"Primo, please don't assume it's an order because I'm only asking, do you want to sit this one out? I want to assure you that we will all understand since it's personal to you. I also want you to truly understand as well as believe that this is not your fault?" Carlos said to Lester.
"Not even a chance am I sitting this one out. I need to nail this bastard. I told you on the day of graduation that something wasn't right. I should have done more but I can't go back. I'm not going to dwell on it but if I can save someone else from losing a dollar let alone a loved one I'm in. Operation D.O.U.C.H.E.B.A.G. Is in effect."
With an eyebrow raised Ranger asked Lester "Run that by me again Santos?"
" Delusional, Offensive, Useless, Conman, Hoaxer, Exasperating, Bitch Ass Guile. Operation D.O.U.C.H.E.B.A.G. It's a work in progress." Lester shrugged but looked pretty proud of himself for coming up with that on the fly.
Carlos wanted to smile. His eyes said it but his mouth didn't. He just looked at Lester for a minute and said "Keep working on it cuz. Please keep working on it. I see your head is back in the game so here's what I'm thinking." Stopping to take a drink of water he turned to look at me "Babe you have an uncanny ability to get people to open up to you. Just look at your capture and distraction rate. Look at the men here. You've been able to get us to open up more in the time you've known us than some of us have in our entire lives. So let's run another distraction of sorts. It would not be strange for you to go out to lunch together. Why don't you both invite Edward? Make it sound like there is an opening in the client relations department and you wanted to talk to him about it. Maybe you can tell him we're thinking about switching things up. Placing employees in different departments to see where they fit best." Ranger suggested to us. Glancing at Lester who now was excited it was clear we both agreed with Ranger.
Lester was bouncing with excitement. "Primo, that's brilliant. Have him think we just want to get to know him better and let Steph work her magic. Maybe talk a little about ourselves. It might not hurt to order a beer. Loosen him up a little bit?"
Ranger nodded at Lester and turned back to me. Tucking a rouge curl behind my ear. "I'm going to call Pino and make sure he gives you both half apple juice and half water. You're both on the clock and we only want him to be the one drinking without knowing it."
"Should I ask for a silly straw and kids menu Primo? You think Pino will give me crayons?" Lester teased Ranger.
I snorted and Ranger again was thinking about smiling. He just turned to Santos and asked if he had a better idea for a drink since Pino's either has Guinness or Yuengling lite lager on tap. "I overheard Edward once mention to Binkie that he dislikes stout so it's either watered-down ice tea or apple juice to replace the Yuengling. I think apple juice will match."
"Apple juice for me" I declared.
"I'm with Beautiful" said Lester.
"I'll go call Pino. Babe, Start those searches before you go, please. Try and be back by three so you can go over the results before the five pm meeting. Since it's only eleven am you should have plenty of time. If he questions drinking on the job, remind him you're part owner Les and Babe you can just explain you're the Boss's girlfriend as well as our best researcher."
I froze. The boss's girlfriend? Did he just call me his girlfriend? I know Joe and I have been broken up for a year now but other than stolen kisses and a couple of pelvic shattering orgasms I've known where we stood. He doesn't do relationships.
"I smell smoke, Babe."
Um..what…wait..who is your girlfriend? I managed to get out.
"Real smooth beautiful." Lester stage whispered.
"Babe, you're my girlfriend although that sounds so childish. We're done playing games. We're gonna do this and it's gonna be good. We will talk later tonight. Know that as of this moment with Lester as our witness, you're my woman and I'm your man exclusively. I love you in my own way which is with all my heart. No qualifiers. Today starts someday."
I told myself this was not the time to cry. Hold it together. We're gonna talk later. Even if they are happy tears it doesn't matter. Save it for later. This is all you've ever wanted since you laid eyes on this man in the diner. He hugged me and gave me a bone-melting kiss. I pinched my thigh just to be sure this was real.
"Thank you guys. I know I was lost in dark thoughts during the meeting back there but you have truly made my day. I love you both so much and seeing you two together makes me very happy. Beautiful, you're my best friend. Carlos, you're not just a cousin YOU ARE my brother. You both deserve happiness and I'm thankful you finally have it." Lester said with rare raw emotion in his voice.
Les hugged me and did the one armed with shoulder back slap thing to Ranger.
Ranger went to his office to call Pino. Lester followed me to office the guys gave me when I started the research on the employees a couple weeks ago when the accounts started getting robbed. I needed privacy and Ella told the core team I deserved my own private bathroom. Have I mentioned how much I love her? Les waited while I ran the searches simultaneously on my laptop and desktop so they would be done when we came back from lunch. I logged off and we headed to Edward's cubicle.
"What's up, Edward? We're thinking about switching things up in some departments. Trying some out some new placements. We wanted to talk to you about client relations. Would you join Steph and I at Pino's for Lunch? Our treat." Lester inquired.
Edward had a brief but noticeable myriad of expressions on his face happening. I saw a bit of confusion, disbelief, nervousness, and excitement followed by him quickly slamming down his blank face. "Ok, I guess if you're treating and you just want to talk about a possible position then why not?"
"Ok great, I'll be ready to leave in five minutes. I'll meet you guys in the garage." I left them and quickly stopped in my office bathroom before heading towards the elevator.
Stepping into the garage I saw Lester getting into the driver's seat and Edward attempting to get into the front passenger seat. Before I could say a word Lester broke in. "Slow down turbo. Where's your manners man? You're assuming that Stephanie's going to sit in the back. Stephanie, who is your boss Ranger's lady? You better hope Ranger and or Hector aren't watching the cameras right now. Unless Beautiful wants to sit in the back she is always in the front passenger seat or driving."
"My bad, I didn't know we had assigned seats. " Edward said with a bit too much sarcasm in his voice.
"Seeing as though she saved the company 2 days ago, she takes priority in the seating chart."
"Saved the company? What did she do?" Asked Edward.
"She is right here. You can address me as Steph or Stephanie. I found out who was messing with the residential accounts and stealing from our clients." I caught them and found all the stolen merchandise as well as the money in their accounts. I may do things outside of the box but my record speaks for itself. Not much gets by me." Lester looked like he wanted to smirk.
"Wow, well that's good to know. It's a good thing I have nothing to hide. I would hate to be under your scrutiny." Edward dared to say.
"Isn't that the truth? She's like a bloodhound man. A 99 percent FTA capture rate too. It's higher than Ranger and Tanks rate." Lester stated with pride clear in his voice. We heard an audible gulp from the back seat.
Arriving at Pinos a few minutes later we walked to our usual table in the back. The lunch rush wasn't here yet. Lester and I sat with our backs to the wall and Edward sat across from us. " Since we have some time before we have to be back, who's up for a beer? Edward, by the time we get back you will be off your shift so feel free to have a beer or 2. I'm driving anyway." Lester let him know.
You could see the wheels in Edward's head turning. "Screw it, why not? You're one of my bosses, right? If you say it's ok, I'll have a beer."
The waitress came by for our drink order. "What will it be?"
Lester gave her his patented panty-dropper crooked smile and ordered "Three yuengling light pints please. 1 large pie with pepperoni and meatballs. Please make it well done." He thanked her and she went to put the order in and to get our drinks.
A few minutes later the waitress returned with our drinks. We all took a sip. Lester and I with our apple juice beer. Now it's time to get Edward chatty.