Michael's Love The Office Surprise 1 (An Interracial Romance) *COMPLETE*

Dr. Stevens' Directive

Dr. Stevens called a little after 9:00. Both Micheal and Laura were in Laura’s office. Dr. Stevens began to talk through the speakerphone.

“Laura and Micheal. As you know the presentation that guys put together for me is going very well. Our business is about to take off and you two are my secret one two punch to push this forward.” He paused.

“Today, you need to wow VanderHolt, Inc. If this goes well then we will be moving into the big leagues.” He continued.

“Today you will be meeting with their VP of Strategic development and their chief software architect. What I want you to do is let them know from a high level perspective how the model works. Answer their questions and we could be off to the races.”

Micheal and Laura asked a few questions about positioning and then they hung up.

***

The time for their meeting came very quickly. Micheal went into the conference room to set up projectors and make sure that everything would work. And Laura came out and told Carol that she should send the men from VanderHolt back as soon as they got there.

Laura walked back to the conference room and saw Micheal doing what he did best, taking care of business. She was always impressed at his work ethic. Laura walked in and asked, “What can I do?”

Micheal smiled and said, “Everything is done, all I need from you is to be at your best.”

A knock came at the door of the conference room and Laura was surprised to see Greg Perry standing there.

“Why Mr. Perry, it would seem that you are more than a senior software engineer.” Laura said while shaking his hand.

“We know each other,” Greg said, “How were the flowers?”

“They were lovely.” Laura said while blushing. Micheal looked over at Greg and then Laura with an irritated look on his face.

“The VP couldn’t make it, so he just sent me.” Greg said.

Micheal walked over and shook his hand. “My name is Micheal Leon and I work with Laura on this project.”

“Yes, Yes, Ms. Beach did mention you.” Greg said.

“OK, now that we all know each other let’s get to business.” Micheal said.

Micheal began the presentation while Greg and Laura were sealing glances at each other from time to time. Micheal was getting more and more irritated with each glance, but he kept his composure and passed on the presentation to Laura who did a great job even though she was obviously spending too much time looking at Greg.

At the end of the presentation, Micheal went over to shake Greg’s hand. “I am glad we could let you know about the product.”

“You will be hearing from us, I need to talk to some of our programmers and then we can begin moving forward.”

“You mean…” Laura asked.

“We need this added to our portfolio of programs. You will hear from us very soon.”

A smile grew on both Laura and Micheal’s face. Greg then asked Laura, “Please, would you show me how to get out of this office?”

“Turn left and then right.” Micheal said bluntly.

“I think I need some help.” Greg continued.

“Sure, hold on. Wait here…” Laura said.

She then walked Micheal to his cubical. “This is exciting isn’t it?” Laura said.

“You are playing with fire Laura.” Micheal said.

“What are you talking about?” Laura said.

“Conflict of interest is written all over this Laura.”

“Huh?”

“Dating for dollars?”

“How dare you?! I didn’t know he had anything at all to do with any of this.”

“Maybe, but…”

“I thought you knew me better than that.”

“The truth doesn’t matter, what matters is what it looks like.”

“Does this have anything to do with our…”

“Whatever Laura…” Micheal said as he walked off.

Laura knew that Micheal was right and that the company’s largest contract is now at the mercy of someone she might be dating. But she wasn’t sure exactly how to handle it.

She walked back to the conference room and walked Greg out. She joked, “I would think that a chief software architect could figure out how to get out of an office.”

“I could have figured it out, but I wouldn’t have had such great company. Can I see you tonight?” He asked.

“What time? I have to make a few stops with Micheal…”

“Micheal? There isn’t anything going on between you two?” Greg asked.

“No, no, no, we are just co-workers.” Laura answered.

“I mean there is obviously some powerful work chemistry going on between you two, I just want to make sure before I invest any more of my time…”

Laura smiled and interrupted, “No, I am free and clear and I would love to see you this evening.”

“OK, how about 8pm, maybe we can do Italian this time.”

Laura smiled and said, “I’ll look forward to it.”

Greg took her hand and held it a little longer and smiled and said, “OK, 8.”