The Encounter (5 page)

              Philip looked up. "Larry, come on in." He pointed to a chair. "Have a seat."

              Philip Ward was in his mid fifties. Graying more than his hair color indicated. He always had a disarming smile, which concealed the shrewdness of his nature. In the courtroom, he would dodge in and out of the gray areas of the law, skillfully molding the court's perception to his point of view.

              Lawrence stepped in. "Good morning. Got your message. What's up?" He took a seat.

              "This'll just take a second." Philip watched Lawrence across his desk. "Fill me in on the Caldweld preparations?"

              "I'll have it wrapped up by the end of the week."

              "What's left?"

              Lawrence was confused. His status report had gone in on Friday. "Half a dozen depositions. Some background. Didn't you see my report?"

              Philip took a moment to come back. "We just hired a new research assistant. I'm gonna assign her to you. She can help with the background."

              Lawrence thought, why do I suddenly need help? "I appreciate that, but I really don’t need..."

              Philip stopped him mid sentence. "I know how much you're looking forward to this vacation. God knows you've earned it. This new girl, they tell me she's got some kind of photographic memory. She can pull precedence out of her head quicker than you can get it out of the computer."

              Lawrence was curious. "What's her name? What does she look like?"

              "Margaret, I think. I've never met her. Give her a try. If you can tie things up sooner you can get an early start on that vacation."

              Lawrence wanted a compromise. Just in case it wasn't who he hoped it was. "Okay, but if she just gets in the way I wanta be able to change my mind."

              Philip smiled. "Sounds fair..."

              Lawrence got up and started for the door.

              Philip wasn't quite finished. "Larry..." Lawrence looked back. "I want to know if she's as good as they say she is."

              Lawrence gave him a thumps up and left the room.

                                                        ***

              Margaret had been assigned a desk in an open office with five other women. The company's Research Assistants sometimes helped the Paralegals run down information, but their primary function was preparing the finished briefs that would go to the Attorneys, in other words typist or in this case the job description that filled in under her name, Data Processor.

              She walked down the hall looking for a Mr. Casey's office. The problem was there were no names on the offices, just numbers. The first occupied office belonged to a woman. She directed Margaret to the office at the end of the hall.

              Lawrence had reserved the entire day to recording at least some of the depositions he needed. He was on the phone with the client. "I can be there in say... an hour and a half.... Any place as long as it's private... Fine, I'll see you in a little while... Bye." He hung up the phone. He needed his small recorder.

              Margaret was a few feet from the office door. She paused. Her senses were very acute and her nose recorded something familiar coming from the doorway ahead of her. She hesitated, letting pass the emotional spike brought on by his scent. Why did it have to be him, on the first day?

              Lawrence made some notes to himself while trying to remember where he'd put that damned recorder. He was suddenly aware of someone standing in his doorway. He looked up.

              Margaret stood watching him. She glanced back down the hall. "There aren't any names on the offices. I hope you're Mr. Casey?"

              Lawrence caught himself staring. He blinked. "Yes..." He stood. "I'm Mr. Casey... Larry. Call me Larry." He stammered. "Come in. You must be Margaret?"

              She stepped in. "That's me, but if you're Larry I'm Maggie. I guess you were warned ahead of time?"

              "First thing this morning." That was stupid, he thought. "Well, I mean, I wouldn't say warned, exactly..." That wasn't much better. Having failed at introductions twice, all he could come up with was "Please, sit down."

              She sat in one of the empty chairs. He sat back down. He had another chance. "I saw you out front this morning. Your first day?”

              "If you count the interview yesterday, it’s my second. I'm still getting accustomed to things... What do you want me to do?"

              Lawrence put his hand on top of a stack of folders. "This is the Caldweld suit. It has to do with patent infringements. Our client is suing a Japanese firm. It's all here in the files." He glanced at the chair with the briefcase. "Would you hand me the briefcase, please?"

She leaned over, picked up the briefcase and handed it to him. He took it and placed it to one side.

"Thanks." He took the top folder and opened it to a marked page. He turned it so she could see. "I've marked where we need legal precedence to support the law or our point of view... You need to supply the precedence. They say you're pretty good at that. Any questions?"

              She looked at the opened folder, the stack, and then him. "No, I don’t think so."

              "Great." He closed the folder, stood up and put the notes he'd started, in the briefcase.

              She stood up. "You seem to be getting ready to leave. If I have a question, who do I ask?"

              "Just call my cell." He removed a business card holder from his pocket and placed a card on the desk. “The number is on the card. I'll be taking depositions all day."

He remembered where he put the recorder, removed it from a side drawer in his desk and dropped it into the briefcase. He walked around the right side of his desk. She moved around the other side, to his chair.

              "Feel free to use the coffee maker”, he said. “The stuff’s in the drawer. Did they show you how to access the database?”

              “Yes”

              “Personally, I still like the books."

              She sat down. "Me too."

              He walked to the doorway and paused. "Maybe, between the both of us, we can pull this together in a couple of days."

              She opened the file in front of her. "I'll do my best."

