No executive office.
The Woman arrived first.
Dark jeans.
Cream sweater.
Hair loose.
No driver visible.
The Single Dad assumed security existed somewhere.
He sat across from her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Finally she said:
“You look different.”
“So do you.”
“Good different?”
“Less apron.”
She smiled.
He looked toward her hands.
Still elegant.
Still the first clue he should have noticed.
“You really never worked a restaurant before?”
“No.”
“You weren’t terrible.”
“I trained.”
He stared.
“You trained to pretend to be a waitress?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Four days.”
He laughed.
She smiled.
“Two coffee pots died.”
“That sounds more believable.”
The mood softened.
Then the Single Dad became serious.
“Why me?”
She frowned.
“What?”
“Why did you care about what happened to my contracts?”
“Because my executive caused it.”
“That explains the investigation.”
“Not everything else.”
The Woman looked down.
He continued.
“You noticed immediately.”
“You followed it personally.”
“Why?”
She met his eyes.
“Because I liked you.”
No corporate wording.
No hesitation.
The Single Dad became quiet.
She continued.
“That made me worry my judgment was compromised.”
“So I handed most of your specific case to Legal.”
“I stayed away from decisions about compensation.”
“Contract restoration.”
“Settlement.”
“You were right to question that.”
He listened.
“I wanted to fix what happened to you because I felt guilty.”
“And because I cared.”
“Those motivations were tangled.”
“So I stopped myself from being the person deciding what you should receive.”
The Single Dad leaned back.
“That was smart.”
“I had excellent lawyers yelling at me.”
“Less romantic.”
She smiled.
“Truth usually is.”
Silence.
The Single Dad looked out the café window.
Then back.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“About your name.”
“Yes.”
“Job.”
“Yes.”
“Life.”
“Yes.”
She did not defend.
He appreciated that.
The Woman continued.
“I can explain why.”
“But explanations do not make it fair.”
He nodded.
“I also did not expect to meet anybody personally important while undercover.”
“That sounds arrogant.”
“Yes.”
She smiled sadly.
“It was.”
“I thought I could temporarily remove my title and become invisible.”
“What I really did was ask everyone else to interact with information I controlled.”
He looked at her.
“That’s exactly what bothered me.”
“I know now.”
“Then what do you want?”
The Woman’s expression softened.
“Dinner.”
He almost laughed.
“That simple?”
“No.”
“But I’m starting small.”
“Dinner as what?”
“A woman asking a man she likes.”
“No business.”
“No gratitude.”
“No apology debt.”
“No promise beyond dinner.”
He studied her.
“Expensive restaurant?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll assume I’m flexing.”
“You are learning.”
She smiled.
“Painfully.”
He took one breath.