Jack looked up from his desk to see Kate weaving her way through the office towards him. She was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt with a bolero style jacket over the top, and he thought she looked very smart. Not that she didn't look good in pretty much everything, although to be fair he'd only seen her in a work setting. They'd been working closely together for the last six months and he'd come to appreciate her precise, calm manner, evident in everything she did. He had on occasions wondered if she made love in the same manner or did she turn into a wild child.
Not that he'd ever find out, she was married, as evidenced by the wedding ring ever-present on her ring finger, and although she sometimes seemed a bit distracted when he'd mentioned her husband, he had no reason to believe it was anything other than a happy union.
He'd barely come across her in the large company they worked for until six months ago, when they'd been paired to lead a project together. It was the largest deal that the company had ever bid for, to build and run on a turnkey basis a medium sized hydro-electric plant in Spain. Jack was the 'technical' lead, being an experienced engineer, and Kate was finance and personnel.
They led a large team putting the bid together, and had ultimate responsibility for getting it right. As far as Senior Management went, that meant winning the deal, success was presumed and Jack did wonder sometimes if that was a fair presumption as there were plenty of other consulting engineering firms around, all of who would dearly love the contract and times were tough in the industry, everyone desperate to prove their green credentials.
She stopped at his desk and he asked, "All set?" She nodded. "How do you feel?"
"Nervous, apprehensive, excited and prepared," she responded, perching on the corner of his desk, one long denim encased leg swinging over the edge. "You?"
"Pretty much the same, it's been a long road and it'll be nice to reach the end of it, especially if we win the deal, sorry that should be
when
we win the deal."
"Where's your luggage?" she asked, looking around his desk.
"Left it in the car," he replied. They were flying out that afternoon, with their presentation to the Client's Board the next morning, and were staying over that night as well as the outcome was due to be announced immediately following the presentations. The main technical presentation had already been despatched and confirmed as meeting the required standards, this was an opportunity to re-inforce why they thought they should be the ones to build and run the plant.
"Me too," she said, "couldn't see the point in lugging three suitcases up here only to have to drag them back down again."
"Three suitcases!" Jack exclaimed, thinking of his one small case, "Just how many clothes do you need?"
"Well, there's my office clothes, my beach clothes in case we get a window for some beach time, evening clothes, casual clothes, not forgetting a couple of LBD's. 'Little Black Dresses'," she clarified as his eyebrows shot up. "Come on Jack, I thought you'd got to know me by now, I've got one small case and some hand luggage, probably less than you." Jack doubted it, but even though he knew she had a wicked sense of humour at appropriate times, he'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
"Right, let's get a move on then." He packed the papers he was reading into his laptop case and stood up.
"My car or yours?" She asked.
"Mine, I've already pre-booked the long-term parking under my registration." Together they walked out of the office, accepting the well wishes of the rest of the team and down to the car park, collecting her solitary case from the boot of her car and putting it in his. He grinned to himself as he saw hers was marginally bigger than his. "LBD my arse," he muttered to himself as he got in the driver's door and set off.
Kate looked over at him as he concentrated on negotiating the traffic on the way to the airport. She was glad she'd dressed informally for the journey, especially after seeing him in chinos, a button down shirt and a jacket at his desk. He was always so..... 'proper' was the only word that came to mind. Sure he was obviously a highly competent engineer and could manage his staff well and nothing ever looked rushed or half finished, nothing out of place. Bet he didn't even fart in bed, she smirked, imagining Mr Super Cool letting rip between the sheets. Unlike her husband.