              He hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something else, but unfortunately he'd covered it all.

              She smiled. "I'll see you when you get back."

              He recovered his voice. "Right...”

They were eye to eye for another second, a bead of sweat trickled down his brow. He absentmindedly wiped it away, took a deep breath and almost hooked his nose on the door case before making it safely into the hall.

              She watched the doorway for a moment. This burning urge she felt inside had been there only once before. He was killed before she could do anything about it. She hadn't felt it since, until now. The timing, and the species, was all wrong. It almost scared her enough to pick up and leave, almost, but not quite. She was supposed to be a trained professional. She could handle it. At least that is what she told herself.

              He took a few steps away from the door, paused and looked back. He couldn't understand the strange attraction he was feeling toward someone he'd only known for ten minutes. He'd been attracted to women before but this was somehow different. He slowly walked toward the elevator lobby. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

                                                        ***

              Margaret took the time to scan the files. Caldweld Manufacturing produced a wide variety of products everything from plastics to electronics. They were negotiating a contract with General Dynamics to supply a miniaturized, radar-receiving unit. Space was at a premium inside the airframe of a jet fighter. The patented electronics was one-third the size of anything else available.

The unit had been made available to General Dynamics and other potential customers, for evaluation. Everyone was satisfied it would do the job. Two days before the contracts were to be signed, a Japanese company supplied a similar product at two-thirds the cost. General Dynamics backed off to have a look. Caldweld examined the other unit and found the miniaturized circuits to be all but identical to they're own. They filed suit. General Dynamics put everything on hold, pending the outcome.

              Lawrence arrived for his appointment about 10:30. The receptionist escorted him to a small conference room where he set up shop.

              By lunchtime he had finished two of the depositions. One of the remaining four, and perhaps the most important, had called in sick. Arrangements were made for him to drop by the man's home. That was going to extend his day beyond quitting time at the office. On his way out for lunch, he stopped and called in.

              Margaret tapped some of the contents of her little box into a cup of hot water. About half the folders had moved from one side of the desk to the other. She was pacing herself to finish by the end of the day. The phone chimed.

              She picked it up. "Mr. Casey's office... Oh, hi Larry." Lawrence wanted to know how things were going. She looked at the desk. "Everything's fine here."

              He explained about the last deposition. If he wasn't back before quitting time, he wanted her to mark her progress and leave her notes in a folder on the desk.

              She took a sip from her cup. "I'll leave everything where you can find it."

              He said good-bye and she hung up the phone. She leaned back and sipped her drink. She was thinking, I wish I knew how long this was
supposed
to take.

              After she’d turned down a lunch invitation, first from David and then Ernie, the woman who gave her directions stopped by.

              She leaned in the door. "Where's Larry?"

              "Taking depositions.”

              "We didn't get introduced this morning. I'm Kathy."

              "I'm Maggie."

              Kathy smiled. "You want to get a bite to eat?"

              She really wasn't hungry, but since everyone in the building seemed intent on asking, she preferred the company of a female. "I guess. Thanks."

              "How about the cafeteria across the street? They have a cheesecake to die for."

              Margaret organized the paper on the desk into a neat pile and stood up. "Sounds good." Whatever that was. She picked up her bag and she and Kathy left.

              Margaret never personally found out if the cheesecake was worth dying for, but the vegetables were okay. Kathy was pleasant enough. They talked about several things. A lot of it from Margaret was, of course, rehearsed. The topic of conversation finally got around to Lawrence. Kathy sort of had a thing for him, but she couldn't generate any interest. At first she thought he was gay.

              Homosexuality was not a concept unique to humans. Margaret understood it, but since it never occur in her society, it was an understanding developed while observing other cultures.

              In any event, that idea was laid to rest when Kathy found out he was dating a girl from an accounting firm on the tenth floor. Margaret sat and listened. The natural forces at work made her uncomfortable with the idea of Lawrence being with someone else. It wasn't a question of being jealous. Jealousy was an emotion she would never experience, at least not with one of her own kind. Hers was a simple need to have sex with him. The emotional attachment would come after that.

              The problem was, there had been no official contact with this species. To become openly involved with a human was a very serious breach in protocol. She could lose everything. Even her father might not be able to get her out of it. The thought had crossed her mind to ask her mother. No, she wouldn't do that. She'd handle it herself. Ultimately she had only two choices. Fight it until it passed, and it would eventually, or leave.

                                                        ***

              Margaret looked at her watch. It was 7:00 pm. She stood looking at the martial arts photo in Lawrence's office. All the folders were neatly stacked on the desk. Her folder was lying beside them. Hanging around was probably not a good idea. The justification was the journal she kept, recording the unexpected events of each mission and the attraction she felt for this human was definitely unexpected. Besides, if she was going to work around him, she had to be able to control what was happening.

              The elevator bell sounded. She looked at the door. A few moments later her nose announced him. She turned back to the picture on the wall.

              Lawrence stopped in the doorway. Before having to ask, he tried to figure out why she was still there. Several things came to mind. "You didn't have to stay late."

              She turned around. "I hate to start something and not finish it."