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1Part Nine: Monday
As she was driving home from work the next day, Meryn admitted to herself how tired she was. And frustrated and upset. The presentation had gone very well. As planned, Meryn had been the primary presenter, standing in her high heels at the podium for over three hours. What bothered her was that except for asking her for an occasional clarification of her data, all of the questions from the Board were directed to Michael, who had brilliantly utilized her advice to simplify his answers for them so that they clearly seemed to understand. At he end, the proposal had been approved, and the project given the green light to proceed. While everyone on the team had been congratulated by the bosses, the most effusive praise had been directed to Michael. It really upset her that he appeared to be getting most of the credit for the research and analysis that had primarily been done by her. She had little doubt that after today, Michael would be named project manager. While she would clearly be included as a valuable contributor, it depressed her that she seemed to be becoming viewed as little more than a data wonk, and not as leadership material.
Feigning a headache, she begged off from joining her team members for celebratory drinks after work. As she arrived home, she lamented the fact that she had had Jeremy return that evening. Oh well, she thought, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about making dinner, although she really wasn’t very hungry. She decided she would eat quickly, and then send Jeremy home.
Entering the apartment at 5:45,more than an hour before she was expected, she muttered a barely audible response to Jeremy’s greeting, and hurried directly to her bedroom. She couldn’t wait to change her clothes, and particularly take off the high heels that had been pinching her the entire day that she had been standing in them. She put on a tee shirt, a pair of cutoffs, and her slippers, and went back out to the livingroom and collapsed into her sofa, staring into space.
After a couple of minutes, Jeremy came in and offered her a cold glass of lemonade, which she silently accepted, barely acknowledging him. As he remained standing there by the sofa, she finally looked up at him.
“What Jeremy?” She said somewhat more sharply than she had intended. It was not his fault she felt as lousy as she did.
“I was just wondering Miss Meryn how your presentation went today.”
“Fine, I guess.” She answered in a resigned voice. When he continued standing there without speaking, she added. “Is there any thing else?”
“Well, it just seems that you’re very tense and upset.”
“I’m just exhausted Jeremy. It was a very long day, and my feet are killing me from standing in those high heels all day.”
“If you’ll excuse me from offering Miss Meryn, but I think I might be able to do something that might help with both of those problems.”
“And what might that be?”
“Dinner is simmering and about thirty minutes from being done, so in the meantime I’d be very honored to give you a nice foot massage.”
A foot massage! She had never had a foot massage before. No one had ever offered to give her one. Her first inclination was to graciously refuse, but she was intrigued. And her feet really did ache.
“Um...okay Jeremy. That does sound interesting.”
Jeremy smiled his smile and quickly disappeared into her bedroom, returning seconds later with a bottle of her scented body lotion. He knelt down in front of her, took off her slippers, poured a generous amount of lotion onto his hands rubbing them together to warm it up, and then carefully picked up her right foot and began slowly and gently kneading it. He continued like this for several minutes, silently, before putting her first foot down, applying more lotion to his hands, rubbing them, and then picking up her left foot to begin the process anew.
Meryn did feel some tension begin to lessen as her feet began to feel much better. It was at this point that Jeremy broke the silence.
“So how did the presentation really go Miss Meryn?”
Why was he breaking the mood, she thought. She was just beginning to relax. Still, she realized, she did want to talk about it with somebody, and it was probably better to do so with someone who was not involved. As he continued massaging her feet, she began to tell him about the meeting, how well it went on the surface, but how she was bothered by how her role had been marginalized. Instead of offering a bland commiseration, Jeremy surprised her by asking questions about each of the team members, particularly Michael, and about each of the bosses, particularly the President, Mr Martin. She found herself going into great details about each of them, what she felt were their strengths and weaknesses, and her likes and dislikes about each of them.
After she had finished, Jeremy observed that it might be important for someone to ask Mr. Martin if he still had any questions and some of the ramifications of the data, that some of it might be confusing, particularly as much of the analysis how been presented through the biased filter of Michael, who was not as completely familiar with the material as she. Meryn sat back and considered this. She had noticed that Michael had glossed over several somewhat important issues during the meeting, and had even gotten several minor points wrong. At the time she didn’t think it was a major problem, but maybe Jeremy was right. It was crucially important that the Board, particularly Mr. Martin, had a full and complete understanding of the project for it to succeed. She decided that she would try to find a way tomorrow to speak to him, to make sure that all of his questions were answered.
Thinking that this whole conversation had only taken about five minutes, she was surprised to realize that it had been over a half an hour. Jeremy had continued alternately massaging her feet throughout, and they now felt wonderful. She, herself, felt completely relaxed, and suddenly very hungry. She mentioned the latter fact to him, and he grinned, put her slippers back on, and rushed to get dinner on the table.
After seating her at her place, and serving her a large portion of beef bourguignonne over wild rice, taking a very small amount for himself, they continued their conversation. Meryn now went into what she liked about her job, how excited she was about the project, and things she hoped she could accomplish in the future. Once again, Jeremy’s questions and observations helped her to look at things in different ways than she had before, and as she retired into the livingroom again, sipping her tea while he cleaned, she reflected how well and optimistic she now felt as compared to when she arrived home.
When Jeremy was finished in the kitchen, he came in to ask if there was anything more she needed him to do before he left. She answered no, but then added as he was leaving.
“You were right about your foot massage Jeremy. It was really very nice. I think I would really like it if I could have another one tomorrow night.”
“Absolutely Miss Meryn.” He beamed as he left. “Whatever you wish.”
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