Against her will, Daphne was dragged out for the team luncheon. Fiona, of all the people, had grabbed Daphne’s arm at the last moment, insisting on her coming. Daphne had tried to fight back, but despite her rail thin frame, Fiona was stronger than Daphne gave her credit for.
As the team had walked down the street with Daphne trailing behind in the back, heading towards whatever restaurant Trevor had chosen, she overheard him say, “This is a Christmas gift for our project management team!”
No one had been paying attention to her, so she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. A better gift would have been to relieve our workload for the holidays, she thought. If anything, it seems as though he’s been ramping it up.
They turned and started filing into a kitschy looking place with bright white lights, and enormous, colorful blob like chairs. Daphne held back a grimace.
“How many?” the hostess asked Trevor.
“Fifteen,” he replied.
“Of course,” the hostess replied. The restaurant was pretty much deserted. “We can accommodate that. Would you be willing to give us a few minutes to set up a space?”
“Of course, that’s no problem at all!” Trevor replied, seeming to be in a lax mood at the moment.
Yet he wasn’t calm for me this morning, Daphne thought. She took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to make it through the luncheon and the day.
“Do you want to sit together?” one of her co-workers, Holly, asked.
Daphne looked down at the young looking woman. Her hair was full of braids, and she was smiling so broadly up at her.
Have she and I ever talked before? Daphne wondered. I’m not sure that we have.
“Umm, sure,” Daphne replied with a half-smile.
“Right this way,” the hostess said, coming up to the group.
“That was some speedy service!” Trevor exclaimed.
Daphne had to hold back a cringe. If only these servers knew what he was really like, she thought.
The hostess led their group into what looked like it might normally be considered a party room. Fifteen of the artsy, colorful blob chairs had been squeezed around the table, making it nearly impossible to walk around the room.
“Whoever uses the restroom or gets up the most often should sit closest to the doors,” Trevor announced. “That way the rest of us can eat in peace.”
Daphne couldn’t keep the grimace off her face at the comment. Was that really necessary? She wondered. What a dick thing to say.
She filed into the room behind her colleagues, Holly behind her. The hostess place a bundle of menus at the end of the table as everyone sat down. “Your server willbe with you shortly,” she said with a small smile.
Trevor had been the first one in, with Fiona next to him. As he sat down, he announced, “Make sure whatever you choose on the menu, that it’s under fifteen dollars.”
There were groans from the team members as Daphne sat down. Of course there’s a limit, she thought, frowning. The menus were beginning to be passed down, and Daphne soon got her hands on one. She looked it over and immediately noticed that there were only four items that were fifteen dollars or less.
She shook her head, holding back a sigh. Shouldn’t he have found a more inexpensive place if he was going to give us a budget limit? She wondered.
“What the hell, Trevor?” Fiona whined as she looked over the menu. “There are only four things that are within the budget.”
“Tough luck,” he replied with a flirty smile. “If you get promoted to a manger or a director, you’re allowed to spend more on yourself for company meals.”
Fiona rolled her eyes and grumbled at his comment.
So, he’s just straight up admitting that he came here for himself, Daphne thought. What a prick.
“What are you thinking about getting?” Holly asked on Daphne’s right.
“I’m not sure,” she replied, eyeballing her way through the four options. None of them particularly appealed to her. “You?” she asked.
“I’m thinking maybe the Caesar salad,” she replied with a small giggle. “There’s not very many options that I like,” she admitted.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Daphne raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Same,” she admitted. Her stomach soured at the sound of the Cesar salad as well. “Maybe I’ll get the ‘Modern Grilled Cheese,’ and ask for it without the tomato,” Daphne replied, answering Holly’s initial question.
“Not a fan of tomatoes?” Daphne’s co-worker, Landon, on her left, asked.
“No,” Daphne admitted with a small, shy smile.
“You know they’re mostly water right?” Landon asked. He gestured to the glasses of water in front of them.
“Yes,” Daphne replied softly. “They just irritate my stomach a bit.”
“Ah,” Landon replied with an emphasized nod. “That’s understandable.”
“Are you still enjoying the work, Landon?” Holly asked from Daphne’s right.
“I love the work,” he replied, a bright white toothed grin spreading across his face.
“That’s so good to hear!” Holly exclaimed, clasping her hands together and smiling warmly at him.
“And Ms. Woods was a fabulous trainer,” he replied, his hazel brown eyes catching Daphene’s own.
She smiled a little at him, not really sure what to say in response. “I’m glad to have been helpful,” she replied.
The waiter came and took everyone’s order. Of course, Trevor ordered something that was nearly two times what he had given everyone else as a budget. Daphne had to hold back an eyeroll.
“And just to let you all know, since you’re such a big party, it will probably be a little extra time for the kitchen to get everything ready,” the waiter said. “Is that alright?” he asked, nodding rapidly and looking around the small party room.
