A/N: Some people might be curious as to why I wrote this chapter, but in a way I wanted closure for Stephanie to some degree. Was it necessary? Probably not. But it fit. And had been a scribble on my notepad. And I know this chapter gives you a few more questions about timing and such, but... I guess I might get back to some of these questions in future chapters - or even the epilogue :) Who knows?

I had been at RangeMan for over eight months by the time I was having a more than interesting lunch that I hadn't seen coming or had planned. And something I would also never have expected to happen anyway.

Ever since I had left EE Martin very few of my old colleagues had tried getting in touch with me. No surprise there, especially since I was neither close nor missing any of them. Only exception to that rule was Eunice, who was not a friend but also not the worst person working at EE Martin. She had been the only one who actually had contacted me shortly after I had left and told me she was sad that I had gone.

Up until this day I was never certain how sad she really had been, seeing as we hardly knew each other. She was a nice person to be around, working in Purchasing and our paths rarely crossed. She was what people would probably describe as gentle soul, but also a bit of a pushover, even worse than me when it came to her duties and taking on extra work. She once mentioned having a cactus on her desk who she named Derek, but that was all I knew in regards of personal information.

A few times she had hit me up for lunch, but I always had to cancel last minute because something came up or because I really wasn't feeling like it. Well, up until now. What made me do it I can't explain, maybe guilt of having canceled so often, maybe curiosity to see if things at EE Martin had somehow changed (a bit), but whatever it was, we were on.

She had suggested a place more or les right between RangeMan and EE Martin, making it an even journey for both of us to get to the place, though I was certain no one at RangeMan would bat an eye if I took a longer lunch. At EE Martin things probably looked slightly different.

"I'm heading out for a bit," I said to Tank in passing. "I'll probably take an extended lunch break."

"Everything alright?" he asked, a slight question of curiosity and worry in his voice.

"Yes, all's fine. I'm just meeting an old acquaintance for lunch and things might run a little late. But I have my phone on me if you need me for something urgently."

He nodded and we both know that he'd only call me if the building was burning down. And even than only to tell me to not worry.

About twenty minutes later and thanks to horrible traffic, I stepped into the diner, looking for Eunice. When I didn't see her right away, I figured she had to fight off bad traffic as much as me and wanted to get a table, just to find her at the back, several dozen empty tables between her and me. Seeing she wasn't all alone, I wondered whether I mixed up dates or what was going on, but got something of a clue when the person she was with turned and I recognized him as someone from EE Martin I might have passed once or twice in the hallways. Odd.

Once Eunice spotted me, she got up and whoever was with her did the same, smiling at me both with a very friendly manner. Too friendly for it to be genuine. And too late for me to turn around after I had already been spotted. So, within a few long steps I was reaching and their table and saw the male companion get up from his sitting position once I approached.

"Stephanie, it's nice to see you again," he greeted, even before Eunice had a chance of actually saying anything. By the choice of his words it was obvious that we really had already met at EE Martin. Well, obviously his words didn't mean EE Martin but where else would I have ever run into him?

"Eunice," I said as form of greeting and a try in winning some time to make up my mind as well as maybe finding an answer or two to questions I hoped I asked clearly with simply looking at my actual lunch companion.

"Steph," Eunice smiled, seeming slightly uncomfortable. Interesting.

"I hope you don't mind, Stephanie, but I sort of invited myself to your lunch once I heard about it from Eunice."

"The more the merrier," I said, feeling like I wanted to grit my teeth. Something was going on here and I wasn't quite sure yet how I felt or if it was good or bad. Deciding I couldn't stand forever without it seeming weird, I took a seat opposite Eunice and the unknown man who yet had to actually introduce himself. He didn't think I'd know automatically who he is, did he?

"How have you been, Steph?" Eunice asked after a long silence and me consulting the menu for my actual lunch choices. It wasn't like I hadn't already browsed the web and several sites that rated the food and knew what I wanted. Nope, what would make you think such audacity?

"I'm quite well, Eunice, thank you. My new job worked out better than I could have imagined and I'm really happy with where I am currently," I answered truthfully and could see in our male companion's face that he had hoped for maybe slightly different answers from me.

A waitress stopped at our table before anyone could say anything else and took our orders, leaving as quickly as she had arrived.

