Oli laughs again.
We join the others, and barely five minutes in, Lex says, “We need to go meet with Kevin. We’ll come back.”
I’d love to stay with my old crew a little longer, but I get why Lex would want to spend more time with his best friend. And I’m very curious to see the new floor and what it’ll look like.
Once we’re up there, we’re each given a helmet, nonnegotiable, and Kevin grabs a roll that has the floor plans on it. He walks us around the floor, explaining the future layout. The place is loud and swarming with workers, but it looks already well-advanced, so it shouldn’t take too long.
“So, over here, we’ll open the floor and make an auditorium. That way, we can have more events with outsiders and show them what we do here. It’s my understanding that people have decided we’d use it for a company movie night once a month, for team-building purposes. They’re trying to decide which movie we should watch first.”
“The Shining,” I say immediately.
“Uh … Why?”
“I still haven’t gotten around to showing it to Lex.”
“What have you been doing all this time?!” Kevin wonders, turning around to look at us.
“We’ve been taking down a trafficking ring. And having tons of sex,” I add with a shrug.
This time, Lex doesn’t take offense like he did with Mason, but nods instead.
“Okay, fair enough,” Kevin says before resuming the tour.
From what he’s describing, this floor will be amazing. He’s using a big chunk of the profits Kelex has made to invest in an environment where his employees will flourish. The goal here isn’t only to expand, but also to offer an even better quality of work lifeto everyone. That’s why he’s already starting the negotiations for the floor three levels below us, under the main one.
“And this,” he says proudly, having shown us everything else, “is my future office. That one’s yours, Lex. South-facing this time, so we’ll have sun all day.”
“However much we get in Seattle,” Lex replies.
“Is that a third office?” I wonder, pointing at a similar space next to theirs.
“Oh, yes. It’s for our third partner.”
Okay,thatI didn’t know about. “A third… partner? Did you bring on someone new while we were away?”
“No,” Kev says.
“Is it Evora? Is she joining Kelex after all?”
“No.”
There’s something impish about the way he’s acting, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I turn to Lex, hoping I can get a straight answer from him. “Who is it?” I ask.
“Hm, the thing is, your app has launched Kelex into the stratosphere. It opened doors we never thought were even within our reach, and we felt like you got cheated with the sale. Though to be fair, we never intended to cheat you out of what was rightfully yours.”
Kevin takes over, saying, “We merely miscalculated how much your app would bring us.”
I frown, still confused. “I’m very happy with the money I made then, and the stock and everything. I don’t feel cheated.”
“Well, that’s commendable of you, doll,” Kev says, “but I do feel bad about it.”
“That’s why we thought we would make you a partner. We’ll transfer you some shares, and we’ll become equal partners.”
“A three-way partnership,” Kev concludes before grimacing. “Is it me, or did that sound dirty?”
I stare at them—one, then the other—at least ten times, trying to process all that information. They’re waiting for my answer with bated breath, genuinely hopeful for my agreement.
“You want me to become a Kelex partner,” I say.
