Pete's Pub

But today was different. Today was special, more special than any other day before it. It was a day of bonding with Pete's daughter, who up until a few days ago wasn't particularly happy that Sarah was staying in her dad's apartment, let alone falling in love with him. This day together with Nora was the first time in Sarah's life that she had spent such a day, and even though it had just started, she had already enjoyed their time together more than she thought could be possible

But the ultimate part of the day was yet to come – a formal date with Pete, given to them by Nora as a present to the new couple. A fancy dinner in a swanky downtown restaurant, followed by a live musical, was going to be the first chance for Sarah and Pete to get away from the pub and just enjoy each other's company. It was going to be quality alone time, without the pub or the law firm to get in the way.

Sarah knew she had to say something, but she needed a little time to think. "Can I call you back within 10 minutes, Mr. Ward? I have to try to take care of something first."

"Fine, Sarah, but please make it quick. The sooner we get this finished, the sooner these two companies can start their future working together."

Sarah disconnected the call, her head still hung low, her eyes to the ground. Up until now, Sarah had been able to keep her two lives separate, for the most part. She had the law career, and she had Pete. And even though Pete knew what time commitment the law firm entailed, she had been able to keep the two apart. With Robert Ward's call, the two worlds collided head on.

Nora could tell she was upset, so she walked over and gave her a hug. "What's wrong, Sarah – I take it that call wasn't good news?"

Sarah looked up at Nora, who could see tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "That was one of my bosses at the law office. It was really good news, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. It seems the project I worked so hard on a couple of weeks ago is back on. It means that hopefully all that time consumed in completing it will be time well spent. The problem is that there needs to be modifications and updates to it, and it needs to be done as soon as possible – like today, like right now. So while it's good news, it's the worst day for it."

"Why is it something that has to be taken care of immediately? Can't it wait until tomorrow, or Monday?"

Sarah shook her head. "It probably could wait, but it's been delayed for over a week the way it is, and it looked like it wasn't going to be accepted at all, which would have cost the law firm a lot of money, and would have meant my team's time spent on it would be wasted. So all involved thinks we need to get this signed and sealed as soon as possible before the two companies get cold feet again."

Nora reached up to wipe a tear from Sarah's cheek. "So this means you probably need to go in as quickly as possible and get this wrapped up. Do you have any idea how long it will take?"

Again Sarah shook her head. "It all depends on the amount of additions or corrections they have to the document. I won't know until I get there, and even then, some of the corrections may signal the need for the total rewriting of certain parts."

"Is there any chance of you getting right there and getting done before your date tonight? This stuff we're doing isn't critical – I was just hoping it was a lot of fun for you, because I was having a blast!"

Sarah smiled, but then the look of despair took over once again. "I don't know – it's the only chance I'll have, if I get there right away. Oh Nora, I was having so much fun also! This was going to be the best day of my life, I was certain! And now it's going to be just another day at the office – another weekend day, that is. I used to enjoy going in to work on special days like this, because as you might imagine, my weekends were not filled with a lot of social activity. Now I have the activity, and work interrupts...

"What do you think your dad is going to say, Nora? He's going to be crushed if I can't get done in time to make our date...oh, I hate this so much..."

Nora locked her arm in Sarah's and started guiding her out of the store. "I think I might know how he'll feel about it, but it's not for me to try and guess that for him. But you need to call him and let him know what's going on. It's better that he hears it from you than from me."

Nora and Sarah walked in silence to the parking lot, the only interruption being the traffic on the streets and the return call Sarah made to Robert Ward. Once inside the car, she called Pete. She was dreading this conversation, but she knew it had to be made.

"Hello, Pete, I'm afraid I have bad news. Well...bad news for us anyway. Robert Ward called me a little bit ago to tell me the project was back on. The bad news is that he needs me at work as soon as possible to make some changes in it so it will be acceptable for both companies. I'll hurry as fast as I can, but I can't guarantee I'll be done in time to make our date tonight."

