arm around her, but she didn’t welcome his gesture of affection. She continued to lean against the car rental counter, ignoring him, focused on getting the paperwork done.
Laura Roberts was tired and a little irritated with her new boyfriend. He seemed to have absolutely no interest for what was on her mind. She wanted more than just easy-breezy companionship and great sex; she wanted a human being she could exchanges ideas with, a partner. Maybe he was not Mr. Right material, after all. Too bad. He did look gorgeous, this one.
“Umm . . . you’ve reserved an SUV. We have a Chevy Tahoe,” she giggled, “you might want that since you’re driving to Tahoe, right? We have a Honda CR-V, and . . . umm . . . and a Jeep Wrangler, but that’s a gas guzzler.”
“This time I’m not gonna care,” Laura said decisively. “What color is it?”
“Red. And it’s convertible,” the attendant added humorously, “Very useful feature in the dead of winter.”
“Great. I’ll take it.” She was starting to feel better again. She had endured through eight hours of flying in from DC through a boring stopover in Dallas. Her morning had been challenging, and her boyfriend moody.
She hopped behind the wheel and programmed the GPS, while Bo struggled with the luggage. The Jeep was pretty new; it still carried the unmistakable new car smell.
“This car has no space for luggage. This trunk is a joke,” he mumbled.
“Use the back seat, baby; there’s enough room there. Let’s go already. It’s late.”
He climbed in, slamming the door shut. He was going to give her some attitude, by the looks of it.
The GPS acquired satellites and gave her a route. Their destination was almost an hour away, an hour of driving in the dark on icy mountain roads. She groaned.
“It’s far, but it’s going to be great, you’ll see. Totally worth it.”
“Especially if you decide to leave the office behind and enjoy whatever we came all the way out here to enjoy. You know, it was cold enough in DC. We didn’t have to fly all the way out here and lose twenty degrees in the process. It didn’t have to get any colder than DC.” Bo had a way of complaining, half-jokingly, that drove Laura crazy.
“Baby, we’re gonna warm up by the fire and have a couple drinks, and the cold will be gone.” She made every effort to cheer both of them up. They needed it. She needed it.
“OK, but promise me not a word about your work. I really don’t understand why you give a fuck anyway.” He was still mad.
Laura felt a pang of anger taking over her self-imposed calm.
“I give a fuck because my work is important. Because I have to care. Someone has to care. This is a strategic decision for everyone involved, and they’re gonna do it wrong. They’re not thinking straight. There’s no other choice; I have to think for them, and I do care.” She stopped and took a deep breath.
“There’s no escaping this matter, is there? You’re so riled up; there’s no way you’ll leave it alone. OK, then, let’s hear it. What’s making you so mad?”
She turned and looked at him for a split second. Was this the same guy she had boarded the flight with? What, now he decided to give a damn? Maybe there was some hope for him after all. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, a long and elaborate sigh.
“OK. Here it is, in a nutshell. DCBI, the company I work for, just won an incredible contract. We’ve known about it for a while, and we were already preparing for it, but it just got confirmed this month. Can’t tell you what it’s about: it’s highly confidential. But it’s very large and strategic, one of those contracts that can make or break companies and people. I’m their senior director of vendor assessment, which makes me directly responsible for selecting the vendors to execute this contract. There are several people in our Sourcing team who decide which vendors come to the table and become part of our vendor list or supply chain. Do you follow me, baby?” She wanted him to understand and maybe even offer some advice. A second brain examining things could only help.
“Yeah, I get it. I might not be in business for a living, but so far I’m with you. I still don’t see the problem, though.”
“The problem is that most of the people on my team want to