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“A spin around the block wouldn’t have hurt anything.” Charlie waves his hand dismissively. “Okay, so this is serious, and you’re…wait, Lisa’s never let on about you. Is she in on this secret thing?”
“I told her you asked me to stay away from her. And I told her why,” I admit. “I let her make her own decision about if or how to go forward. She didn’t love the idea of being secretive, but I don’t think she welcomed the idea of the office knowing about us. She didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about her dating the boss’s brother.”
“She’s professional. I can see how she might want to avoid any speculation to the contrary.” Charlie nods. “Okay, so you’re telling me now. Does that mean this is out in the open?”
“I’ll let Lisa decide if she wants the rest of the office to know. We just want you to know.”
“Okay. So, what now? You want to tell her about your real role with Engage?”
“Yes.”
Charlie frowns. “Do you think that’s wise? I still want people to believe in Engage on its own merits, not because of your name, and we haven’t built up the reputation I wanted to have before revealing your role.”
“If you’re asking whether Lisa’s trustworthy, she already knows I’m the landlord, not the handyman, and she hasn’t said anything about that.”
“You told her you own the building?” His brows arch in surprise.
“She guessed, I confirmed it.”
“And?”
“And what? She thinks it’s nice of me to help my brother out by managing things like employee safety and internet connections while he focuses on growing the business. It’s not untrue, but it’s not the full story, and I don’t want to hide that from her anymore. I don’t want that secret between us.”
“And when it comes out? She’s professional enough she didn’t want the scrutiny of dating the boss’s brother. What about dating the boss?”
“I’m not her boss.”
“You’re the lead investor. The company still has to answer to you.” He grimaces.
“That’s oversimplifying things.”
“Is it? You’re on the advisory board. You’ll be providing guidance to help us grow. Tell me she won’t see you as the boss.”
“Shit.” I run my hand through my hair. “Maybe she will.” That’s a whole new angle I haven’t thought of, and I don’t like it.
“If you tell her about your role, do you think she’ll understand why we kept it a secret?” Charlie probes.
“She doesn’t like secrets, but she kept the one about us as a favor to me. I’m hoping she’ll understand this one after I have the opportunity to explain everything. And I’m hoping she won’t see me as the boss, because that’s not how I see myself.”
“You’re hoping?” He arches a brow.
“Yeah. I’m hoping.”
“That kind of makes me nervous,” Charlie admits. “I mean, if you two are together, I agree she deserves to know the extent of your involvement, but there’s a big pitch coming up where I’ll have the opportunity to share some early results with a lot of influential people, and I need Lisa’s help to get ready. If there’s a chance she won’t understand why we’ve kept your role quiet, or she’ll need time to understand, well, I’d like to get past that meeting first. Any chance you can wait until after that event to say anything?”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, feeling like my lungs can’t get full. This doesn’t feel right. I want to get everything out in the open as soon as possible, especially now that I realize my role with Engage might be more complicated for Lisa to understand than I previously thought. But given how I snuck around behind Charlie’s back for the last month, I don’t know how I can argue this request. Besides, if Charlie's asking me to wait, this event must be critical for him, and if he’s counting on Lisa’s help, I don’t want to do something that might divert her attention away from something they’ve both been working hard at.
“How long are we talking here?” I ask.
“Two weeks.”
“The Tech Stars event,” I mutter out loud. I’d totally forgotten about it. I usually attend every year, but with this Swop debacle and then getting involved with Lisa, my attention has been elsewhere.
“Yeah.” Charlie nods.
Shit. This is a big event, and being prepared for it could mean the difference between leaving empty handed or leaving with the money and credibility the business needs to take that next leap forward. Shit!
“I don’t love the idea of waiting. In fact, I hate it. But I understand why you’re suggesting it,” I concede. “I’ll wait a few weeks, as long as there’s no chance my role will come out before I get a chance to tell her myself. I want it to come from me.”
