A/N: I love how enthusiastic you guys get in your reviews, and I cherish each and every single review I get despite the fact that I don't reply to a lot of them. I hope you guys are aware of that. Also, because it has been mentioned a few times, I have no problem with guest reviews, I love them as much as a 'signed' review. The only problem I have is with reviews (regardless whether guest or not) that are abusive or mean. On a third note, when I write a story I usually get so enganged in my story lines that I tend to forget certain things - like Ella, or as it recently has been mentioned Rex. I'm amazed at how much you guys look at the detaiils. For a second I had contemplated of writing a sentence or two in this chapter, mentioing Rex, but it would have seemed odd that I don't mention him in 37 chapter and then all of a sudden at the end, he gets a name drop...
Ranger had been back since almost a week and had spent the last week familiarizing himself again with everything – which was great as well as odd. Odd mainly because he didn't come to see me and ask about things and rather spent his time out in the field. It wasn't like I minded, it just seemed strange that he didn't ask a lot of questions in regards of what I was doing all day and the changes I had implemented. No surprise it didn't even take a day for him to however take over my workout regime. Just like Lester, Bobby and Tank when they had come back.
He found himself more than just surprised when he learned that I had by now no problem outrunning him, throwing him in sparing and even proving to be a better shot than him. Well, imagine my surprise. Because, what the hell?
Less surprising was Ranger meeting Batman. I wasn't entirely sure what his would be like when meeting my canine bodyguard or how Batman would be, meeting Ranger. It was no secret that my dog was rather peculiar when it came to me. While he never bit or seemed aggressive towards others, he seemed rather territorial. I guess, something he and Ranger had in common. Turns out I was getting antsy about nothing since human Batman and canine Batman git it off right away, though I was certain he wouldn't get as much love as frequently as he did from me.
What surprised me as well was how long it took legal to send over papers. Usually you sent them a message with what you needed and a day later you had an email with an attachment and later that day an FedEx-Express delivery with the actual paperwork. But since a week… nada. So, during a quiet moment – of which I had a lot more now thanks to Ranger – I decided on calling Connor and finding out what the holdup was.
"What papers are you talking about?" he asked confused, which confused me in return. I would have doubted myself and the fact whether I maybe just imagined asking Legal if I wasn't looking at the 'sent email' folder.
"The one reinstating Ranger as CEO?" I was asking helpful, hoping he'd tell me that they were long on their way.
"But Ranger called a few hours after your request and cancelled them, said they were not needed anymore."
Silence on my part, since that wasn't just unexpected but also … weird.
"He did what? Why?"
"Seriously, why are you asking me? Ask your boyfriend," Connor replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.
The fact that Connor – who never before had ever commented on anything personal – called Ranger my boyfriend threw me for a second, but maybe only because it was the first time that someone had actually used that term.
I had just hung up with Connor when an appointment reminder popped up on my screen. The title itself only read "Negotiation" and as place for the meeting a conference room was noted. I was almost certain that this was no appointment I had actually scheduled, nor did I know what this appointment was supposedly about. Was a contract negotiation with an account coming up? As far as I knew they were all up to date and had usually two years minimum anyway.
Forgetting about the conversation with Connor for now but making a note of calling Ranger out on it, I made my way towards the designated conference room and was mildly surprised to find Ranger there, waiting.
"Ah," he said, looking up from some pad he had been studying a few moments earlier. "The negotiating party has arrived. So, we can get started in talking about terms and conditions moving forward in regards of how to handle RangeMan."
"Negotiate? What do you need to negotiate about?" I asked confused. This was not making any sense, but at least I didn't need to remind myself to speak to him about what Connor had just said.
"Well," he started. "We need to talk about your role and ownership."
"Ownership?" I asked amused. "Ranger, it is your company and I give it back to you. Imagine my surprise when I just called Connor and he told me you cancelled the request for the papers being drawn up."
"But you see, I don't want it back."
"What?" I exclaimed almost shocked. "What are you talking about? This is your company. RangeMan. As in Ranger Manoso. It has literally your name on the building and on the letterhead. I can't be CEO of a company that is you through and through, that you built up from the scratch and made the success it is."
"And yet, it took you to turn it into a powerhouse. Babe, I… don't necessarily need or want to be CEO. You are doing an amazing job and you are a prettier face of the company than I could ever be," he grinned and I sat down, already feeling like this was going way over my head.
"I'd doubt that, Ranger. Every woman between Boston and Miami is lusting after you, well, when they actually catch sight of you. Trust me, you do alright and probably even better than I am doing."
"I like my company and always liked running it as the tight ship and crew that it was. I can't really say I enjoyed every aspect of it and most of the paperwork was more of a burden than a pleasantry. While I don't want to push all the paperwork onto you while I go wild in the field, I'm certain we can work something out between the two of us, find a balance. You proved over and over again that you can handle everything and I'm going into negotiation with you, knowing this fully well. You see things in a way I never did. I always saw them from my rather narrow mindset, which had been forged by the Army and a lot of experience. But that doesn't mean I know always what was best. You see opportunities that no one else does. The K9 unit? I can guarantee you I would never have thought about that in a million years and it technically already pays for itself before it is even launched. The office in LA is already a success, despite the fact that it is still under construction, has no head of office and a rather slim client list. I think we never had a waiting list for any of the other offices. I don't think I'd ever even looked at ideas how to make staffing at other offices easier, as well as helping Montana by suggesting Army Vets for the front desk and creating a mobile RangeMan team. You combine a savvy business knowledge with out of the box thinking and I'd be the dumbest person to walk this plant if I'd let that go to waste or let you just go. So… name your price, conditions and demands and we'll negotiate this between the two of us. I'm willing to negotiate almost anything for as long as it takes, even all night long and up on seven," he explained, grinning when he mentioned that last part. And somehow I suspected that that negotiation was less…formal.
