“Exactly.”Elodie smiled.“We’regoing to the fair.”She attempted a nonchalant shrug.“I thought it would befun.”
Astrid and Aiden both wore the same confused expression.
Elodie pressed herself into the seat.Maybe getting into a smaller space wasn’t such a great idea.At least Astrid was there to break up the round of questions Aiden must be ready to fire.“Hey, Astrid.I’m sure Aiden hasn’t been in an updated Pearl.You should tell him all about it.”
As Astrid shimmied to the edge of her seat and began proudly explaining and demonstrating all of the new features she’d helped create for the plush ride, Elodie loosened her grip on the armrests and relaxed against the creamy soft upholstery when a line of text flashed into her field of vision.
Incoming call from RhettOwens.
Elodie denied the call and turned off her comlink.She’d gotten lucky the night before.Gwen and Rhett had left her alone tosort out her feelings,as her mother had put it.But she didn’t think she’d get that lucky again.Rhett would not be happy about being sent for drinks and then stood up.
Elodie pulled up the transparent gray messaging screen and sent a quick text to Rhett.
The funeral was so sad.I had to leave.Going to Astrid’s.Call you later.Promise.
He wouldn’t think twice about that.After all, his Elodie was the most sensitive girl in theworld.
XXXIV
Energy sparked down Elodie’s legs with each passing mile in the Pearl.It had been years since she’d gone to the fair.Two, to be exact.Which is also how long she’d been with Rhett.It wasn’t a coincidence.Major Rhett Owens thought fun and playfulness were gateways to terrorism and malfeasance.
Elodie shook her head, clearing all traces of Rhett from her mind.She was with her friends, and she needed a little time off from dealing with the disappointing drama that was her fiancé.The current priority was dealing with the fact that Aiden had been so affected by the news that she and Rhett were matched.
Why hadn’t she told him?It wasn’t a secret.And the wedding was in only a few months, so Aiden would have found out eventually.Her mother would have insisted the entire Scott family be invited, and now she knew that Aiden would have been on the receiving end of her wedding invitation.
Aiden leaned forward and motioned to the holopad sticking out of Astrid’s seat pocket.“You mind if I use that?I want to get us some fair tokens.”
Astrid pulled out her holopad and handed it to Aiden.“A whole afternoon on Aiden Scott.”Her nose wrinkled with a grin.“I knew I went to that terrible funeral service for a reason.”
Aiden’s fingers skipped across the screen as he pulled up the Rose Festival’s site and purchased tokens for the trio.“They should be in each of your accounts...”He tapped the screen a final time before looking up.“Now,” he said, and passed the holopad back to Astrid.
Elodie slid her fingers along her strand of pearls.“Thanks, Aiden.”There was a small scratch on one of the smooth beads and she rubbed her fingertip against it.Luckily Astrid was with them.No matter how many things Aiden paid for, this could never be considered a date.
Astrid tapped the screen a few times with her pointed,black-tippednails before sliding it into the seat pocket.“You know, you could’ve asked Holly to get the tokens for you.She’d load them into each of our accounts.”She extended a long, slender finger and pointed to Aiden’s clear cuff.“And they’d push to our cuffs.”
Aiden wriggled out of his black jacket and casually hiked his shoulders.“Either way I’m buying them and you’re using them, right?”he asked, stretching his arm along the back of the empty seat next to him.
Astrid tapped her checkered shoes against the plush carpet.“It’s your life, Scott.Just trying to make it a little bit easier.”
Dirt flaked onto the floor as Aiden crossed his ankle over his knee.“That’s what friends are for, right?”hesaid.
Elodie’s palms went clammy.She brushed her hands down the pleats of her skirt.CouldAstrid and Aiden be friends?They were from completely different worlds.
Actually, that wasn’t true.Not with what Elodie now knew.Aiden and Astrid were from extremely similar worlds of wealth and importance.The Key would do, andhad done, almost anything for the Fujimotos and the Scotts.Astrid and Aiden were more alike, had more in common with each other, than either did with Elodie.And, in circles like theirs, Aiden’s involvement in Eos would warrant a death sentence.
Elodie’s fingers flew back to the small pearls ringing her collar.
Why hadn’t she thought about that before?She never should have brought the two of them together.Astrid said herself that she’d only seen him at one function.Aiden didn’t have friends in high places, and, considering who he was, that had to be on purpose.The last thing Elodie or Aiden needed was the devilishly intelligent Astrid Fujimoto getting too curious about Aiden Scott.
Astrid stared at him for a moment as she tapped her fingernails together.Rhythmic clicks filled the space like a Newton’s Cradle.“Yeah,” Astrid offered with a quick shrug, her brow smoothing.“What the hell, Scott?We can be friends.”
Elodie let loose the stale breath stuffed deep in her lungs.“That’s saying a lot.Astrid’s not really big on the wholepeople-
likingthing.”She forced a smile and addedKeep Aiden on Astrid’s good sideto her growing to dolist.
With a flourish, Aiden made his best attempt at a seated bow.“It’s an honor, Fujimoto.”
The Pearl slowed as the Key Corp’sneon-redRose Festival logo came into view, a massive steel sign hung from a system of bars stretched across the fair entrance.The sculpted red rose blossom, vibrant green stem, and fanning electric leaves were stunning even under the full light of the sun.Elodie was used to the neon signs and flashing lights.They were all used in holographic marketing.Nothing could be sold anymore without being packaged like the inside of virtual arcade.But holograms weren’t tangible.The Key was smart for keeping the original steel Rose Festival sign.An antique like that had presence.It carried weight and occupied space in a way no hologram could duplicate.It was breathtaking because it wasreal.
