Page 40 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

Cora laughed but recovered quickly. “And to think, up until now it’s been me.”

The group laughed, and I was relieved that she’d moved the conversation along before it became awkward.

“That’s not to say that everyone else’s accomplishments aren’t as impressive,” Milly cut in. “Hayden was a kind of child prodigy. Coding in elementary school, he was writing functional programs and developing apps by the time he was in middle school.”

Hayden’s cheeks flushed bright red. “You make me sound like such a nerd.”

Milly waved him off. “He’s just humble. He graduated from high school at fourteen and college by eighteen.”

Cora’s eyebrows shot up. “So how old are you?” She paused. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

I was pretty sure the list of things he minded about her was short.

“I’m twenty-three.”

“You’re my age.” I smiled at him, hoping he didn't feel as insecure now. “But I’ve been out of school for two years, not seven.”

He chuckled. “Well, I got my masters, so it’s only been five.”

I scoff. “Okay, rub it in.”

Cora put her elbow on her knee, leaning forward. “How incredible. You must have some pretty great stories.”

I watched her lips twist up and narrowed my eyes. She was flirting. I knew that look. It was the same one she wore when we went out after work. It was her come-hither, enchanting look. Uh oh. Poor Hayden wouldn’t know what hit him.

Lane shifted, catching my eye. He smiled. “Where are you from, Taylor?”

I felt a bit nervous talking about myself now that I knew that he was a brainiac and probably several years older than me. I didn't want him to think of me as too immature.

“I grew up in a suburb of Virginia Beach and moved out here after school.”

He nodded. “So you stayed because you love the city, or was it the job?”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I felt like there was a wrong answer, but wasn’t sure what it was. “Both? I didn’t want to leave when I got here, but it took longer than I thought it would to get a job. I almost had to move back home, since marketing jobs are hard to come by in the city. I was lucky to find a position here.”

“Ugh. I know. It was horrible trying to find a job when I first moved here.” Milly bumped my shoulder. “What about you, Cora? Where did you grow up?”

“I was born in Michigan, but moved to Queens after high school.”

“No way. I’m from Queens.” Hayden lit up as if this made them a perfect match.

Cora grinned. “Really? Do you still live there?”

He shook his head. “No, the commute was rough. I needed to be able to come into the office at any time if anything went wrong.”

That reminded me of what they’d been saying on the elevator about an all-nighter. “Did you guys ever go home last night?”

The three of them made eye contact before sighing. Lane spoke first. “I went home at five to shower since I live nearby, but I came straight back.”

I cringed. “So you were really here all night?”

Milly pointed to her face. “You don’t get bags like these without working twenty hours straight.”

She did have puffy, purplish bags under her red-rimmed eyes.

“I’m so sorry. We’ve had to stay late if a plan changed with marketing or we needed to push out a press release, but the latest was maybe ten or eleven.” Cora looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded.

“It’s not often that we have to do this, but one of the bigwigs decided to change a huge piece of the new release we’re working on and wanted it completed before the new year, so we’re powering through,” Lane said diplomatically.