"I was hoping to be able to speak to you about that," Mr. Anonymous said after she had left and I was confused for a moment.

"Speak to me about what?"

"Your job."

"At RangeMan?" I asked, now even more confused. If there was one thing for certain, I definitely did not know him from RangeMan.

"Partially, yes."

"I…um, okay, yeah," I just said uncertain. I really didn't know where this was going, but for the moment letting him run with whatever he wanted to accomplish was maybe not the worst.

"I want you to come back."

"Back?" I asked, now confused again. "To where?"

"EE Martin?" he asked, sounded uncertain himself which amused me to some degree. "I want you to reconsider your resignation."

"You do realize that I left about nine months ago? There isn't anything to reconsider. I'm gone, left the company, bid my farewell. You make it sound as if I was still in my two weeks' notice and haven't been gone for almost a year already."

"You could always come back," he just said and I wondered whether that was his strongest argument, or if he even had any argument to start with.

"And do what exactly?"

"What you did before," he replied, though it sounded uncertain and more like a question, almost as if that answer should have been obvious.

For a moment I laughed loudly. I didn't mean to be rude, but something inside me just reacted and I couldn't stop the laugh that eventually turned into a giggle and both my lunch companions look at me confused. Well, mainly him since Eunice knew my thoughts on my old job.

"You couldn't pay me enough to do that all over again," I finally said, once I was able to speak again.

"You are saying that now. But I'm willing to offer you twice of whatever your current employer is paying you. A few more days for paid leave as well."

"You don't even know what RangeMan is paying me," I said incredulous, making it obvious that I could more or less demand any amount I wanted and have him double it.

"It doesn't matter." The arrogance he used to say this shocked me almost. As if he was certain that he could name any amount and I'd just come back.

"Tell me, what exactly did I do? What do you know about my tasks, responsibilities and how my day at the offices of EE Martin looked like?" I inquired after a moment of thought. "I'm certain someone must have mentioned something, seeing as you'd probably not be sitting opposite of me right now if that wasn't the case."

He smiled at me for a moment before he surprised me with his answer. "What didn't you do?"

Truer words had probably never been spoken, but that didn't change anything. Well, maybe for once in all these years I actually felt seen.

Before I could reply or get this conversation going in a direction that made it obvious I wasn't interested, I noticed a presence next to me and when looking to my right almost died of a heart attack: Carlos was standing right there, looking at us with a curious expression gracing his facial features.

"Co-incidence?" I asked, without paying any regard to the other two at the table. Carlos looked at me, followed by Eunice and then his eyes landed on the guy.

"Technically yes. I've just come from a meeting with a client and thought I saw your car parked outside, though Tank had mentioned you'd be out for an extended lunch break. Figured maybe you wanted some company for lunch," he explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Sorry, who are you?," the guy whose name I still didn't know wondered and seemed a little annoyed all of a sudden. Maybe he hadn't planned for interruptions.

"Carlos. Who are you?" Carlos asked, his answer probably deliberately kept short.

"I'm Dean Martin," the guy said and I almost spit my drink all over the table. WHAT?

What might have sounded like a joke to most people was actually correct.

"Excuse me?" Carlos asked, looking all of a sudden annoyed. He had a great sense of humor, but some people struck him in the wrong way and their sense of humor didn't work for him – though this wasn't meant in a humorous fashion.

"My parents had a weird sense of humor," Dean just shrugged, probably getting this kind of reaction more or less daily. "I run EE Martin and try to convince Stephanie here to come work for me once more."

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me? Who in their right mind said something so bluntly and unsolicited? My head turned towards Carlos with a speed that was probably unheard of and might require me to google a chiropractor. The last thing I needed was for my current boss to think I was shopping around for a new job. Also, why would Dean think this was somehow important to Carlos. Unless, of course, he knew who Carlos actually was. Which would make sense.

"Interesting," Carlos just said and sat down a moment later. Slowly this lunch became very crowded. Not that I minded his presence, though. "I wasn't aware she was on the lookout for something new."

"I'm not," I intervened, though hopefully not sounding as if I was panicking.

"Let me repeat myself, Stephanie. Whatever he's paying you, I will double it, triple even," Dean said once more, confirming that he was well aware who Carlos was. And he was definitely playing games one way or another. Well, two could play these games, though I probably had the upper hand.

