Page 170

One of the mothers shoots past Cathleen and grins up at me. “Mr. Cullen, if you’re interested in investments, my husband runs a brokerage firm. And Ipersonallyvouch for his company. Would you like an introduction?”
“Adam Harrison?” someone murmurs. “Isn’t he the inventor who runs the competition every year?”
“Do you really know Adam Harrison?” Another mother latches onto me. “My son was rejected from Harrison Tech’s internship program this summer. Do you think you could set up another chance for him? He’s a really bright student.”
“I don’t know.” I turn and arch an eyebrow at Nardi. “I don’t make decisions like that alone.”
There’s a moment where the mothers all freeze with guilt. And then, the brazen women slide over to Nardi with polite smiles and giggles.
“Nardi, what happened to your wrist?” one exclaims.
“Are you tired? Would you like to sit down?” Another tries to tug Nardi to a seat.
“Can we focus on the matter at hand?” Cathleen shrieks, struggling to maintain control of her acolytes.
“I totally agree,” Nardi says awkwardly. “Let’s discuss other mattersaftertoday’s event. We still have the finishing touches to do.” She gestures to the auditorium.
“Oh, we’ll do it!” the mothers exclaim.
“Yes, you and Mr. Cullen should go now. We’ll handle it from here,” someone else says.
Cathleen’s jaw drops as her crew members abandon her hate-fueled crusade and get to work around the gym.
I motion to Sara who hurries over to hear my instructions.
“The ladies are taking over now. Breakfast is to go. Please tell the others that they can take the rest of the day off and to expect a bonus for their trouble.”
Sara runs to do what I asked and I know the moment she makes the announcement about the bonus because whoops of joy ring through the auditorium. Asad and Dr. Young move quickly to shut down the robots and get them back into their trailer.
I steer Nardi to the exit. Annoyance in my voice, I whisper, “Who was that cretin?”
Nardi snorts. “Cathleen Moore. Head of the PTA. Her family sponsors the art program at the school, so she thinks she’s a VIP here.” A snicker follows her explanation. “Did you see the looks on their faces when they found out who you were? That was hilarious!”
“Did you enjoy that?” Seeing her laugh, I can’t wipe the satisfied grin from my face.
Nardi preens. “Yes. More than you know.”
I smile even wider, my heart so full it’s about to burst.
“See yah Monday, boss!” Asad waves, walking past me with a case of food. “AndMrs. Boss.” He nods his head respectfully to Nardi.
Nardi laughs sheepishly. “Is that going to be a thing?”
I smirk, glad to see everyone leaving in high spirits. The parking lot is emptying fast. I’m not surprised that everyone disappeared so quickly. It’s Saturday morning. I’m sure they’d rather be at home than here.
Sara walks past us next. She’s balancing two plates in her hands. Nardi rushes to relieve her of the burden, but I move faster and get to Sara first so Nardi doesn’t hurt her wrist from carrying the food.
“I packed these for you and Nardi,” Sara says.
“Thank you.” I smile sincerely at Sara. “You were a great help today.”
Her voice cracks and tears gather in her eyes. “I, uh, I marked yours, Cullen. It’s the one without any eggs since they used milk and you can’t have dairy with your medication…”
I frown at her.
She clamps her lips shut and shakes her head. “Yeah, uh, see you Monday. Bye, Nardi.”
“Bye,” Nardi says with a confused smile.