"Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Ellefsen. I can't wait to work with you, and we'll see you after the new year." As soon as I hung up the video call, I leaned back in my home office chair, and let out an exultant scream. We'd just landed the deal with Telenor, and I'd be flying over with a small team in January to finalize their requirements and make sure they ended up with a winning solution that would give us some great publicity and let us move even more into European markets. We'd even signed all of the electronic signatures, so it was official!

Sore back or not, I almost glided into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of white wine as a reward, then went back into my computer. I quickly set up a meeting in another thirty minutes with Harlow, Clayton, and Tori so I could give the news because there was no way I was doing that in an email. I knew they'd be just as excited as I was, even if it was still going to be early on a Monday for Harlow. In the meantime, I had to start planning for my trip.

I had two great Business Systems Analysts I could bring with me, Ben, and Gail, and then I'd bring Zee too. I know, it was silly, and a little unprofessional, but if she was going to be an intern then what would be better to learn on than a project just getting off the ground so she could see it from beginning to end? Okay, and there might be a lot of snuggling, since Norway would be cold in January. Or more. Maybe?

Oh, shit! Did Zee even own anything for the winter? She was a Fort Lauderdale girl, and had everything she owned in a single duffel bag, so I doubted there was a heavy coat, gloves, or boots in there. Would it be wrong to spoil her with winter gear before we left? No, right? It would simply be me trying to be a good boss and make sure that she was equipped to handle the frigid temperatures there. Hell, I'd need some clothes for myself too. I'd been to Chicago in the winter a few times, but I was expecting that to be balmy compared to Norway.

I figured that I'd lay all the news happening out now. Tori and Clayton had already made their cases to not have to work with Elliot once I told them that one of them would have to manage him, so the fact that he'd be out of the company would only be a little less exciting than the Telenor news. I didn't need to tell them about the attack, only Harlow would know that, but it would still be a big positive for them.

When the meeting time started, I opened the virtual conference room and turned on my camera. I was wearing a lightweight turtleneck to cover the bruises on my neck that had darkened into an ugly green overnight, but hopefully nobody would mention that. What I hoped they'd concentrate on was the smile on my face, and indeed they did.

"Someone looks happy!" Harlow said, her eyes alight as she no doubt wondered what I might be there to tell them. I hadn't told them about the scheduled meeting with Gunnar Ellefsen, the CIO over at Telenor, so I was pretty sure this would be a shock to them all.

"Happy is a good thing!" Tori noted. "I guess we might get a bonus this year!" That was silly, I gave everyone bonuses every year, so she was just fishing for a hint of what the news might be.

"Nah, she's going to tell us that Elliot has to report to Harlow, so we're spared!" Clayton guessed. "At least, I hope so!"

"If you give me thirty seconds, I'll give you both items on the agenda, and I think you'll be smiling as much as I am." I could only chuckle at the three of them, though they always made me feel better in these meetings.

"Just spit it out then, because I need more coffee," Harlow grumbled.

I nodded quickly, eager to see their reactions to the news. "Okay, the first one is easy. Effective immediately, Elliot Meadows is no longer employed at KTLO Consulting." I let Tori and Clayton get their happy cheers in for a minute, but I could tell they were both thrilled that they wouldn't have to deal with him. "See, we're already off to a good Monday morning start!"

"Is the other news big too?" Clayton wondered. "Because I don't see you topping that one!"

"I can't believe you'd doubt me!" I covered my chest in mock horror. "And to think that I was going to tell you that just a few minutes ago, we signed the contracts and are now going to be kicking off the new Telenor project in January."

"Holy shit!" Harlow screamed. "Fuck yes!"

"That is so much better than Elliot leaving!" Tori added. "Not that him leaving isn't great!"

"Okay, okay, let me say a few more things." I gave them a moment to settle, then continued. "For this initial project, I'm going to be the Project Manager, and hopefully we can get some more contacts or even projects out of it. If that is the case, we'll try to open up a European branch of KTLO to better serve new clients there. I'm not asking any of you to relocate, but if any of you have anyone you think would be a good fit for a European Account Manager, let me know. Don't say anything yet, because I want to have enough for them to do before we go down that route, but it would be nice to have people in mind when we're ready."

"You're really trying to get in there, huh?" Harlow asked with a grin. "Hell, I might just move over to take it up myself." I was going to laugh, but then I stopped. I knew she'd started doing some hands-on managing at a project that we had in Arizona, but she'd been quiet on how things were going with her fiancé since that started. If she was joking about moving to Europe, I guess things weren't so good between them.

