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“Elena, you’re killing me here. You know I won’t. I never have before, right?”
“Right.” I take a deep breath. “I’ve been sleeping with Asher.”
Her laugh is delighted. “Excellent. I knew you were into him in spite of that whole non-date thing.” She rolls her eyes andwaits expectantly, knowing there’s more to it. “So what’s the huge secret about that?”
I clear my throat. “He’s one of the CEOs of Vivojen. Which is the company I’m reporting on, so it’s completely wrong to be involved with my subject. It’s basic journalism. Objectivity is everything.”
“So you need to break up with him?” Riley asks.
I don’t know what to say. “I mean, I should. I should stop it right now. There’s something between us that I’ve never had before. It’s not easy to give it up.”
“Yikes,” she says. “You’re falling for him.”
“Maybe.” I shift around in my chair. “That’s not the worst part. It gets crazier. This is what you absolutely can’t tell anyone at all.” I lean in and lower my voice. “I’m not just seeing one guy.”
“You’ve got a rotation?” Riley beams at me. “Good for you. It’s about time. You always get too committed way too fast. Look at what happened with Owen. You barely knew him when you moved in together. It’ll be so good for you to just date around and have some fun instead of jumping in too fast the minute after you meet someone.”
“That’s not exactly what I’m doing,” I say.
She takes a bite of her salad. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“I’m also involved with his friend, who happens to be the other CEO of the company.” I stop myself before I let something slip about what’s gone on between Asher and Logan. I’ll tell Riley eventually but I can’t do it right now. Telling her that I’m seeing two guys once is enough for the short time we have for lunch. She’s got to get to class and I have to head off to the restaurant soon enough.
“That’s pretty complicated. They’re friends? Isn’t that risky are you going to break up their friendship?”
“No,” I say. “They know about each other.”
“You’re not telling me that these guys are okay with it?” Riley’s eyes about pop out of her head. “Both of them seeing you?”
“They are. They’re very close friends and they share everything. Neither one of them has a lot of spare time so it works out really well. They can’t let anyone else know about it though, that’s why the secrecy. Most people wouldn’t get it. As CEOs, they have to maintain their image.”
“Damn, girl.” Riley says. “That sounds complicated. I get why that wouldn’t be something to put out there, and why you kept it a secret. That’s wild. No wonder you’ve been so busy lately,” Riley sits back in her chair. “Two guys at once.”
“Yeah, it’s something else. I know it’s different, but it works.” It’s definitely too soon to tell her that she’s spot on with saying two guys at once. I’ve got to ease her in. “You’re not too weirded out?”
I fold my arms across my chest while I wait for Riley to say something. I know our friendship’s solid, but I still can’t help but worry that she’ll judge me.
Riley pauses. “I mean, it’s pretty unusual.” She looks like she’s trying her best to digest everything I’ve told her. “It’s not like any kind of relationship I’ve ever heard of before. If it makes you happy and it’s not going to mess anything up for either one of them, then why not. I guess it’s just like the early stages of dating when you’re free to do what you want, but with everyone knowing there’s others in the picture.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not at all what I was expecting you to tell me. I actually thought you weren’t going to get back to real dating for awhile, not since the number Own did on you. Instead you jumped all the way in. Good for you.” Riley squeezes my arm. “Go for it.”
I relax a little, happy that she accepted my unconventional situation. I knew she probably would, but there’s always that chance. Sometimes you think you know someone and in the end, you really don’t. I certainly didn’t know what my ex was truly like. Own wasn’t anywhere near the kind of decent guy I thought he was in the beginning.
“What about being objective?” Riley asks me. “How can you interview either one of these guys if you’re also sleeping with them?”
I rub the back of my neck. “That’s the problem I’m having. My editor doesn’t know I’m involved with Asher or Logan. I mean, she originally gave me the assignment because she saw that photo of Asher and I at the benefit. She also figured we were only together for that one evening, which was true at the time. We’d just met and he needed a plus one. She thinks it ended there and there were no strings.”
“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me all of this sooner,” Riley says.
“It all happened pretty fast,” I tell her. “Also the guys are very private. They don’t want any attention at all on their personal lives. They were like that even before we got together. That’s why they don’t do a lot of interviews and for the ones they do occasionally agree to do, they make a very strict point about focusing on their company only. They have good reason for that, especially because Vivojen’s on the verge of submitting their brand new drug for approval. It’s a critical time for them. I’ve been dying to tell you all about it. You understand, right?” I ask anxiously.
“Sure I do.” Riley pauses. “So why are you telling me now if it’s still all supposed to be a big secret?”
“Well, here’s the thing. I could probably get away with writing my article because Asher and Logan and I have only just gotten together recently, and it’s not like we’re going tocome out publicly about being involved. I thought I could still be objective if I focused on the science part of their company. The problem is that now my editor’s insisting on having a lot more info about their personal lives in the story than she wanted originally. She says that City Scan’s going in a new direction and she wants me to give her a very personal look into their lives.”
I twist my napkin around in my fingertips, rolling the edges between them. “I get why, they’re really interesting guys and their personalities absolutely play a huge part in their work and their success. Everything they do in their lives and in their company is interconnected. Asher only allows professional publicity. Anything else could have a negative effect on the types of investors they’re able to attract.”
I start to tear at the thin paper. “He’s the main CEO so he gets most of the spotlight, and he’s not into it at all. He wants all press to focus on what they’re doing because their work is so important. It’s going to change so many lives. Of course because he’s so secretive about his life, that means everyone wants to know more about it.”
