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“How about you explain exactly how this interface is supposed to work, and we can start creating it. You said there’s a contract in place?” Allen asked. “Maybe we should get Mr. Radio Voice to help then. He would know the numbers better than we do.”
I immediately knew who he meant. There was only one guy who had a smooth, low voice worthy of podcasting in our group. “You mean Shane Dalton,” I said.
“That’s him,” Allen said. “He does all our accounting. And wait, weren’t you two, like, together or something? You looked pretty close when we were at those work events.”
I took another moment to appreciate how much they’d been paying attention. “Shane’s been removed from the project. Because of Melvin. Maybe even from Apollo IT altogether. I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Isn’t he your boyfriend?” Mike.
“It’s complicated.” I looked down. I hadn’t really imagined having this conversation with coworkers.
“Awww, Indy—I mean Ana—you can’t let Melvin ruin your life. If you two are meant to be, don’t let anything stand in your way. If I had let outside circumstances—” Mike started.
Bruce interrupted quickly. “Don’t let him start. He’ll tell you his whole life story and how he met Violet, and then he’ll cry, and we’ll be here all day.”
Mike didn’t even bother to look offended. “I hope you find love someday, Bruce. That’s my greatest wish for you.”
“I hate to cut into this,” I said, and all attention turned back to me. “We have one month to construct and deliver. A lot of it is already complete, but I would love the help.” I’d never imagined having the rest of the team work with me on this. It had seemed too risky to include them when I was in that constant balancing act.
“Great,” Evan said. “Leave Melvin to me. I’ll keep him off your back, and we’ll just pretend to report to him.”
“That works for now,” I said, “but again, I’ll be damned if I’m letting Melvin take credit for my idea or for all our hard work.”
“Fuck no,” Bruce yelled. “We’re taking that drunk monkey down.”
I blinked. They continued to surprise me.
Evan started talking, which moved Bruce’s face back down to the line of boxes along the bottom of the screen. “You know the annual company event in Vegas each year? The higher-ups were talking today, and since this account will be such a big win for Apollo, there’s going to be a launch party at the event once the interface is complete. Melvin made himself keynote speaker, but all of us on Artemis agreed it should be you. But don’t worry about that. We’re on it.”
That thought filled me both with warmth and a little bit of fear. I really had no idea what these guys were capable of.
“Um. Okay. I’m going to send over the proposal that was presented to S.J. Sporting and the notes I have to go along with it. I’ll also show you what’s been completed thus far. We can meet again tomorrow morning to go over who will do what. Are you in?” Leading a team was all about finding the best person for each part of the project.
“Ana to the rescue!” Allen said and grinned. “I think I need to reword my original message: All hail the queen!”
“I’m fine withking,” I said. “All right, let’s log off, and I’ll get some info to you all right away.”
“Hey, Indy,” Mike said before I could switch my camera off. “Talk to Shane. True love is worth the heartache.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know it’s true love?”
“I…don’t? But what if it is!” he exclaimed.
Evan cut Mike off and said, “Keep an eye on your email, guys.” Then he shut down the meeting, and my screen went black. I sat back in my chair and turned in my chair to tell Hopper what had happened. Which was pathetic because Hopper could hear the whole thing, and he didn’t give a shit. But Shane would have. Blowing out a breath, I went to sit on the couch and took my phone out of my pocket.
Hey, I texted.
A few minutes later, Shane texted back.Hey.
I really am sorry.
It’s fine. I’m on probation with Apollo, but I still have a job. Hope you’re well.
I squeezed my eyes tight and screwed up my courage, then typed the words I might regret.I miss you. I threw the phone on the cushion and pulled a blanket up over my head. When the phone buzzed, it was a few seconds before I could look.
Yeah. Miss you too.
Well, that was something? I guess? It wasn’t the declaration I’d been looking for, but it wasn’tYou jerk, you almost got me fired, so at least it could be worse.
