"I would have expected them to send someone down here," Kyle said.
"I was thinking the same thing."
Dalia bit her lower lip and waited excitedly for them to begin but they had barely began when the entire room suddenly went dark.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm as we sort out the power in the conference room," the lady with the sexy British accent said as dim emergency lights lit up the room. Dalia could not help but notice that the conference room looked almost romantic.
"What's going on?" Dalia whispered.
"There must be something wrong with the power supply but the back-up generator should kick in at any time now," Kyle assured her.
"Hopefully. I am literally dying in anticipation here."
Kyle smiled.
"You are really excited about these guys, huh?" he asked and she nodded.
"I haven't been this excited about anything since I found out Roger Miller was coming to my fifteenth birthday party."
Kyle looked at her and smiled.
"Roger Miller?" he asked and she sighed in an almost dreamy voice.
"He was only the most popular guy in my grade … actually the whole of junior high worshipped him. He was like the big kahuna in school being the state's best and youngest swimmer."
"Was there any reason he would have missed out on your party?" Kyle asked.
"Well, like I said, he was the big kahuna and I was just … a math and science geek."
"A geek? You mean glasses and everything?" he asked, smiling goofily.
"Yup. The whole nine yards."
"I'm sorry but I am having a hard time picturing you as a geek. I mean you are this perfect … " he was still talking when the British woman spoke again.
"My sincere apologies everyone but it seems like our power issues might be a little more complicated than we thought of. So, I'm afraid we will have to reschedule everything."
"What?" Dalia muttered under her breath.
"Don't worry. It is a week-long conference. I'm sure they have a plan B for Finch and Lindgren's presentation," Kyle said. "Somehow I have a feeling that is the only thing you are sad about."
Dalia shrugged as he stood up and presented his hand to her.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Well, our schedule just got clear and this is the perfect excuse to see what London has to offer."
"It's raining outside," she pointed out and he shook his head.
"No. It was raining. Now it's just cold."
She stood up and placed her hand in his. She could not help but feel a rush of adrenaline as he felt his warm skin against hers.
For a long time as Dalia and Kyle walked hand in hand, she was not very sure what she was supposed to do or say. She had never really been this close to him before and at the back of her mind she kept on wondering what the big idea was. Her heart was racing, a little too much. But the more time she spent with him, the more relaxed she felt around him. By the time they finally walked into a restaurant, Dalia realized that she had more in common with her boss than she initially thought. When he told her that he would be taking her round London, she had not really expected him to take her to some of her favorite spots.
The London eye. Museum of natural history. Tower Bridge. And her absolute favorite: the London dungeon.
"I would have pictured you as a Hilton kind of person," she said as she looked around the Vietnamese restaurant they were in.
Kyle smiled and nodded.
"I can imagine that's what the entire world thinks about me."
"Well, do you blame them? You are the founder and CEO of a multi-billion dollar empire. It's only normal if people make such an assumption."
Kyle smiled as he rubbed his temple.
"Actually, I started out way lower … "
She smiled as the waiter brought them their menus.
"Somehow I feel like this is the whole started from the bottom and now you are at the top cliché story I have heard a little too well."
"Well, it is true."
"I know it is but Donald Trump also claims to have started out from the top yet he had a ‘small' six figure loan to start his empire."
"If it makes you feel better I never had a six figure lump sum to begin my business or anything of the sort."
Dalia bit her lower lip and brushed off a strand of her hair as she looked at her menu. She looked at it for a long minute before she frowned.
"This is all too foreign … I mean, Chinese, Thai cuisines. This, I have tried but this?" she shook her head. "I have never even considered Vietnamese food."
Kyle smiled.
"Need me to help you out?" he asked and she nodded.
"Please."
She put her menu down and watched in surprise as he mentioned the foods in the menu in perfect Vietnamese accent. She raised an eyebrow over the other, obviously surprised.
"And you speak the language." She shook her head. "Have any more rabbits you want to pull out of the hat?"
"Like I said, I started out pretty low in the financial world and in that time, I spent some time in Asia. Bangkok, Hanoi, Japan."
"Forgive me if I seem extremely clueless but you are in the motoring industry and I know for a fact that countries like Japan make vehicles for … countries that are not us. People who drive on the wrong side of the road."
Kyle smiled.
"Have you ever considered that maybe we are the ones who drive on the wrong side of the road?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.
"We are America. Everything we do is right. Pun intended."
"Yeah," Kyle said nodding. "Including slavery and segregation."
Dalia smiled. Kyle always knew how to hit her at the exactly right spot.
"Touché," she said.
The waiter came back with their food. She looked at him and she looked at her plate. It all looked so good and smelled delicious. But the fact remained that she didn't have the first clue what she was looking at. She took a sip of her red wine and put her glass down.
"This looks great but … " she started as she looked at him, shaking her head.
"You are looking at a noodle dip, a couple of spring rolls and some spicy chicken on a bed of fried rice." He took a sip of his own wine. "And it all washes down perfectly with a good glass of red wine."
"Wow," she said in a soft voice.
"I know, right?" Kyle took his chopsticks out of the covering. "You have not lived until you have had at least one spring roll from every Asian country … well, from the ones you can visit without fear of causing an international incident."
"You really have been around the world, haven't you?" Dalia asked as she took a bite of her food.
"Yeah, I guess I have," Kyle said nodding.
"Oh my god … this is amazing," Dalia said in a whisper, thought loud enough for Kyle to hear, making him grin widely. "What do you call this anyway?" she asked.
"The name is a little too long and I still have some work to do when it comes to training you in the language and the culture … the whole nine yards."
She smiled and shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess we do have to work on the language and culture stuff, huh?"
"Yeah … I guess."
Kyle took a bite of his own food and then looked at her.
"So, I have to ask, Uncle Sam," he started and she nodded. "Three generations?"
"Actually, four. That I know of," Dalia started. "I would have wanted to be out there but I guess I was not the right fit. Physically that is."
"Really?" Kyle was sure he heard something in her voice that made him doubt her reasons. Because he had seen a number of plus size, sometimes even overweight military men and women. All it took was some hardcore drills and wouldn't you know it, you would be back in tip top shape.
"Fine. I hated the idea of spending all my time wondering whether I would wake up the next morning," she said. "Plus I hate loud sudden noises and that usually happens in warzones."
Kyle smiled.
"Yeah it does."
"So, that is it about me. How about you, Mr. Moody?" she asked.
"I thought we were going to drop the whole formal talk."
"I'm sorry but I don't really know how to talk to you in any other way," Dalia said in a soft voice. "I have always just addressed you as mister … it is just strange to suddenly start calling you Kyle."
"What if I want you to address me as Kyle? Would that change anything?" he asked and she shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
Dalia was confused. She was not sure what he was on about. The whole day, she had been trying to decipher what his words meant all day but she was still not understanding what was going on. All she knew was that he was being friendly … a little friendlier than he usually was. He was the kind of boss that she actually didn't mind working for. He was everything everyone hoped to get in a superior when they began their career and that was exactly what she got.