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Aurora
This restaurant is fancy with a capital F. I stand out like a sore thumb thanks to my tomato red sweater, made even more apparent when contrasted with my bright red hair. I tell myself it’s only lunch. Surely, I can manage an hour or two of polite mingling and bonding with co-workers, right?
The Tech Bros have formed a group of sorts, an alliance. Charlie, Buck, Lincoln, David, and Timothy stick together like glue, taking all the free chairs at the table, an inseparable mass. The Antonov brothers have joined us as well, seated on the other side of the table while occasionally answering the Tech Bros’ sporadic questions. There’s only one seat left for me to take.
Right next to Mikhail.
I sit in complete silence. He doesn’t speak, either. His brothers talk business while the Tech Bros talk shop—not once trying to include me in their conversation. It’s so awkward and uncomfortable that I want to squirm, but I resist the urge and feign interest as the nice waitress rattles off the specials.
Mikhail is trying his best to ignore me. I don’t think he’s even given me so much as a sideways glance. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if I should be grateful or if I should be insulted. All I know is I’mdefinitelyconfused and a little freaked out. What if I lose my internship? What if word gets out?
“I think he has some good ideas,” Charlie says with a nonchalant grin. “He’s one of the richest men in the world for a reason. I plan on investing in cryptocurrency like he does. The guy’s a genius.”
A small scoff escapes me. I don’t mean to make the sound, but the way Charlie’s talking about a man who made his fortune on a series of very lucrative investments while conveniently leaving out the fact that his father owned a goldmine and funded his earlier projects makes him sound like he deserves to be placed on a pedestal.
Charlie tilts his head, an amused smirk on his face. “Something funny there, Aurora?”
“No, nothing.”
“Please, speak up. I can barely hear you.”
I take a deep breath. “I just don’t agree with that statement.”
Charlie crosses his arms, sits back in his chair. There’s a smugness to him that I don’t appreciate. A real‘my-daddy-will-hear-about-this’ sort of energy. He’s even dressed in a crisp white polo shirt from Ralph Lauren. “Why’s that, Foster?”
“Cryptocurrency is notoriously unstable. You’d have better luck making your money betting on the races. And secondly, the man isn’t infallible. Did you see the mess he made when he took over Chipper? He ran the company into the ground in two weeks.”
Timothy nods. “Yeah,” he says dumbly. “It was a trainwreck I couldn’t look away from.”
Charlie clicks his tongue and glares. Timothy immediately sinks into himself. Apparently, I’ve already figured out who the Tech Bro ringleader is.
“You wouldn’t get it,” he says with a dismissive wave of his bread stick. “Crypto takes a certain level of expertise. I don’t expect you to understand.”
“What’s not to understand?” I retort. “It’s an unstable alternative form of currency. There are safer places to invest your money.”
“I’ll get my financial advice from someone who’s qualified, sweetheart, but thanks for the contribution.” His tone damn near sets me off. The rest of his little posse simply laughs, while I sit there, quietly infuriated. And here I was hoping to get along with my new co-workers.
“Ms. Foster is quite correct, and you’d do well not to call her sweetheart in my presence again if you’d like to last the year.”
Mikhail draws everyone’s attention like a magnet. One sentence and he commands the whole table. Hell, I’m pretty sure he could control the whole room if he felt so inclined. Mikhail doesn’t add anything more. He doesn’t need to. Within five seconds, the Tech Bros quickly change their tune.
“Now that I think about it, he’s said some pretty shitty stuff online and never apologized for it,” Buck comments.
“Yeah, and crypto marketplaces can be pretty damn predatory,” adds Lincoln.
There are murmurs of agreement.
“Excuse me,” I mumble as I vacate my chair and head to the restrooms.
The ladies’ room is just as fancy as the restaurant with lavishly tall mirrors and granite vanity tables to sit at. I head to the sink and run my hands under cold water, in a bit of a trance. This wasn’t how I imagined my first day at work going. Between asshole co-workers and the discovery that I’ve seen my new boss buck naked, my mind is spinning in endless circles. I know I have to go back out there eventually, but my measly two hours of sleep is finally getting to me.
Dammit, Charlotte. I love you, but I hate you. All of this is your fault.
“It’s fine,” I tell my reflection in the mirror. “Keep your head down and do the work.”
“Are you going to hide in here forever?”
I yelp, whipping around to find Mikhail standing in the doorway. He doesn’t seem too bothered by the fact that he’s in the wrong bathroom.
