“Also,” she says, holding up a folder and gesturing toward the files in my hand. “I think you’re going to want to trade me.”
Glancing down at papers I’ve got, I can tell these are absolutely not what I need. Striding over to Grace to make an exchange, I try to avoid eye contact. I am extremely aware there will be an interrogation coming later, and I’m just not ready for her to start recounting all the things she’s noticed recently. “Thank you. You’re the best.”
“Oh, I know.” She leans down into my line of vision and gives me a grin. “Go get ‘em.”
As I walk down the hall toward the conference room, I think I need to do something for her. Flowers, a spa day gift certificate, personal latte bar, maybe. A gesture to make sure she knows how deeply I appreciate her. She’s always saving my ass, and if she ever leaves Task Force—and me specifically—I might legitimately cry.
The last couple of days have been a comedy of errors, and honestly I’m surprised she’s held out this long before giving me hell.
I feel like my brain has been all over the place, but that’s not true—it’s only been in one place. Turning over every angle of the Yung-Sun situation.
I’m intrigued. I can’t pretend I’m not.
But is that enough to turn my whole world upside down to pursue something with him?
Is it as easy as just dating a man instead of a woman? Can that ever be simple?
And the thing that has been keeping me up at night: Does all of this change something fundamental about who I am?
I try to shake it off, taking a deep breath as I walk into the meeting with the right papers, and act like theprofessional I am.
??
“So, are you going to fill me in, or do I have to keep coming up with wild fantasy scenarios in my head until you finally confess?” Grace asks the moment I’m within sight again.
I laugh, stopping to sit on the edge of her desk. “Please tell me what you’ve been thinking.”
“I’ve considered many things,” she begins, as she spins her chair and leans back, tapping her fingers together. “Secret double life as a spy, obviously.”
“Obviously,” I echo. “I’d make a terrible spy.”
“Time traveller.” Her expression is so serious, I have to chuckle. “You’ve found an anomaly in the time-space continuum and now it’s up to you to save us all.”
I protest immediately. “Oh hell no. I cannot handle that kind of responsibility.”
“Not lately, that’s for sure,” Grace comments. “I’m also working on a theory about you being a sophisticated android and your operating system is glitching.”
“Does not compute,” I joke, doing my best robot voice, which is actually terrible.
“Awful.” Grace gives me an exasperated eye roll. “I know something is going on. You do not have to tell me any details, but I do need to know if you are okay.”
“I’m good, I promise,” I tell her. “And I appreciate your concern.”
“You stepped in a waste bin yesterday, Kija; it’s kind of hard to not notice something is going on,” she says.
I close my eyes, groaning. “Damn. I was really hoping you didn’t catch that.”
“Don’t know how I could have missed it.” She makes a flailing motion with her arms, which I assume is an impression of how I looked in that moment and it feels pretty accurate. “You’ll let me know if you need something, right?”
“Of course.” I give her a loose side hug before retreating to my office and flopping down on the couch.
I know I have to do something about this. I can’t keep just thinking about it—about him—and wondering what it all might mean for me.
I can take a chance or not.
Let myself see what happens.
Yung-Sun is clearly convinced we could have something.
