Love is Easy 01: Dresden Problems

When he finally pulled away from the kiss, Clark saw the dull reflection of cum pooled across her body, just barely able to make it out in the darkness.

Kate gazed down her own body, amazed at what Clark had done.

--

Her head rested on his shoulder, nipples and hips pressed against him, this time in comfort and not lust. His fingers traced a line across her body, down the curve between narrow waist and swelling hips.

Kate barely spoke after. Even now he wasn't sure whether she was awake or asleep.

"Clark?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens tomorrow, even if it goes wrong, remember this moment. It was... special to me."

Tomorrow he'd be on a flight back to America, and Kate... well who knew what the future held for her. He would always have memories of the one night Kate Li wasn't strong enough to be alone.

--

Kate was gone when he awoke, back to her room to prepare.

They met for breakfast. She wore a sharp charcoal jacket and matching pencil skirt. Her teal blouse matched her fingernails, the cut low enough to show off the edges of her delicate collar bones.

Kate was all business, reviewing data and strategy. The previous night never came up, acting like it had never happened. That detail hurt but it was probably for the best.

Clark's career and Kate's return depended on the outcome of this meeting.

--

The meeting started rocky and went worse from there. Clark needed to show that the problems were in the customer's design, but it was the wrong audience.

He was talking to a Mr. Becker, the engineer responsible for the problematic design, the person least likely to listen. The only positive was that Mr. Becker spoke English, which eased communication, but as the meeting spiraled, Clark wondered if he would be better off letting Kate handle it in German.

The data was clear, but Mr. Becker wouldn't allow himself to see. They had lost the fight before ever stepping foot in the ring. Clark would be stuck in Austin at the very best and Kate on ice in Europe... if she didn't quit.

"So," Mr. Becker was finishing, "we agree that Helios will examine again the--"

He couldn't let this slip away. Clark was done feeling regret. The night before, he had faced overwhelming odds with a terrifying potential for violence and had decided to fight anyway.

Kate looked conflicted. She must have seen it too, their future slipping away.

"No," Clark said, a note of grim determination in his voice. "We do not agree."

"Well I'm sorry, but we--"

Clark was tired of losing slow. He would win right now or go down in flames.

"I want to speak to your boss--"

"Unfortunately that is impossible," Mr. Becker said.

Clark took a deep breath. "I am a Director for Helios Technologies, and I will not sit here talking to an engineer!"

Clark slammed his fist against the table. Mr. Becker jumped. There was a long period of uncomfortable silence, fates in the balance.

"I... it may be a moment--"

"We'll wait," Clark said.

"And Mr. Strausser doesn't speak English," he said.

"Ms. Li speaks German," Clark said.

Mr. Becker hesitated, then left to go find someone more important. Clark exhaled the breath he didn't remember holding.

Kate looked worried.

"You'll do fine," Clark said. He found her hand and squeezed. "Do whatever it takes. Don't worry about me."

She looked away. "Clark..." Kate was struggling to express something.

"I trust you," he finished.

Mr. Strausser, the Director of Engineering walked in to the conference room. He was well over six feet tall, large of frame and of belly. He wore an ill fitting suit and no tie. They had to restart the meeting from scratch, this time with Kate in the lead. Clark's data, Kate's everything else.

Her German was much better than the "reasonable" she had claimed. They made early efforts to have Clark involved, but he mostly slowed her down. Eventually Kate was flying on her own, answering questions, not bothering to translate, not needing to.

Clark watched her pirouette from fumbling and flirty to angry, almost yelling, then immediately back to laughing. As incredible as she was, it wasn't clear Mr. Strausser would ever bend.

Kate growled in German, pushing him harder and harder. As he started to reply, Kate talked right over him.

Clark was worried. Kate was quicker on her feet and more prepared, but he wondered how much of the problem was outside of her control. How much was rooted in her being a young Chinese woman?

It didn't matter because Kate wouldn't stop. Something was going to fracture, either Mr. Strausser's resolve or the entire relationship.

His stomach fluttered. Clark needed to intervene, deflect before it was too late.

He took a deep breath.

Kate knew what she was doing. She knew the facts. He had watched her eviscerate drunk frat boys and charm violent men. Kate could handle Mr. Strausser.

Clark needed to trust.

Kate launched one final volley of German at Mr. Strausser, and for the second time in as many days, Clark saw the exact moment when Kate won.

"True?" Kate asked in German.

"True," he repeated.

Kate cracked a joke, probably letting him know it was okay to lose, that actually it could be fun.

Mr. Strausser smiled.

--

"You are incredible," Clark said. He held his praise until they were back in the car.

Kate didn't smile, didn't look at him. She concentrated on driving.

"Kate?"

"I'm fine."

She didn't look fine.

"We won," Clark said. "You won."

Kate turned to him, a brittle smile on her face.

"It's not enough," she said. "I had a chance, but I was too weak to take it."

"A chance to do what?"

"Beat Maggie Zhang."

"I don't understand. You did beat--"

"It doesn't matter," she said.

It wasn't the first time they were having parallel conversations.