After a brief pause, Pete said, "I'm glad for you that the project is a go again. I know you were proud of the work you and your team did. We'll find some time to go out if you can't make it. Don't worry, Sarah – we'll get through this."

Hearing Pete saying it would be okay didn't make her feel any better. It was Pete's kindness that had attracted Sarah to him in the first place, so she figured he'd be kind and understand now. But she knew how ironic the situation was – it's was Pete's demanding work schedule that had cost him his first marriage and the struggle with his own kids. And now the demanding schedule of his girlfriend from the same place of work was potentially costing him his night out with her.

"Pete, I'm so sorry – I'll work as fast as I can, and maybe I can get out of there in time to at least see the musical. Pete...I love you!" She smiled as she heard the same words back, "I love you, too, Sarah! Take your time and do a good job. You don't want it looking bad now after all your hard work, just because you were trying to make your date!"

"Okay, Pete – thanks again. I'm sorry!" She disconnected the call, and stared glumly out the window. Nora – whose eyebrows raised a bit when she heard Sarah tell her dad she loved him – patted her on the shoulder. The ride was quiet for a while as they made their way downtown to drop Sarah off at BH&H.

Finally the silence was too deafening. Nora asked, "Sarah, what are you thinking? Would you like to talk about it?"

Sarah sighed. "It's ironic, isn't it? It seems that Robert Ward is screwing up Pete's life again! I don't honestly know if he was the one that had Pete working so hard all those years, but I'm thinking about the irony of the same job biting Pete on the ass, only this time he's the victim and not the perpetrator. He lost his family because of work demands, and now he's losing his first date with me because of work demands on my part. See the wicked irony in play here?"

"I'm glad you see it, because it's pretty obvious to me. But then I've lived through it, and I know just how awful it can be."

"What am I going to do, Nora?" Sarah asked. "I can't have the law firm interrupting my outside life all the time. It's going to be difficult for Pete and me to find any time together with our regular schedules so opposite of each other. But when the law firm steps in to take away weekend time...I've got a problem on my hands."

Nora nodded as she turned the corner and stopped in front of the law office building. She put the car in park, and then turned over to look at Sarah.

"I don't know what you're going to do, Sarah. But I know this – I can't help you, and my dad can't help you, and Mr. Whatever at the law firm can't help you. This is your decision, and I will be more than happy to listen to you as you try to figure this out. But I want to leave you with this – my dad hasn't even looked at another woman since he left my mom. For him to be this involved with you – for him to be in love with you – that says something about what he feels for you. It would be a shame for Banks, Howell & Howell to mess up his love for two women in his life."

Sarah's voice was so broken now, her reply came out as barely a whisper. "Thank you, Nora. Thank you for this fun day – I'm so sorry it was cut short. But what we did was great! Can we do it again sometime?"

Nora smiled. "I would love that – just as soon as we can, okay?"

"I would love that as well – I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Sarah stepped out of the car, used her fingerprint to open the door, and quietly slipped inside. She rapidly made her way to the elevator bank, where she was sure at least one car would be waiting. As she stepped inside and rode up to 15, she tried to set her mind to the task that was ahead of her, but as she'd been discovering all week long, it was going to be hard to shut off her thoughts of Pete and Nora and the crowd at the pub.

She was the first of her team there to greet Robert Ward. Since Sarah was the team leader, he began to show her the new requests, going over every small detail they had to take into consideration. Sarah made rapid notes on her legal pad. It was turning out to be more information than she had hoped. She didn't see how they were going to be able to get done in time for her to go to the musical, let alone dinner.

Eventually Stacey and Gerald - the other two junior associates on her team - arrived. She briefed them on Mr. Ward's instructions, and then made assignments for each of them. They decided to work together in the conference room, in case any of them needed help from the others. For the first hour, they worked without saying a word. After that, there were questions asked around as each of them began to get entrenched in the delicate details the modifications required.

Sarah was able to concentrate fairly well during that first hour, but she made the mistake of looking at her phone to check the time, and she found herself trying to estimate where she and Nora would have been if they were still having their day out together. After that, she struggled, and it became apparent to Stacey and Gerald that she wasn't doing well.

