AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t be so sure. Give me all the details.”
Archer shakes his head and leans back on the couch like he’s been dealt a blow. “Well, you’re not gonna believe this, but we have a half brother.” He goes on to tell me about Duck Feather Winery and the new financial conundrum at Buttercup Hill.
“Listen, if you’re giving me your blessing to make out with your sister, maybe I can return the favor.”
He listens. He grimaces. But he doesn’t seem to hate the idea.
“Okay, maybe. No promises, but maybe.” He looks exhausted by the conversation. “Now, I’m going to top off this drinkbecause I need to get the image of you kissing her out of my head. That’s fucking necessary.”
I laugh. “Tell her I miss her, okay?”
He shakes his head. “Tell her yourself.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Colin
“I have an idea for you.” Paul, my publicist, rubs a hand over his goatee and looks at the view of downtown Palo Alto through the plate glass windows of the AstroTech conference room.
“I feel like wars have been lost and companies have gone bankrupt after a person uttered that statement.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I’m interested.”
I still love this view, a bird’s eye of the world. But Archer’s words stick in my head. “You can look at the stars all day long, but Earth is where it’s at.”
People work in the labs and cubicles throughout the building, but no meetings are scheduled today, so the two of us are alone in the large room equipped with a massive table, video conferencing equipment, and two dozen chairs.
Yet it’s the view that captivates us. “This is why I first got interested in astrophysics, you know?” I’m more talking to myself than to him, so it startles me when he answers.
“You wanted to look at city streets from the fifth floor every day?” Missing the point, as usual. If he wasn’t so good at his job, I wouldn’t work with him because he doesn’t really understand me. Maybe that’s precisely what makes him good at his job—he’s all about the work, objectively looking for solutions to my problems and angles that benefit the business model. He doesn’t give a shit about me, my love for astrophysics, or my feelings.
“No, I wanted to look at the sky.”
“Can’t you do that from pretty much anywhere?”
I should fire him on the spot. I hate working with people who don’t get it, but I’m too damn worn out to care right now. It strikes me again that this isn’t normal for me. Coming to the lab and thinking about spacecraft on Mars is my jam. I don’t need anything else.
Well, that worldview is shot to hell.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s your idea?”
He clears his throat and cues up something on his phone, which he holds up for me to see. It’s an Instagram reel with the volume on mute, but I can see a woman talking and gesturing to the camera.
“What’s that?”
“Chantal Winters.”
I spread my hands and shrug. “Don’t know her.”
He holds his cheeks between his hands. “How is it possible that you’re one of the most successful men on the planet, and you’ve never heard of Chantal Winters? She’s only the biggest celebrity interviewer out there.”
“Maybe I’m successful because I don’t sit around watching celebrity interviews,” I say dryly.
“You ought to be watching her.”
