It was a lovely day. Spring was in the air and the warmth of a new season accompanied a crisp, gentle breeze. A modest crowd was gathered at the cafe, a splendid view of a neighboring park available from its patio. Eva reached for a chair at a table, metal screeching unpleasantly against the stone floor. As she took a seat the noise sounded off a second time as another did the same opposite of her.

“Some meeting, huh?” Dana remarked with a friendly smile, wavy blonde locks framing a face aging gracefully through its twilight years; even if half of it was hidden behind a thick pair of sunglasses. In true fashion for her, the woman wasted little time in getting to the heart of what was on either of their minds. 

“That’s one way to put it.” Eva replied tepidly. Her immediate thoughts seemed more concerned with adjusting in her seat until comfortable, something easier said than done with how the texture itched against her skirt. She soon managed a compromise and crossed her legs, one black heel smacking against her foot as it bobbed with the slightest hint of impatience. By no fault of the waiters who had just received their order; merely a symptom of anxiety. “I was beginning to think Alan would never shut up.” She groused. 

“Really? Alan is what you wanna talk about after that?” Dana said. Blue eyes peered over the brim of her shades dubiously. Her lips quirked off to the side of her face and let out the slightest hum. “Not the bomb Dan dropped at the end there?”

“Well...Not right away at least. That’d be rude.”

“Since when has that ever stopped you?”

“Fair enough I guess.” Eva laughed. This was precisely why she occasionally enjoyed Dana’s company. While at a glance they appeared nothing alike - A pale woman of ebony hair in proper business attire and a tan blonde wearing a more casual and floral ensemble - they often had a way of cutting through the unnecessary fluff. Both were physically marvelous specimens, albeit of decidedly different dispositions. They lived their lives in different lanes with different outlooks, but they were proof opposites could indeed attract. After all, in a man’s world, women had to stick together if they expected to get anywhere. 

“I knew there were whispers, but I would’ve put money on him riding the year out at the very least.” Eva said. 

“He still might.” Dana shrugged. “Notice how he didn’t give a time frame? Just that there will be a ‘transition period’.” She added with fingers quoting in the air.

“Transition.” Eva snorted. “As if there needs to be much of a transition. At this point the company damn near runs itself. All the executive staff have had years to get used to their roles, and ever since Rob’s team got those government service grants funding has been a non-issue.”

“Careful, that almost sounded like you were giving out a compliment there.” Dana teased with a soft giggle.  

“It’s the bare minimum. I would hope everyone could do at least that much.”

“You were that kid that didn’t have a lot of friends, weren’t you?” The blonde observed. 

Eva huffed. “I was the kid at the top of her class - With more friends than I could count.”

That earned an exaggerated eye roll from her coworker. “Somehow I doubt that.” Well, she could believe whatever she wanted to believe. It made little difference to Eva in the end. 

The two traded such pleasantries for a time. Few were the people who could trade barbs with Eva, and fewer still were the ones she allowed to do so. Amicable company had a way of passing the time and before long their waitress returned with a pair of trays. Adorning both of them were sandwiches and clear cups of bubble tea. While the more genial of the pair offered her thanks, Eva was already giving her meal a once-over. Nothing was wrong as far as she could tell; which put this table jockey a step above her ‘highly qualified assistant’ for the day.

“Who do you think he’s gonna pick?” Dana asked after they both took their opening bites. As expected of one of the signature office gossips. She was met with a frank stare, as if her question was a ridiculous one. “Well aren’t you confident?” She remarked after a moment. Like there was ever a time Eva wasn’t.

“Success comes to those who reach for it.” Eva said wryly.

“Someone outta read you that story about the guy who flew too close to the sun.”

Eva snorted. “Icarus was a small man out of his league. It’s completely different.” 

“Tell that to Icarus.” Dana smirked. She leaned back in her seat and sipped at her drink, silence briefly befalling the table as she gazed aside to the park. Judging by the children at play in the grass, school must’ve just let out. 

“Well, rootin’ for ya either way.” She muttered. “Dan’s done good by me, so he’d have to really mess up his choice for me to not confirm them.”

