W: Hi Bob.

M: Hi Jackie, it's great to see you again. Did you have a good trip?

W: You know me, I'm a terrible flyer but it was actually smooth all the way. I'm very excited about your wedding.

M: Is that all the luggage you have?

W: Yes, because the airline forgot to put my bag on the plane. It's still in Chicago. It should arrive in Boston tomorrow.

M: Typical; that happened to my sister last year.

W: How is Jenny?

M: She's fine. She's getting married next year too.

W: I can't wait to meet Sue. I thought you'd never get married. My cousin, a married man at last. 

M: Have you had many sales this week?

W: It's been very slow. I'm still waiting for my first buyer. I sold two last week and I had a couple that were very interested in a house in town. I need to sell three more by the end of the month to reach my target.

M: I don't know what to do with myself all day. This economic depression is stopping people from buying. People seem to be reluctant to even look at the moment. I wish they'd be a bit braver and buy while prices are down.

W: I'm going to pop out for a bite to eat!

M: Are you going to the cafe or the canteen?

W: I thought I'd go to the store as I left my sandwiches in the fridge at home again. 

W: It's so hot in here. I wish I'd worn a hat.

M: Let's sit under that tree by the lake and listen to him.

W: Maybe we should hire a boat for an hour and then go to the cafe.

M: He's really good, isn't he? A true artist.

W: Well, maybe. He's got a great voice but he shouldn't move around so much; it's distracting. He could perform for money.

M: Maybe, but I don't think he's good enough to get a record deal.

W: It's no good; I'd like to listen to him but I need to be somewhere cooler. Let's go to the cafe. 

M: Did you get the memo about Tuesday's meeting?

W: The one about the Parson Project in the morning?

M: No, that's for the administration, I mean finance department. The design meeting is in the afternoon.

W: I guess management will be their usual annoying selves. They never contribute anything useful to the meetings.

M: I'm tired of these meetings. They should just let us get on with the job. I can't wait to really get involved with the main project but they keep delaying everything. 

M: So do you think you can get it repaired before the weekend when my mother comes? The dog knocked it off the table and it broke on the marble floor. The flowers made a terrible mess.

W: Well, we don't usually fix things that quickly, you know. It's not as if we have nothing to do. It's already Wednesday.

M: Yes, I appreciate that, but I was only enquiring. You don't have to adopt that attitude. I can just leave it if you like and go to another store. I'd repair it myself if I could.

W: Well, it would be faster to buy a new one but maybe we can fix it by the weekend. Tell me your name and telephone number and I'll see what we can do. But I'm not making any promises.

M: OK. 

W: I've decided to go to night school to learn a new skill. I've been doing the same accounting job for years and I need a new challenge.

M: You aren't going to resign, are you?

W: Now that's an attractive idea, but I'm not silly. I'm on such a good salary. What I was thinking was to learn another language, maybe Spanish or French. Then I can use my new language skills to do some serious travelling when I go on holiday. I always stay in this country and I need to see more of the world.

M: Well, you are a dark horse, aren't you? What will you come up with, next? Enough dreaming of holidays, we need to get going or we will be late for the performance and I have booked a table at the restaurant in ten minutes' time.

W: OK, I'll just finish my coffee.

M: So, are you going to buy that house?

W: We decided against it in the end, after a lot of indecision.

M: I thought it was your dream home.

W: I got carried away with the village but the property itself wasn't really what we need as a family. The garden was acceptable although it could have been a bit bigger, and the view was nothing special.

M: I know you have a budget that you can't go over, so maybe you need to rethink what is really important to you. That house obviously wasn't right despite the great location.

W: Why is John in such a bad mood? Didn't he get his promotion?

M: No, it's not that, the printer has broken on his computer and he needs a report for this morning's meeting with the accountant.

W: Why didn't he use mine? I can't believe how silly you two are at times.

M: There's no point me saying anything, he's still in a mood about the contract that I beat him to.

W: Well, you know that I think you are both being very immature about that. If you two don't pull your socks up you'll annoy our boss and neither of you will get a promotion.

M: Hi, good news, we got the contract!

W: That's fantastic. I think most of the credit goes to you though, as you really made it look good with your computer images.

M: Yes, but you did the designs, so you are the truly creative one. Let's hope that we can really stick to the budget now because I was stretching the truth a bit on costs. I'm not very good with finances at the best of times.

W: Am I supposed to be impressed by that? You may have put the whole project at risk. How could you do such a thing?

W: Do you think we ought to ask your boss to the dinner party? It might make up for all the time you had to have off sick last month.

M: I guess we could, but he can't be angry about the accident. There was nothing I could do about it and it was their fault for having dangerous equipment in the factory.

W: Yes but suing them didn't make you employee of the month, did it?

M: I doubt if you will complain when the money comes through, though. That will pay for us to buy a nice new car. You've wanted one for months.

W: You have a point but I just think you need to make an effort to get on well with everyone at work for a while until the whole thing is forgotten.