Chapter 4

We came in by the kitchen and my daughters said in unison, "Good evening, Miz Watson. We're glad you're here."

May said, "Dad will take your sweater. He put a nice bottle of white wine in to chill. It should be cool now. Would you like a glass?"

Laura blinked. "Yes, that would be fine."

May said, "Very good. If you and Dad would be seated in the living room, I will bring you each a glass." Laura blinked again. She gave me her sweater and I led the way into the living room. We sat down, her in an arm chair and me on the sofa close to her.

A few moments later, May came out with two wine glasses filled to the three-quarter point each with white wine. "Dinner will be in about fifteen minutes." She handed one glass to Laura and the other to me. She skipped back into the kitchen.

Laura looked at me suspiciously. I said, "Don't look at me. I've already accused them of collusion. April denied it, saying that she would have already chilled the wine if they were up to anything. I think they like you though the idea to call and invite you here was completely my idea. I think April was happily surprised when I called and then thought to ask you to supper."

She took a sip of wine. "The wine is good, Paul. I will believe you. I saw her face when I gave her my number. She is a wonderful young lady. She is firm in her beliefs but is so nice and pretty that no one will argue with her. I don't think they would be successful because she is also quite smart."

I said, "I know you agreed to go to a concert with me. Do you like classical music?"

"Yes, I do. I even like some opera. Of course, I also like more modern music including rock and country and some jazz. In jazz, I like the more melodic tunes rather than the clangorous ones. Rap has never appealed to me."

"My musical interests are similar though you can add big band music to the mix. I enjoy a wide range and work over the CD player in my car for my little commute. I have set up an old walkman for music when I run."

"When do you run?"

"Not as often as I should. Usually, it's in the early mornings though I haven't been very regular lately. April's been sleeping in since the first of the year."

"April runs with you?"

"Yes, we've always enjoyed getting up early and putting down a couple of miles. She is sleeping more and her studies this year are starting to challenge her for the first time in her life."

"I haven't run since moving here late this fall. Do you street run or is there a track close? I usually run during the summer because I'm on my feet enough during the school year."

"Usually I will street run to the senior high track and then run it. Our neighborhoods are quiet so there's little danger though I do wear a reflective vest."

April came in and announced formal tones, "Dinner is served." However, she spoiled the effect by giggling. We followed her into the dining room. She and May had set the table with the good china and silverware and served the plates even putting a small sprig of greenery on each piece of fish. We had ninety second rice and broccoli with a butter sauce. We brought our glasses in with us. May hopped up to refresh our glasses as I seated Laura and then sat down myself.

Laura looked at the plates, silverware, and food. "Ladies, this is exquisite. I am officially impressed."

May smiled impishly. "Thank you. We thought Daddy could use all the help we could provide."

I blushed. Laura said, "He's doing quite well without help though I appreciate the effort you have expended." I blushed a little more but was proud of my girls. Their efforts told me that they liked Laura.

We ate and I asked the girls about their school day and answered questions about mine. My company was involved in two interesting cases before the EEOC and I was handling them. We had two men in similar positions who were terminated for the same reason. What made the case interesting was that one man was Caucasian with an Afro-American supervisor while the other man was Afro-American with a Caucasian supervisor. In each situation, the supervisors had followed company guidelines. The men were located in different states before two different EEOC representatives. I had finally gone over their heads and had the two cases consolidated. That action made the two EEOC representatives look foolish because of the lengthy paper trail from me requesting the consolidation. However, my task was to get the matters closed without much more effort. April had figured it out but May was having trouble understanding the subtleties of the situation and why the two representatives didn't want to understand our position.

I said, "May, if you imagine that you and a friend each want a horse and your fathers both refuse, wouldn't you want someone to look at the situation without seeing the parallels that exist in the two situations. The two men who were terminated want vindication and money. The two EEOC representatives want to look good before their bosses. I'm trying to extricate my company from the situation but we have the money. Nobody cares really about making the company happy. It puts us in a difficult position. Now, we have forced the two EEOC representatives to acknowledge the existence of each other and the similar factual situations. They are faced with a poor set of solutions now."

"Daddy, then you have to keep their boss involved so that a solution that works for the company is the one they want and have them push their underlings toward adopting it."

I nodded. Laura was astonished. She said, "She understands it and sees the solution you are moving the EEOC representatives toward. May, are you sure you're not thirty rather than ten?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm quite sure. Daddy says I may make a good lawyer. April already lets me argue on her behalf before the court of Daddy." She grinned. "I don't even charge much."

"I guess you're on the honor roll also?"