Hi guys, finally got my head round life so I'm ready to start publishing the rest of Tired of Trying. I've just re-read the previous chapters and there are some terrible inconsistencies which I will sort out once I've finished this story!
Sorry it's taken me so long, but I do hope you think this chapter has been worth the wait...
Please read, enjoy and review so I know whether you're still with me!
xxx
Crap! Crappity, crap, crap! Steph hissed out loudly as she bounced round the room trying to get her socks and shoes on.
"Babe." Ranger said as he stepped out of the bathroom and leant against the door jamb, watching Steph's manic drunken Tigger impression, a smile dancing across his face.
"Raaanger." She whined. "It's not funny! I'll be late and today of all days I really want to be on time!"
"Why exactly?" he asked as he grabbed her as she bounced past him. Holding her carefully, yet firmly, in his vice-like grip he started kissing her still bouncing hair.
"I want to be able to see the reaction of the other men when Chase explains what's going to happen so I can relay it back to him later if needed, and to do that I really need to get there early and get a good seat. Plus, my boss is a total badass who gets really freaked by lateness."
Steph could feel Ranger's smile in her hair. Then he took a deep breath before releasing her.
"OK. Good enough." He said as he stepped towards the closet. "See you in 5, I'll make sure someone saves a good spot for you." He added with a knowing grin as he shrucked a shirt on and started doing up the buttons.
"Thanks, Boss!" came the grinned yet frantic reply as Steph flew out the door.
o0o0o0o0o
The chairs had been rearranged in rows facing a blond wood lectern situated in isolated splendour at one end of Conference Room One. As with all the other Rangeman offices, it was the largest of the meeting rooms. Sterile, no nonsense with grey moulded plastic stacking chairs.
One by one, men began to slip in almost silently and settle themselves randomly then bit by bit the rows filled up. Despite the apparent lack of speech, noise rose like tendrils of smoke in the large space as all those now gathered speculated on the events that had happened in the last 24 hours.
Steph snuck in and was about to head to a seat she saw at the back when Chase grabbed her. "Sit." He commanded as he steered her into a small row of seats near the front against the wall and at 90 degrees to the others where he sat down, next to her.
From this alternative position Steph could see the faces of everyone in the room. Thank you Batman, she thought happily.
Connor stood at the front and patiently waited for silence and before too long they were rewarded. "Everyone here?" he asked.
A baritone rumble of confirmation filled the room. "Good." He said then nodded to the door. As if choreographed, Ranger chose that moment to walk in and move up to and behind the lectern.
"OK, men… and woman." Ranger started looking round the now quiet room, finally settling on Steph where he nodded almost imperceptibly. "Thank you for joining us at such short notice. I will hand over to Connor in a moment but would like it to be known that everything he is about to tell you has been discussed with me and the core team at HQ and fully meets our approval. Additionally, I will be working out of here on and off for the next month or so or on a local project and to help settle in the transition you are about to be made aware of." He nodded towards Connor then sat down on the vacant seat next to Steph.
Connor cleared his throat to get everyone's attention then placed a sheet of paper on the lectern then raised his head to his captive audience.
"Thank you Ranger." he began "Chase will now read a out a statement from our Head Office in Trenton. If you have any questions, please keep them until the end when both he and I will be more than happy to answer them as best we can."
He signalled to Chase and the two men swapped position so that Chase was now in front of the lectern and Connor was sitting to Steph's left.
Silence and anticipation filled the air.
"As a direct result of the Rangeman-wide competition that Ranger has initiated, Connor Deary has decided to step down from the day to day running of this office so that he can focus his efforts on ensuring Atlanta has the best chance of winning this contest. Following a successful bid for her expertise, Stephanie Plum will be staying on in Atlanta to assist him with planning a number of the more irregular tasks, using the skills she had intended to train this office on anyway. After that, Connor will be moving to Trenton to sort out some private matters at which point he may or may not decide to remain in the employ of Rangeman."
Rumbles of surprise drifted across the room but Chase ignored them and continued. "Therefore with immediate effect, it has been agreed that Chase McKendry will be Temporary Acting VP of Rangeman Atlanta so that Connor and Stephanie can start to work on hatching their battle plan. The upcoming competition is not to be seen as an excuse for a party or to be taken lightly and Rangeman expects full and active participation by all personnel in every office, hence Connor's insistence on changing focus. The stakes are high as the prize is $10,000 for each permanent staff member on the payroll of the winning team at the point of the winner being announced and a further $50,000 to be given to that office's nominated charity."