"Yes, I think we have a great chance. Thanks to the three of you, we've had nothing but outstanding reviews for years now, which is what won this project. If we can do the same thing in Europe, then we can get a foothold there and really expand our brand. But that means I might not be as available here in the states as I normally am until we get up to speed there, so I might be delegating a little bit more than normal."

"Delegate all you need to," Tori told me. "We got your back. If we can get clients in Europe, then Asia and the rest of the world could follow!"

"Bwahahahaha!" Clayton said in a faux sinister voice. "Sorry, that sounded like it could use an evil laugh."

That got a chuckle from the rest of us, and he got a slap on the shoulder from Tori, who had evidently gone into whatever room he was in from her office to deliver it. I liked their set up, where they each had their own office at their house, since I was sure they had conflicting meeting schedules a lot, so it made sense. And of course, it allowed Tori the chance to go smack him for silly jokes with a short walk.

"That is all the news I have for now. I'll let you know if I need to poach any team members for the Telenor project, but that won't be until after the kick off in January, so don't worry about that yet. Remember, the holidays are coming up, so make sure people take their time off, we don't want them being overworked to finish things by the end of the year. If you need help with a project, let me know. We still have a few people on the bench that can fill in while others take time off, so there is no reason for them to not take vacation." We went through that every year, but it was still good to remind people that they should enjoy time off too. The last thing I wanted was for my employees to work themselves to the bone. No, they should know they were valued as people, not just workers.

"We'll remind them again," Harlow assured me. "But we always remind them throughout the year, so they're usually ready for it."

"Perfect." I took a deep breath, relaxing a bit as I stretched my back. "Now, does anyone else have anything to discuss?"

"We set a wedding date!" Tori blurted. I knew they were planning on getting married next year, but now they were making more progress. "It will be in July, and we'll send the details. Obviously, you're both invited!"

"We'll be there!" I answered for the both of us, only because we both had already said we'd be there no matter what. Tori and Clayton were great people, and it would be a blast to celebrate their marriage. Plus, if there was any chance for me to hang out with Harlow, I was going to take it.

We wrapped up the call shortly after that announcement, and I had about ten seconds of peace before Harlow called me. "Hey, Har. Are you okay?"

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. "Not really. Nothing has changed one way or another, but I was hoping that being at the client site would make things easier for me. Instead, now I'm just miserable in another city."

"You want to come here early? You can hang out with me and Quinn for a few weeks and work from here." It wasn't like she had to be at the client site, we worked remotely quite a bit, and she could do that from anywhere that had Wi-Fi. Like, say, poolside at my house with a glass of wine.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" She was sounding hopeful now, and that was all I needed.

"Not at all. Switch your flights and get your ass over here and we'll have a sleepover. I might even tell you about my new girl. Well, the one I'm hoping to make mine. I have a feeling we'll be together soon enough though. We're planning on making it official over Thanksgiving break."

"Fuck, I'm on my way. Let me find a flight, and maybe I can be there tonight."

"No rush. Quinn won't be here till the morning anyway."

"I'm still rushing!" she exclaimed. I could hear banging on her end, that was almost certainly her packing.

"Har! Slow down! Get the flight first, then pack. And don't overpack, you'll be in a bathing suit half the time anyway, and the rest of the time you can borrow my stuff." We were similar in build, and that had happened several times in the past.

"Shit! Good point! Okay, new plan. I'll text you when I have a flight, and we'll go from there."

"Okay, that works. Fly safe, and I'll see you soon."

Less than twenty minutes later, I had a text from Harlow. She was already on her way to the airport and would be in Tampa later in the evening thanks to the time difference and a layover. Yeah, she was too good of a person to go through all that for me. Knowing that, I made a list of things I needed at the house. While I preferred wine, Harlow was more of a whiskey drinker, and I'd have to get some for her along with some snacks that she liked. She was also a sucker for peanut butter pretzels, so that was something I'd make sure I had in the pantry for her.

When I picked the girls up from school, they helped me do the shopping. I got the alcohol while they got the rest, and then we went home to relax. They were both excited, as Harlow was a fun friend, if an infrequent visitor, and they knew Quinn would be here soon too. It didn't hurt that Harlow would be another woman that was a lesbian that they could probably ask a lot of questions of, and unlike me she'd probably talk to them about after hours things, because she had no filter.

All in all, it had been a great day, and when Harlow showed up in her rental car later, it got even better.