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Owen chewed his lip. “Yeah. We’re in agreement there. But fair warning, pal: I’m intent on winning her over.”
Jude smiled back at him. “Wouldn’t expect you to act any other way.”
The two of them shook hands, as if a business deal had just been brokered. Then they turned back to me, smiling warmly. Intensely. Like a strange competitiveness had come over them.
How on earth is this going to work?
51
Amber
Rather than spend the night with either of them (how would we even decide that?) I told them I was going home to think things over. I was hoping to talk to Michelle about all of it, and to get her perspective, but she was spending the night at Phil’s. So I was all alone.
I opened up Diablo and played a few games, allowing myself to zone out and relax. That helped knock me out of the shock I had been in earlier that evening, and soon I was thinking a little more clearly.
When we left Melinda’s office and went upstairs, I expected the two of them to scream and shout and break up with me. I thought I would end up truly alone. Instead, I walked out of my office with two kinda-boyfriends. And with a third suitor over in Europe.
Was I the luckiest girl in the world, or what?
I tried making a list in my head, but it always faded away before I could focus on it. This wasn’t the kind of situation that called for a list. I was seeing two men, both of whom were higher than me in the company, and they knew about each other.
Realistically, they would shake off whatever they were feeling tonight. Tomorrow, one or both of them would insist that no, they couldn’t do this after all, because it was just too crazy.
But when I walked into the office the next morning, they both acted as if everything was fine.
Owen was by the front desk, speaking to one of the new hires. When he saw me, he introduced me to the young man—whose name went in one ear and out the other—and told him how I was the real brains behind ACS. He was warm and friendly and professional, but I could still sense that intense competitiveness underneath.
Then I went into the kitchen to get an energy drink. Jude was there making a cup of coffee. There were other people around, so he asked how my night was, then calmly segued to the topic of a meeting we had later that morning. He gave me a wink that nobody else could see, then went up to his office.
Melinda was there for the whole thing, so I turned to her and said, “I have to talk to you.”
“Nope!” she said cheerfully. “I havezero opinionon the situation.”
I looked around and lowered my voice. “So you heard?”
“I’m surprised it didn’t happen before now. But again, I am a totally impartial third-party! Forms have been signed, which is all that matters to me.”
The rest of the day passed in an alarmingly-normal way. I had that mid-morning meeting with Jude and Nancy. I had individual meetings with all of the new hires, and then spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on reviewing code.
At six in the evening, Jude opened a group chat with me and Owen.
Cauthon, Jude: I installed a random number generator plugin.
March, Owen: That was fast. How’s it work?
Cauthon, Jude: !roll 10
NUMGEN: JUDE ROLLED A (6)
March, Owen: !roll 10
NUMGEN: OWEN ROLLED A (4)
March, Owen: Fuck. You rigged it, didn’t you?
Cauthon, Jude: I swear I didn’t.
March, Owen: Damnit, you’re telling the truth. I know because I’m reviewing the NUMGEN code right now. Okay, you won fair and square.