It was Stacey who broke the silence. She was probably Sarah's best friend in the office, though it was more out of professional courtesy than actual friendship.

"Sarah, are you okay? You seem a little down this afternoon."

Sarah looked up and smiled, but it was weak and not convincing at all. "I'll be okay. I'd rather not be here – I had a big day planned – a very important big day – and it doesn't look like that's going to happen now."

Stacey replied, "I'm sorry to hear that. My husband and I had plans to work in the backyard of our new house. I hope he's working without me, although I hope he doesn't mess something up while I'm not there!"

Sarah chuckled, and then looked over at Gerald. "What about you? What were your plans this afternoon?"

"Nothing too serious – had plans to watch baseball games on TV. I can catch the highlights whenever we get finished here." Then he looked over at Sarah and said, "Okay, we've told you our ruined plans – what about you?"

Sarah was suddenly in a difficult spot. She had not shared her current personal situation with anybody on the staff, but she knew at some point in time they were going to find out. "I had a date tonight – a fancy dinner at the Downtown Club and then over to see the musical at the Met. I've never had an evening planned like this one before, so I was really looking forward to it."

Stacey and Gerald looked at each other, eyebrows raised in disbelief. Stacey looked over at Sarah and asked, "Did you say 'date?'"

Sarah blushed. "I know, I know, you all think I'm the last person to have a date. Well, you'd probably be right. But he's a pretty special guy, and this was going to be a very nice evening. His daughter set it up, and his coworkers arranged their schedules so we could go. But I guess that's all for naught now."

Gerald got in on the questioning, and asked, "So who is this guy anyway? He has a daughter who set up the date? How old is he?"

"He's older than me – by quite a lot, but it really doesn't matter, does it?"

Gerald stumbled to try and dig himself out of the hole he had created. "No, no, of course not – there are no rules for dating only people close to your age!"

Stacey jumped in. "Gerald's right – we're just happy you have found a special friend. Look, Gerald and I can handle this, and we obviously didn't have a big day planned like you did. Why don't you knock off early enough that you can make your date?"

Sarah smiled. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm not going to abandon you tonight. I'm pretty sure Mr. Ward wants all of us here. If we get close to finished and I can still make the theater, I might take you up on it. Right now though, it's time to get back to work."

Stacey and Gerald understood that meant she was finished talking about her social life. So they continued to work, and Sarah continued to struggle with her wandering mind, but she was able to accomplish more than she thought. At 6:00, they ordered a pizza in. Sarah realized it was about that time they were to head to the Downtown Club for supper. She figured out that she wasn't going to be able to make even the musical, so she texted Pete and told him the bad news. He responded the perfect way – "I love you!"

The next time Sarah looked at the time, it was 8:00 – curtain time for the musical. That realization set her emotions off, and tears started running down her cheeks. She excused herself and headed straight to the restroom. She looked in the mirror at her tear-streaked face. This was a new look for Sarah – there had been setbacks throughout her life, but none that had affected her this strongly before.

She cleaned up her face and headed back to the conference room. She picked up her papers and laptop and said, "Guys, I'm going to go work in my office. If you need me, just use the intercom."

She sat down and tried to put her thoughts of Pete out of her mind. It worked for a while, but soon the tears were flowing again. She pressed on – not worrying about the others seeing her – in fact, her worry now was missing something, or leaving important information out of the document. About 10:00, her phone chirped that she had a message – it was from Pete, and simply said, "Hang in there, Sarah – I'm proud of you!"

Her lifeline came through for her. Smiling at the message, she responded with a quick "Thank you, Pete," and got back to work. She was able to put her complete focus back into her work – it was as if Pete had given her permission to quit worrying about things over which she had no control. It seemed like no time when she was finished her part and uploaded the changes into the document.

She headed into the conference room to check on the progress of the other two team members. They were nearly complete as well, so she stayed to help them, and at 11:30, the document was complete. Now it was time to proofread to make sure the information was in the proper place and there were no grammatical errors. Sarah divided it up into three equal sections and they got to work.