She looked fondly at Clark. A sad smile.

"I missed my window at Helios. There'll be other Maggie's to force this lesson," Kate said. "I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt, or maybe I just..."

Kate trailed off. Her sad eyes found his. Clark thought back to the night before, cryptic statements about needing people and weakness.

"You don't have to be like her."

Kate shifted back to the road. "It's fine."

"There are other lessons worth learning."

"Like what?" Kate was already moving on. Defeated.

"Looking out for other people is not weakness."

"How does that get me home?"

"I'll talk to Baker--"

Kate shook her head. "I have to do it."

"You did," Clark said. "The way you pushed Mr. Strausser was incredible--"

"It doesn't matter."

"This wasn't my victory. It was yours. I'll talk to Baker, get you the position you earned."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Tell the truth and not leave until he sees it," Clark said. "Just don't quit. Give me a chance to fight."

Kate watched the road while Clark watched her. She took a deep breath, then nodded. Clark suspected she was re-imagining her life, finding the narrative that would allow herself to go home.

"Okay," she said.

Kate turned her focus once again back to Clark. He saw something new in her eyes. Desire? Maybe weakness. For him. She took a wobbly breath then leaned in, brown eyes darting to his lips.

They had made love in the darkness the evening before, Clark's lips and tongue exploring where his eyes could not, tasting the most intimate parts of her body.

Clark leaned in, longing for Kate, needing more than one night.

"I trust you," she said. A vulnerable smile.

When they finally kissed, Clark had that rampaging, nervous excitement he always felt when kissing a woman for the first time.

--

Mr. Baker eventually paused at Clark's door, on his way to somewhere else.

"Heard it went well in Dresden," he said. "Maggie has been nothing but complimentary."

"Was a pretty rough start, but we got it turned around. Do you know Kate Li?"

Baker stopped. "I do. Sharp young woman."

"Kate was there. She was incredible, the reason we kept the account..."

Baker looked confused.

"She could've handled Strausser without me, but I couldn't have done it without her... if that makes sense."

"It does," he said. Clark could see the impatience in his body language. There was only one rule for dealing with executives and Clark was breaking it. He kept fighting anyway.

"If you'll excuse me--"

"She's going to quit sir."

Baker stopped again, his stare so intense it was tangible.

"If she doesn't get a transfer back to Shanghai. She'll leave," Clark said.

Baker sighed.

"Fine. I'll talk to Maggie--"

"She won't work for Maggie Zhang."

When was the last time someone interrupted Carlton Baker? Years?

"Well do you have a suggestion on who she might be willing to work for then?" he asked, annoyance well on its way to anger.

"You. Sir."

Baker shifted. Clark had seconds.

"She speaks English and Mandarin and German. She adsorbed my presentation in a morning and presented it that same day. Mr. Strausser wouldn't listen, because she's young and a woman and Chinese. She didn't give a damn. Kate refused to lose, not just sweet talking him--"

"I spoke with Mr. Strausser--"

Oh shit.

"He was very complimentary of Ms. Li."

Clark smiled. Of course he was.

"That's the final piece. She kicked his ass, and by the end of the meeting he was thanking her for it. You need her."

Baker closed his eyes while he decided their future.

"You know running a company isn't as complex as people think," Baker finally said. "The secret is finding the right people, and then never letting them leave."

Clark could breathe again.

"Keep the title. Your report identified quite a few problems. We're going to need people who can fix them, people who can travel. Interested?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," Baker said. "As for Ms. Li, we'll figure something out."

=============

Epilogue

=============

Kate Li was back in China, not for training or on holiday. Permanent, a staff position in the office of the CEO. She was working across three languages and as many timezones, trying to breathe life into Baker's plans.

The position gave her access to the most important communication streams in the entire company, more valuable than Maggie's position, even if the title wasn't as good.

Kate had completely whiffed on her opportunity to remove Maggie Zhang. The situation required her to be ruthless, and she had been weak, sentimental.

Two words to describe the same thing.

Clark believed she earned her way back by applying something far more important...The answer wasn't satisfying, but there was truth in it. There was always more to learn.

Kate should have been making plans to crush Maggie Zhang, but instead found herself daydreaming about Clark, absently forming plans to get him to China.

He was the opposite of the other dangerous men in her life, seemingly possessing the acumen for... violence, but not the temperament. If cruelty was a form of strength, why was she thinking about Clark and not...

Kate sighed. It didn't matter.

The men her father dealt with required more than kindness and trust. Some men responded only to fear. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey. This lesson wouldn't go away.

Clark was learning Mandarin and seemed to be a quick study. It was possible he would end up in China even without her help.

What would she do when he eventually arrived?

Her father sent his only daughter West, knowing that it would change her. The Promise wasn't really about boys, it was about always coming home. Learn and grow, but stay Chinese.

How would her father react to her night with Clark? Not great. Much worse if he knew Kate chose sentimental affection over ambition.

Kate sighed again. She didn't need all the answers.

She didn't love Clark, but Kate did feel something far more delicate and valuable.

Trust.