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I’m making the same mistakes again, and I’m preferring to be the girlfriend instead of the boss. I want to be a part of them. I want to sink into the fantasy TV and movies try to sell us—that work proximity can somehow turn a group of disparate strangers into a family.
I don’t talk to my old friends at Jensen Medical. They don’t call me up, and I don’t check on them except on LinkedIn where I breathe a sigh of relief every time one of them gets a new job.
I’m letting emotion rule my brain.
Those ridiculously hot lips of his curl up as he catches sight of me. “Hey. How’d it go? We’ve been having fun here. Nonna discovered butter chicken.”
Lydia points down at her plate. “This is delicious. Who would have thought it?”
“Wendy works.” Ye Joon is all smiles.
“In a limited capacity,” Heath qualifies. “We’re only integrated with about ten restaurants here in the city. And Wendy can view menus on the Internet. But we’re getting there. You hungry?”
“No, but we need to talk as soon as you’re done.”
His brows rise. “I thought you would be hungry. I got extra samosas.”
Normally I don’t turn down fried food, but today is special. “I just had lunch.”
“With CeCe, who barely eats.” He’s joking like the day’s normal and the sky isn’t falling. But then he seems to realize something’s gone wrong. He puts down his plate. “What’s going on?”
Ye Joon looks up at Ria. “Told you something was going down.”
His expression goes tight. I know that expression. It’s one every person who’s ever worked for a start-up sees in the mirror at some point. The one that says I’m going to have to find a new job because all the people above me are idiots.
I can’t even blame him for having the thought.
“Come on, Ivy. Let’s get whatever bad news out of the way,” Heath says.
Fine. He wants to do this here, I can do it here. It’s not like they won’t find out soon. “I need to know if anyone’s been talking about Emma and who they talked to.”
My words effectively snuff out the joy that had filled the room.
Ria sits down next to Ye Joon. “I signed an NDA. I take that seriously.”
Ye Joon shakes his head. “I only talk to you guys. My parents know I have a new gig, but all they really want to know is when I’m going to get a real job. The only real job is doctor, by the way. They genuinely expect me to drop everything and go to medical school so they can say their son is a doctor.”
“Is something wrong?” Lydia asks, setting down the naan she’d been scooping up sauce with.
I spoke too soon. I hadn’t been thinking about the fact that Lydia is here. The last thing I want to do is cause her anxiety. I school my expression. “No. There’s some rumors going around. That’s all. Just wanted to make sure we keep things tight, if you know what I mean.”
Ria looks Lydia’s way. “I think Ivy’s heard something and now she’s worried one of us is… The word spy is so overused.”
“Spy?” Lydia’s eyes widen.
Ye Joon offers her more naan. “We’re not and she’ll figure that out, but she’s been in the big leagues before. Ivy, you can look through my system. I’m not sending anything on Emma out. I know you’ve been screwed over before, but we’re good here.”
I kind of want to hug him because I’d been expecting a fight. Not that I wouldn’t understand a fight. It sucks to be accused of something you didn’t do, and I’m not trying to accuse anyone. “I don’t need to check anyone’s systems. I just think we should have a talk about security.”
Heath puts a hand on my elbow. “You guys eat. We’ll be right back.”
He steers me to the terrace, opening the heavy glass door and letting me through.
He stares at me for a moment. “What did CeCe say that has you in this mood?”
“Nick is announcing a project very similar to ours, and it looks like he already has full funding.” There’s no point in sugarcoating it. “In fact, he’s got Sherry Carrigan working with him.”
His arms cross over his chest. “The Hollywood lady who runs an escort service?”
“It’s a matchmaking service,” I correct.
“It’s always an old dude and a twenty-year-old.”
He obviously hasn’t watched the show. I’d joked about it, but she is considered a serious expert at putting people together. And it’s LA, so some of the “twenty-year-olds” are likely in their forties. They kind of all meld together. “It’s not that bad. The show, I mean. The fact that Nick is going to go public first is very concerning for us.”
“How would he even know?” Heath asks. “I mean this has to be a coincidence. You’ve only been broken up for what? Six months? How did he build a working model in less than six months? Did you get a hint he was working on something like this?”
