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I straighten and clear the pain off my face just in time.
Asad stumbles toward me. “Cullen, you’re not in the conference room either?”
“Why aren’t you?”
“I had to wash my face. My entire world just turned upside down.” He scrubs a hand down his chin. “Cullen, you’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way that little kid hacked into our program.”
“Keep that information to yourself. I’m not ready to tell Dr. Young and the others about Josiah.”
At least, not until I’ve settled his trust fund and signed all the contracts to transfer my assets to him through Nardi.
“Fine. Fine. I’ll take the secret to my grave.” Asad scrambles to keep up with me as I walk to the conference room. “But are you sure it was him? Did he have help? Did he team up with someone… older? What does a kid know about satellite signals? Are you certain it was just him?”
“Yes.”
“My brain is melting.” Asad grabs his head and stumbles forward. “Ah, I have a headache.”
That makes two of us.
I ignore his theatrics and slip into the conference room where the other technicians have gathered to discuss our latest findings.
The room is packed and I feel a wave of anxiety but, after a few deep breaths, the feeling lessens. I find a seat at the back of the room. A few of my team members notice me and smile as if they actually like seeing me around.
Awkwardly, I nod at them.
Meeting in person is still a little difficult, but there’s no denying how much more productive our meetings have become now that we’re all together for a few hours a week. Ideas seem to flow a lot more naturally when we can physically bounce it off each other.
It’s an initiative I should have taken a long time ago, but the truth is that I would never have taken this step if not for the copycat crisis.
During the meeting, I notice someone sneaking glances at me. At first, I ignore it and jot down notes so I can ask further questions, make suggestions, and do research of my own.
However, Asad taps me on the shoulder. “Cullen, I think Jenna wants to say something. She keeps looking your way.”
I glance at Jenna.
She averts her gaze and scribbles something in her notebook.
Since the presentation is nearly at an end, I wait until Dr. Young concludes and then offer to the team, “Anyone have questions?”
Jenna doesn’t speak up, but others do. We brainstorm new ideas, assign tasks and leave for the day.
Several technicians stop to ask me questions and I lose track of time as I throw ideas around with them. After the last person leaves, I pack my things and head out the door.
“Ronan.”
I whip around in surprise. Jenna had been waiting right outside the conference room. She straightens to her full height and stands in front of me.
“Um,” she chews on her bottom lip, “I thought we were going to the meeting together, but you suddenly disappeared. Was everything okay?”
The way she phrases ‘going to the meeting together’ makes it sound more serious than it was. We simply met at the curb.
Jenna follows me, her short, sensible pumps thumping the ground behind me. “That Nardi woman… she’s pretty.”
Pretty’s too… light of a word for Nardi. The moment I tilted her chin up to stare into her big doe eyes, my heart dived right out of my chest. It felt like I had to go hunting through my stomach to find it again.
“Was that guy she was with her boyfriend?”
My fingers shake with rage at the very thought and I answer her this time, “No.”