Shit, Daphne thought. I should have just stayed at the office. It’s going to take so long to get everything done, and this restaurant is going to be wasting my precious time. She bit her tongue hard, but didn’t taste blood.
“Oh, that’s perfectly fine,” Trevor replied with a wide grin. “No problem at all.”
“Wonderful,” the waiter said with a smile. “I’ll get that order placed then and will be back with some pitchers of water!”
Daphne’s hands had slowly become fists. Why did I let Fiona drag me here? She asked herself. A fifteen-dollar meal was not worth sacrificing my afternoon for. I could have walked back when no one was looking.
“So,” Holly said on her right, lowering her voice. “How did it go in Trevor’s office this morning? I was surprised that I didn’t hear yelling.”
Daphne grimaced. “I think he almost yelled at me,” she replied.
“What happened?” Landon asked on her left. “So many people are late all the time and he doesn’t say a word to them.”
Daphne knew exactly to whom Landon was referring. She glanced up at the red head, who was laughing at something Trevor was saying, despite the fact that only a few minutes prior, she had been whining at him.
Daphne looked down at her hands and the napkin in her lap. “Apparently earlier this week, Fiona asked me to put together a business case for why we need more printers in the department and on the floor of the office in general.”
“What?” Holly asked. Daphne looked over at her face, and it was clearly one of disgust.
Daphne’s heart skipped a beat. Oh goodness, she thought. Why did I say that? She’s going to think I’m incompetent now.
“Are you serious?” Landon asked. Daphne looked over at him and his face mirrored Holly’s.
“You wouldn’t have even had time to say yes or no to that this week,” Holly said. “I can’t believe how busy you’ve been.”
Daphne felt her eyes widen as she looked back over at Holly. “Right?” she heard herself asking.
“Sounds like she was just foisting her work onto you,” Landon agreed.
Daphne nodded. “I felt the same. Apparently, it was due this morning though, so I didn’t have much choice except to agree to write it.” She looked over at where Fiona was batting her eyelashes at Trevor.
“He’ll give her a free pass for almost anything,” Holly said, her voice sounding annoyed. “And we all have to do extra work because of it.”
“Simp,” Landon said. “Real men only simp for a woman that is already theirs.”
Daphne looked over at him and noticed that his upper lip was pulled back away from his teeth.
Daphne looked back over at Holly who was looking back at her. Holly’s eyes were full of pity. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked. “I’m sure you’re bogged down with tasks for your actual projects, too. You’ve worked late every day this week, and tomorrow is Christmas Eve. No one deserves to work late the day before Christmas Eve.”
Daphne’s eyes widened at Holly’s words. No one had ever asked if she’d needed a hand before. This is unexpected, she thought.
“You’re willing?” she asked. “Are you sure you have time to help?”
“Of course,” Holly said with a small smile. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t think that I would have time to help.”
“Thank you so much,” Daphne said, breathing out heavily, as the tension in her chest started to loosen.
“Of course,” Holly replied. “We are supposed to be a team after all.”
“Holly is right,” Landon agreed. “And for the record, I know that I’m still pretty new, but if you have anything that I can work on, I’m also happy to help.”
Daphne put her hand over her heart. “Thank you both so much,” she said. “I’m drowning, to be completely honest.”
“Of course,” Landon said.
“Sure thing,” Holly agreed.
I might be able to get done earlier than I thought, so I can see Gary sooner, Daphne thought, her heart fluttering in her chest. He’s going to be so excited.
The waiter then began bringing out all of the meals, and handing them to be handed down the table. A few minutes later, Daphne bit into her grilled cheese sandwich. It was hot in some places, and lukewarm in others.
Of course, Trevor would like a mediocre place like this, Daphne thought, choking down each bite. She reached for her water and found an empty glass instead.
“So, you’re the reason my water cup is empty,” Landon said from her left.
“Wha?” she asked, covering her mouth, which was still full of the patchy heated bite.
He gestured at the water cup in her left hand. Daphne felt her eyes widen and she put the cup down. She swallowed the bit. “I haven’t drunk anything yet!” she exclaimed.
She met Landon’s brown, hazel eyes. He was smiling at her. “I can’t believe you’d drink all of my water and lie about it.”
Daphne couldn’t help but smile back at him. “you’re just pulling my leg aren’t you?” she asked.
“You can clearly see my hands,” Landon replied, carefully tapping both of his elbows on the table. “How could I possibly be pulling your leg when my hands are above the table?”
Daphne let out a small laugh. She was certain that Landon was just trying to cheer her up, and it was helping.
“You’re right,” she said, grabbing her water cup with her right hand. “I was just so thirsty I had to drink yours first.” She took a big gulp of her water before taking another bite of the grilled cheese.
Maybe coming wasn’t a mistake like I thought it was, she thought, as she smiled at Landon, while he smiled back at her. This day can only get better from here, she thought.