“Wrong!” I exclaim smugly.
“Okay, two weeks and one day, you pedantic dick.”
“Wrong, we do have a place to stay for the weekend, you hapless harpy.”
Lucy narrows her eyes at me. “Hapless harpy?Hapless harpy?That’s the best you can do. Call me a bitch. Call me a ‘deranged psychopath,’ but ‘hapless harpy’?” She lets out another groan, and for some reason, it vibrates up my thighs and connects to my balls. “Pathetic.”
“You’re right. ‘Deranged psychopath’ was more accurate. The point is, we have a place to stay. I got us a Friday-to-Monday rental on the Cape. Kinda.”
Lucy eyes me suspiciously. “What do you mean,kinda?”
“That’s what you focus on? Not the fact that I’ve managed to procure the entire group a house for the weekend, right on the beach. You focus on the fact that I said it waskindaon the Cape.”
“Yeah, well, being on the Cape is super important to Katherine. So if it’s notexactlyon the Cape, it’s not going to fly. Where is this supposed house?”
Ed and Katherine are heading back to the table hand in hand, grinning at each other. They’re ridiculous.
“I’ll tell you when I next see you,” I say through gritted teeth.
Lucy is almost out of her seat, she’s so filled with frustration. A part of me is sort of enjoying toying with her. “I’ve messaged you nineteen times asking you for an update, and you’ve ignored me. I’ve tried my best to get you to meet with me, but I get crickets. This celebration is in two weeks. We need to meet and make plans.”
Lucy falls silent as Katherine and Ed get to the table.
“You know one of the best things about this joint party?” Katherine asks. In her two hands, she grabs mine and Lucy’s hands across the table. “It’s seeing the two of you building a relationship and becoming friends. It makes me so happy.”
“Seriously,” Ed says. “We were saying on the way down that the way Lucy saw you back to the hotel after the engagement party was really nice. It’s so great that you’re getting on so well. You know you’ve always felt like family to me, Hunter. And Lucy is going to be actual family. It’s so great we can all hang out like this.”
“It’s perfect!” Katherine says. “I never want to have to worry who to invite to what events. Especially when we’re down here in New York.”
Lucy gives me a playful punch to my arm. “One big happy family.”
“And seriously, you should feel free to talk business,” she says. “Some of the time, at least. In fact, now, even. Lucy and I can chat if you two want to talk about something.”
Ed looks at me expectantly. But this isn’t a business lunch. Not anymore. It’s not like we can actually talk.
“I understand how important work is to you both,” Katherine says.
Does she, though? Because if she really did, would she even be here? And the thing I was going to talk to Ed about was his focus. Or lack of it. It’s not like I can bring that up now. Or maybe if I say a little, Katherine will understand the situation and encourage Ed to get his head in the game?
“Okay,” I say, my tone cautious. “We’ve got a lot going on, as you know. We’re all working really long hours, but we’re just keeping the wheels on. We need to start automating some of the admin processes we have, and that takes a lot of resources.”
“What?” Lucy asks. It takes everything I have not to roll my eyes at the interruption. “Admin processes like KYC and stuff?”
I take a beat. Should I be discussing this in front of Lucy? Why is she so interested?
“Yes, KYC and some of the financial questionnaires. It would be good to have it automated, but doing it takes time—”
“You can get consultancies to come in and do it. That’s what we did in our firm. They’re industry specific. I had to look into it because I automated all the NDAs. No one had done it because they were all focused on the big documents, but actually it’s saved a ton of time because we use them so frequently. It’s really worth the investment.” She nods enthusiastically, and for a moment I wonder if she’s been possessed by a fully functioning human rather than the deranged psycho we both agree she normally is.
“Right,” I say, nodding to Ed. “That’s what I keep saying. Even though they’re short documents, it saves time—”
“And it’s more professional these days,” Lucy interrupts. “If you’re not automating things like KYC while your competitors are, you’re wasting money.”
“Right,” I say, spluttering in agreement. “It’s an investment worth making.”
“Sounds good,” Katherine says.
Ed sighs as if he can’t think about another thing. “Maybe we can look into getting a consultancy firm in to do it. We’re spread so thin at the moment.”
