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The tactical man released her hand.
But she held his gaze as she moved forward.
She held it like a lifeline. There was such a sense of goodness there. Piper had the odd sense that if she ran forward, he’d be fine wrapping her in protective arms.
“Piper,” Ria called, making Piper flinch.
The man gave her a nod of encouragement.
Rather than bolstering her, it made tears paint her eyelashes. It made her feel like she’d almost reached the shore and could finally put her feet down.
Piper was exhausted.
These thoughts, Piper explained to herself, had nothing to do with the guy; she was just postponing going into that office. Whatever was about to come out of Ria’s mouth would add to the crisis she was facing.
With a sigh, Piper turned into the office with its nineteenth-century walls and its modern furniture in a stylish mix.
Sitting behind her desk, Ria was, as usual, picture perfect in her designer dress and immaculate hair and makeup.
Standing in front of the woman in her lab uniform of jeans and a T-shirt, with her hair unstyled and no makeup, Piper wondered how the man in the hall could have confused her with Lionel’s wife.
Brandon sat in a chair to the side of his mother’s desk.
“Congratulations,” Ria said. “I’ve been informed you will be receiving the Hyacinth Rowly Award for Excellence in Science.”
Piper looked at her blankly. “The Hyacinth Rowl ... I’ve never heard of it,” Piper said.
“Of course not.” Ria sat back, looking self-satisfied. “Hyacinth is a friend of mine who’s coming into town with the Rowly-McBrayer Wealth Group. She and I cooked this up. Alabaster’s PR has paid influencers across social media to wonder who will be the first to receive this award. Lots of buzz. And then once it’s known that you’re the honoree, you will go viral.”
“Surely not.” Piper shook her head as she slid into a seat uninvited, her legs wobbling beneath her. “No. Surely, that’s not a thing that can happen.” Piper had read about people who heard news that made the room spin and made them think they were going to faint. Piper had always chalked that up to hyperbole.
Who knew it was a real sensation?
And why was her body doing this? It was a fake trophy. It was possibly a day of bots pushing the Alabaster brand.
She just didn’t want her name tied to the Harcourts—it felt dangerous.
“The announcement will be made by Hyacinth Rowly herself for the Hyacinth Rowly Foundation at a lunch tomorrow at Le Canard Frou-Frou. And you will be there to accept the award and give a ten-minute speech about your work.”
Le Canard Frou-Frou was such a snobby restaurant that people had their names on a reservation list six months in advance if they had a known name, and they were turned away completely if they were a regular person.
“The luncheon speech will be a warm-up,” Ria said. “Next, I wanted to talk to you about the soirée that we’re throwing on Saturday to honor our London friends here at Harcourt Alabaster Manor. Jay said that you sent regrets when you RSVPed.”
“It’s lovely to be included but—” Piper had no excuse other than that she’d rather walk on broken glass. “I don’t have anything to wear to such an elegant event.”
“You need not worry about that.” Ria waved her hand through the air. “We’ll send you the correct items for both the luncheon and for the soirée.”
“Since you will be representing Alabaster’s benevolence,” Brandon said, “proper attire is required.”
“At the soirée,” Ria said, “we’ll invite our guests to your lab where you’ll give your remarks. Our PR department is developing both speeches and will make sure you have them in time for you to practice your elocution.” Ria smiled. “See? No fuss at all on your part. You’re merely showing up, properly dressed and rehearsed, to express your heartfelt gratitude for all we’ve done for your research initiative over the decades.”
Piper cleared her throat. “It’s not mine, to be clear. The research is for the world. It’s for people in pain who are dying.”
“Yes, of course, it’s a gift to humanity.” She flipped her hand in the air. “In the meantime, we still have to pay the bills, and good PR helps us do that. A number of our competitors are being sued in class action suits over carcinogens in their formulas. We can take advantage of their misfortune by showing that Harcourt Alabaster is connected to cutting-edge philanthropic science.”
“I …” Okay, add not one but two public speaking gigs to her discomfort.
“Your speech will be a history of our association—the deep pain you’ve experienced from your father’s death, how you bravely took up the mantle like a stalwart soldier. When the speechwriter shoots you a copy, you can adjust to make sure they have the basics in place.” Ria leaned forward. “Now listen, like your dad before you, you are humble pie. It’s refreshing, really. A testament to your dedication to science. But that’s not what this is about.” She stabbed her pointer finger onto the table. “This is about good publicity. To get people’s attention nowadays, it’s going to sound, to your ears, a bit over the top. You’ll suck it up. You’ll do the speech. Only correct concerns such as the year something happened. That’s it.”