I sat back in my chair and took a long and hard look at the man in front of me.
"You seriously would have no problem if I demanded to call the shots and you are to become some sort of a subordinate?" I asked, not even serious since I knew there was no way I'd run RangeMan. I would just not feel comfortable. This was Ranger's company, regardless of what he said.
"Outside the bedroom you can call all the shots you want, Babe, and I'd follow every single one down to a tee," he grinned with a hint of seriousness. I swallowed for a moment, realizing he really was meaning what he was saying. And also because I was hit by a hot flash. Over the past two years I had managed to build up a certain toughness and ability to handle almost any situation without getting too affected. Guess, Ranger didn't get the memo.
Strangely – and probably also inappropriately – I thought about Morelli for a second and how such a comment would never have come from him and would even haven been believable for the unprobeable case he was drunk and could potentially come up with it. Well, except for the first part, but that probably was a guy thing anyway. If you lived of testosterone, you'd hardly ever give up control in that department.
"I'm not going to stay CEO," I said firmly after my thoughts had returned into safer grounds. "It is your company and you'll become the CEO and face of it once more. Think about the possibilities we can spin this. You'll be on a very short list of CEOs that have managed to defeat death."
"Or they spin it into a marketing scheme," Ranger replied, noting something down on his pad.
"A scheme that lasted almost two years? Good luck finding a lot of people willing to buy that."
"I'm not going to use my absence for marketing purposes. Though, I'm certain someone will pick up on it sooner or later and make it a big story, about which I most likely won't care a whole lot."
"I already see the headlines. RangeMan CEO can't even be defeated by death. And I'm certain there's a catchphrase somewhere in there…."
"I'll give you everything you might demand, but I am certain I will make sure to keep you far way from anything marketing related," he almost chuckled and I grinned as well. And then there was silence for a long while and I came to realize for as funny as I found the whole meeting and its purpose, he really had set this up with a purpose.
"You are really serious about this?" I asked again and only saw him nod for a moment.
"Very. Name your price, Babe."
I sat back awestruck, looking at Ranger opposite of me again. The way he sat there really indicated that he was serious about all of this, that it wasn't just some entertainment value that gave him a sort of odd foreplay to whatever was about to follow. He really did want me to stay on as CEO of RangeMan and also name a list of things I demanded and requested. I let out a long and hard breath, not sure whether I'd ever been in a situation like that. A situation where I could make demands and someone actually would consider them. In my rather short professional career as lingerie shopper for E.E. Martin as well as my BEA position, I was never able to make any demands or negotiate parts of my contracts. In regards of E.E. Martin I wasn't long enough in that job to actually ever reach that stage and the BEA job? Well… I had to blackmail my cousin into giving me the job in the first place, so making demands and negotiating terms would have been rather tricky. I know I am not dumb and often enough sell myself under what I'm probably worth, making me seem less stellar or talented at what I was doing than what I probably was, but I had never been someone who could sell herself well. I had always been rather glad with finding a job in the first place and learned to live with the conditions of the contract. So, for the first time in my life I could just name any price, any condition, anything I really wanted – and maybe needed to explain why I needed it – and someone would actually consider and maybe even agree to them.
"I want the Porsche," I said semi-serious, wondering how far I could technically push this and Ranger.
"Done," he said almost the second I had finished my first 'demand'. "Which one of them?"
"All," I smiled, still not too serious. But the way Ranger looked, he took this demand as serious as cancer.
"Okay. Consider all of them yours. Any fleet vehicle is yours and if you want a new Porsche every year, that can be arranged as well. What else?"
What the hell? Did he even think about what he just agreed? But then again, cars seemed to come to Ranger by the dozen. Just thinking about all the cars, he had provided me with during my less than glorious BEA days, I shouldn't be too surprised that this wouldn't be something he'd spent a lot of time thinking about.
"Whatever position I'll hold, Cal will become my second-in-command," I said, thinking about how close Cal and me had grown. And while I had a good relationship with every Merry Man and considered them all very good friends, Cal was somehow special. Plenty of people had previously commented on what an odd pair we made, seeing he was one of the more unusual looking Merry Man with his big and colourful forehead tattoo and me being the epitome of proper and conservative. But I had a great rapport and we had built a very solid and deep friendship and I didn't want him going back to regular Merry Man duties. Not that he would probably mind.
Ranger just nodded, noted something down and went on with "Done."
It took a moment for him to actually look up and look at me with an odd mix of curiosity and suspicion for a second.
"Do…I need to worry about him?" he asked, surprising me.
Instead of replying – or actually justifying his question with a reply – I only looked at him incredulous. Seriously? "As if anyone holds a candle to you. Or comes close."
He seemed to accept that as a suitable answer, and I couldn't help but grin slightly at his very rare display of jealousy or even a tiny bit of insecurity if you'd like. Somehow it felt grounding to know that the Cuban Sex god in front of me had moments of doubt as well.
"I want Seven," I said, seeing him nod before I even had finished. What the hell?
"Done, but you will have to learn to share, since I'm not moving out."
I caught the subtle subtext, technically suggesting we move in with each other. Woah.
"I…I thought this was a negotiation," I remarked when I had recovered from my initial surprise/shock. "So far you are not really negotiating a lot but rather agree to everything I say."
"So far you haven't said anything I wouldn't be willing to hand over anyway without even thinking."
I cleared my throat for a moment, reached for my water and took a few gulps.
"You do realize, with Seven becoming a co-habitat for the two of us, there will be an entirely different negotiation taking place again."
"Oh yeah," he just grinned at me. "And I'm prepared to do it all night long. Until we find common ground."
Oh Lord, Mary, Joseph and Jesus, what the hell was I in for and had agreed to?