Page 100 of A Matter of Time

“Pardon me?” I had surprised him. It was not the answer he’d been expecting.

“Lunch. Did you come, say, around ten thirty?”

“I don’t⁠—”

“’Cause he’s kind of worthless before lunch. If he’s eaten and his blood sugar is balanced out, he’s much nicer,” I assured him, smiling.

“I’ll keep it in mind for next time.”

“Good.” I nodded.

“Maybe I’ll have you talk to him for me. Being his assistant, you must have quite a lot of pull.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed as my phone rang. “Speak of the devil. Excuse me,” I said as I moved away from the others. “Hey, boss.”

“Is my schedule done for next week?”

“Of course. I emailed it this morning. Didn’t you see it?”

“No.”

“Did you check?”

“No.”

“Well, that could be the problem.”

“Don’t be flip.”

“No, sir.”

“Did you leave Friday open for my trip to Dallas?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes,” he corrected me.

“Yes.”

“I need to have a dinner party for a client tomorrow night. You need to coordinate that for me now.”

“Sure,” I said quickly. “How many for dinner, boss?”

“Fifteen. I want to have a very intimate meal, so get the best, all right?”

“Of course.”

“And I want you there, understand?”

“Aren’t I always?”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yessir.”

“Jory.”

“What?”