Finally at about 1:45, they were finished. They saved the final product, and Sarah sent it to the negotiation team as per Mr. Ward's orders. She didn't know who it was or where it was going, but she figured in about 30 minutes there would be copies of their document circulating throughout the world.

The three team members stood and hugged each other. Stacey said, "Thanks for staying with us, Sarah. I figure we'd have at least four more hours' work if you had left early. You've been a great team leader. Now – go home and make up with your new friend!"

This caused Sarah to blush one more time, and she replied "Thank you for all your hard work. We all made a name for ourselves tonight in this company. But at what price did it happen? Gerald, some day somebody is going to want your time to not be spent here, and Stacey, sounds like your husband also sacrificed for the company today since you were here instead of with him. I've wanted moments like this all my life, but I'm not sure it's the most important thing anymore."

Stacey put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Don't make any permanent decisions tonight, especially when you're tired and your emotions are running strongly. Go home and talk to your man – rest on it tomorrow, and then look at it clearly on Monday."

They got into the elevator together – Sarah heading for the ground floor, the other two getting off at the parking garage level. She hugged Stacey and Gerald as they departed, and then rode the car down to ground level. When she realized she didn't feel safe on the street at 2:00 a.m., she called Pete and asked if he could come and escort her home. He told her yes, but it would be about 15 minutes before he could get there, as he was still clearing out the final guests at the pub.

Sarah looked out the lobby windows for a minute, and then hatched a plan. She had her purchases from this morning with her in her bag. Maybe she could make Pete's night a little special. She grabbed her bag and hurried into the women's restroom. Feeling awkward, she stripped completely and started getting dressed again with the items she had purchased earlier. She put on the two-piece lingerie set first, and then slipped the light blue shirt dress on and pulled it into position, unbuttoning the top two buttons to give a hint of sexiness. The strappy black heels completed the outfit.

There was a full length mirror on the wall next to the exit door. Sarah examined herself and was surprised at what she saw. For the first time, she could picture herself as a beautiful woman. The dress did show off what curves she had, and as she looked at her neckline, she undid one more button on the dress, showing off a little skin between her breasts. The heels made her legs look longer than normal and sleek, and she had forgotten just how short the hemline was.

Next, Sarah did something completely out of character – for the first time in her life, she took a selfie. She looked at the result and smiled – in her opinion, it wasn't half bad! She took a few more for good measure, but the first one was the one she liked the most. She thought about sending it to Pete, but she decided she wanted him to see the fancy Sarah in person first. She did send it to Nora, knowing that she was probably asleep by now, but would get a reply in the morning.

She picked up her old clothes and shoes and put them into the bag, and then headed back into the lobby. It was perfect timing, because she saw Pete coming around the corner just as she made it out of the restroom. She hurriedly opened the door for him and stopped him in his tracks – he just stood and stared and smiled at her! She blushed, feeling sexy in front of her boyfriend for the first time.

"Pete, this is what I was going to wear tonight. Do you think we could find another reason for me to wear it soon?"

Pete cleared his throat and said, "Yes, I'm sure we can make that happen. You look gorgeous, Sarah!"

She sauntered over to where he was still frozen in place. "I wanted to show you what I would have been wearing on our date – I figured this was the best way to start apologizing to you." She held her arms out to Pete, and he embraced her in a hug. "Pete, I'm sorry – this can't continue to happen. I hope we can talk about this tomorrow, but first thing on Monday, I'm going to go talk to Robert Ward and try to figure something out. I don't ever want to stand you up like this again."

Pete leaned in and kissed her. They stood like that for several minutes. When they stopped, it was Pete's turn to talk to her. "Sarah, listen to me. You did the right thing today, and I'm not upset at all. You have no reason to be sorry. I was there the whole time you worked on that project, and it needed to be finished by you and your team. If that means it happened to fall on our special day, well then we'll just have to try again. But I'm not upset with you...I love you, Sarah, and one missed date is not going to change that!"