Polishing an Old Trophy

"Hey Derek?"

"Hmm?" he responded, mouth full of savoury coconut rice and peas.

"What's going on here?" she asked as she speared a piece of sweet fried plantain. For lack of an answer, Derek gave her a confused look. "I mean, I really have enjoyed our time together, and I really appreciate that you speak to me like I have a brain."

"O-kay...," Derek said, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"But shouldn't you be talking to Ratish, or the night supervisor about these things?" she asked. "And really, am I the best person to talk to about your new department? I'm starting to get it, but really, I'm not that smart..." Derek let her trail off for a moment, then cleared his throat and took a sip of soda before responding.

"OK, you do have a valid point about talking to Ratish and Jacob, but really, you did have some great ideas, and the way you thought about the efficiency thing was refreshing," he explained. "As to the other thing, well, it's really not in dad's wheelhouse, and Caleb is so bored with hearing about it. As long as it's making money, he doesn't care. I just like talking to someone about it," he shrugged. "And don't short change yourself. You are very smart, it's just that no one really encouraged you to pursue it, especially about this efficiency stuff. Dad would have a ball talking with you about it."

"Well, I'm glad I can give you an outlet for your verbal diarrhea," she chuckled.

"Ew, we're eating here!" Derek protested with a laugh.

"Don't know if I agree with you about the smart thing, but I'll take the compliment," she told him with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Listen, Amy, I'm serious about the smart thing. You seem to have a knack for this efficiency thing. You should look into developing that," Derek suggested. Amelia gave him a thoughtful look.

"Maybe I could," she murmured. "Now, if you're not gonna touch those plantains, give 'em here!" she demanded reaching over with her fork.

"Hands off my plantains!" he laughed as he shielded his plate.

~ ~ ~

DEREK'S MOBILE VIBRATED across the table as it rang. Glancing at it, he knew in his gut that it wouldn't be a pleasant call. He reached out to pick up his phone and sighed before answering.

"Good afternoon, Derek Ringer speaking."

"Derek, you've been avoiding me," Willa's voice came over the line in a song-song tone. Derek had to stifle a second sigh.

"It's just been busy Willa," Derek said by way of excuse.

"Not too busy to come have lunch with dad though," she countered. "We only had time for a coffee in the employee lounge!" she whined. Derek practically heard the pout come over the line. It took all of Derek's willpower not to hang up on her. She had been pressuring him to go on a date since the new year, and he had been able to keep her at bay.

"I'm sure you understand Willa," Derek said, appealing to her professionalism. "Your career and professional priorities must keep you busy too."

"Don't you delegate?" she asked, unaware that it was her family ties and not her seniority that allowed her to do that. "Your dad must be able to get someone to help you out like my daddy does, right?" Derek put the phone out of earshot, pressed his lips tightly together and groaned towards the ceiling at how clueless the girl really was.

"Unfortunately, we just don't have the resources to do that, Willa," Derek explained. "Hey, listen, Willa, I actually have a meeting I have to get to. Thanks for calling. It was great chatting with you," Derek winced slightly at the little white lie.

"OK then, Derek. But you know I'm not giving up...," Willa warned him, again with the sing-song tone. "Bye, handsome!"

~ ~ ~

"THIS IS GETTING out of hand, Dad," Derek complained to his father. Caleb sat behind his desk, tapping a pen on his blotter.

"Son, you're just goin'ta have to keep her at arm's length until she grows tired of the chase," Davis told his son. "Nelson's is one of our bigger customers, so we can't upset the apple-cart here, but on the other hand, I don't like mixing business and pleasure."

"I agree, Dad. You know her father tried to set us up once, but I was able to manoeuver around that," Derek reminded his father.

"Al Too is a pretty principled man," Davis thought out loud. "Maybe I should let him know..."

"Let's just keep this in-house, Dad," Derek advised. "Willa's got her mother's temper. She might not react well if we do a runaround."

"Alright son," Davis agreed. "Just let me know if I need to have a father-to-father chat with Al Too, alright?"

"Thanks, Dad. Will do."

~ ~ ~

"THANKS FOR LETTING me walk you through the project process," Derek said to Amelia, as they dug into steaming hot bowls of pho.

"I don't know why you're thanking me," Amelia responded as she squeezed another lime into her noodle soup. "It's not like I told you anything you didn't know already."

"I know, but now I know that the process is streamlined and easy to understand," Derek explained as he dipped his noodles into a hoisin and hot sauce combo.