Eva’s response came at a delay as she took another bite of her sandwich. “We’ll find out next week. Doesn’t leave a lot of time to try and impress. Knowing him, he probably already has someone in mind.” All the more reason why she needed to clinch her deal ASAP.

Another pause, this time on Dana’s end as she ate. The woman chewed for several moments before speaking, glimpses of unswallowed food in her mouth drawing subtle ire from across the table. “Oh please. We both know he’s probably gonna hand it off to Alonzo. All those fishing trips they go on? Can’t compete with that.” She ran her hand through the air before returning to watching the park.

She had a point, Eva had to admit. Work could be a bit of a boy’s club at times. Success was rarely impossible, but some climbs were steeper than they had to be. If being the best was all it took to run the place she would’ve been named CEO long ago. Sadly, there was a bias to overcome. She reflected on that as she sipped her bubble tea. A boba passed right up the straw and landed along her teeth before she idly bit down, fruity flavor bursting from within.

“Maybe.” Eva acknowledged. “Though, I’d like to think Dan would choose the future of his baby on something other than who can sit in a boat with him for four hours.” Both of them got a good chuckle out of that. After which, silence ensued for a mutual set of bites. 

“Won’t stop me from getting a bit of insurance though.” Eva added with a wry smirk. “Just to be safe.”

Dana shook her head, smiling. “Figures you’re up to something. Got anything to do with that big deal you’ve been working on lately?” She was met with a distinct look, shrugging in response. “A girl has her ways.”

Her very nosy ways, evidently. Oh well, it was bound to come up eventually. “I guess there’s no harm in bragging a bit.” Eva said. She leaned in conspiratorially, her voice reaching a whisper. “The last few months I’ve been in talks with an Amazon VP about an exclusivity deal with us.”

There was a special sort of satisfaction in how much Dana’s eyes widened at that particular name drop. The woman stopped everything and stared like Eva had just sprouted wings. “Amazon? Wow, that’s huge! How the heck did ya pull that off?” You knew it was a good reaction when bits of the southern drawl crept into her voice. 

“A girl has her ways.” 

Eva leaned back with a smug grin. Her way just happened to involve a friend of a friend and a certain bookish young woman who was probably neck deep in putting the final plan together right about now. Eva uncrossed and recrossed her legs and took another sip from her drink, lowkey basking in her coworker’s awe. She let the dramatic flair go on perhaps a few moments too long before breathing out, Eva’s Icarus coming back to Earth for now.

“It’s still in progress though. I was aiming for maybe next month but…”

“But you got Dan’d.” Dana finished. 

“It is what it is.” Eva shrugged. “Just means I have less time than I thought.”

Dana leaned in practically radiating vigor, a surprisingly genuine joy in her expression. “Even so, congrats Eva! That’s awesome. You pull that off and we’d be hitting the big leagues!” That was the plan, yes. Put the company on the map and Eva’s butt right in that CEO chair. 

She kept a considerably more leveled smile as she regarded her friend. A set of pale fingers reached up and tucked raven hairs back over one of her ears. “It hasn’t been easy, I must admit. Especially trying to keep it a surprise.”

“I can only imagine. Guessing Tina’s been helping you out with it?” The blonde inquired.

“Just a bit.” Eva said thoughtfully. All her assistant had to do was maintain contact with the VP, draft up proposals, negotiate said proposals with the contact, bring those negotiations to Eva’s desk for another back and forth, and then send that over to the contact to repeat it all as much as necessary. Not too much at all. Really, this little bit of crunch time was just getting her subordinate to stop being so lazy.

“Most of the challenge has been in trying to explain our usefulness to Amazon.” Eva explained. Just thinking about it was enough to make her furrow her brow and sink in her seat. “Despite R.E.I. being around for over a decade we’re still considered an uncertain variable. I mean, shrinking technology?” She wrinkled her nose. “When I grew up that was the subject of terrible movies and childish books. Now it’s a reality and nobody really believes it. We sell the service well considering, but there’s still such a stigma…”

“Girl, who are you tellin’?” Dana said with an eye roll. “You have any idea how many times I’ve had to explain to people that no, your kids won’t just shrink away like little bugs? Your stuff won’t break if you carry it. Not even super technical stuff, I’m talkin’ the basics!”

