I
say or think? Pe-on, remember?” Krista laughed, pointing to herself.

She thought for a moment. “You know
what, actually, that is not true. Sean, of all people, would listen. I don’t
know that he would care, but he would listen. I trust him.”

And she did. She did actually trust
him. She had to take a second to marvel at that realization. She didn’t trust
many people, especially gorgeous womanizers, but when he was being human, and
when they worked together, he said what he would do, and always took care of
it. He’d earned the trust she bestowed upon him.

“Why?” Tory asked into her reverie.

“Such a simple question, such a
difficult answer,” she remarked as she contemplated.

“Such a wise mind in such a young
body,” he responded.

She scoffed in jest, then answered,
“Well, after the presentation I asked him what he thought of my part. You know,
to see if he had any notes, anything I could do better, things that I did well…
It was my first one, so I wanted to get feedback.”

He nodded.

“He was upfront and honest, which I
might not always expect from a sales guy, but what was more, he made sure I got
what I was promised.”

“Which was? If you don’t mind me
asking, that is?”

She shrugged to let him know she
didn’t care in the least. “Before the presentation I was promised a promotion
and a raise if I did well; if I succeeded in the trial. My boss meant well—the
thing about my company that I like best is that everyone is loyal to their subordinates
and to the company. That‘s a first in my experience. Usually it seems like
everyone is either out for themselves, or just doesn’t care about anybody else.

“Anyway, my boss was trying to get
me what was promised, but we are just research, you know, and we take a long
time to get heard when it comes to personnel. We aren’t the golden children
like marketing or sales, so things take longer.

“Well, anyway, Sean stepped up and
made sure I got what was promised, and quickly. I didn’t ask it of him, and it wasn’t
his job, but when he sees something that needs to happen, he sees that it
does.”

“Forgive me, this will sound a
little …uncouth, but are you sure it wasn’t because you are an attractive young
woman?”

Krista laughed because of how true
it was, “Did you not notice my second to marvel at the fact that I trust him?”
She laughed again. Tory took a sip of wine to hide his smile—he had noticed.

“At first I thought exactly that,
actually,” she went on. “He is a womanizer—I’ll say it! He is a hot guy who
women like, I see that.” Krista reined herself in. She was talking to an older
guy, and an executive to boot, so she probably shouldn’t be so loose with
slang. This guy, however, was keeping her pace. The whole night he had been,
actually. He probably had kids, and was most likely very close to them.

Unfortunately undaunted, she
continued: “I don’t find him all that desirable myself because I have been down
the ‘bad boy’ road and it always ends in heartache. I’m a lot more jaded than
most women. A long time ago I asked that he drop all that…behavior if he wanted
to work with me.”

“You did what?”

“Sorry for the language, and it
sounds a little bold now, but seriously, I think he says things without even
realizing they are womanizing-type comments. It’s an image or something. I just
wanted to take myself out of that loop, you know?”