Chapter Seven of Farrah Hair and Pheremones
Cabe and Paige walked into the garage shoulder to shoulder, eyes glued onto each other, laughing and joking around. Their matching outfits of white with dark blue hinted at a nautical vibe.
Cabe looked casually cool in a white linen suit, open-collared dress shirt with a dark blue pocket square and white dress shoes. The previous wet shell of Brylcreemed hair was no more. A blow-dried short coiff that was still military short was its modern replacement. The natural wave in Cabe's hair took years from his ocean-tanned face.
And his relaxed, masculine glide was a far cry from his precise military gait honed long ago.
Paige glowed in a dazzling white high-low shirt-dress, white sandals and cute white pearl earrings. The new white gold bracelet with an anchor on it was a whimsical accessory/souvenir of a romantic dinner cruise they'd enjoyed the night before.
Alas, Monday came far too soon and it was time to get back to work.
White cardboard boxes of warm Italian roasted almond and espresso cannolis, ricotta strawberry jam crostata pie, chocolate drizzle hazelnut biscottis, bomboloni (donut holes) packed with rich vanilla cream and decadent sweet tiramisu accompanied trays of espresso, caffe normale and cappuccino. Cabe and Paige decided that that manoeuvre should buy them some time before they had to spread the news. It was no secret that full stomachs equal agreeable geniuses!
"Well, I guess we 'cannoli' hope for the best." Cabe punned, tongue in cheek. Paige rolled her eyes, smiled at Cabe's dad joke. "That's what I did before I had your stuffed cannoli, dolce metà !" (sweet half) Paige teased, darted her tongue up the middle of the one Cabe held in his free hand. Cabe grinned, took off his sunglasses and neatly folded them into his shirt pocket. "Mio Dio, Tesorina. I'll be thinking about that all day!" (My God, Sweetheart)
Paige winked at Cabe flirtatiously and headed towards her desk. "Buorna gionata, mio amata!" (Good morning, my beloved.)
"Same to you, babe. Thanks."
With that, Cabe strolled over towards the kitchen for a routine cup ofcoffee, hummed The Beach Boys Good Vibrations chorus.
A gasp, followed by hands flying to his gaping mouth frozen in disbelief-Toby, frozen in place near the communal meeting area/table. A dropped wrench clanged from a distant part of the garage-Happy, at her worktable, stood now empty-handed, bug-eyed with surprise. An asthma inhaler being forcefully activated-Sylvester midway between the kitchen and Walter. Clicking computer keys stopped at the shared computer monitor area-Walter. The whole gang was right there, speechless and staring!
Cabe retreated back to the main work area, now general quarters. Coffee could wait. His lady may require assistance. But he doubted it. Paige is no creampuff!
Paige froze before licking off the spot of rich cannoli cream at the right corner of her mouth with a quick swipe of her tongue. "Umm, hi! How was your weekend, guys?" Paige asked, her voice higher than normal.
"Apparently not as good as yours! Took a little trip for amore, did we? " Toby blurted out, then reached for the boxes of refreshments. "All right! Munchies!"
Happy warily surveyed Cabe and Paige's wardrobes, skin tones and behavior. "What's with the new 'do, Gallo? And why do both of you look like you went on vacation? Weekend tans, new clothes." Happy turned to Paige: "And you know Italian now?"
Paige smiled cryptically at Cabe. ""In profondita!" (In depth)
Cabe chuckled at the accurate word choice, pun and shook a scolding finger at Paige. "Cattiva ragazza." (Naughty girl)
"You know that I speak languages other than English, right? And I can find translations within seconds." Sylvester reminded everyone.
"I'm already getting nauseous without subtitles." Walter grumbled, grabbed a coffee from the tray and returned to his work on the screen.
Cabe looked at Paige with uncertainty. Paige shrugged silently, her wide eyes displayed as much confusion as Cabe's.
"Walter." Paige stated slowly, neutrally. "Do we need to have a discussion?"
"We do. About workplace behavior." Walter's laser-sharp glare cut from Paige to Gallo. "We can do this as a team, which is hopefully not going to be affected by this new dynamic, or we can do this on our own upstairs."
Cabe cleared his throat and assumed an authoritative posture. He straightened his back, steeled his broad shoulders and returned Walter's gaze. "While working with Scorpion, have I ever let you down? I have as much invested in this team as you, Walter. Professionally and personally. And before that, hell, you were eleven years old when we met. Ralph's age." Cabe stopped to let that sink in.
Paige gasped as she made the connection between her son and a vulnerable, naive Walter O'Brien.
Cabe continued. "I watched you grow up. Now you're a successful man and I'm damned proud of you."
On that beat, Paige pulled up a spreadsheet of their contracts and earnings on her computer. She turned the monitor for all to see and pointed a lilac colored fingernail at the figures. "See that date, Walter? Prior to my presence, this is what Team Scorpion earned."
Walt took a second to read and cringed.
Those were definitely living on peanut butter days, 197." Toby chimed in, fanning himself with his hat.
"Doc's right, O'Brien. I had to hock parts just to pay rent. Ever siphon gas from cars with a plastic hose and your mouth so you can get to work? Well, I have." Happy concurred, as she sat on a corner of Paige's desk.
"I get you. You did what you had to do." Paige looked at Happy empathically. Paige's soft golden eyes, her maternal side was in plain view.
All business again, Paige's fingers flew over her keyboard, pointed at current contracts, revenue. "And this is how Team Scorpion is prospering now. Note the difference."
Sylvester did the math in his head, looked up to the ceiling as he calculated, then at his colleagues and nodded in agreement. "Paige is right, Walt. Our overhead has decreased 70% and our exchequer has increased exponentially. Team Scorpion rocks! And we did it together." Sylvester held out a beefy hand for high fives. Toby, Cabe, Happy and Paige complied with gusto and grins.
Walt awkwardly tapped Sylvester's hand. "Um, OK. Since you put it like that. The numbers speak for themselves. Our success is our creation. And yes, Paige, you have a lot to do with it. All the contracts you line up for us, handling the people and the paperwork. Things even I can't do, especially handling people." Walt admitted with a shrug of revulsion. "They're...how does Ralph put it? Not on fleek?" Walt asked Paige.
Paige laughed quietly with the men. Happy snorted. Walt trying to sound "on fleek "was always entertaining.
"Something like that, newb." Paige teased, inoffensively.
Walt allowed a small smile to sneak out onto his face and drew a breath. "Given that we already have a married couple in the zone and they still contribute to Team Scorpion productively, it would be hypocritical of me to disapprove of your relationship. Keep business and...whatever separate and there won't be a problem. Agreed?" Walt held out his hand to seal the deal towards Cabe and Paige.
Cabe shook Walt's hand firmly, his smile warm. "Agreed."
Paige shook Walt's hand next. "Agreed, Mr. O'Brien. Now let's start today's meeting."
"That's my girl." Cabe said proudly and saluted Paige with a cup of coffee he swiped from the tray. Paige smiled in return.
Happy was still frozen in place. Walt looked over at her, his concerned frown on his forehead. "Happy? You OK?"
"I still can't believe you actually said " on fleek" and "in the zone". Happy turned toward Paige. "Paige, your kid may make Walter cool yet."