The Real You

Ben & Jerry's

"Sam? I've got Malcolm Vaughn on line two....he says it's urgent" Stacey said as I pressed my finger on the intercom, answering her call.

"Doesn't he always?" I muttered, before switching to the second line "Thank you Stacey......Mal? You there?"

"I called you, didn't I?" Malcolm's bored tone of voice caused me to smile.

"I'm guessing your call wasn't as urgent as you implied to Stacey?" I questioned him, leaning back in my office chair and checking the clock.

Only a couple of more hours and then Alan would be picking me up for dinner. I hadn't seen much of him in the last week, not after our talk regarding Lyanna. He'd gone home, and the next few days he'd been busy working, while I was also occupied with my job.

He had called though, yesterday, asking if he could take me out for dinner.

And of course I had agreed.

"Look Sam, here's the deal" Malcolm's voice boomed across the telephone, and I knew he'd be pacing his office, like he always did "Remember we had that lunch planned for tomorrow? To discuss the termination of the contracts for those two Medical Supply companies and the revision for the Insurance Company?"

"Yeah...Mal, why do I have the feeling you're about to ruin my day?" I asked him with a hint of sarcasm lacing my voice.

"Don't worry, Samantha. I'm just.....asking you for a favor here" Malcolm laughed.

"The great Malcolm Vaughn asking me for a favor? My my....how the mighty have fallen" I joked, swirling around in my chair.

" 'Cmon, Sam....help a friend out, please? I just found out I'm leaving tomorrow for Munich for some possible new partnerships there...-" he started, before I interrupted him.

"So you're calling to cancel the meeting?" I asked him hopefully, getting a feeling about where this talk was heading and not liking it one bit.

"Actually, I was hoping you might consider meeting up now for an early dinner so we could talk things over...?" I could hear the plea in his voice, and I felt my resolve crumble.

"Can't we do this when you return?" I made a last-ditch effort to get out of it, but knew I would go if Malcolm insisted.

"Sorry Sam....the termination of those contracts has to happen before the end of the week" Malcolm explained, and I could hear he knew he had me.

"Okay..." I grumbled.

"Cool. You're the best. See you in half an hour at the Ritz?" Malcolm told me.

"Sure. See you then" I muttered, hanging up the phone and leaning back in my chair as I passed a hand through my hair.

Damn.

Now I had to call Alan and cancel our dinner plans.

It was official: I'd murder Malcolm.

Sighing I picked up my cell from where I'd thrown it onto my desk and dialed Alan's number.

"Good evening, Samantha" his deep timbre sounded casual and relaxed, and I smiled despite myself.

"Hey" I breathed.

It was sad how I still couldn't manage to formulate a coherent sentence when I heard his voice. I kept having these little panic attacks whenever I saw him. I was terrified I'd end up blurting out something stupid like 'noodles' or 'yogurt' one of these days....

"Is there a particular reason for your call?" Alan inquired "Not that I don't like hearing the sound of your voice....but we have dinner plans for later today"