18 The Project

"You're Mr. Maxwell, my boss." She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by asking if she knew who he was. Of course she knew who he was. He was her boss. Why else would she agree to go to his office or to this dinner. Was there more to it? Was she supposed to be a groupie and know his astrology sign or something. He was clearly a David. No one else could look that god-like and flawless and have such an air of confidence and power. Even the way he was sitting there in front of her was as though he were the richest man on the planet and could have or do anything he wanted to.

His brother hadn't said a word during the presentation then left in a rush and now this David harassed her on the elevator and took her to dinner. If he could have or do anything he wanted to, Meredith wondered what he wanted with her. This was all a little over the top for repercussions for bumping into his driver. Was he quizzing her now? She vaguely recalled what his brother Edward looked like because she hadn't been paying attention but she knew they had the same attitude of owning everything. They were very odd but she knew that they were her bosses.

"There are several Maxwells. Which one am I. I'm obviously not Edward Maxwell because you already had a meeting with him earlier. What do you refer to me as?"

"Honestly?" She cocked her head wondering if he really wanted to know. She didn't really have to interact with any of the Maxwells and hadn't met any of them prior to earlier that day. She did bump into this David's driver but she hadn't really seen or noticed the David because he was quickly gone wherever it was that he goes to. Probably to harass some other employee for practically no good reason.

"Preferably." He arched an eyebrow wondering what she would 'honestly' say. The curiosity poured out of him as he waited for her response. She blinked up at him and clearly spoke without hesitation.

"A David." Meredith responded and the David smirked but other than that he made no signs in the positive or negative towards her remark. They were interrupted from going any further with the topic for a moment. The server arrived with some sort of artichoke dish, made sure there wasn't a need for anything else at the moment, and then left again.

Meredith didn't wait for proper etiquette and began to eat. It looked amazing and she might as well get something out of this meeting. She hoped she was at least being paid overtime. She did have to stay late on a Friday night to have this ridiculous impromptu meeting with a David about god knows what. The appetizer was amazing. She wasn't sure what all was in it but after having tasted one bite she piled a few more onto her plate and began to dig in with out worry of how she looked. She wasn't here to impress anyone. She just didn't want to get fired for turning down a late meeting with one of the top bosses, one of the Davids.

"Well you obviously know about the fan club but are clearly not part of it. That's a plus." He said and followed suit as he placed a piece of the delicious looking appetizer into his delicious looking mouth. Meredith shook her head to keep such thoughts at bay. Of course his mouth was delicious looking. He was an elevator god and a David and the most handsome being she had ever laid eyes on. But that didn't change the fact that he was practically interrogating her. And what did he mean by 'that's a plus?'

"Knowing about the fan club is a plus?" She asked between bites. If only for the appetizer before her this meeting might actually be worth it, she thought. But that was still to be decided because she had no idea what this meeting was even about. She just had her guesses and those didn't seem logical. At least he was semi-complimenting her.

"No. Not being a part of the fan club is a plus. Had you been a part of it you would've definitely knew who I am, possibly better than I know who I am."

"Oh." She wasn't sure if he was joking or not but how could the fan club members know him better than he knew himself. He was correct that she didn't know which Maxwell he was but as far as she was concerned it didn't matter which David he was. It was hard not to recognize him as a David. Who else could he be looking inhumanly gorgeous and carrying himself as though he not only owned the elevator they met in but the entire building they worked in as well. As long as she knew that he was a David and thus knew that his father owned the company she could properly address him and conduct herself appropriately. Well other than accidentally bumping into his driver but those things happen. She really couldn't be blamed for such an accident. He couldn't fire her for being clumsy could he? She made a mental note to look up work policy and see if anything in the human resource information hinted that she could be fired for being clumsy.

The server returned. He took the dish away and then replaced it with two bowls of truffle soup.

"Oh my god this is the best soup I've had ever!" Meredith said as she slurped away again not waiting for the David whatsoever. The David gave her a look as he ate his own bowl of soup quietly without all the slurping. "Sorry." She said and cut back the slurping, which was difficult for her to do with such a delicious soup but she managed somehow. Taylor would've been proud at such restraint.

Speaking of restraint she was having a difficult time not jumping the David. If he had been anyone else and she wasn't nursing the longest heartbreak in human history or at least that's how it felt to her. But if those two factors weren't an issue she would have wanted to jump him the moment she saw him on the elevator. And here he was in front of her feeding her soup. And not just any soup. It was the best soup she had ever tasted.

This man was beyond gorgeous and the sex appeal oozed off of him in abundance and he knew how to order a good meal. If it wasn't for his ridiculous inconvenience to her day she might have attempted to flirt with him. Who was she kidding? Meredith barely went on dates let alone flirting with gods.

"Do you have a boyfriend or a lover?" The David asked her bluntly. Was this David a mind reader? How did he know she was thinking about flirting with him and making him hers albeit in a different reality where she had the ability to flirt and he wasn't sodemanding with these weird unnecessary meeting.

She looked up from her soup which was nearly gone and saw that his bowl had already been emptied. How did he do that so fast, she wondered. She thought she was eating too fast and here his soup quietly vanished. After she regained her composure somewhat from his soup vanishing act she remembered his question, did she have a boyfriend or a lover?

