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I shake my head. “I didn’t see her offering anything to me or Tristan.”
Xavier shrugs, unbothered. “That’s because neither of you knows how to have a conversation with a stranger. Grunting your last name and practically throwing your card at her isn’t going to win you any free shit.”
“I didn’t throw it,” I say, trying to defend myself. “I was speeding up the process. They have to do that shit a thousand times a day. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to waste time on small talk.”
“He has a point,” Tristan agrees.
“Of course you’re anti-small talk,” Xavier mutters.
Tristan checks his watch and then closes his laptop, putting it away. “As fascinating as this conversation is, we have somewhere to be.”
We head for the rental car so we can go over to the client’s office together.
It’s a nice day out, and the good vibes continue when we get to the client and they hang on our every word as we present them with our plan for their data.
Xavier handles smoothing over the rough parts, charming them with flattery and facts. Tristan explains things calmly, answering their questions and providing figures to back up his projections. And I come in at the end, to put a firm bow on it all, making promises for how we can help them and keep the working relationship fruitful on both ends.
“It all sounds amazing,” says the CEO grinning. He jumps up to shake our hands. “We’ll sign the contract as soon as legal has a chance to go over it, and we can get started.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I step away from them to check it.
It’s Penelope, and I frown, remembering the last time she called me when I was in a meeting.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, answering the call.
“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer. I thought I would get your voicemail. I know you’re busy, and it’s not anything important.”
I raise an eyebrow at the way she’s downplaying whatever it is. “It was important enough for you to want to call,” I say. “So you might as well tell me what’s happening.”
“It’s nothing bad!” she assures me. “It’s just… it was a hard day, I guess.”
“Hard how?”
“Nothing went right! I’ve been trying to perfect all my recipes and speed them up a little so I can make a bunch at a time,and it’s just not coming out how I want it to. I know I can’t cut corners, or the quality will suffer, but I also can’t spend all day on one batch of Danishes or I won’t be able to make anything else. It’s just frustrating.”
I know first-hand how hard it can be when you’re trying to get a business off the ground, and I guess it’s probably even harder for Penelope, who has to make her product from scratch with her own two hands every day. She’s been working so hard to get ready to reopen her bakery, and I can hear the tiredness and frustration in her voice.
“It sounds frustrating,” I tell her.
She sighs, giving a small chuckle. “It’s nothing earth shattering or serious, like I said. Just me having a bad day. And then I went home, and…”
“And?”
She sighs again. “And the house was so quiet. I’ve been here by myself before, but usually you guys show up before long, and it doesn’t seem so… empty. It’s weird.”
“Did you lock all the doors?” I tease her. As if anyone would be stupid enough to break into our house, bristling with security the way it is.
“Yes, I did,” she teases back. “It’s not me being afraid to be here alone, it’s just that… I miss you guys.”
Penelope says it so softly, like she’s shy about it, and I can clearly picture the way she’d duck her head while her cheeks flushed pink. It’s cute and heartwarming, and something tightens in my chest.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I said those words to someone, but with Penelope it comes so easily.
“We miss you too,” I murmur back.
She’s smiling after that, I can hear it in her voice. “How’s the trip going? Are the clients sufficiently wooed by your skills?”
“It’s going well. We’re managing to get them to agree to everything we need and the contract should be signed by tomorrow at the latest.”