that was April's fool and now this is Nat's Fool

He caught her inspection of his work place and toasted her with his hot chocolate before turning his attention to the head of the table where Samuel Oakfield had just sat down. Mr. Oakfield cleared his throat and the room grew quiet.

            “As I am sure you all know, our two firms are coming together in a new merger. WRJ and A has agreed to our terms that we continue operations as normal save that we serve their interests first. Sherman and Oaks will take on the new name of SIR incorporated. And our investigation division will be given over to WRJ and A to be at their immediate disposal.”

            There were some murmurs around the table.

            “And in return, the new SIR inc. will get access to the WRJ and A client list and receive a nice tidy sum of fifteen million dollars which will be distributed between our executive board and owners.”

            Now there was clapping around the table from Marc and his associates. Dan was not clapping and looked puzzled. He held up his hand and the executives quieted down. Mr. Oakfield looked over at Dan from where he was shaking John’s over enthusiastic hand.

            “Yes Daniel- what is it?” He asked in a mystified tone- was that panic in his voice.

            “What does S-I-R stand for Mr. Oakfield?”

            “Why that’s easy Daniel, it stands for Security Investigations Raker.”

            “I thought that Sherman had specifically said that if the company was to be renamed that it had include his name?” Dan’s gaze went from exec to exec and finally back to Oakfield.

            “Now Daniel, you know as well as I do that Sherman was willing to sell his share in the company and surely something as minor as his name not being included in the title.” Oakfield looked a bit tired like this was an old argument. The man looked to be seventy, tall thin with dark gray hair and narrow face like that of the actor Edward Herrmann.

            “Sherman wanted it left in for Jack’s sake not his own, he wanted Jack to have a legacy.” Dan countered looking back at Oakfield directly now.

            Silence reigned at the table, Nat looked around in confusion, the other partners who were there shrugged, Mark and his fellows looked very uncomfortable now; John looked like he was ready to flee at any second. Nat wondered how this curmudgeon of a man could be so insolent to his boss and not get fired. Then Oakfield sighed in defeat.

            “Daniel, I am sorry- perhaps I should have remembered that.” He spread his hands in a placating gesture palms up, I am sure that Ms. Raker will agree to add Sherman’s name back into the division title.”

            And Dan just nodded and sipped his hot chocolate and Oakfield moved on! Nat was flabbergasted that an underling could pull a stunt like that and survive- probably Dan would get chewed out later- maybe the jerk would get fired and she would never have to see him again. She wondered at that thought, what had made her take such a dislike to him? Then Dan caught her staring at him and winked at her with a nod and grin and she knew that this was one of the smuggest men she had ever met.

            Next, the particulars were hammered out with the execs and the partners exchanging reports and banter with one another. Throughout this part, Dan sat quietly and observed it all. Nat soon forgot he was there as he had become so still. She only remembered him when she would glance across the table for some reason or back at one of the partners.

            Finally, Oakfield cleared his throat and nodded towards, Jim Anderson, one of the senior partners. Jim Anderson, a tall thin man with a severe expression, straightened his tie and shuffled his papers. He restacked them and divided them as he gathered his thoughts.

            “First let me say that I am pleased to announce Natalie Bryant and William James will oversee our new division SIR or SIRS.“  He said and looked up at Oakfield who in turned nodded at the modification. “For Sherman and Oaks’ side of SIRS, Daniel Myers and Marc Maxwell will oversee the day to day operations.”

            Nat nearly spilt her coffee, hearing that not only would she not be rid of the man but he was coming here to her offices. She glared across the table at Dan who fortunately was unaware of her gaze and looked at Anderson with a mildly surprised expression. He glanced over at Marc who shrugged as if to imply that it was news to him.