Hint of disappointment - Luke Hemmings

2.

'Good, you are both here.'

As usual, mister Cavanaugh didn't bother to face us. He sat on his impressive desk in his even more impressive workspace on the top floor. Outside, I could see Sydney Harbour and what seemed to be a day with glorious weather. There would be no time to enjoy it if Luke was right about the India rapport.

'Nowhere else I would rather be, sir.'

I had to hold back the urge to kick Hemmings under the table, why he thought he could just talk his way to the recommendation was beyond me, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Cavanaugh wasn't falling for it today, he looked up specifically so Luke could see his eye roll.

'Don't give me that crap, Lucas. I would prefer it if you could give me the notes of yesterday's meeting.'

Luke reached in his bag, took out a huge folder and read out loud.

'Notes of meeting on introduction of a sewer system in Haryana, briefing seven, second of October two thousand-'

Cavanaugh hold up his hand, I appreciated it that he managed to look tired of Luke already. 'I said give, I was there, I do not need you to go over them again. If you can like them so much, you can make a rapport out of them.'

This day was taking a rather great turn for me. Writing rapports on meetings was the most boring activity Cavanaugh could give us, and he only did it if you had messed up. On the other hand, it meant that he was in a terrible mood, and I didn't want to be on his bad side as well.

'Jones?'

'Yes, sir.'

I had long ago perfected the way to address my boss. He did not like it if you were too greedy, something Luke tended to forget, he also hated it to be directed as if he was an army sergeant. You could not make it sound too much of a question, because then he would call you out as a doubting high-schooler. But if you didn't add the question part, he thought of you as a know-it-all, and would make you fetch coffee for him until you apologized.

He really was a kind soul.

'I need you to talk to our regional coordinator over there. How's your Hindi?'

Practically non-existent. Still, that would not make a very good impression.

'Very basic, sir.'

He nodded, too caught up in the documents in front of him to see through my lie. 'Good. I would not want you to make any chit chat. Find out how many volunteers are in the region, tell them we will provide the funds and expertise if they can meet our quota of a thousand men working on the sewing system. Understood? Report back to me by lunch time.'

'Certainly, sir.'

I could look forward to a morning with my Hindi dictionary then. Luke gave me a sideway glance, he knew full well that I lied about my level of language ability, but he could not call me out in front of Cavanaugh. I already could predict that he would be looking over my shoulder all the time, telling me I was using the wrong grammar, even though his Hindi was probably worse than mine. Luke could only manage to speak Arabic and a bit of Hebrew, which wasn't much when you compared it to my fluency in 5 languages, but Arabic was an advantage I never had. If he wasn't such a prick, I would ask him to teach me.

I was just considering asking him anyway when I caught both Luke and Cavanaugh staring at me.

'I said you could go to work, Jones.'

'Yes, Jónes,' Luke gave me an irritable sideway smirk.

Maybe I wouldn't ask him after all.