"No." She answered without thinking about it as she was still shocked at how amazingly he polished off his soup. The server was back again. Their bowls were taken away and replaced with dishes of short ribs, potatoes and an amazing sauce. Meredith was glad she hadn't had a lot to eat today so she would have room to eat all this yummy food that kept appearing before her. This David had good tastes at least. The meal was exquisite. And it was most likely far out of her price range or she would definitely return. She made a mental note to look it up and maybe save her money to return and treat herself.

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" The David asked as he managed the meal before him. It seemed like a normal interview question unlike the previous one. Maybe the other question was just to keep her on her toes or make sure she was actually paying attention. He didn't seem to go into more and was moving right along so she decided not to think to much into it and moved along with him.

"Oh?" Meredith had to think about this one a bit, what would she imagine five years to look like for herself. As she thought she noticed the David began to eat his meal patiently awaiting her answer. At least he wasn't too pushy although the meeting in itself seemed pushy.

She hoped in five years to not be so focused on her ex and have moved on with her love life. She really didn't want to be so mopey and bogged down about the past and she knew she would have to get past it someday. She just didn't think she was ready yet for that. She was trying with these recent dates she had agreed to but she knew it would take more than a couple of dates to pull her out of her slump.

She really hoped Dino would live forever but she got him when he was just a kitten eleven years ago. If he was still around she would like to give him a wonderful little play room to himself with the perfect cat tower to enjoy.

She wanted to work on more intricate origami and get to see some really cool designs. She had planned on looking up a few places to go. She wanted to travel and would enjoy finding more origami treats along her travels.

Finally she came to an answer that she could actually tell this David without giving away too much of herself.

"Hopefully the head designer in the department. I don't want to manage because the design managers don't get to work on the projects very often. I love working on projects so that wouldn't be ideal. It would be nice to move closer if I can make enough to afford it. And I would like to have time to travel or at least go on a nice vacation annually…Yeah I think those sound feasible. Head designer, Move closer to work, and regular vacations." She looked up at him and added, "I don't plan on leaving the company if that's what you're asking."

"I wasn't, no." He told her matter of factly and dabbed at his mouth with his napkin as the server returned and their plates were taken away. The plates were replaced with small souffles. The David didn't wait and immediately cracked his and began to scoop it out.

"So what is the project? Or do you still have further questions?" She asked, then cracked her souffle as well and barely held back a moan as she tasted it. Upon a second taste a moan did slip and she noticed the David raise an eyebrow before he answered her.

"No those were all the questions I have," he said and had already finished his souffle. How does he do that, she thought, watching in awe as he took a sip from his water goblet. "I am the second son of Grant Maxwell and Faith Sharpe, the founders of Maxwell Sharpe Marketing Inc.

My name is Brayden Charles Maxwell. I am twenty-eight years old. I spend most of my time at work investing in the future of our company and ensuring it remains at its peak for many years to come." He told her as means of introduction albeit rather late as he should have introduced himself on the elevator but she wasn't as petty as him and wouldn't hold it against him. She hoped in doing so he would finally overlook the fact that she had bumped into his driver.

"No, I am not gay as the David Club states, I am a workaholic." He continued his monologue not allowing her too much time to continue her own inner monologue. "My father has decided to let my two brothers and myself compete for the title of CEO once he retires. He has based the competition on Work, Social, and Family life. He will judge our merits in each category and determine who has the overall best balance of the three and announce the next CEO.

I am the hardest working of my brothers and deserve more than them to be named CEO once my father steps down, however the other two areas I do not exce inl." Meredith found this all interesting but was wondering what that had to do with her or this so-called-project that he was supposedly interviewing her for. Maybe he just wanted to let it all out to someone and get it off his chest that he thought it was unfair he might not win when he had worked so hard. She continued to listen as she took a sip of her water.

"I attend some social functions and charity events where necessary as I see fit for the future of our company but my older brother, Edward, is better when it comes to the social events. He not only has friends in every area you could think of but might as well be the Bruce Wayne of the family going out to events like his alibi depends on it."

"Hmm." She managed to squeeze in as he took a breath, sighed, then continued. There, there, she thought. Maybe the project was to be a venting partner. She let him continue without further interruption.

My younger brother, Clinton, Is the family guy. He not only is married but his wife just gave birth to a son, Bryce Grant Maxwell. Middle name has family man vote locked in. Although he isn't as involved at work as Edward and me, he and his wife are also big attendees at functions that are 'close to her heart,' or so he says. And while Edward is currently at odds with his fiance, he is still engaged. They are just going through a phase, as he puts it.

So even though I am the obvious choice based on work life they have the rounded out lives in social and family that Father is looking for which I need. All they have to do to surpass me is have one great designer from Graphic Design Apparel to bring in a luxury car company with all new rebranding and there Edward has it. Work, social, and family life in the bag." She thought to herself that Brayden Maxwell sure has it tough. He works so hard and in the end it all goes to his brothers. Such is life, such is life.

"My project for you is to help me where I am lacking so I can succeed in becoming CEO once my father steps down."

"Huh?" Meredith blinked a few times at him as she digested what he said along with her amazing meal. Then she recalled something from his monologue and gasped. "You're not gay?"

"Out of all I said, that's the question you ask?" He shook his head and sighed deeply.