Ally noticed the little notification on her display, telling her a new message from her boss just arrived. Wondering what he may want, she clicked on the little window to read the message in its entirety. Strange... He just invited her for a meeting together with the CEO, commencing in an hour, with no agenda. Very strange, indeed. Although she knew perfectly well what it must be, she felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. What if they knew she knew it beforehand? What if they assigned her to another project? What if...

So she spent the next hour forcing her brain to forget what she already knew. As a result, her hands were slightly trembling as she filled her glass with cold water on her way to meeting room. She silently willed them to stop trembling, and they obeyed.

She was in the meeting room when she realized she forgot to check her appearance. She made a hasty retreat to the ladies room and checked herself in the mirror. She was pleased that she wore her grey suit that morning. Very business-like. With a satisfied nod, she left the restroom and made her way back to the meeting room. Her boss was already there, but the CEO was nowhere to be seen.

"Good Morning, Boss" Ally chirped, having a seat.

"Oh, good morning Ally" replied Steve distantly. Ally realized he was rather nervous and decided against small talk. They were both sitting there very solemnly when John, their CEO, walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Morning, Ally, Steve" he greeted them and took a seat on the opposite side of the table, sitting right beside Steve. 'Oh, no." she thought to herself, recognizing the manouver the moment she saw. 'They're gonna squeeze me for something. Well, so be it!' she concluded while opening up her notepad.

"Um, Ally," Steve said, exchanging a brief look with John, "you don't need it. No notes are allowed for this meeting."

"Oh?" Ally closed her notepad. This was the first time she heard something like this.

"And please let me say that everything we say in this meeting will remain in this room" John added.

"OK" Ally took a sip from her glass. A brief look between Steve and John again, followed by an uneasy silence. Then Steve began:

"Ally, do you have any idea why we called for this meeting?"

"Hmm, no."

"ABSOLUTELY no idea?"

"Probably a new project, though the presence of Mr..."

"Please, call me John, Ally"

"Thank you, John. As I said, your presence surprised me a bit"

They both seemed somewhat relaxed. Steve commenced:

"Good. I think you remember some of our departments were preparing for a major project."

"Well, I've heard about it but don't remember any details" Ally replied.

"It was a global project, a huge one, and we were on the brink of getting it"

"By the sound of that, I assume..."

"BLOODY BASTARDS SNATCHED IT FROM UNDER OUR NOSES!" exploded John.

Ally was taken aback. She considered their CEO as a very cool, non-temperate person. Steve whispered: "John, please, no need for such language!"

"I'm terribly sorry." John rubbed his livid face. Ally thought he might have a heart attack any moment. "I must be very nervous since we lost the deal."

"It's OK, John" smiled Ally, though she needed another sip to moisten her dried mouth.

"Do you know this guy?" John asked abruptly while pushing a folder to Ally. Ally turned on the cover and saw the all too familiar face of Al looking directly at her. She had to suppress a little smile threatening to curve the corners of her lips upwards, and concentrated hard not to blush.

"Yes, I know Al. Why?"

"How?" countered John.

"He helped me and my team during the pilot of our project." It was not a secret at all.

"That's all?"

"Well, we had dinner once or twice, but that's as far as it goes" Ally lied. It went deeper than that, but that was none of their concern.

"How well do you know him?"

"John, I'm sorry but I don't und..."

"Because he's the primary person responsible for us losing the project, and his company winning it, apparently with flying colors!" John angrily cut Ally.

"But how? He's just the infrastructure guy there" Ally hastily checked the information sheet.

John and Steve sighed audibly, apparently in frustration. But was there a tone of relief in that, too?

"Alright, Ally. Here's the story." began John, seemingly back to his calm personality.

"The project is called GIMP."

"GIMP?" Ally asked before sipping her water again.

"Standing for Global Infrastructure Management Project, and it seems this Al is a kind of wizard in this area"

"I see. By acquaintance, I can say he was quite efficient in what he was doing"

"Anyway, our presales team managed to perform a very successful Proof of Concept in the prospect's location, covering all the angles within the specifications document"

"Good." Ally replied and immediately realized that was a mistake.

"Not as good as it should've been, it seems," Steve bitterly corrected, seeing John's lips tighten, "as Al and his team delivered a much more successful POC the week after."

