Chapter 9

(Discussions and Decisions)

The cramping in Sarah's stomach the following morning reassured her that she was indeed NOT pregnant. But along with the sense of relief also came the irritability.

The quote she and Maggie had pulled together for Sam's firm had been well received by the company; and Mr. Conrad himself had called Maggie, to confirm their meeting for the following day. Now they sat going over costings, and estimated time factors; preparing for that meeting.

"What IS up with you?" Maggie suddenly demanded in exasperation, as Sarah made another snippy comment about nothing

Sarah sighed. "Sorry ... It's just that time of the month and I'm feeling a bit grotty," she apologised.

Maggie grunted sympathetically. "I know that feeling," she said wrinkling her forehead.

"Is there anything you need? Pain killers? A nice warm drink?"

"No thanks ... I took some Paracetamol about half an hour ago; and I think they're only just starting to kick in." She stood up and moved away from the desk she was working at.

"I'll put the kettle on," she offered. "My concentration is at about zero, so I'm not getting much achieved sitting here."

They sat drinking coffee, and munching on dry biscuits to help Sarah's stomach pains.

"So how are things going with the hot and sexy Mr. Reynolds?" Maggie asked suddenly.

Sarah blushed and smiled a little.

"Great," she replied, "he came to Jenny and Keith's party on Saturday ... He met the family," she grinned.

Maggie laughed. "And he's still around?" she marvelled.

Sarah giggled. "He looked a bit shell shocked by the end of the evening but yes, he's still around." She didn't mention Sam's aborted effort at a marriage proposal. That bit still hurt too much, to talk about it.

By the time they finished their coffee break; Sarah was feeling a little more with it, and so they sat working on the project for the next couple of hours. They managed to get all their calculations down and she closed the files with a sigh of relief.

"Well I don't think there is much more we can do there until tomorrow." Maggie said with an air of satisfaction.

"Agreed," Sarah responded with a little nod. "So what now?" and then answering her own question. "Lunch, and then we need to go and sort out Mrs. Asher's accounts computer. She said the accounts package keeps crashing on her, and she's getting fed up with it."

"Lunch sounds good," Maggie nodded her head. "But can you deal with Mrs. Asher on your own? There's somewhere I need to be at two o'clock."

"Sure," Sarah agreed instantly. She frowned. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

Maggie waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, fine," she reassured her. "It's just something and nothing ... but I'd really rather not talk about it at the moment."

Sarah felt a twinge of alarm at this vague comment.

"Mags?" she asked softly.

Maggie looked away embarrassed. "Honestly Sarah its nothing. Nothing for either of us to worry about. NEITHER of us!" she emphasised.

"Well ... if you say so," Sarah said doubtfully. "But I really wish you would talk to me Maggie. I hate it that I think there's something going on, but I don't know what."

"Hah!" Maggie laughed. "And of course you just can't shut up about Sam Reynolds can you?" she accused.

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. "Pete?" she asked. "Is this about Pete?" she frowned in confusion. "But I thought you said he'd gone to America for six months?"

Maggie's cheeks flushed hotly. "He's coming back for a few days and I said I'd meet him at the airport," she confessed.

"Have you been talking much to him then?" Sarah asked surprised.

"Err ... Only every night" Maggie confessed again.

Sarah grinned. "Well well well!" she murmured.

Maggie's eyes flew to Sarah's face.

"Oh! Just shut up!" she snapped grumpily. "And let's go and get some dinner."

They opted to go to a café just round the corner, near the underground. Their lunch was a light meal, since neither of them had much of an appetite. They discussed potential causes for Mrs Asher's problem; even though they both knew pretty much for sure, what the problem actually was.

"I don't know what time I'll be back so will you be alright on your own. Have you got anything planned for tonight?" Maggie asked as they finished their coffee.

"By the time I've finished with Mrs Asher there won't be much point in going back to the workshop," Sarah shrugged.

Maggie grinned. "Oh my yes! She does like to have a natter; doesn't she?" she laughed.

"She's harmless enough, and it's all good customer relations. At the moment Mrs Asher wouldn't dream of calling anyone else for her IT needs."

"And tonight?" Maggie asked. "Any plans with the gorgeous Mr Reynolds?"

Sarah blushed. "Yes ... we're going back to his place; he wants to cook dinner for me."

Maggie laughed delightedly. "Trust you to find a man who not only CAN but, IS more than happy to cook for you!"

Sarah shrugged. "It's either that or starve," she said with a straight face.

They left the café together and went down to the underground, where they hugged, and then went their separate ways.

