Apologize

"I am so sorry," I said with true concern in my voice as my eyes watched her hand rub her blouse where I had hit.

"That's okay, Mike. It was an accident," she said as she smiled at me.

I could not read anything more in the grin, so I began thinking about Chavez' 'request'. If it was this much of an emergency, maybe I could wrangle some perks out of it. After all, asking someone to cut their vacation short is pretty drastic. Maybe bonus vacation or a half day off a week or a good parking spot.

"Chavez knows this is an imposition, and she's willing to replace every vacation day you miss and double it. So, if it takes two days, you would get four days vacation usable immediately after you fix the problem. Is that enough to get you to come in today?" Patty said with an almost hopeful look on her face.

You think about it. That is a pretty good deal. "Yeah, I'll do it. Go on back and tell her I'll be there within the hour."

She said, "Thanks, Mike. Ms. Chavez will be grateful." She smiled again and turned to the door. "See you at the office," she calls over her shoulder.