"Are you saying that it's so easy, even someone simple like me gets it?" she retorted.

"No..., it's just..., I'm not...," Derek stammered until he saw her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Brat," he laughed.

"Too easy, D, too easy...," Amelia trailed off. "That WAS too easy..., what's going on today, Derek?"

"What do you mean?" he responded; chopsticks loaded with noodles dripping halfway to his mouth.

"You've been kinda out of sorts today," she elaborated. "What's going on? Anything I can help with?"

"Nothing you can do anything about, really," Derek began. "Willa's at it again and I'm having trouble pushing her off without having her lose it..."

"Willa's nothing, if not persistent," Amelia agreed. Derek nodded.

"I am NOT getting involved in that again...," he muttered.

"I heard you went out once," Amelia recalled.

"Never again," Derek reiterated. "One date was all it took for me to realise that she was so out of touch with the real world. Not getting saddled with that..." Amelia toyed with her chopsticks.

"I was like that...," she reminded him, under her breath. Derek reached out and placed his hand on hers.

"But you're not anymore," he reminded her. "Listen, you...,"

"What the fuck is going on Derek?!" the shriek rang out across the restaurant, interrupting Derek. He turned toward the sound and realised who it was.

"Willa! What are you doing here?" he asked under his breath when she reached their table.

"What the fuck are YOU doing here?! And with HER!" she emphasized by pointing at Amelia, who shrank back from the attack.

"Not that it's any of your business Willa, but Amy and I are having a meal and talking. That's what we're doing," Derek responded. "Now calm down and stop disturbing these people."

"I will not calm down! What about us Derek?" Willa whined. "I thought we had something!"

"I hate to break it to you Willa, but all we are, at most, are friends. There's nothing more than that between us. I hope you're OK with that," Derek tried placating her.

"No, I'm not! And I'll make sure that you'll be sorry!" Willa said before stalking away. As she reached the door, she abruptly spun around and announced to the room "And just for the record, I hope you don't love money because she is a grade-A GOLD DIGGER!" then left the restaurant after trying to slam the door.

The room was silent for a few moments, the only sound coming from the hum of the many fluorescent tubes casting a bright light. The low hum of a busy restaurant began again as Amelia and Derek came down from the shock of the confrontation. After a few more seconds, Amelia spoke up.

"Derek, I think I've lost my appetite," she said softly. "I think I better go."

Derek signalled for the bill, apologised to the owners, and left a hefty tip.

~ ~ ~

THEY QUIBBLED FOR a bit, but given that it was bitterly cold and blowing snow, Amelia saw sense in letting Derek drive her home. Amelia was silent most of the drive to her apartment, embarrassment and shame choking her up. Derek glanced over at her a few times, unsure what words would be the right ones, afraid that none were. Halfway through the drive, he ventured an attempt at easing her distress.

"Listen, Amy, you know Willa's crazy," he started, hoping a little humour would break her out of her silence, but Amelia didn't budge. "You know what she said about you was wrong, right?" Amelia sniffled.

"No Derek. She was right. That's who I am, a gold digger," she declared quietly.

"You're wrong Amy. You're not..."

"I am. I'm ashamed at what I did but I've accepted that. If it blows back on me sometimes, then that's just the way it is," she shrugged a shoulder and her bottom lip quivered.

"That's just not right Amy," Derek shook his head. "That's not the person you are anymore. It's not a fair judgement."

"It will always be who I am. I just have to learn to control it and make sure I don't burden anyone with it again," she said as they pulled up in front of the portico of her building. As she was leaving, she turned to Derek and said, "She's right you know, you'd better be careful about me."

"I don't think so Amy."

"Well, I do. So, for your own good, I don't think we should do this anymore," she decided.

"What? Have a meal and a chat between friends?" he challenged. She sighed and shook her head, looking away so he wouldn't see the tears tumbling over her cheeks.

"You know that's not what it was becoming, so better we just stop before I get my hooks into you," she said with a sense of finality. "Thank you for the lift. I don't think I'll be needing them anymore." With that, Amelia turned and walked into her building.

~ ~ ~

THE NEXT FEW days were quite tense between Amelia and Derek, not that anyone noticed anything between them. Derek's visits down to the break room became sparse, but the group attributed it to his focus on the new division, which had begun to gain more clients. Other than being quieter, and focusing more on her work, Amelia's co-workers didn't clock any great change.

