Richard responded. Junior PM assigned to us starting tomorrow morning. We're good.
I text back.
Let's do this.
Chapter forty-one
Sam
Priya's looking at me like I'm a ghost that just materialized in the middle of a coffee shop.
"Look who finally showed up."
I slide into the booth at The Donut, drop my bag on the bench. The coffee's already waiting—oat milk latte, extra shot. Nadia must have ordered when she saw me coming up the block.
"Sorry. I've been slammed."
Liv leans back, arms crossed. "We were starting to think you forgot about us."
"I didn't forget."
Nadia pulls out her phone, opens their shared notes app. She taps the screen with one manicured fingernail. "Okay. Standard agenda. Tom update first." She pauses, meets my eyes with a smirk I recognize. "We have a standing Tom agenda item, remember? So spill."
I wrap both hands around the coffee cup. "We've actually been really busy."
The three of them exchange looks. Priya's eyebrow goes up.
"Professionally busy," I add quickly. "Get your minds out of the gutter."
Liv snorts. "Uh-huh. Sure."
"I'm serious. It's two weeks until the Capital Investment Committee meeting. Final push."
Priya frowns. "What's that?"
"Final funding approval," I say, keeping it short. "They decide if the project gets funded. If they say no, the last four months were basically a waste of time."
Priya frowns. "Wow. That's brutal."
Liv's expression shifts. "Ouch. That's a lot of pressure."
"Yeah." I take a sip of coffee. "I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it."
Nadia tilts her head. "Looking forward to it? You mean like... sleeping more? Hanging out with us again? You know we have problems that need solving too."
I smile despite myself. "Yes. That. And..." I hesitate, then push through. "Spending more time with Tom. Where we don't have a work deadline hanging over our heads."
Priya leans forward. "You mean like... dating? Actually going on dates?"
"Yeah. We've been working together nonstop for two weeks. We barely have time to breathe, let alone figure out what we are outside of work."
"What do you think you are?" Liv asks.
I turn the coffee cup in my hands, watch the steam curl up. "We're us. We're good. But I want normal. Coffee dates that aren't site meetings. Dinners where we don't bring laptops. Time to just be together without a deadline hanging over us."
Nadia's watching me carefully. "So if the meeting goes well, you get Tom time. And if it goes badly?"
"Then we deal with that. But I'm trying not to spiral before it happens."
