Page 11 of Degrees of Control
“You sound excited,” I say, delighted that she is so animated.
“I am, I think it’s just what I need right now. It’s going to be great to work together in the same place again. You know going out to lunch, taking long walks on beautiful days,” Jenny says.
“Absolutely.”
We begin working on the new Torzial structure, along with the plan to transition Torzial and all of its employees from its current location into the Prestian Corp Towers.
“We’ve been working for hours,” Jenny says. “Why don’t we take a break and sign back on in an hour? I could use lunch,” she says.
“Sounds like a good idea. Gaby is cooking something that smells delicious,” I say before we sign off. I find Gaby in the kitchen just bringing out a bubbly golden apple pie from her stainless steel Viking oven.
“That’s what smelled so good,” I say.
“If you’re looking for Chase, he and your father have been locked in the study for most of the day. They didn’t even come out for lunch. I told Chase I would bring it in for them, but he said they would get something a little later,” Gaby says, shaking her head in obvious disapproval.
“I’ll take them something,” I say, lifting the lid on the crockpot which is full of chicken noodle soup. The steam escapes, releasing the pungent smell of thyme, sweet carrots and freshly roasted chicken into the air. I begin ladling the thick soup full of egg noodles into bowls while Gaby cuts a few slices of fresh warm bread and starts to spread it with sweet Irish cream butter. I reach over and select a piece, savoring the taste, earning a playfully stern look from Gaby before sending Chase a quick text to warn him of my impending interruption.
Message:Gaby tells me you haven’t eaten yet.
Reply:I have not. Is that an invitation?
Message:Behave yourself! Aren’t you with my dad?
Reply:He has it under control. I’m interested. I know how sweet you are.
I smile, moistening at his last comment and quickly turn my attention back to the task at hand. Gaby pulls a serving tray from one of the lower cabinets, and we load the soup, bread and two large slices of freshly baked apple crumble pie onto it. It is still piping hot, and the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg permeate my senses as I carry the food into the study. Sid is on speaker phone talking about communication devices and the latest technological advances and my dad and Chase are sitting across from each other with computers open in front of them.
“Sid, hold onto your thoughts for a moment. Katarina took pity on us and has brought us lunch,” my father says smiling at me. I try to hide my disappointment at his blatant attempt to curtail the conversation, and Chase looks up to catch the exchange, winking at me.
“Carlos, my fiancée is quite ingenious. See, she has brought us bowls of hot soup, fresh bread and Gaby’s homemade apple pie to find out what we are doing behind these walls. She is ever curious about our operations and hates to be left in the dark,” he says, smiling at me with that imperious quirk.
“So, are you going to fill me in?” I ask, ignoring his fiancée remark and scowling at his attempt to placate me.
“Katarina, right now we’re just in the initial stages of planning the communication stations and devices the teams will need. Sid and his overseas crew have ears and eyes on many of Alfreita’s known hangouts, but we’ve got nothing so far. He's very careful. We’re hoping to have a well-laid-out plan by the end of the day and then we can fill you in on the details,” Chase says, ignoring Carlos’s upraised eyebrows and apparent disapproval.
“Katarina, Chase is right. We just don’t know enough right now,” my dad says, attempting to soothe me.
“Very well, I’ll leave you to your spy fun. I need to get back to work developing the infrastructure that will support my fiancé’s financial ventures,” I say, unable to keep the smile from my lips at the look of surprise on my dad’s face and Chase’s wide tooth grin.
I turn and close the door to the study, serving myself a bowl of soup and helping of bread in the kitchen before heading toward the library to get signed onto the video session with Jenny. By the end of the day, we have all the structural components and plans in place for both phase one and two of the Torzial expansion and have even set key milestones and criteria for beginning expansions into New York City. We finish up the details and chat for a little while longer before I sign off and go in search of my mom who I find pouring a glass of wine for herself in the great room.
“I wasn’t sure if you were finished working today or not,” I say.
“Yes, I just ended the last call. The entire day was spent developing a campaign for a new client. When I first took him on he seemed pretty low-key, but he’s turned out to be quite cantankerous and high maintenance. A real pain in the ass,” she says, taking a sip of her wine.
“Have you seen Chase or Dad?” I ask, laughing at the wild stories about her new client.
“No, but your dad sent me a text a short while ago and said they may be working late,” she says.
“Well we should probably head to the dining room before Gaby sends a search party after us,” I say.
“The men are eating in the study again tonight,” Gaby informs us with a shake of her head as my mom and I sit down to dinner. She serves roasted Cornish game hen on a large platter encircled with parsley leaves, baby Yukon gold potatoes and green beans. She has paired the meal with a white chardonnay that has a floral character mixed with a sweet intensity of fruit.
“Where are the servers?” I ask, recalling Chase’s insistence that Gaby stop doing so much.
“Shh… don’t get him started on that again,” she says, sashaying out of the room and back to the kitchen.
“If she’s not careful Chase is going to renegotiate her contract and give her more help than she ever wanted,” I say, laughing at the thought.