Steph looked round the room watching the reaction of the now excited crowd, her eyes settling on Mungo who wasn't reacting in the same way as everyone else. No surprises there, she thought.
Mungo sat, eyes hooded, arms folded across his chest, clearly unimpressed by what he was hearing.
"If anyone has a problem with the changes in personnel that have taken place, or wishes to volunteer in any capacity then please speak to either myself or Ranger after this meeting is over." Chase concluded, looking directly at Mungo as he folded his piece of paper as put it in his pocket as he slowly raised an eyebrow, offering a challenge. A muscle in Mungo's jaw twitched in response.
"Okay, so any questions so far before Connor and I go through the details…"
o0o0o0o0o
Connor sat silently in the smallest meeting room, looking thoughtfully through Steph's suggestions, flicking back and forth through a couple of pages as he cross referenced the men she'd recommended for each task. For her part, Steph sat across from him nervously playing with her fingers, which lay in her lap, as she waited for his feedback.
After what seemed like forever Connor closed his eyes and sighed as he put the sheets of paper down and pinched the bridge of his nose then opened them again and staring straight at her.
"I really have no excuses, have I?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.
Steph furrowed her brows in confusion, not expecting his comment "Well, err... to cross to the other side?" she replied, totally unsure of the question Connor was posing.
He gave her a wry grin at her obvious confusion. "This is really well thought out" he said by way of explanation, waving his hand over her work as he began to expand on his comment.
"You continue to surprise me with your intuition and reinforce without realising you're even doing it that I've been a completely short sighted and arrogant asshat!" He paused for a moment then snorted softly at his own understatement.
"And for that I am truly sorry." He said after a slight pause, having the guts to look a little embarrassed.
He glanced at the list again briefly then looked back at her with another big sigh and an almost smile. "I have been a total fuckwit, haven't I? I have allowed my escalating anger at the events of 911 to ride roughshod over good business sense and I have brought this office to its knees. It took you coming in here and grabbing us all by the balls for me to realise that we have been sitting in a pressure cooker of hate and anger - of my making might I add - that's pretty much ready to explode. The negative impact it would have had on the company I helped to build…" he paused, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair as he thought of what could have happened.
"I can't wait to see if the training you were going to give us all will hold the magic key to this competition. Ranger was right, we really do need women at Rangeman. I'm beginning to think, perhaps, that you may even hold all the power!"
He paused to allow his words to sink in before continuing.
"Ok, down to business." He said, as he pushed the papers into the middle of the table.
"I think we need to evaluate each heading and not take any one of them at face value – Ranger's a clever bastard and I suspect he has planned a few surprises along the way so I think we need to read between the lines as much as we can and try and work out what else he may throw in before we make our final selection. But, Stephanie, you have really thought things through and done an excellent job so far. Considering you have no real understanding of the men that work here you have placed them pretty much as I would have at this point. I'm stunned, literally…"
He looked pointedly at her before continuing. "You have made me remember that a bit of calm and understanding can be far more powerful than muscle and testosterone. So thank you for…"
Connor seemed to be stuck, as if there were no words to describe what he was feeling so Steph butted in.
"Thank you too." She added, leaning forward and patting his forearm. "For realising that Atlanta can't go on as it has been. You have changed so much in the last week, I hardly recognise the man who tried to shove me back out the door as soon as I stepped off the plane on my first day here."
Connor smiled slightly. "Yeah, sorry about that, not my finest hour! Sadly though I think adrenalin is bringing out the gentleman in me and I'm not sure how long I'm going to be all 'cute and cuddly'" he said with a wry grin, putting air quotes round cute and cuddly.
"Megan would be kicking my butt if she could see what I have allowed myself to become" he added softly, almost to himself as he shook his head "but I know I have to face my demons so that I can move forward. I just hope I can do this."
Steph leaned forward and grabbed the fist he was unconsciously making on top of her pile of workings out, between her own two hands. Slowly and gently manipulating and spreading out his fingers to relax them.
"S'okay. Day by day, you'll get there. Stop beating yourself up about the past, you can't change it and it won't get you anywhere by dwelling on it. You need to move forward one step at a time. Today's a good day. Let's start with that, shall we?" She knew only too well that there were still going to be dark days ahead for him.
"Yeah, you're right." Connor replied softly before swallowing loudly. "Okay, lady. 'nuff of the sappy stuff, we have a contest to win!"
o0o0o0o
Hope this chapter was worth the wait. More soon, I promise!