Team Victor: A GoldmAnna Fic

Chapter 9: Goldman

Friday Night

Glen rang the doorbell of an unfamiliar row house. He wondered again if he was dressed for Victor's approval - a dark blue button down shirt and pressed khakis and decent dress shoes. He checked his watch. 5 minutes early. Early is on time, according to Victor. Hopefully this would be early enough.

A middle aged man with glasses and a high necked collar opened the door, "Good evening, Mr. Goldman, won't you come in? Welcome to Souvenir. You can hang your jacket here. I'm Mr. Mills, and I'll be your maitre d for this evening."

"Hello, and thank you."

Glen looked around the beautiful room. It was a little strange that Victor wasn't here yet. There was only one small table. This wasn't a restaurant, it was a dining room with white crown molding and Victorian English styled wallpaper. He decided it must be a tea house, or maybe a bed and breakfast.

Mr. Mills pulled back a chair and Glen sat and waited for Victor. Sure enough, a doorbell rang and Mr. Mills went to answer.

It wasn't Victor, it was a woman. Mr. Mills introduced himself, and when he stepped out of the way to hang up a stylish leather jacket with chunky zippers, Glen saw that the woman was Anna. She wore her hair teased up, and large silver hoop earrings with brighter makeup than he was used to seeing on her, and a black tank top with the Starship Enterprise zooming across it, its warp nacells shooting out red, blue, and yellow. She had on slim jeans, and sexy little black boots. She looked hot. She always looked hot, but this was a whole new flavor of hot Anna Huang. He stood, and then realized his jaw was gaping. He saw recognition in her eyes, and then surprise.

"Anna? Um, what are you doing here?"

Her cheeks colored a little while her eyes darted around the stately but minimalist room. "Hi! Glen! I was supposed to meet Mei here for a girls night. What are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to meet Victor to talk with a company he's looking at purchasing."

Glen's phone chirped - a Star Wars blaster sound. He took it out of his pocket and read the message on his phone.

          Victor: There's no meeting. Enjoy the food.

"You were supposed to meet Mei here? We've been set up." He turned his phone so Anna could read the text. He tried to keep his expression flat. He was supposed to be angry, but it was hard to stay angry. He was just glad she was here.

Anna's phone chirped too. She pulled it out of her purse. "Just a second, please, I have to make sure Mei is okay." She moved her thumbs around for a minute with a serious expression. Glen wondered what she was saying to Mei. Was she annoyed? And then, to Glen's relief, Anna smiled. "Looks like she had no intention of coming and she knew you were going to be here. I guess it serves us right. We were matchmaking them. They cooked this up."

Mr. Mills quietly walked past and held a chair out for Anna. Glen sat in the chair across from her.

"I hope this is okay, then." Glen said.

"It's okay. I'm glad. I wanted to talk to you. I owe you an apology." Anna looked down at the folded napkin.

Glen tried to think of something to say. This was awkward. "You don't owe me anything. You look . . . great. I mean, you always look great. But you look different."

Anna smiled, "Thank you. And I do owe you an apology. I shouldn't have laughed. You just caught me unready to answer. And I'm glad to be here now."

Glen sat up taller, realizing his wish had come true and that he was on a date with Anna Huang.

Mr. Mills attentively waited until they stopped talking and then stepped up to the side of the table and said "We do not have menus here at Souvenir, everything we make here is Chef's choice. Does anyone have any food allergies?"

They both shook their heads.

"Excellent. The Chef is going to whip up something special for you this evening. What is Madam's pleasure to drink? Beer or wine?"

Anna spoke first. "A beer sounds great, if that's okay." Mr. Mills handed her a list of bottled craft beers. They each chose one and Mr. Mills disappeared into the kitchen..