Page 63 of Technical Advances

I turned and headed toward the outdoor courtyard where the ceremony would take place, Beck hot on my heels.

“Ani. Ani! We need to nip this in the bud. Today!”

I turned and looked my friend directly in the eye. It seemed to surprise him. “Leave him alone, Beck. Leave us both alone.” I pointed a finger in his face before realizing I had nothing else to say on the matter, so I turned and joined the queue to enter graduation.

When a young usher asked for Beck’s ticket, he lowered his glasses, looking from her to me before saying, “Do you know who we are?”

The MIT student nodded and handed each of us a program. “Welcome Back to MIT, Dr. Day!”

We’d entered from the front, passing the stage and facing the neat rows of folding chairs that had been set up on the green. Seats were filling up quickly. I slipped into an aisle seat near the stage, but Beck grabbed my wrist and walked us toward the center of the row.

“You could have at least worn a hat or a pair of sunglasses.”

“I didn’t think about a disguise. I got dressed quickly.”

“I bet you did.”

I was reading through the program when a familiar male voice questioned, “Anson?” I looked up to find Ben working his way to us.

“Ben!” I jumped up.

“And now the father,” Beck muttered.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Ben looked at least as concerned as he was surprised.

“Bet you didn’t.” Luckily, the chatter around us kept Beck’s voice from traveling to my other side, so Ben didn’t hear as he worked his way toward us.

“Benji invited me last night.”

“Last night? At the restaurant? I must have missed it.”

“Jesus, Ani,” Beck whispered in my ear, his words spit out like crackles of fire. “I know you don’t like to lie but tell the fucking father that the kid texted you or something. For fuck’s sake.”

Ben may not have heard the words, but he was staring at the man whose mouth was close to my face. I could feel my hair flopping from behind my ears as I looked from one man to the other.

I stood and shook Ben’s hand. Beck stood as well, and I turned.

“Ben Warren, meet my partner, Henry Beckett. Beck, this is Benji’s dad, Ben.”

“Your partner?” Ben looked between us, his eyes narrow even as they looked like they could incinerate us.

“Listen to him, acting like he doesn’t know who we are!” That wasn’t the type of comment I was used to from Beck. Not everyone outside of the tech world considered us famous.

“Beck!”

“What is your problem, man?” Ben leaned around me to get right in Beck’s face, both men practically pressed against me. It was decidedly uncomfortable. People around us may have started to stare. “Do you even know where your partner was last night?” Ben spat out.

“Oh,” Beck scoffed. “I know exactly what he was up to last night. Would you like me to fill you in?” He pressed in closer, their faces inches apart as they glared across my chest.

“Beck,” I spat out. “We’ve got cameras on us,” I whispered through a forced smile.

I adjusted my body so the two would have to put more space between them. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I need to ask you both to stop whatever this is. We’ve got eyes on us, and I’m pretty sure Benji doesn’t want to end up tagged in a video where his dad and the COO of his new company are engaging in fisticuffs at his graduation!”

Beck smiled in spite of the anger that still obviously seethed through him, and Ben muttered a “sorry, Anson,” as he looked around and plastered a smile on his face that was so fake even I could tell.

“I never said I wanted to punch him,” Beck spit out through his own false smile.

“Let’s try this again, okay?” I was used to Beck being the one to smooth over social situations. I was fairly out of my element, but I knew how important it was for me, and more importantly for Benji, that our relationship not start out with so much yelling between the two most important people in our lives.