They were done in about twenty minutes. The potatoes he made to go with them took the longest to make out of everything. It was a quick meal but the kitchen was a mess. After he had cleaned up the horrible aftermath, he sat down with the meal.
Holy crap. That sauce was amazing. It wasn’t something that he could eat all the time, ‘cause it was mostly heavy cream but…wow. Sara was right on the money with this recipe. It would make him look much more skilled than he was.
He worked for a few more hours on his restructuring of the accounting department after dinner. Overall, the new department layout was more efficient, and had a better checks and balances system. After sending a quick e-mail to the temporary head of accounting to set a meeting, he headed to bed with a sense of accomplishment.
It had been a good weekend.
By the time Tuesday rolled around, his plans were in motion for the accounting staff, and he was mostly back to his normal duties. Around 11:00 a.m. he saw an e-mail pop into his inbox from Sara that promised menus for the next few events.
The next meeting on the books was tomorrow with Cynertex, a small video game company based outside of Amarillo, TX. They were an up-and-coming group of guys, looking to take their company to the next level through better media exposure and cross marketing. Sara had chosen a casual menu, going with a barbecue theme.
The following Tuesday they were meeting with the bigwigs from the Wellington Group, the same company that owned TSN. If all went well, they’d end the day with some better connections for their non-sports news. Sara had gone a bit more upscale for this group.
Considering both menu selections, it was clear that she’d done a bit of research on both companies. Her selections were spot on. He was impressed. Shooting her a quick e-mail, he approved the menus.
Picking up his cell phone, he texted her to see if she was free for dinner later.
Sara instantly responded back, saying that she’d be downstairs for prep around 3:00 p.m., but that she didn’t know if she’d be able to break free to leave for dinner. She asked if he’d be interested in a quick meal with her downstairs instead.
Taking what he could get, Deacon told her he’d bring the dinner and see her around sixish.
Diving back into the proposal for the Wellington Group, he was able to knock out the majority of the details by the end of the day. Around 5:00 p.m., Chris stuck his head into Deacon’s office and said, “Hey. Busy tonight?”
Looking up, Deacon said, “Yeah. Dinner plans. What’s up?”
“The caterer?” Chris asked, smirking.
Nodding, he said, “Yep. Why do you ask?”
Chris gave him a smug grin and said, “Jim and I were going to watch the Legion game, but clearly you’ve got better plans.”
Agreeing, Deacon said, “Definitely better looking plans.”
Chris laughed and said, “Enjoy your night,” and
followed it up with kissy noises.
Flipping him the bird, Deacon asked, “Didn’t you have somewhere else to be?”
Chris laughed again and headed back down the hallway.
Deacon glanced at the clock and picked up his desk phone. He called in an order to the Thai place down the street. He figured chicken pad thai was a safe choice. Sara struck him as a takeout kind of girl. He couldn’t imagine she’d wanna cook when she got home, after cooking all day for other people.
Wrapping up the proposal for the Wellington Group, he e-mailed the copies to Jim and Chris. After that, he ran through the proposal for Cynertex again, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.
By the time the phone rang, he was so deeply engrossed in the contract that he jumped. Picking up the line, security informed him that the delivery man was waiting downstairs. Grabbing his wallet and phone, he made his way down to the lobby.
After paying the driver, he took the takeout back toward the kitchen.
Chapter 9
Sara was hefting the brisket into the oven as the kitchen doors breezed open. Deacon walked in with a couple of takeout bags. Smiling, she closed the oven doors and pulled off her sanitary gloves and hairnet.
Smirking, Deacon said, “The hairnet. It’s a good look, really.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and said, “Jerk.”
“But…I’m a jerk with dinner,” he said.