I Bought A Wife

Thirteen

"Chips?" Matt offered and stuck out the bag.

Val shook his head; junk foods don't go well with an empty stomach and a tired mind. Mrs. Lewitt already brought four cups of coffee and by the look on her face said he'd better be enough on this one.

Hepushed his white porcelain half-full mug to the far end of his desk,wished it was a customized gift mug with the picture of Darcy on it then rubbed his jaw. His unshaved beard stabbed his fingers.

Forgot to shave. Again.

"So,bro," Matt chewed absentmindedly and nodded to the big flat screen TV on the wall, where Val's laptop screen is displayed. "Leo is definitely a genius, look how accurate the prototype of this new smartphone unit. I told you, he won't let us down, good thing we are back on track dude!"

Good thing? Val never thought of it was good, rather it was mere the opposite of it. How was being alone a good thing? After the scene when Darcy left his office, her words were still stuck in his head.

He missed his wife. Her invisible presence occupied every last bit of his life even the air he breathes that used to smell like strawberries.

"But I think there are some schematics that needs to be classified further, do you think this proposal will make Leo happy? We need to get him to sign the contract dude." Matt clicked the zoom selection and direct it to the lower part of the screen. "Look, you can't take this to manufacturing like this. We have to reshape it just to meet the desired funds. Otherwise the markup will be too high and Leo might take it too high for its demands."

Val's phone beeped, and a picture of Darcy flashed on his screen. It was a reminder on his schedule calendar that today was his appointment fora haircut, of course all had been planned before Darcy left.

"Oh damn, why does this have to be so complicated?" Matt complained."He designed the thing, this should be enough. Why don't you try to figure out where to cut off whatever you think make sense."

Val kept fiddling his pencil in his fingers, trying his best to stay calm and not get pissed off by Matt but it did not help. "Nothing will make sense if I would just be the one to do all the things here Matt.You are my co-partner in this company and in this deal. You also need to think on some ways how to figure this out."

But Val's mind is still preoccupied by the thought of Darcy's proposal.He always tried to figure things out and he got tired of all the women's demands towards him. But never had he encountered such a fierce woman, Darcy never asked for a decision, she just wanted to share the emotions she felt inside and deep down Val knows that feelings might also got into his.

Suddenly,a knock from his office door got him out of him senses. Mrs. Lewitt was standing in front of Val's desk and along went Leo Humprey.

"What a surprised visit Mr. Humprey" Matt hurriedly stood up and offered a hand shake to Leo.

"Good day, gentlemen" Leo greeted them both.

"Good day, how can I help you?" Val asked.

Leo stared directly down at Val and presented a copy of the previous proposal Val offered him. "I intend to come and clear these things on you personally, I have some matters I also want to discuss in private."

There was an awkward silence inside the office until Matt noticed it and offered himself to leave. "I'll leave you two alone to discuss,excuse me."

"i don't understand how on earth could you justify such conditions, Mr.Rossini!" Leo burst out in a stubborn way. "I've read your terms and some of it was unrealistic. The time frames, the procedures, the manufacturing—all these demands! I also need help. That's why I signed with you."