Page 36 of Brooklynaire

Back on the sand, we lie on our towels and let the sun warm us up again. “What’s it like staying at Nate’s house?” Georgiaasks.

“Strange. Like playing house in a mansion. He and I went out for sushi the other night. Mrs. Gray doesn’t work on Sunday and Nate never goes into his kitchenalone.”

“Does he even know where itis?”

“Of course, because that’s where the Diet Coke iskept.”

Georgia giggles. “That house must just echo. Is it weird spending time like that withhim?”

I consider the question. “Yes and no. Nate and I used to spend a whole lot of time together. On planes. In hotels and conference rooms on the road. All those early trips to Silicon Valley and even Asia, before he had a big entourage. We always stuck together because we’d be in a strangeplace.”

My friend is quiet for a second. “I always forget that you used to spend your whole week with him. That sounds like a real bondingexperience.”

“It was. Honestly, the only thing weird about hanging around with him at home is that it’s not that weird. It’s like… It’s made me miss him. Which makes no sense. But those were good days. We made a goodteam.”

“Mmm.” Georgia sounds sleepy behind her sunglasses. “I get it. That was special. Not everybody can say she was Nate Kattenberger’s sidekick for five straightyears.”

“He wasn’t the famous CEO of KTech back then. He was just a guy who couldn’t unjam the printer without my help. But he told really good jokes. He wasfun.”

I do miss his irreverence. And his super calm demeanor. Other people have described him as too quiet, but I never saw him thatway.

“You know what’s crazy?” I ask a drowsy Georgia. “When things go wrong, Nate never yells. He’s hard to impress, but you can’t freak him out, either. I don’t think I really appreciated that until I went to work for the hockeyteam.”

“Hugh is a little more volatile,” Georgia agrees, referring to the team’s GeneralManager.

“He’s fine. But he panics sometimes, like a normal person. He yells now and then. But Nate is like a stone in the river. Everything rushes past, but he isn’t swayed. I think that’s why I’ve felt calmer since I went to stay with him. He keeps telling me everything is going to be okay, and I believe him because…” I don’t even knowwhy.

“Because he’s smarter than anyone else we’ll evermeet?”

“Yeah. Sure.” But I’m sure I never appreciated his temperament half as much as I do right now. And here I am feeling wistful on a beach. What’s the point ofthat?

“It’s almost time to get dolled up for this party,” Georgia points out. “Is it okay with you if we get ready in Lauren’s suite? She asked us to come up. There’s snacks, Ithink.”

“Sure? Snacks are nice.” But it’s a strange request. We call her Queen Lauren for a reason—she’s the most aloof person we know. “Since when does Lauren want to pal around withus?”

Georgia shrugs. “I’m not sure Lauren is the superbitch we think she is. Did you know that she and Mike Beacon used to be acouple?”

“No!”

“Truestory.”

“Mike Beacon? I can’t picture that.” Really, it’s mindbending. “Lauren always says how much she hateshockey.”

“Yeah.” Georgia sits up. “I’m pretty sure she only started hating hockey after Mike Beacon dumped her over the phone to move back in with his ex-wife.”

“Whoa!”

We both stare out at the lapping waves for a minute, while I try to picture Queen Lauren with the goalie. “Wait—when did they breakup?”

“Two years ago, right around the time Nate bought theBruisers.”

“Right at the moment when Lauren got my job.” This isn’t one of my favorite topics. Georgia knows I sometimes drive myself crazy trying to guess why Nate swapped Lauren and me—giving me the job of running the hockey team office—which Lauren used to do before Nate was the owner—and giving Lauren my job working for him inManhattan.

“I was thinking about this, too,” Georgia confesses. “Is it possible that Nate factored her breakup in to swapping your jobs? Maybe he knew Lauren was a good employee, but that she’d quit if he didn’t get her out of thatoffice.”

“That’s…interesting,” I muse. “But kind offarfetched.”

“Maybe,” Georgia admits, her voice dipping. “I know it’s always bothered you that Nate sent you toBrooklyn.”