Lizzy rested her cheek against the top of Jane’s head. “Whatever. It never would’ve worked anyway.”
“Why not?”
“You know I never get invested in a love story where the main love interest is blond. That’s romance novel 101.”
Jane’s shoulders shook as she laughed. “You’re awful.”
Lizzy shrugged her free shoulder even as she smiled. It wasn’t a lie. But as she stared out at the darkness, at the stars and the dark wisps of clouds overhead, she let herself wonder if it wasn’t exactly the truth, either.
CHAPTER 15
For the first time in years, Will Darcy had to consider that he may have made a mistake.
Charlie stood at the front of the crowded conference room at Knightley Capital, his face drawn and his energy low as he tapped his computer key, advancing to the next slide of his presentation. He didn’t look up from his screen as he read the copy verbatim to the nearly catatonic group surrounding the long table.
Usually, presentations were where he shone. Give Charlie Pierce a fresh batch of analytical data on bioethics or solar power and he could wax poetic for hours. Not only that, but his enthusiasm was contagious. People who entered his meetings with no interest in green tech left with their eyes bright and phones out, anxious to schedule the next meeting.
That’s how it usually went, anyway. But ever since they returned to the city from East Hampton a week ago, it had been a different story.
“And as you can see from this graph…” Charlie motioned listlessly to the screen behind him. “By utilizing recent advancements in spatial genomics, Blaxton can acquire technologiesaround epigenome plasticity in plants to further diversify their hydroponics portfolio.”
Will grimaced. He wasn’t in the habit of making mistakes. In fact, he could probably count on one hand the number of times he had made one in his adult life. That’s not to say he was perfect. Far from it. But he was careful. Emotions didn’t enter the equation; rationality was all that mattered. It was why he had encouraged Charlie to leave East Hampton, why he spent the past week convincing him not to go back. It was the only rational decision. Or so he’d thought.
“This brings us to the projected growth in transcriptional dynamics over the next five years…”
Maybe it wasn’t so bad. A bit dry, sure. And very monotone. But notbad, per se.
Charlie advanced to the next slide in his presentation. “Now, let’s go over these numbers one by one.”
A collective groan rumbled through the room.
Will’s eyes wandered across the table to the only other two people he trusted to assess the situation.
Freddie sat with his shirtsleeves rolled up, watching Charlie with a look of morbid curiosity. Next to him, George leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed.
Then Freddie turned to Will, cocked an eyebrow and mouthed,Who died?
Will frowned.Well, shit.
Will arrived at Ford’s Cafe early and was halfway through his beer before George and Freddie walked in. They made their way over to Will’s booth in the back, ordering a couple of beers of their own before sliding into their seats across from him.
“Well, that was fun,” Freddie said, unbuttoning his suit jacket.
“If we want this viable by Q4, these discussions have to happen now,” Will said defensively. “You both know that.”
Freddie smiled before leaning his elbows on the table. “Yeah, but have you heard the saying, ‘this meeting could have been an email’?”
Will ignored him, but he still felt a muscle in his jaw tick.
George chuckled as the waitress dropped off their beers. “So where’s Charlie now?”
“Still at the office.”
“Painting his nails black and listening to Joy Division?” Freddie asked.
Will’s brow creased. “What?”
George sent him a sharp glare. “Come on, Will. In the past week you doubled our workload for the rest of the summer. Then Charlie shows up today like he just put down the family dog. What’s going on?”
