Hooked

Chapter 11

In the months that came to pass since her trip to Italy, Victoria maintained a near perfect finesse with her work. She poured her energy into her career demands, as she found pride and security in her work skills.

However, the odd time, she still found herself unable to get Mateo out of her mind. Her surprising week long romance left a regrettable void when she left the old country. There were days when random events would trigger recollections of her exciting moments with the romantic Spaniard.

Whenever Judy took her out to get Italian food, she thought of her dinners with him. Once she sat at a set of street lights and saw an old motorbike zip by, its exhaust note jogging memories of her travels through the country side.

Victoria occasionally considered how else their final conversation could have developed, and possibly ended on a more promising level. But after tiring reflections, she convinced herself to move on and forget about the pain of regret.

In the workplace, Victoria was a star! A brilliant mind, well trained for the dissection of concrete information. Her ability to analyze facts and deduce concepts was unmatched. Victoria had a gift for producing and implementing strategies that were plausible and yielded favorable results for her clients. The company she worked for knew it, and at times they joked about her being the firm's secret weapon. When the odd issue seemed impossible to resolve, Howard could call upon her to dive in and crank out a solution.

Victoria knew she was appreciated at work. The employees at RP Logic Solutions observed a close sense of alliance. They showed concern for each other's well being in a respectful and professional manner. It was perhaps for this reason that Victoria could pour herself into work so well. She was good to the company and so the company was good to her. It was a harmonious relationship in her mind and she in turn gave it her all every day.

Walking down the hall towards her office each morning, she was greeted by a few fellow employees with smiles and cheerful hellos. Every day Howard looked through the window of his office as she walked by and smiled at her.

Victoria sparked up her computer, looked out the window at the bustling metropolis below, and began her day of work as passionately as any other.

Scheduled that afternoon was a meeting with a local client. He was the owner of a bottling company. After being briefed on the company's background and intentions, Howard, Victoria and Judy headed into the grand room overlooking downtown Chicago where they greeted the client.

"Good afternoon Mr. Fuhr. My name is Howard. With me are Victoria and Judy, our senior analysts. Welcome to RP Logic Solutions. If you'll have a seat, we'll get right to work. We've read your letter of intent and perused the statistics you have provided to us." Howard paused as he began to leaf through the meetings briefing. "It says here that you're having difficulties with the sorting system at your hub plant. Can you provide further detail in this matter?"

The eccentric client got up from his chair and hurried to the window. His personality seemed odd at first, but soon the trio realized that he tended to look away from those he addressed when he was nervous.

"Yes, well my company has landed three new clients. One is a soft drink company, and the other two supply wines. I run a successful company, you know. We have awards all over the office for efficiency, saving the environment, and even great taste, and hell, we just supply the damn containers!"

Mr. Fuhr let out a peculiar cackle and then continued to look out the window describing his predicament. "So my plant's running at full capacity. We have twelve lines and are currently bottling for six clients, everything from water to beer to soda pop. So our issue is this. The plant has maximized its square footage with the mechanical lines and there's no new space to install more lines! Damn it, I can't pull an entire west wing out of my ass! And I will never turn away a client! We have awards all over the office!"