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She almost gagged. He was the bad brie. She breathed through her nose, bringing her wrist to her nostrils, carefully inhaling her own perfume. Zoey’s and Nina’s problem suddenly became crystal clear–they couldn’t sit with Ori in the same room.
Dafna would find out who Ori’s closest male friend was and ask him to speak to him, perhaps go on a deodorant shopping trip together. But it likely wouldn’t be enough. Instead of heading back to her office, she went straight to Nurit’s, Kisharti’s acting CFO.
Nurit’s office was smaller than Dafna’s, and it lacked a window. Her desk occupied most of it, and a large old-fashioned cabinet which Nurit brought with her filled the rest of the limited space. Nurit’s son’s blond hair and blue eyes shone from an array of photos on her desk. Adam was fourteen and Nurit adopted him thirteen years ago from an orphanage in the Ukraine.
“Hey!”
Nurit looked up from her computer. She was a very thin woman, with dark skin and a head of black curls going to gray. Her room was freezing, but she still fanned herself out of habit. Nurit was forty-six, only a year older than Dafna, but she suffered bouts of hot flashes. Talented and dedicated, she had no formal accounting education, only bookkeeping credentials, which she’d studied while she raised her son. Dafna had asked the CEO Menni to promote Nurit to CFO and include her in the management meetings. He had always refused. Then, out of the blue, around four months ago, he did.
“You look great! How was the meeting with your friends yesterday?” Nurit’s black eyes measured her, and she grinned at her work buddy. One of the main reasons she recruited Nurit was to have a female friend in an otherwise very young, mostly male, environment. She wouldn’t kiss and tell all, but she was bursting with the need to share something.
“I met a guy yesterday. His name is Erez. He has beautiful green eyes, and black hair, and tattoos. He used to surf in Australia, and he makes great mojitos.”
And he made her come, more than once.
Nurit smiled hugely, dropped the fan, and clapped her hands.
“Bravo, Dafna! Bravo!” She went as far as leaving her chair and coming around her desk to hug Dafna. “That’s the first time I heard you talk about anyone other than your ex. Erez is a nice name.”
“Yep. It is a nice name.”
“When you say ‘met’, is it like met-met or just met?”
Dafna laughed. A belly moving, joyful laugh.
“Met-met,” she confirmed.
Nurit squeezed her shoulder. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, sincerity shining in her dark eyes. “I am. Are you going to ‘meet’ him again?”
Nurit air quoted ‘meet’ and they both laughed.
“No, we said it would be a one-night stand. Besides, Tom comes back from summer camp, so I can’t ‘meet’. Anyway, I’m here for something else.”
“I’m super busy. I have to prepare everything for the due diligence. Come later?”
“It will only take a minute. I need you to find in the budget a way to take a little extra office space. Near the R&D people but separated.”
“Oh?” All signs of friendliness disappeared. Nurit went back behind her desk and sat down. “Gil likes for everyone to sit together.”
Dafna explained the situation, how Gil wanted to lay off Zoey and Nina.
“Their productivity took a dive ever since Ori joined Kisharti. And I’m sure it’s because of his body odor. It is hard to be productive in that oppressive atmosphere. I nearly puked, and I was there for less than five minutes. I think that what we’ll pay in rent we’ll gain later when they work well again.”
“Budget is really tight.” Nurit gathered her brows and stared at her computer.
“Come on, we can’t have the R&D team be male only. We’re talking about two extra seats. How much can it cost? And we’re having new money coming in soon.”
“Provided we pass the review.” Nurit’s shoulders slumped.
“You worry too much, of course we will!” She had a stroke of genius. “You told me you think we budgeted too much for the next company activity. I’ll find a cheap outing. Come on, Nurit. It’s for the sake of diversity.”
Nurit always said that being a Yemenite woman, she had to fight for ethnic and gender diversity.
“Oh, okay. I’ll text the building management. But you need to approve it with Menni! Now beat it, this upcoming due diligence is killing me.”
Dafna’s cellphone rang. Tom, her youngest, was on his way home from the scout camp.
After Tom showered and was asleep, she would go to the pub where Erez said he’d be waiting. She wouldn’t play it safe. She would talk to him, tell him about herself, and learn about him. She would.