At home, Magdalena noticed that her granddaughter was more melancholy than usual. The last few weeks had seen Amelia's mood brighten up, and this turn was worrying. She couldn't swear to it, but she was sure she had heard crying coming from Amelia's room.

"Amelka, what is the matter with you?" Magdalena asked her one evening.

"Nothing, Babcia, just dealing with some disappointment is all."

"Disappointment about what?"

"Something I want so badly but can't have," Amelia answered vaguely.

"My child, if there is something you want, you will have to earn it yourself. No one will give to you," she counselled.

"I'm sorry, Babcia, I don't think this is something I can earn this time," Amelia responded dejectedly. She got up, kissed her grandmother on the head and shuffled off to a hot bath.

~ ~ ~

ON ANY OTHER night, when Derek would have been out with Amelia, he found himself at an "English style" pub instead. He was sitting at the bar waiting on a bacon cheeseburger and sipping on a beer when his younger brother slid onto the stool next to him.

"Did you order for me yet?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, they're getting your wings ready," he answered as he signalled to the bartender for a beer for his brother.

"This is..., nice," Caleb announced after he took a sip of his beverage, taking in the lacklustre crowd and the slight smell of spilled beer under the scent of lemon-pine cleaner.

"Don't look at me! You suggested this place," Derek countered. Caleb shrugged.

"Hey, their wings are good. So why the invite?"

"Habit, I guess. Amy and I had a standing dinner every other day and I didn't want to..., I don't know, go home?" Derek mused.

"You mean you..., and her...," Caleb shot a questioning look at his brother.

"No, we were just having dinner and talking." Caleb gave Derek a skeptical smirk. "Hand to God, Caleb. She's actually pretty smart about things. You know the efficiency measures we implemented last month were her idea?"

"Seriously? I thought you came up with that," Caleb said as their food arrived. "That actually saved us a few bucks on a part-time shift."

"I know," Derek nodded as he munched on his fries and gravy. "She has an interesting take on things, so we've been chatting is all."

"But?" Derek sighed at his brother's implication.

"But I guess I'm thinking I might be wanting more than what we have now...," Derek admitted. "It's kinda gone to shit, really."

"How so?"

"You know Willa's been kinda low-key stalking me, right?" Caleb nodded at Derek's question. "So, she decided to come look for me last week, and one of the cleaning crew told her where I went after she told him that she was my girlfriend. She found Amy and me and freaked. Now Amy doesn't want anything to do with me."

"My big brother, the Cassanova," Caleb chuckled, working his way through his basket of wings. "Glad I'm not you bro."

"Yeah, you're a big help," Derek muttered as he took another sip of beer.

~ ~ ~

AS THE WEEKS went on, Derek all but stopped coming down to the breakroom to have lunch with the team. Caleb would come down occasionally, but the rapport was different. For most, the change wasn't bad, different, but not bad. For Amelia and Derek, the change was surprisingly painful, knowing that they wanted to see the other but couldn't.

As the spring setups shifted to summer promotions, Caleb came into Derek's office with some odd news.

"Hey bro, have a minute?" Caleb asked at Derek's door. Derek, who was on the phone, signalled his brother to have a seat.

"Alright then, thank you for letting me know. It's unfortunate we couldn't do your displays this year," Derek said into the receiver. "Mmm hmm, right. If anything changes, please let us know. Thanks again for the heads up." Derek hung up with a sigh.

"Trouble?" Caleb queried.

"That was Deep Woods Gourmet, they just cancelled their order for their portable coffee-maker displays. Said that they were going a different direction this year," Derek explained. Caleb furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "What?"

"Seems our numbers are down for the coming quarter," Caleb told his older brother. "A few of our regulars cancelled some smaller orders."

"That's odd...," Derek mused. "Deep Woods was the second cancellation I got this past week."

"Who else?"

"Nelson's cancelled their counter toppers for their fishing knives promotion," Derek responded. "Now this, and your cancellations as well. Which ones were they?"

"The wobblers for the camp stove promotion, and the neck-tags for the bear repellent," Caleb answered. "Seems to be a pattern here. Anyone you can ask?"

"Let me call Josh over at Nefertiti Health & Beauty, he's usually plugged in with the other purchasers." Derek dialled a number on his phone and put it on speaker.

"Nefertiti H&B, Josh Yung speaking."

"Hey Josh, Derek over at Ringer," Derek responded.

