How To Bake The Perfect Apple Pie. Gina Calanni

I’ll get the kale salad and please add the goji berries and soy nuts, and the dressing on the side.”

      Javier nods and makes a duck face. “I’ll get the Southwestern salad—extra chicken and bacon for me.”

      The waiter nods and grabs our menus.

      “Oh my heavens, Lauren, is that an engagement ring?” Elaine grabs my hand and inspects my ring as if she is a trained gemologist and trying to determine the four Cs.

      I let out a slight laugh and retract my hand. I reach for my glass. “Yes, it is.” I take a sip of the water.

      “Well come on, don’t be shy. We’re all professionals here. How did it happen and when?”

      I laugh yet again and eye Javier. He has a pensive stare on his face. He’s reading the situation. I’ve seen this face in meetings when our company was determining if two separate divisions should merge.

      “Uh well, over Christmas.” I take another sip of my water. It’s half empty. Yes, half empty because I’m about to empty it completely. Using it as a stalling tactic is going to be gone within three sips.

      “Over Christmas?” Elaine jerks her head back. “This Christmas? As in just a week ago?”

      “Yes, exactly.” I tug on my skirt underneath the table. And reach for my portfolio of résumés with the candidates I’ve chosen for my team. “Javier, would you like to go over these résumés?” I hold up my stack of papers. My throat is so dry and my water glass is empty.

      Javier takes the stack and begins scanning through them. As he reads about each of their accomplishments he nods or shakes his head in agreement or disapproval over what they have listed.

      “So when is the wedding?” Elaine asks.

      “Oh, um I’m…we’re not sure. We have a lot of things to figure out.” I flat line my lips. I hope she can pick up on this cue and realize it’s the universal sign for not wanting to continue on with the current topic at hand.

      “Like what? What does he do?” Elaine asks, as she takes a sip of her water.

      “He has a few businesses.” I purse my lips to the side and nod.

      “What kind of businesses?” Elaine inspects my face.

      “He owns an architecture firm and a retirement home.” I glance at Javier. “What do you think about the candidates?” I would normally wait for him to speak first, but this Q & A with Elaine needs to come to an end. This lunch is not about my personal life and I’m not getting a good vibe from Javier about this topic either.

      “This one here…Trent…his resolution stats are not impressive. Why would you want him?” Javier taps on the paper and passes it to Elaine.

      “Yes, that number isn’t great, but if you look at his numbers from when he started to now his performance has nearly doubled. He’s on the right track.” I fold the napkin over in my lap. “Plus his sales are excellent.”

      “I don’t know, Lauren, what about this gap in his employment?” Elaine points at the dates on his résumé.

      “His mother died and he had to take some time off from work to settle her estate.” I roll my lips together.

      “Oh,” they say in unison.

      “Here, take a look over the rest of these, Elaine.” Javier hands the résumés to her and turns to me. “Let’s see what Elaine thinks. She was in the same spot as you a couple of years ago and now has the best team at Calstone Corp.” Javier takes a gulp from his water. “Even better than me.” Javier laughs. “I don’t know how I’m going keep up without you on my team, Lauren.”

      I smile. “You’ve got a strong team, even without me.”

      “What about Leena?” Elaine places the papers on the table. “Why isn’t she on the list?”

      All eyes are on me. I don’t want to say the real reason. I laugh. “I can’t take her away from Javier.”

      “Well, I don’t know about this, Lauren. It’s pretty good, but I’d like to see the rest of the candidates before making my decision. Did you bring the rest of the résumés with you?” Elaine raises her eyebrows at me.

      Shiat. No I didn’t bring any of the other résumés. One, I thought Javier would only want to see the résumés of the candidates I had chosen and two, I didn’t think that Elaine would be with us.

      “No, I didn’t.” I cross my legs underneath the table. The waiter arrives with our food and I’m thankful for the distraction.

      Javier inspects his salad with his fork. “Excuse me, there should be bacon and chicken in this and I don’t see either.”

      “There is. It’s those square chunks.” The waiter points to the small bits in Javier’s salad.

      Javier semi-grunts.

      The waiter presses his lips together. “Enjoy your lunch.” He turns on his heel and heads back towards the kitchen.

      My Caesar salad is overflowing with faded lettuce and doused in dressing. Almost like this business meeting, my lunch had potential but is a bit disappointing. I pick up my fork and poke at a few pieces of lettuce.

      I take a bite. It’s okay but definitely not worthy of a return visit. I glance at Javier. He is picking at his food like a child who doesn’t want to eat his vegetables. Elaine is chewing the same bite of her salad that I would have already digested by this point. I roll my eyes and immediately focus on my own salad. I don’t want anyone to think I have antagonistic feelings towards her.

      “Your salad looks delicious, Javier. How amazing is it?” Elaine takes another bite of her salad and peers at Javier. Her jaw is working overtime. She must be one of those power-chewers who tries to break down their food before it even makes it to their stomach.

      Javier shakes his head. “Elaine, you might have good team management skills but I’m going to demote you as far as choosing lunch spots goes.” Javier takes another bite of his less than appealing salad.

      “Oh stop, this is one of the best salad places in the city.” Elaine sips some of her water.

      Javier’s eyebrows furrow. “The best salad places? I doubt there is much competition.” He guffaws.

      “So, Lauren, since you didn’t bring the rest of the list, why don’t you stop by my office when we get back so I can check them out?” Elaine inspects my face and gives me a condescending glare.

      “All right, that’s a good plan, but I want the five chosen today.” Javier waves for the waiter. “Can I get the check?”

      The waiter hands him a black folder. Javier eyes the paper and hands it back to him with his corporate card.

      “Lauren, you can get it next time.” Javier raises an eyebrow at me. “On your company card.” He hands me an envelope.

      I open it to find a platinum corporate Visa card inside with my name on it. I bite my inner cheek to refrain from making a silly “I’m going shopping” statement.

      “Thanks, Javier.” I put the envelope in my purse.

      Javier signs the slip the waiter has placed in front of him. “Elaine, you’re going to have to swing by a drive-thru on the way back. That salad…” Javier shakes his head. “I just need something more.”

      Elaine’s lips form two straight lines before she twists them into a flashy smile. “Sure thing, Javier, let’s hurry. I’ve got my work cut out for me with Lauren’s team to figure out.”

      For the second time I have to bite my cheek, except it’s not to make a silly joke, it’s to keep myself from saying something not so pleasant. This is going to be a long day.

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