“Like you even know the super technical stuff.” Eva smirked. 

Dana sputtered her lips with a dismissive wave and returned to her food. “You know what I mean. Everyone’s always got these big, dramatic ideas. Like you can just point some laser at a city and BAM!! Tiny city full of people.” The blonde shook her head as someone who dealt with such criticisms more times than she could count. While admittedly not an unappealing scenario, with current technology it was mere fantasy. Eva could sympathize more than she cared to admit on that front at least.

“I know how you feel.” She sighed. “I was trying to explain the shipping utility of our technology to my contact the other day. He understands the general idea of shipping smaller items saves money more than shipping big items, but he always gets stuck on minor details and ignorant questions. The biggest hurdle has been startup costs. It’ll save so much money long term, but try telling that to the people who have to front that cost.” Eva said at length. It was perhaps the biggest shortcoming to their business. The technology was new and expensive to produce, especially on a worldwide scale like with Amazon. Specialized equipment, procedures, and training were mandatory. Not to mention the hell of integrating it with the current systems. It was a headache beyond comparison. Thankfully, not Eva’s headache once that dotted line was signed. 

“Ugh.” Dana was someone who understood all too well. “Don’t remind me. You remember that deal I was working on with the city that fell through?”

“The one about trash disposal?” 

The blonde nodded and pointed off to the side of the cafe towards the park. The children were still playing, and, as Eva noted, there was a fair bit of litter surrounding an overflowing trash can. “I still couldn’t believe the nerve of it. ‘Your offer is appreciated Mrs. Brandon, but the city has no need of R.E.I.’s services at this time.’ Then I see crap like that lying around everywhere.”

It was easy to understand why the woman was heated. Her proposal was a surprisingly ecological one that involved taking the city trash and shrinking it away; and in doing so ensuring cleaner environments, more space for development, and some attention-grabbing headlines. The city didn’t bite, officially citing financial cost concerns. All that work only to have it fall apart before it ever really had a chance. It was a rare time Eva could offer her sympathies. 

“At least we’re finally getting to a point where the tech is a bit viable.” Dana continued. “Ya weren’t around in the early days Evie. Back then I had nothing but research grants and theoretical data, and I still had to pitch this stuff to these people! And all anyone ever wanted to talk about was shrinking people.” She sputtered her lips in a childish manner. “Like that’s useful.”

“Please don’t call me Evie.” Eva admonished. “Besides, little people can have uses.”

“Like what?”

Eva hadn’t expected to be called on that. She blinked, a number of possibilities coming to mind she couldn’t possibly suggest. She glanced aside hurriedly, eyes returning to the kids and their new game they’d started. “...Hide and Seek.”

“Oh sure, we’ll sell a multi-billion dollar company on our ability to provide Hide and Seek.”

“Well, you asked.” Eva pouted. Dana had her dead to rights on that one sadly.. “Thankfully, that’s not an issue anymore. You suffered so that I would not. Truly, I am standing on the shoulders of giants. Your years of sacrifice and hard work is noted. I’ll be sure to give you a raise when I’m CEO.”

Dana snorted. “Careful. Think your head is starting to swell a bit.”

“Couldn’t be, we haven’t worked out growth technology yet.” Eva joked with a smirk and a decisive sip of her bubble tea.

“And for the world’s sake let’s hope we never do.” The blonde laughed. “You got a big enough head as it is.”

Eva leaned back in her seat and chuckled. “Hey, I would be a wonderful giant.”

“You’d go on a rampage.”

“I didn’t say a kind one.”

Dana got a good little laugh out of the comment. “You wouldn’t be you if you were I guess. Just...take it easy on poor Tina will you? Can’t help but notice she’s been pulling a lot of long days lately, and if you’re trying to crunch this deal out…”

“She’ll be fine.” Came the dismissive reply.

Their meal was just about up, it seemed. The duo enjoyed a bit more time together exchanging banter as only friends could. Office gossip, client updates, personal affairs, whatever crossed their minds until the check came. Both wasted little time in paying and leaving . The only evidence of their meal was the trash they left behind and two slips of paper: One with a generous tip and another with the gratuity scratched out.