"Hey Derek, how're things?"

"Surviving, you?"

"Can't complain. Even if I did, who'd care?" Josh chuckled.

"I hear you, bud. Hey, you're on speaker with Caleb, my finance guy and me."

"Hey Caleb, nice to meet you. How can I help Ringer?" Josh asked.

"Odd thing bud. Wondering if you'd heard anything about Ringer on the outs as a supplier out there?" Derek inquired. A pregnant pause followed Derek's question. "You still there?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah," the voice on the speaker came through with an odd tone. "Funny you should, uh... ask, but there was something odd that happened last week." Another pause followed.

"And?"

"And, well, I thought it was a bit of a one off," Josh replied. "Got a weird call from Nestor's the other day," he continued. "The odd part was that they told me that you weren't an approved vendor anymore, and to stop working with you. I checked with the sales guy and he told me to tell them to pound sand. We're shipping them prepacks and their volume was low anyway, so if they didn't want then, then we can find someone else to take 'em."

"Wow," was all that Derek could think to say.

"Yeah, wow. I called 'em back and told them you were still an approved vendor for US, so if THEY don't want to deal with you, we still will," Josh told them. "What's going on?"

"Not sure yet, bud," Derek admitted, "but we'll get to the bottom of it. Thanks for the support. Really appreciate it."

"Anytime Derek. Hey, does your appreciation extend to five points off the cost?" Josh asked with a laugh. Derek looked over at Caleb, and saw a thumbs up.

"I appreciate you bud, but not that much! I'll keep it in mind for your next project though, eh?"

"Sure, I'll hold you to that! Talk soon," Josh agreed before hanging up. Caleb shot a look at Derek.

"Shit, what the fuck is going on at Nestor's?" he asked his older brother.

"I don't know, but I'll find out. In the meantime, based on these numbers," Derek indicated the papers that Caleb brought in, "it looks like we'll have to cut second shift, and if this keeps up, no overtime for first shift." Derek sighed and ran a palm over his tired face.

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"I'll give their purchasing a call and start digging. Why don't you see how much finished goods we have to destroy, and see if we have enough work for printing to run two full shifts."

"I don't think we've started printing yet, so there's some saving grace, but I'll check. Good luck bro," Caleb nodded before leaving Derek's office.

~ ~ ~

WHAT DEREK WAS able to piece together, after a long, and awkward conversation with one of the purchasers, was that the directive to blackball Ringer didn't come from the top, but from the middle. After running into Derek and Amelia at the restaurant, Willa enlisted the help of her brother who, despite discarding Amelia, wasn't one to share his toys. Together, they set out to undermine Ringer as a vendor for Nestor's.

What was worse was their attempt to "encourage" many of their other vendors to drop Ringer as a supplier as well. Many of those that relied heavily on Nestor's had little choice, despite the penalties and additional costs they may have had to incur.

Not one to be a rat, Derek decided to bite the bullet and call the Nestor siblings and see if he could talk it out.

"Nestor's, Willa speaking," came the efficient sounding response over the phone.

"Hi Willa, it's Derek Ringer."

"Oh, hi Derek, what can I help you with?" came the falseness of her saccharine sweet response.

"Listen, just calling about some of the cancelled orders that are coming through from you guys and from some of your vendors," Derek explained, knowing he'd have to go through the motions.

"I don't know what to say Derek, maybe the quality of your work isn't up to par," Will played dumb with her response.

"Yeah Derek! Seems like your quality is trash, like your choice in women!" Derek could hear the sneer in the background.

"Shut up you idiot!" Derek could hear angrily whispered on the other end. It seemed Willa forgot to mute her phone, or her brother. "I'm sorry Derek, I don't know what else I can do for you," Willa informed Derek in a normal voice now. "Y'know, it occurs to me that if we were dating, you'd be kinda like family, and I could, maybe, help you out..., but you'd rather date my ex-family than me. Goodbye Derek." Before she hung up, Derek could swear that he heard the siblings snickering in the background.

~ ~ ~

"SO, FOLKS, IT looks like we'll be running lean for at least the next quarter," Derek explained to the co-packing group. "That means we won't be running second shift, and most likely, no overtime for the foreseeable future." A concerned murmur went across the room. "Unfortunately, Nestor's is a large client for us and their cancellations will slow us down for a while until we get some other projects to cover. If it's any consolation, we will not be laying anyone off. Thank you for your understanding, all. We'll keep you updated."