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Three hours later, Melinda was sitting at her desk at work. She was looking into the distance with a stupidly happy grin on her face and just spacing out, not doing anything. She didn’t hear someone walk up to her and stop beside her. That same person cleared their throat, then dropped a stack of papers in front of her.
"Williams," a voice said, and Melinda finally snapped out of it, blushed hard and turned to look at the person.
"There you are," Greenway said, and smiled at her. "You were just millions of miles away; care to tell if that was a good or a bad place?"
Melinda blushed and dropped her gaze to the floor. "Uh.. good…" she stuttered shyly.
Greenway lifted one eyebrow at her. "Anything to do with that stuff a couple of days ago?" She asked, and grinned at her.
"Last Friday…?" Melinda asked, confused. Then her eyes flew open, and she blushed even more. She kept her eyes down and just nodded, slightly. She heard Greenway laughing a warm-hearted laugh and felt her patting her shoulder lightly.
"Told ya, Williams. There you go. Well done," she said.
Melinda lifted her gaze and looked at Greenway's wide smile. A small smile crept onto Melinda's lips too, and she chuckled.
"I went for it, Greenway," she said, and giggled. "I really did it," she said, and smiled widely. "And I can't believe my luck, now. Our feelings ended up being mutual, and… well… after I get off work today, I'll go pickup my girlfriend — I can't believe I'm using that word — and we'll go grocery shopping and then head to my place. It's somehow too unreal still," Melinda said.
"I'm happy for you, Williams," Greenway said, and smiled at her. "I really am. You look so much happier than just a few days ago."
Melinda smiled at her and nodded. "I guess I am. Yeah, I am. Much happier now," she said.
"Good," Greenway said, and grinned roguishly at her. "Then it's probably no problem for you that today's the cross-department presentation to the client; and since you're the lead in our department for this project, you're going to present it," she says.
"Me!? Today?!", Melinda yelped and almost jumped. "It's today?! Oh, for crying out loud… I forgot about it completely…" she said, and shook her head, then stopped and looked up, smiling. "But you're right; I can do it. Nothing can drop my spirits now. I can do it!" She said, and stood up straight.
"Hah! Good on you, girl!" Greenway says. "Though I must warn you, the other department who's presenting with us… their lead is notoriously difficult to present with. She's a stickler for details, and she doesn't match well with our presenters - or at least she hasn't yet, with anybody. We've had four presentations together, and all of our supers - Mr. Goodwill, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Martinson, and Mr. Richter - all of them, said she just ignored them as much as she could. She's notorious with the higher-ups for her difficulty in presenting," Greenway informed her.
"Oh crap," Melinda said. "She sounds like a case-and-a-half herself." They started to walk forward and pass through their department on their way to Melinda's desk.
"Don't worry, Williams," Greenway said. "I think you'll do just fine. It's the old men who’ve probably had the problem," she said, and smiled. "It's probably just exaggerated a little bit…" she said, stopping at the door to the room.
"What's her name? Who is she?" Melinda asked.
"I don't remember," Greenway says. "It was some kind of foreign name, I didn't pay attention to it. She's the Programming Department's star. Anyway, look, she should be here already. Let's go meet her," Greenway said, and opened the door.
"Foreign…? Programming Department…" Melinda said, and stepped into the room. She looked up, gasped loudly, then smiled widely.
"Hi, Mel," Émilie said.
Melinda walked to her. She looked at Greenway, who was looking at them with a raised eyebrow. Melinda winked at her. "Hello girlfriend," she said happily to Émilie.
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