Lost and Found

Chapter 17

Five minutes to spare, Sydney thought to herself as she got to the library. She found the key to the library door and walked in, not bothering to lock it behind her. Meredith and Kasey were already behind the desk. Sydney smiled. "Morning ladies."

"Hi Sydney," Kasey waved as she booted up her computer.

"Hey, Syd, how was your date last night?" Meredith said as she stood up and leaned on the desk, the smile wide across her face.

"It was great. He's a hell of a cook."

"A man that can cook? Details," Kasey said.

"He made Chicken Marsala and Fettuccini. Then bought tiramisu from Salerno's. It was great."

"Yeah, that's great," Meredith said waving her hand. "And after dinner?"

Sydney smiled. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't play games with me. You know what I'm asking," Meredith said as she crossed her arms. "Where did you wake up this morning?"

Sydney couldn't contain the blush she felt rush to her face nor the laugh that came out of her mouth. Meredith's eyes widened as Kasey looked between them for a few seconds before finally catching on. The phone rang a second later and Kasey answered it.

"So, you spent the night at his place? Big step for you. How are you feeling about it all?" Meredith asked as she leaned on the desk towards Sydney.

"Sydney, Brad Gracen on line 1 for you. He says it's urgent," Kasey said.

Sydney sighed. "Thanks Kasey. I'll be in my office guys." She looked at Meredith. "We'll talk later."

Sydney walked into her office and closed the door. She went right for the phone. "Hi Brad. What's wrong?"

"Hi Sydney. Sorry to call this early, but we have a big problem with the fundraiser."

Sydney sighed. "Those are so not the words I need to hear right now. Ok, what's wrong?"

"I just got the final guest of the governor's guests for the fundraiser and it has a lot of the same people as the mayor."

Sydney sighed into the phone. "Ok, I'm going to call Larry and see what I can do. Give me your number and I'll call you back."

"Thanks Syd." He gave her his number.

Sydney hung up and searched for Larry's number. She picked up the phone and called his direct line.

"Larry Huntly."

"Larry, it's Sydney."

"Oh good, I was just going to call you. I just got the governor's guest list..."

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with Brad. Can you meet with us today to straighten this out?"

"Let me check." Sydney heard clicking in the background. "I'm free at 12:30. Does that work?"

"Hold on. I'll call Brad and ask." She put Larry on hold and called Brad. He picked up after one ring.

"Brad Gracen."

"Hi Brad, it's Sydney. Can you meet with Larry and I today at 12:30 to sort this mess out?"

"Yeah, I don't have anything till 2:30. We should be done by then, right?"

"I'll check with Larry, but if it'll make it easier, we can meet somewhere near your office. Hold on."

She switched back to Larry and they all agreed to meet for lunch at Lucie's. She hung up with both of them and took out her phone.