Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(18)

In that moment, they both knew that what they had in the friend realm was for keeps. There were hurt feelings on both sides, but the part of the relationship that had always worked would always work. Without the sexual element, and the attraction, they could meet in the middle comfortably.

It was nice to know.

“You look like shit, Captain,” Kate said as he shifted to get comfortable.

“Speak for yourself. What’s Krista got you girls doing?” Sean asked, leaning back.

“All her work, obviously,” Jasmine retorted.

As Krista looked over her notes, she said, “Alright, let’s settle down. We’ve got a lot of work to do—thank you Captain—so let’s get to it.” Then she silenced the still-giggling Kate and Marcus with a look.

Into that look everyone nodded, including Sean, who looked happy that someone else was taking the reins.

“Okay,” Krista said, getting down to business now that everyone was paying attention. “Let’s start with Marcus’s latest idea that is actually worth our time.”

“I got more crap then gold in this brain, girl, I told you that.” Marcus laughed.

Krista speared him with a glance, “Are you planning to remember everything I say, or do you think it wise to write a few things down?”

Marcus shut his mouth with a click. He was handed a notepad and pen from a silent Ray. Everyone else, learning the lesson from Marcus, got pen and paper at the ready. Except for Sean, who could have given the lecture, and was therefore excused.

“Oh, before we begin, I should point out,” Ben said as he angled his head to look at his notes. “Marcus had some holes, so I patched them up. Also, the idea was one of the best so far, so I did a few embellishments and added a few intricacies. One or two more angles as well. I didn’t think you would mind, Marcus.“

Marcus laughed in glee and patted Ben on the back. Ben smiled with the wordless praise.

“Yes, you two are the masters of the universe. Also time wasters,” Jasmine said in a bored voice.

Marcus settled down again.

“Thank you, Jasmine,” Krista said, then launched into the idea, how it started, what was tweaked and how it was translated for the poor research schmucks. After that she explained what she did to it, and in which stage it was passed on to Jasmine and Kate. Finally she went over the assembly line she wanted to create, getting Sean’s nod that it was the most efficient approach that would also work for him.

When she was done, she looked at Jasmine and Kate in turn as she said, “In the future, I want you two to get familiar dealing with Ben, Judy and Marcus on your own. Less hands in the pot means the less muddled the logical brain can make creative thinking.”

“If we decide to stay and work this hard forever,” Jasmine said, shaking her head.

“You will,” Krista replied, turning a page on her note pad. “Sean will talk you into it. And if he fails, Ray will.”

Krista looked up again, noticing Sean’s eyes glued to her. She got an unexpected jolt of pleasure before she turned red and looked away. His gaze stuck.

“And if he fails we will torture and possibly kill you unless you change your minds,” Marcus finished.

“Finally,” Krista continued, staring at Jasmine to stop an oncoming joke, “the result goes to the Captain, where he and Ray pitch the idea to John. John tells the Captain he is all wrong, at which point Ray steps in with a rope-a-dope. The saga ends with John telling our fearless Captain to make the pitch to the client. The end. Any questions?”

There were. A lot, actually. Even Sean had a few, wanting to better understand how Research got all their data. He was no doubt thinking about future projects, intending to demand a change in the way the information was acquired. Throughout the entire question-and-answer segment, Krista had to silence the jokes and stop the chatter. With Marcus and the girls teaming up, there was no end to their fun.

Correction: there was an end to the fun; her name was Krista.

When everyone was finally satisfied, Krista looked to Sean for any last comments. She was surprised to see him and Ray staring with open mouths. Sean recovered first, shook his head to clear it, and said that was good, everyone go back to what they were doing.

“Look at all the notes I took!” Marcus exclaimed. He tilted his notepad to Krista like a child showing off his drawing.

“Now what will you do with them?” Judy asked in mock wonder.

“Frame everything, probably,” Jasmine said dryly.

“I just might,” Marcus walked out with Ben and Judy.

Krista followed suit, her mind on half a dozen things she still needed to do. When she got back to her desk, she realized she was being followed. Sean was taking a seat in one of her visitor chairs.

“You stalking me?” she asked as she checked her email.

“Yeah. I was hoping to catch you naked.”

“You gotta drill a hole in the bathroom for that. I’ll show you the one I did in yours.”

He smiled and rubbed his eyes. “Where did you learn to hold meetings like that?”

“That is the standard procedure when dealing with Jasmine and Kate. And now Marcus. You give them an inch, they will never get anything done. You tell them what to do with a firm hand, they will work their asses off.”

“It was impressive.”

“Thanks. I learned early, as you heard, that A’s meant calming the beasts.”