"You're fine.Alana's bringing documents for both of us to review.Besides, I'm making enough breakfast for three."
She hesitates, then sinks back onto the stool."You're not worried about...appearances?"
"Alana is the soul of discretion."
Karina raises an eyebrow."The same Alana who left a Post-it on your desk that said 'smile more' with three underlines?"
"The very same."
Twenty minutes later, we're seated in the yacht's dining nook, plates heaped with eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and black pudding that Karina eyes with profound suspicion.
"What exactly is in this again?"she asks, poking the dark slice with her fork.
"It's best not to ask questions you don't want answers to," I advise.
"That's not ominous at all."
Before I can respond, rapid footsteps sound on the deck, followed by Alana's voice calling, "Mr.Abernathy?Permission to come aboard?"
"Granted," I call back, watching Karina fidget with the hem of my shirt.
Alana appears in the galley doorway, arms loaded with folders and what appears to be merchandise samples.
She takes in the domestic scene—Karina in my shirt, me serving breakfast—without so much as a blink.
"Good morning, Mr.Abernathy, Ms.Peters," she says briskly."I've brought the latest viral updates and several endorsement proposals requiring immediate decisions."
"How did you know we were here?"Karina asks.
"Mr.Abernathy's calendar has yacht maintenance scheduled for this morning," Alana explains, setting down her burden."And you weren't answering your phone, so logically..."
"Right," Karina murmurs."Logical."
"What's so urgent it couldn't wait until office hours?"I ask, nodding toward the pile.
Alana extracts a sleek black box."Highland Horizons Cologne wants to launch 'Highland Mist' by Callum Abernathy."She opens the box to reveal a glass bottle shaped disturbingly like a kilt."They're offering seven figures for endorsement."
"Absolutely not."
"They described the scent as 'masculine integrity with notes of confidence and just a hint of whisky-barrel swagger,'" Alana continues, undeterred."Market testing in the 35-60 female demographic has been, quote, 'extremely positive.'"
Karina snorts into her coffee.
"What else?"I ask, refusing to acknowledge the cologne.
"FitTech wants you to host a series of workout videos called 'Kilted Cardio.'"Alana produces a mock-up poster featuring a disturbingly well-muscled man in a kilt doing lunges."They're projecting two million downloads in the first month."
"Also no."
"TechStyle Magazine wants you for their 'Power Players in Plaid' cover story."
"Definitely not."
"And finally," Alana says, pulling out her tablet, "SkySnap analytics reports a new trending hashtag: #KarinaAndTheKilt."
Karina sputters, coughing loudly."I'm sorry, what?"
"Fan fiction," Alana explains, scrolling through the screen."Stories shipping you and Mr.Abernathy as a couple.They've garnered over fifty thousand reads in the past three days."
