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I had been busy eyeing the colourful display of macarons in the cabinet looking like precious jewels. “Oh, uh, a cappuccino, please.”
Aroha and I followed David to a free table while Neil stayed in the queue at the counter.
“Neil says you’re getting on well with the new job,” David said.
I was just about to sit down and nearly missed the chair entirely. “He does?”
David laughed. “You sound surprised.”
I composed myself. “Because he has very high expectations.”
“And you’re living up to them, apparently.”
I didn’t know how to respond. Did Neil really say that, or was David just trying to encourage me? I couldn’t picture Neil singing my praises. “Fine” or “adequate” were normally the best I could get out of him.
Neil joined us, taking the chair opposite me.
“I was just telling Amelia what an asset she is,” David said.
Neil blanched. “Yes. Quite the asset.” He cleared his throat. From there he veered the small talk to another topic.
The drinks arrived, and we finished them before the client even turned up.
“What’s taking them so long?” David asked. “Any word?”
Neil checked his phone, frowned, then made a call. “Neil Kingston here. Are you on your way?”
The rest of us were silent as we listened in.
“I see,” Neil said. “Then we’ll reschedule.”
David mimed a dramatic sigh.
“They’re not coming,” Neil said as he put his phone down. “Something else has taken precedence.”
“Unbelievable,” David said. “What a waste of time.”
“It’s a bit rude of them not to tell us until now,” Aroha said.
“That may be so,” Neil said, “but they’re big and important enough to get away with it. Amelia, make a note to reschedule the meeting.”
I added it to the task list on my work phone.
“We need to get back to the office,” David said. “Things to do. This has already taken up too much time.”
“You two go ahead,” Neil said. “I’ll call Winston to bring the car over.”
“We’re not going back with them?” I asked.
“I thought we could stay and have a talk.”
A talk?
“Oh. Okay.”
What was this about, and why did I feel so nervous about it?
Neil called Winston, and David and Aroha left the cafe.
