“He had one line,” Dylan mutters.
Kate smiles at Julia. “Well, cat’s out of the bag. We sort of figured something was going on with you before Ken destroyed the lab equipment.” She sees Julia shoot me a look. “But Nathaniel didn’t tell us.”
“We aren’t super geniuses for nothing. Will you show us something?” Dylan says with no shame.
Julia is blushing. “You guys don’t care? I didn’t mean to lie.”
“No, you have to keep talent like that under wraps. Or Big Brother is going to have you locked in a room before you know it.” Dylan grabs a cookie too.
“We won’t tell a soul. Don’t worry,” Jared says. “But … I do want to see too. I mean, if you don’t mind.”
Julia clears her throat and stands up. She shakes her head like she can’t believe what she’s doing. She grabs the remote for the surround sound and turns up the song playing. It’s a heavy rock song with a high, sweet voice singing about appreciating power. Her head rocks back and forth as her shoulders wiggle. She’s barefoot in her sundress and she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Her feet start to dance, just like at the brewery that night that feels so long ago, as the music takes over. Her eyes close as she moves effortlessly, hypnotizing us all.
Nothing holds her back this time and soon her whole body glows a soft white. As the chorus comes on she spins and the white moves down her body to collect in her glowing hands. There is no heat though, just light. The song ends and out of her hands shoots two bright rainbows.
She laughs at the silliness of the situation but the others stare in awe. Febin has frozen with a cookie halfway to his mouth.
“Bravo!” I yell, shaking the others out of their reverie.
Julia bows dramatically as we all clap. She glows with joy. I pull her into my lap, no longer caring about PDA.
“You know, I think the next few projects are going to be a little different,” I say cautiously.
Julia’s smile grows and she adds, “We may need people who are open to a very different sort of work. People with a specific set of specialties.” She glances at each one of our friends as she speaks. “More research and development. Less paperwork.”
Their smiles grow as the agree eagerly. Except Febin. He still hasn’t moved.
“We may have some availability in our schedule,” Jared says coolly.
“So you’re gonna stay here for a while?” Kate asks Julia.
Julia grabs my hand. “Yeah. I’m still on short-term disability for a few more weeks but then I’m going give my two-week’s notice. I want to stay here and make some big changes.”
We share a smile and I squeeze her hand. She sends warmth into it.
“I think there are some very exciting opportunities ahead,” I say, grinning at her and then the team.
“We’re going to change the world,” Dylan says, their gaze far off.
I glance up to Julia and see the moisture balanced in her smiling eyes.
“We’re together and that’s all that matters,” she says.
