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“Hey, James,” Juliette says. “Have you come to meet Missie?”
“Yeah,” he replies, and he holds out his hand with a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
“James is a computer engineer and one of the owners of the company,” Juliette says as I shake his hand.
“Juliette’s supposed to be in a meeting,” he replies, “so I’ll take you through to Alex’s office if you like.”
She gives me a hug. “I hope it goes well!”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me,” I tell her. I know she argued for me when some of the others said they’d rather start the trials with children who had two parents. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s only what you deserve,” she says briskly. She looks at James then with an impish smile. “I’ve warned her how grumpy Alex is, but I’ve tried to impress that his bark is worse than his bite.”
“It might be worth having a tetanus shot anyway,” James comments.
She snorts. “Good luck.”
I watch her walk away. I wish she was coming with me!
“Don’t listen to her,” he says with a wink. “Alex is one of the good guys. We wouldn’t be here without him. Come on, I’ll take you through.”
Somewhat mollified, I follow him across the lobby and into a glass-walled corridor that leads to an open-plan office. It’s all designed the same way as the lobby—what did Juliette call it? Biophilic?—with lots of blue-and-purple paua shells, stones, plants, and wood carved with pictures from Maori legends.
“It’s a beautiful building,” I tell him as he leads me through another set of automatic glass doors.
“Thank you, yeah, we love it, and it’s a great place to work. Look, I can introduce you to the guy who’s responsible for much of the design.” He stops by two men who are standing by the water cooler, chatting. “This is Henry,” he says, indicating one of the men. He’s Maori and a big guy, maybe six-three or four, with wide shoulders. “He’s a member of the South Islandiwi, Ngai Tahu, and he helped plan and design the new office. Guys, this is Mistletoe Macbeth.”
“Missie, please,” I correct. “Juliette was just telling me about how you worked with localkaitiaki. It’s wonderful.”
“Thank you.” Henry gives me a big smile as we shake hands, his eyes creasing at the corners.
“And this is Damon,” James informs me, gesturing at the other man. He’s around six-two, not quite as big as his friend, but also handsome, with interesting gingerbread-colored eyes. “He painted the picture in the lobby.”
My eyebrows rise. “Oh, really? Wow. It’s amazing.”
“Thank you.” Damon also shakes my hand. I catch him and James exchanging a quick glance, and for the first time I get a tingle of suspicion.
“I get the feeling I’m being vetted,” I tease. “Have I passed the test?”
“Aw,” James says, “Juliette’s been singing your praises, and everyone’s keen to meet you, that’s all.”
“Eek.” I pull a face. “Don’t be misled by the name—I’m not that interesting.”
They all laugh, and Damon smiles. “Good luck in the interview. I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“Thank you.” I give them a parting smile and follow James as he gestures to the group of offices ahead.
“After you,” he says, stopping in front of one to let me precede him.
I go to pass him—and walk straight into the glass door. It makes a huge clanging noise, and everyone in the vicinity, including Damon, Henry, James, and the guy in the room in front of me, look over and stare.
“Are you okay?” James asks with concern.
“Oops. Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” Embarrassed at my faux pas, I go into the room. What was it Juliette said?It’s almost a done deal, as long as you don’t do anything crazy to frighten him off? Way to go, girl.
“It helps if you open the door first,” the man inside states. He rises from the armchair he’s sitting in. “You must be Mistletoe.”
My face burning, I tuck the strand of hair that curls by my cheek behind my ear. “Um, Missie, please.”