"How much more?" Ally frowned.

"Suffice to say that they managed to deliver about three times what we have been accomplished in half the time" Steve replied

"And with half as many people" added John tiredly.

"Oh My..."

"AND in the end he managed to impress them with a show that ran like clockwork during which he delivered an ad-lib competitive overview"

"I see" Ally replied, feeling sorry for the men sitting right next to her. It must've been a terrible blow for them.

"In the end, they were awarded the project" John concluded.

"I'm sorry to hear we've lost it. But I still don't understand why you're telling me all this." Ally asked in mock honesty, though she understood perfectly well. Steve and John briefly looked at each other again.

"Al's company approached us and asked to hire you for the duration of the project" Steve calmly explained, while John sat back and crossed his arms. Ally realized that John was against the idea.

"Me?"

"Yes"

"As what?"

"As the project manager, of course."

"Sounds like a kind of joke, huh?" Ally asked nervously.

"In the beginning we thought the same thing. However, it turned out to be a real serious deal." John was still keeping his silence and refused eye contact. Steve pushed another folder to Ally, saying "Here's the draft project plan they prepared"

Ally took a look at the rather thick document. All the essentials and non-essentials were there; deliverables, phases, resources, Gantt charts, even critical path was neatly prepared.

"So if they have all this stuff, why..."

"They said they are short of experienced project managers." replied John this time, his tone revealed that he didn't believe it for one second.

"So what's in it for us, may I ask?" said Ally, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Before I let you read this, may I remind you that you can't disclose this information to absolutely ANYONE?" stressed Steve.

"I understand" replied Ally in all seriousness. Steve looked at John, who nodded. Steve paused for a moment and pushed the last folder to Ally, which she opened and checked the sum offered.

"Are you sure this figure is correct?" Ally asked in disbelief.

"Yes" John replied tersely.

"Any chance of a typo? It seems there are one too many zeroes." said Ally, frowning. Al must have yanked all the strings real hard.

"We already checked with them twice. The figure is correct. I also had our legal and finance people go through it twice. It's as clean as a mother's milk" John replied nervously, still having his arms crossed but now establishing eye contact.

"Besides, this figure covers all of our expenses. Your salary, our expenditures for the project we lost, administrative costs and still leaves us a hefty profit!" Steve sniggered half-heartedly, casting a sideways look at John.

"So what is the issue?" Ally asked, closing all the folders and pushing them back to Steve.

"Actually, two issues." John corrected. "One, I didn't like it! It's like... like throwing the dog a bone after snatching his beef!"

"Oh, John," groaned Steve, "get over it!"

"And two, YOU must accept this assignment as we cannot force you legally. And I'm afraid that you won't accept it." Ally was confused for a second. Then it became crystal clear.

"It seems you won't be happy whichever way this goes, John." Ally stated rather than asked, grinning and leaning back.

"Yeah, as you see, it would look good to make the company profit from a lost project, but I still don't like it personally" John replied with a half smile.

"And if I say no?..." asked Ally, returning his smile.

"It's bye-bye, profit, and a not-so-nice meeting with boardies" replied John.

"John, I'll accept it just to save your career" replied Ally in mock generosity, finishing her water.

"You must be aware of the consequences, though." commenced a very relaxed Steve, unmindful of the muffled giggles exchanged between John and Ally.

"What are they, Boss?" Ally asked, turning serious.

"You must sign an agreement with the company, relieving us of all our responsibilities and transferring them to the other party."

"Will I remain in this company's payroll, though?"

"For sure. Nothing will change in your salary or most other fringe benefits."

"I guess I can live with that. What else?"

"You will be denied access to facilities or other resources until your assignment is finished."

"Ouch! So how am I supposed to work?" Ally asked.

"You will be mobile during this project, and the other party will provide everything."

"Mobile. OK, I got it." Ally said halfheartedly. "Will I be able to keep my desk, though?"

"You will, though upon completion of legal procedures, you are expected to remove all your personal effects and leave facilities immediately. From that point on, you need to contact with the other party."

"It sounds like being fired on full salary" Ally laughed. John and Steve joined her as well.

--

Please stay with us for the other parts to this story. It seems this project will be an interesting one :)