Sarah made her way to the quaint little flower shop; which was owned and run by the nice Mrs Asher.

The bell over the door tinkled as she entered, and the smell of freshly cut flowers hung heavy in the air. Mrs Asher came bustling through from the back room, a short round little figure with long black hair and bright blue eyes ... she could have been anything from forty to sixty.

"Can I help you?" she was asking as she hurried along. She stopped short as she recognised Sarah standing just inside the door. "Sarah!" she exclaimed in delight. "How good of you to come."

Sarah stepped forward to take that lady's hand. "Hello Mrs Asher. How's business?"

Mrs Asher wrinkled her nose, and then sighed philosophically. "Oh things are a bit quiet at the moment but, things have been slow before, and I'm sure we'll survive ... we always have before"

Sarah murmured sympathetically, but was careful not to get drawn into any financial problems with her client. Her own business would not survive long if she did that. "Ok Mrs Asher," she said instead. "Lead on; and I'll see if I can at least tame your beast for you."

Mrs Asher laughed delightedly and indicated to the door leading to the back.

"You remember the way don't you dear?" she said to Sarah. "I'll go and put the kettle on while you take a look." She said something to someone just out of sight and a second later a tall middle aged woman came into view.

"Hi there Mrs Willis, how are you?" Sarah asked the woman cheerfully.

"Hello Sarah ... I'm alright thank you dear. How are you and Maggie doing?" The woman gave a smile that lit up her face, so that the long beakyness became a delicate prettiness.

"Oh ... we're okay," she said cautiously. "Just ticking by you – know?"

"Oh my yes!" Mrs Willis sighed. "There's a lot of that going on at the moment, isn't there."

They walked past each other, Mrs Willis to keep an eye on the shop and Sarah to the back room where the two computers were set up.

She sat down at one of them and started to type.

By the time Mrs Asher came in with two cups of coffee Sarah had made her diagnosis.

"So dear..." Mrs Asher asked as she handed Sarah a steaming mug. "What's the verdict?"

She took the coffee with thanks and took a sip.

"Well Mrs Asher..." Sarah began. "You know that I've been telling you for ages that these computers are past their use by date."

Mrs Asher gave a grimace. "I know dear but I just don't have the budget for replacements right now."

Sarah raised her eyebrows in exasperation. She had been telling Mrs Asher that she needed new hardware for the better part of a year, but she always received the same response. Mrs Asher was determined to run her two old computers into the ground, and there was little that Sarah could do about it.

"You know Mrs Asher, that every time you have to call me out; it's costing you money." She said seriously. "And there's really very little left that I can do. You know that you're on borrowed time with these computers, and how are you going to run things without them?"

Mrs Asher sat up straight. "Wouldn't you be able to replace them fairly quickly?" she asked.

"Well ... I'd do my best of course, but it would be a few days at least, maybe a week. How would you place your orders and run things? How would you keep track of your stock? Invoice your customers? Make payments?"

Mrs Asher held her hands up in defeat as Sarah would have gone on. "Alright Sarah." she sighed. "I know that you're right but..." she hesitated, "well ... things haven't just been quiet for a little while," she confided at last. "I've lost two contracts for two hotels, these past two months. They said that 'flowers in the rooms just weren't essential to the running of the hotels'."

Sarah nodded sympathetically again. "How about, if I just do the accounts computer for the minute? It is after all the one that's causing you the most problems."

Mrs Asher brightened. "Yes that could be a way forward."

"Maybe I could take the memory from the accounts computer, and add it to the admin computer," Sarah mused to herself.

"Mrs Asher nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes that's an excellent idea!" she enthused. "If you can take all the working bits from my computer and add it to Nora's computer, maybe then I won't have to replace that one at all!"

Sarah laughed. "I'm sorry Mrs Asher, but I'm afraid they don't work like that. All I can do; is buy you a little time. It WILL need replacing eventually; and probably sooner rather than later."

Mrs Asher sighed. "You know best dear. I know that you wouldn't steer me wrong."

Sarah played around with the two old computers, deleting unnecessary files, defragmenting the hard drives, and just trying to get the computers to run the best that they could. It was a hopeless task but it would keep them going, until she could get a replacement in for a least one of them.

"I'll get the computer ordered first thing in the morning and fax you over the prices first thing in the afternoon. I've an appointment mid morning so I can't do it any sooner than that I'm afraid," she told Mrs Asher. She glanced at her watch and gave a little gasp. It was nearly five thirty. "Heavens!" she cried, "I'm running late." She grabbed her bag and her jacket. "I'll let you know when it can be delivered to you, as soon as I know," she promised making her way to the door.