"No, let me repeat myself. What did I do for EE Martin? What was I hired to do? And more importantly, what did I actually end up doing?"

"I don't understand," Dean finally said after several moments of silence. His statement was accompanied by uneasy laughing.

"It's quite easy. What was my job? You can't set up this bogus lunch under the pretense of an old colleague actually wanting to get together, offering me triple of what I currently make and not know what it was I did beforehand. When I remember correctly, Elmer's last words to me were that he'd find another me within seconds. Someone to do my job just as good, if not even better – which by the way isn't possible, but who am I to judge?"

"Elmer has overreacted," Dean tried to explain, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Elmer got away with whatever you let him get away with. You want me to just even spend a second reconsidering of maybe at one point in the very, very distant future to perhaps come back? Then you need to change the way things get done at EE Martin. In general, and for everyone at that company."

"So, you'll come back? Think about it?" he asked, sounding a little to hopeful for what I actually just said.

"No," I just said within half a heartbeat and saw his facial features change to less hopeful. "But I'm curious to know why now? What has changed that you decided to try and poach me after eight months of me being gone?"

"What do you mean, what has changed? Why would any of this imply there was something that occurred?"

"Because I'm gone since eight months," I repeated myself, getting a little tired of this. "And you are treating me as if I went through the door yesterday. Also, I have an odd suspicion that you didn't just happen to overhear Eunice making plans with me for lunch. Somehow, I suspect you actually set her up. She hasn't said a single word since I sat down and doesn't look too excited about anything really."

"She's just having a bad day," Dean grumbled and I couldn't help but laugh "At work?"

"When you come back… you can work in any department you want. It wouldn't need to be with Elmer again. You can have your pick; I'll find you something anywhere. No problem."

"You do realize that technically I was already working in almost every department before, right? I just wasn't paid for it. So that might hold less appeal than what you think."

"You are a tough negotiator, Stephanie," Dean admitted, seeming admiring to some small degree.

"I'm not…negotiating. Neither do I want to come back to EE Martin. I hadn't even wasted a thought about you in the past few months and never regretted my decision to leave."

"Name your price," Dean all of a sudden suggested. "Whatever it is you want to earn, I'll grant it."

Letting out a long sigh, I wondered whether he was getting anything of what I was saying. "This isn't about the money," I said and saw Dean already start on another probably useless argument that would show me that he thought it actually was. Well, for him at least.

"Tell me," he said, stubbornly as before and I wanted to roll my eyes. But well, than, okay. If he asked…

"A million dollars, a nice company car and 40 days of paid leave each year," I said, more in a joking fashion than anything. He thought about it for a moment, looked at me with a calculating expression and finally nodded.

"Okay, done."

"What?" I more or less screeched aghast. Several patrons of the restaurant turned our way and even Carlos seemed a little shaken by my pitch.

"You named your conditions and I accept," Dean just replied and even Eunice seemed a little confused.

"No … no one earns a million bucks at that place."

"I do," he just said with an arrogance that wanted me to hit him. Good for him.

"Yes, but you run the company. You can pay yourself whatever you want. But apart from you and the CFO or COO no one makes that money and I am not even sure if CFO and COO make it. EE Martin after all isn't that big. This would be...insanity."

"If that is your condition, it isn't insanity but reality."

I looked at him for a moment, before my gaze moved to Eunice and last but not least Carlos just to end on Dean again. I wasn't lost for words at such, but more at the end of my wit. Looking at Eunice, it had been obvious that instead of paying one person that huge amount of money, it would have been much more beneficial to increase the salary of everyone at EE Martin and therefore maybe also increase productivity as well as work ethics and spirits. At no point did I actually really consider taking him up on his ludicrous offer, but looking at Dean, this possibility didn't even seem to cross his mind. Carlos on the other hand seemed slightly worried for a moment. Not that I could blame him. A million was a whole lot of cash for…well…for everyone. Had I been in his shoes I would have ben worried as well. Who in their right mind would actually turn down such an offer?

Well, me, for starters.

Leaning back in my seat, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at Dean, who seemed to get a little uneasy the longer I stared at him.

