Page 25 of Glitched Play

"This conversation is over."

At one point he uncovers a stack of gaming trophies from tournaments I won years ago. His eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. "You never told me you won all this."

I shrug. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Maci."

"It wasn't."

"There's literally one taller than my nephew."

I glance at the trophy won at an on-site gaming challenge in high school. Maybe that one is a little excessive.

Eventually he finds a small storage box tucked into the back of my closet. For a split second, I forget how to breathe because I know exactly what's inside—letters. Years of letters.

"Please tell me these aren't love letters."

I practically dive across the room and snatch the box from his hands. "They're classified."

His grin becomes instant. "Oh my God, they are."

"They're not."

"They absolutely are."

I shove the box into another box and tape it shut before he can ask more questions. Some things belong in the past.

Or at least in storage.

As the evening stretches on, the apartment slowly starts looking less like a disaster zone and more like a move. The walls feel emptier. The shelves feel bare. Every packed box feels like another reminder that I'm actually leaving.

For the first time, it hits me that I won't be coming back to this house. This chapter is over. The realization should make me sad, instead, it feels strangely freeing.

Around ten o'clock, my phone rings.

Dara.

I answer immediately.

"Please tell me you're calling because I can start in three weeks."

"Actually, Mr. O'Ryan still wants you Monday. I’m calling…"

Of course he does. I glance around the apartment covered with half-packed boxes, and a mix of nerves and excitement rush through me.

“I don’t even have a place to stay and there’s so much to do.”

Chase points to his chest so not to interrupt and mouths, “Stay at my family’s house with me.”

"I know finding an apartment in four days is almost impossible." Something in her voice makes me suspicious. “So, I’m calling with a solution. We want our top executives close to the office.”

I sit up straighter. Chase notices instantly.

"What kind of solution?"

There's a pause, before Dara says, "Synatrix maintains a penthouse above Armadillos Arena."

I blink several times because surely I misunderstood. "A penthouse."