Luc sniffed again. “bacon, mushrooms, goat cheese, lamb,…” he thought. “Bingo Burgers?” he asked tentatively.
Meg nodded. “I figured that you’d forget lunch. Ginny’s snack an hour ago barely lasted for me, and you’re still healing,” she said as she put his lunch down on a clear space on his desk.
“You’re right. I think I inhaled the jerky, and I don’t even remember when I finished the drink,” he said as he grabbed a couple of fries and the spicy catsup.
Meg smiled and settled in one of his customer chairs. She had a lamb burger as well. The little burger place was fantastic. All organic, very clean and fast service. Plus, they served lamb. She held her burger over the container because it was so juicy it was dripping. She looked up to see that Luc was dripping all over the end of his desk, as he ate. She tried not to giggle, but couldn’t help it.
“Noht one johke abowt woofin’ my food,” he said trying to talk around a bite.
Meg just laughed. They finished their lunch and when the last bite of burger and sweet potato fries was gone, Meg grabbed the clean wipes from one of the tool kit bags and handed it to Luc. He took a few and started to clean up the drips on his desk.
“That was heavenly,” he said. “At least now I won’t try and eat the job interview candidates.”
“Ginny found some already? That was fast,” said Meg.
“I think she’s been thinking about this for a while and just waited until I came into work. Duke was useless for a long time before he attacked you. So, I don’t think it was so much a matter of finding them, as making them wait for a call,” he said.
Meg nodded. She suspected that Ginny sandbagged a lot of things and would dole them out to Luc as he could handle them until he was totally healed. “You want help?” she asked.
“No, I’ll… Wait, you were the HR officer,…” he started as the gray cells started firing in rapid succession. “Um… I’d really like you to be here, especially as I think one or two of the techs are human,” said Luc.
“No problem. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to,” said Meg. With that, they headed to the conference room and set things up for the interview.
*
The last candidate walked out of the office at 5 pm. Meg was exhausted, and Luc was gray around the eyes. It had taken a lot more effort that either one of them expected.
“Can we wait to sort them out until tomorrow?” asked Luc. “I’m worn out.”
“Sure. I’ve kept notes. I can’t believe she found six people for us to interview. Did she prowl the universities?” Meg asked.
“I don’t know. However, we have some tough choices to make,” said Luc.
“Yeah, but the only choices I want right now are whether to eat in bed or not,” said Meg.
“How about take out and we eat as soon as we get home. Bed as soon as we throw out the trash?” suggested Luc.
You’re on!” said Meg. Grabbing her briefcase, she headed for the door. All the other offices were dark and quiet. They hadn’t noticed Kevin or Ginny leaving for the day. Once in the car, they headed for the Mandarin Coin. Chinese fast food sounded too good to pass up. Their order was ready in ten minutes and they headed down the highway with delightful smells filling Meg’s little Neon.
Pulling up in the driveway, they noticed a car parked on the side of the house. Traffic was usually too busy to park there, but someone had.
“Luc, whose car is that?” Meg asked.
“I don’t recognize it,” he said and got out of the car cautiously. He sniffed the air, but didn’t recognize anything out of place. “Let’s get in the house,” he said and headed for the door. He went to put the key in the lock and realized that it was open.
“Meg, go back to the car,” he said quietly.
Meg nodded and backed up. After the other day, she didn’t want to risk anything. Luc quietly opened the door and slid in. She heard some noise and then the houselights came on. Luc motioned to her from the door and she went inside.
Once she got inside, she saw Bitty and a young man sitting naked except for some bedding wrapped around them sitting on the couch. The two of them looked very chagrined.
“I take it that you’ve called Ginny,” said Meg.
“I was just about to,” said Luc. He walked off to the kitchen to make the call. Meg sat the food down. They’d have to reheat it by the time this situation was over.
Luc walked back into the living room. He sat down with a heavy sigh. Bitty and the young man fidgeted.
“Bitty, I know you just turned eighteen, but what the hell were you thinking?” Luc asked. “And I hope young man that you’re eighteen,” he growled sub-vocally.
“Yes sir!” the young man squeaked.
“Um, Unky,… you know,…” Bitty started to stammer.
Luc just gave her a look that stopped her cold. “Ginny will be here in a few minutes. She’s going to chew your asses, so I don’t have to. We’ll just wait,” he growled again. Looking over at Meg, he gestured to the bag with food.
“You want to eat now?” she asked.
“Yes. By the time Ginny gets done with these two, our food will be cold and I probably won’t feel like eating,” Luc said.
“Okay, but could you tone down the sub-vocals?” Meg asked as she handed him his food.
“Sorry,” he said and took the container and chopsticks. He looked at them and went to the kitchen and returned with a fork. “Paws, not fingers,” he said as he sat down to eat.
They ate in silence while the two teenagers sat waiting for Ginny’s arrival. Luc finished first and sat back just watching the two of them. Meg ate what she could and then took the leftovers and garbage to the kitchen. She put on a pot of coffee, because she had the feeling it was going to be a long evening. The coffee had just started to brew when the door opened and Ginny walked in the house. She looked at Bitty and the young man and then sat on the couch.