"It might be more surreal than anything," I started, seeing him getting ready to interrupt me with probably another attempt at saying nothing with a whole lot of words. Holding up my hand, to stop him right before he actually could interrupt me, I went on. "Let me ask you something, if you don't mind…"

Seeing him nod, I continued. "Do you know why I left?"

He looked at me confused for a moment, clearly not having expected my question. "I…um…money? Work-Life-Balance? The impression to not have any options to advance?" he asked and I wondered how many people had actually stated these exact reasons? It wasn't a secret that the turnover at EE Martin was high. There were months when I had finally managed to remember people's names and they left.

"No, though these reasons probably make the Top Ten easily. But it is actually the amount of incompetent people that are tasks with leading others and by doing so, they lead with very, very bad example. They expect everyone to put in the work for four people while they hardly do anything, preferring to take three-hour lunch breaks under the disguise of work meeting and then by the end of the day dumping their work load onto yours as well. That's not a leader, that's a looser, taking advantage of their position. If you are not on their side, you're against them, which means you'll end up with even more work."

"I…um…," Dean tried to speak, but I was just getting started.

"Back in January, I found myself in a situation that I didn't cause, neither was I at fault. I found myself stuck in the middle of a freaky blizzard halfway across the country, with no possibility to move forward anytime soon. I knew it wasn't ideal, informed everyone who I assumed needed to know and never expected anyone to just let it pass and say "no worries". I had made up for the time I was missing, working extra hours or even extra days, knowing I couldn't expect anything relieving me of the missed time. What I didn't expect was to get crap for it over and over and over again, every single day, as if I had been soaking up some sun at a Caribbean beach or something. I missed two or three days of work, yet the overtime I pulled in afterwards made up almost a week. And still, my superior wasn't happy and used me being gone with every chance he got. I don't take handouts from people, I work hard on a normal day and three times as hard if I have to make up for something, yet no one cared."

"I can assure you we can improve these situations, make sure when you work more than required you get well compensated, home office if you like and we have a word with whoever was involved."

"A little late, but okay," I remarked and saw Dean smile at me. That's when a thought hit me. "Can…can I ask you something else, while we are at it?"

"Sure, ask all you need."

"What…made you arrange this little charade? And even more importantly, why now? I've been gone for eight months and worked for EE Martin for several years, and yet no one has ever acknowledged any of the work I put in. I…. don't get me wrong, I don't need someone to praise every moment of my work, every project, every additional assignments I agree to work, though hearing I did a good job every once in a while, well… anyone hearing they did a good job every once in a while and be shown a little bit of appreciation goes a very long way. And maybe your underappreciation of the workforce is also the reason most people left within months. A shame I was naïve enough to think I actually mattered to the company. You are showing quite effectively what it had always been about: money."

"I…that is…,"

"I know at the end of it, that's what it always comes to," I interrupted his fruitless attempt at explaining something, at best himself or the company. "I wasn't born yesterday and I know the whole wishful thinking of a person meaning more than profit is exactly that: wishful thinking. You need to be able to make a profit to make it work, but as I'm learning in my current job, there are different ways to go about it. You can just see the numbers and the money you reel in and go for it as calculating, arrogant and ruthless as possible. Or you can actually treat the people that choose to work for you not just as another number on another spreadsheet. Because in the end, you and a lot of people seem to forget that one important fact: people choose to work for you. And just as much as they chose to work for you, the also chose to go and leave you and your company behind."

I let my words sit in the air for a moment, seeing Dean actually think about what I just said. Or maybe not. Maybe he was just coming up with another reason to explain, justify and sugarcoat everything. Or to make an even more outlandish offer. Realizing my time had been spent as effectively as I could hope for and indicated for Carlos that I was ready to go. He got up within seconds and I followed him out of the both a moment later, ready to go and actually grab some real lunch when I realized that maybe there was one last thing I should clarify.

"Just to make it clear, there's no way I'll return anytime soon, no matter how much money, or gimmicks you offer me. But maybe you can surprise everyone – including me – and make a real change and difference by improving everyone's job a little bit and give people reason once more to choose you."

Smiling at Eunice with a small and unplanned wink, I followed Carlos out the door of that dinner. He didn't say anything, just threw a smile my way that could be interpreted in a lot of ways, but I chose for me to be you did good, Babe. And somehow, for the first time in forever, I actually had to agree.