A bunch of people are flying in today before the conference kicks off tomorrow. I know Ed is on an earlier flight with his wife, but who knows who’s lurking in the shadows?
For all I know, Carter is sitting right in front of me.
“Carson,” I hedge, then awkwardly laugh when it’s clear the guy is waiting for me to continue. “He’s kind of… Have you ever had a coworker who’s so stubborn?—”
“Yes,” he answers immediately. “I work with someone who I don’t think is real.”
“What… do you mean?” Oh God, I don’t know how I’m going to feel about finding the second conspiracy theorist I interactedwith today hot. Or that I keep finding myself seated next to them.
“It’s a dumb theory of mine,” he says, and I feel slightly better. “I’m most likely wrong. It’s more of an inside joke with my friend, if I’m being honest here.”
Genuine relief rocks through me. “This flight is eight hours long,” I remind him, and he chuckles.
“She’s so damn stubborn,” he says. “She never sees eye-to-eye with me on anything and makes everything so much harder than it has to be.”
“Oh, dude,” I mutter. Now I’m thinking about Carter and his ridiculous profile picture again—awkward arms and all. “I feel that. But… help me out here. Why do you think she’s not real? I mean, Carson is a complete headache, but he’s definitely real.”
“I think she might be a bot the company is developing,” he says, his voice dropping to a hushed whisper. “We’ve been testing with AI for the past few years, so I wouldn’t put it past them to create a bot. It’s only a natural progression.”
“Wait. Hold up.” I cock my head. “You’ve never met her?”
“No. Before you ask, I don’t know anything about her. None of my copilots know anything about her. She even has a silly name, too.”
“Aw, don’t be mean,” I say. “How bad can it be?”
“It’s”—he glances around the cabin—“kind of ridiculous.”
“Okay, but what if she is real and you’re making fun of a real person’s name?” I state the obvious, and he, to his credit, winces.
“Yeah. Maybe. But it’s absurdly ridiculous,” he says. “ThinkBambiif you need a scale of how bad it is.”
Well, I can’t imagine anything as bad asBambi. “I work with aquatic animals, and you fly with woodland creatures, apparently,” I tease, and his lips curl into another handsome smile. “I hopeBambilays off on you.”
“Same with Carson,” he says. “Here’s to hoping our coworkers give us a break for once.”
“Preach,” I say, because there’s nothing I’d give more than for Carter to, I don’t know, work with me every now and then so we’re not always fighting over the cover sheets every morning at seven-fifteen on the dot. It’ll make the wholeextend the olive branchmission I have so much easier.
6
ETHAN
TUESDAY, JULY 15TH
When she laughs,it’s a wheezy, creaky sound that’s paired with the toothiest smile. One of her canine teeth is sharper than the other, and the tip of her tongue taps against it while she listens to me as I explain to her what happened on my trip to Washington with Aaron three years ago.
I think I could recite the Constitution, and she’d still be leaning in toward me, fully engrossed, cheek resting against her palm, hanging onto my every word.
“And that’s why you’re never going back there?”
“Well,” I begin, hesitating momentarily as my eyes roam across her face. Maybe it’s because she’s been easy to talk to for the last four hours, or maybe it’s because Mom brought up Aimee earlier today, but the words effortlessly sail off of my tongue while I reposition my legs. “It was where I was going to propose.”
The edge of her lips pulls into a flat line. “Going to? What happened?”
“We didn’t go on the trip,” I say. “Looking back, it was for the best. A crisis averted. If things had gone according to plan, we’d have been miserable. I wouldn’t want that for her.”
“That’s a diplomatic remark,” she muses. “I don’t think I’d say the same about me and my ex, but I guess three years since your break up has something to do with that.”
“We broke up last year,” I clarify. “That was the first of my three attempts to propose to her.”
