The seating arrangement puts Emma directly across from me, with Logan to my right and Carmen next to Emma.
Of course.
Dinner starts professionally enough.
Richard and Michael ask questions about the AI platform's capabilities. Carmen provides high-level overview. I discuss market positioning and competitiveadvantages. Logan charms everyone with his effortless wit and strategic insights.
And Emma... Emma is brilliant.
She fields technical questions with ease, explaining complex algorithms in terms that make sense to non-engineers. When Michael challenges her on projected user acquisition costs, she doesn't flinch—just pulls up supplementary data on her tablet and walks him through methodology.
"The initial CAC looks high," she explains, "but the lifetime value justifies it. We're not optimizing for quick wins—we're building sustainable market share."
"Aggressive timeline though," Michael counters. "What if adoption is slower than projected?"
"Then we pivot." Emma's voice is steady, confident. "I've modeled three scenarios—best case, realistic, and conservative. Even in the conservative model, we hit profitability within eighteen months."
She's commanding the table withouteven trying.
Richard is leaning forward, engaged. Michael is nodding along. Carmen looks like a proud parent.
And Logan keeps glancing between Emma and me with that infuriating smirk.
I want to be annoyed.
Instead, I'm impressed. Proud, even, though I have no right to be.
Emma catches me watching and raises an eyebrow—a silent question.
I respond with the slightest nod.
Her lips curve, just slightly, before she turns back to Michael's next question.
"So, Emma," Richard says during a lull in conversation. "What brought you to Titan? You could work anywhere with your credentials."
Emma takes a sip of her wine—red, I notice, not white—and considers the question.
"Honestly? The challenge." She glances at me, just briefly. "Titan is at an inflection point. The AIplatform could change everything, but only if it's positioned correctly. I wanted to be part of something that mattered."
"And you weren't afraid of the pressure?" Michael asks. "This is a high-stakes environment."
"I'm not afraid of pressure." Something flickers in her expression—a shadow of something painful. "I've dealt with worse."
My jaw tightens.
Worse than high-stakes business?
I file that away for later, along with all the other things I want to ask her when we're alone.
"Emma recently completed her MBA at Northwestern," Carmen adds, smoothly redirecting. "Top of her class."
"Impressive," Richard says. "That program is notoriously difficult."
"It was challenging," Emma admits. "But I had goodmotivation."
"Which was?" Logan asks, leaning forward with genuine curiosity.
For a moment, I think she's not going to answer. Then she says, "Proving to myself that I could."
