As if I could help myself. Tasha's long leg bounced back and forth just on the edge of my vision. She dressed conservatively, but just the hint of her black high heels had my blood on fire. It was very easy to imagine pursuing Tasha, trailing my fingers up those long, silky legs. I glanced over and she gave me a puckered smile. All I wanted to do was soften those rosy lips with a long, deep kiss.
I had to look away before I started sweating. I glanced over Frankie's shoulder and saw the notes he was sending out. In his telling, Frankie was the bold challenger who had found someone who might be impossible, even for me. It was flattering, in a way, but I was embarrassed. All around us, the team members were studying their thick packets, really understanding the reports and charts, and all I was good for was a side bet and a little entertainment.
"Shut it down, Frankie," I said.
"Too late, man; it's already out there," Frankie said. "I'll let you know what the betting's like later."
"Later when I kick your ass?" I growled.
Frankie leaned back, unsure how serious I was, then he shook his head. "You almost had me there. I bet you're on this project just to get a little closer. Not that I can blame you."
I leaned forward so he could not ogle Tasha. "Concentrate on your work. No wonder you still work downstairs."
"All right, all right. I get it. There's a time and a place. We'll talk more at Benny's Dive Bar later." Frankie flipped through his packet and found the page we were all reviewing.
I focused on the page and tried to concentrate on what the CFO was saying. It seemed ridiculous to me that all the reports and charts had nothing to do with the initial sales. Everyone was in the meeting to hear how much money their app had made Hyperion.
Then again, as I looked around, I saw most people were engaged in the little details. They were taking notes, consulting with each other, and listening with rapt attention. It occurred to me that Tasha's team cared more about their work than about the bottom line. I sat back and observed them as if they were an alien species.
Tasha was leaning forward, marking copious notes in the margins of the packet, and cross-referencing things in her own high stack of reports. As she shuffled through papers, she interjected, and never once did the CFO object to her additions. He nodded, agreed with her, asked her to elaborate for the rest of us, and shared the spotlight with her shining intelligence.
"So, you can see on page 37 that the extra time spent on beta-testing actually saved us when it came to bug checks and additional programming. We stayed focused, asked specific questions of our beta-testers, and took the time to consider all their input before we finished production. The wait saved us the extra work of undoing bad code and creating features that did not serve the customer," Tasha said.
"Yes, exactly. Had Ms. Nichols not been able to convince us, the product launch would have been pushed back at least a month," the CFO said.
It was a turn-on how focused Tasha was in the meeting. She missed the subtle compliments from our boss and dug deeper into her reports. Her copper-colored hair was tied back with a plain black ribbon and delicate wisps curled along her neck. I found myself studying the creamy skin there instead of poring over the next page of tables and charts.
Even Frankie was listening, his lascivious bets forgotten as he heard Tasha's tie-in with online discussion groups and techno-speculation. She had a grasp on every angle of the project, and her team members appreciated how well she understood what they contributed.
I sent Frankie a quick text: Is the Ice Queen a good boss?
He ignored it until they moved on to the next page and started talking print media. Then he smiled and texted back: The best. Hot and a hard ass, just the way I like 'em.
I fought the urge to punch him and texted: Then why bet against her?
Frankie laughed out loud and texted: My money's on her all the way. Not only will she break your heart, but she'll be your boss before you know it.
I elbowed him sharply and was rewarded with Frankie's pained grunt.
Tasha glanced over with a flash of annoyance and then went back to her work. I leaned back again and continued to admire her as the meeting dragged on. Tasha was ready with an answer to every question the CFO asked. It was clear that something great had happened with GroGreen, but no one wanted to jump ahead to the good news. They wanted to take the time to study what they did, analyze what worked, and plan to implement it on future projects.
"We need a more coherent strategy for the worldwide release with fail-safes in place in case the server blinks out," the CFO pointed out.
Tasha responded with a five-point plan for how they would fix the problem in the future, streamline the worldwide release, and time everything to fit the foreign markets.
It felt good just sitting next to someone so talented. Tasha Nichols was clearly at the top of her game and only getting better. She had the respect of her team members, nods of approval from the top executives, and an organized air that made it feel like she could take over the world. She'd already tried to brush me off multiple times, but the longer the meeting went, the surer I was that the smart move would be to hitch my wagon to her star. Tasha Nichols was really on her way up.
I was deep into strategizing my next move when a bright blonde caught my eye from across the table. She smiled, but her eyes were icy, and she turned away sharply. I thought her name might have been Maureen, but it could have been Margaret. Definitely something with an 'M.' It took a minute, but I remembered a steamy little interlude we'd had a while back. In a supply closet, on a stack of copier paper, just before New Year’s. Now that it was spring, I could see why she was giving me cold looks.
Three suits down was another chilly glance, this time from a woman whose name I knew was Alice. She had gotten so upset that when she finally cornered me in the upstairs cafe, she'd referred to herself in the third person. "Alice deserved a call back."
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as my eyes traveled around the packed meeting and took stock. It was no shock that Frankie and my other colleagues thought of me as a playboy. There were at least five women in the conference room who I had romanced. More than one looked at me with disdain, but the majority wetted their lips, or played with the necklines of their blouses, surefire signs they'd be willing to give me another chance.
Normally, I would have spent the rest of the meeting selecting which beautiful woman to approach first, but today everything was off. I was sick of my tomcat reputation, and jealous of the respect Tasha was garnering. Sure, I got plenty of slaps on the back from the higher-ups, but that was because they were my buddies. We played golf, drank expensive whiskey, and bragged about our conquests. It turned my stomach.
I sat up and tried to focus on the packet again, but my stomach was clenched. I pressed a hand to it, annoyed that I was letting Tasha Nichols throw me off my game. She noticed my pained gesture and poured me a glass of water.
"Thank you," I said.