Page 10 of Nothing to You (Nothing to… #7)

THEIR TEAM. In addition to her, Helena, Franco, and Myles, Doctor Johann Ellis and Guillermo Hurst completed their squad. For two weeks, they’d been searching for a rhythm and hadn’t quite hit it yet.

Mieux was in and out, helping with admin and anything else they needed. She was a great liaison and took a lot of the daily grind from their plates. The assistant kept minutes, collated documents, sent memos and reports to Leon, their supervisor.

Not that he supervised. As far as she could tell, he wasn’t even on the premises most of the time.

Whether he traveled independently or just kept his head down, his appearances were sporadic.

They were based in a glass conference room on the symmetrical executive floor.

The only time they saw Leon was when he passed by to go to his office or worked in the conference room opposite theirs.

Lunch was less than an hour old and already the debate was hot.

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re confident,” Roux said to Johann, their doctor. “But we can’t let Huddle Hope work that way.”

“It’s an established process.”

“That’s great, if it works for others.”

“We’re not reinventing the wheel.”

“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said without disguising her amusement. “Venturing into this arena on a digital platform gives us a latitude other forums don’t. We can erase geographical lines, social constraints, even break down economic and political boundaries.”

“Ah, that’s risky.”

“Good! That’s what we want to hear. We want to take risks for maximum rewards.”

“We can’t play with people’s lives.”

“How do we break down economic barriers?” Guillermo asked. “If people don’t have access to technology…”

“We’ll give them access,” she said. “Mosaic has charitable affiliations.”

“People don’t want to feel like charity.”

“If you’re struggling with mental health issues, a little kindness can go a long way.”

“You think a free tablet will cure mental health issues?”

“I think being noticed is a start,” she said.

“Acknowledging the struggle is real. Showing someone they are worth the effort. There are so many reasons it would be valuable. We have to look at this from many angles, but we cannot lose sight of the people who will benefit from this. They are the driving force, the motivation here.”

“And I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this. There’s no way that—”

“Yes, there is—”

“In your opinion, Roux! You think because you shout louder you’ll win?”

Her smile was smug. “No,” she said, dropping into the chair at the head of the conference table. “I’ll win because I’m right.”

No one responded because they were all fixated on the glass wall behind her. What was so fascinating? She turned her chair and—

Hotshot.

Of course. He and a stream of his entourage departed the elevator to cross the executive floor. Most everyone in the vast glass space was gawping or whispering. She rolled her eyes. At least now his gargantuan ego was making more sense.

“Am I the only one working here?” she asked.

“My God, he is ridiculously hot,” Helena murmured, maybe to herself, but it startled everyone else. Her colleague blushed. “Sorry.”

“Okay, let’s get back to it,” she said, yanking the chair beneath her toward the table.

“Oh my God, is he coming this way?” Franco exclaimed. “Shit.”

Not very professional, Franco, but he was right. Rourke’s people funneled up the stairs into the bottleneck between their conference room and another. He rounded the curve of the transparent wall and Myles was there to open the door.

Rourke strode in like he owned the place. But, uh… okay.

“Sir, it’s an honor to have you here,” Johann said.

Rourke came straight to her. “Get up.”

She didn’t even look up. “Kiss my ass.”

“Not with an audience,” Rourke said and turned his back on her. “What’s the disagreement?”

“How do you know there’s a disagreement?”

“Radley’s in the room,” Rourke said, blocking her view of the others. Rude much? She’d told him to kiss her ass, so, yeah, maybe the slight was allowed. “What’s the argument?”

Johann inhaled. “Sir, I believe it’s important that each individual who wants to use Huddle Hope services undergo examination by a medical professional.”

Rourke rocked back on his heels. “I don’t even have to look at Radley to know she didn’t go for that.

Let me guess, here’s her argument, it’s cost prohibitive, no, that wouldn’t be her first argument.

Her first argument is it’s impossible to get two doctors to agree on anything.

That no one doctor in a single meeting can successfully diagnose a person’s feelings and slot them into a clean, neat box.

It’s also a barrier that may prevent users from joining.

And, if that’s not enough, it could get litigious.

We are not and never will be a substitute for medical advice or treatment.

What if we don’t let in someone who needs Huddle Hope and something happens to them?

Are we letting in more of one demographic or another?

Are we favoring or prejudicing ourselves with particular brackets of patients—wait, she wouldn’t call them patients. ”

“Clients,” she muttered behind him.

“Clients,” he said like she hadn’t just fed him the word though everyone else would’ve heard.

“That’s before you get to the agoraphobics and imposter syndrome.

Who believes they deserve the time of another person or not?

Do we set up facilities for these appointments?

And if we do, are we like any other healthcare provider?

We’re not running a hospital, we’re a safe space, a safety net and all are welcome.

” His head moved a little her way. “How am I doing so far?”

“Dial down the arrogance and you’d be pretty close.”

“You can be damn haughty yourself, Radley.” He didn’t turn, just marched toward the door. “As you were.”

“Mr. Rourke…” Johann said.

Myles opened the door again.

Rourke spun to address everyone. “Until future notice, Radley’s in charge.”

The phone in his inner pocket buzzed.

Johann sputtered. “You agree with her?”

“Hardly ever,” Rourke said, fishing his phone from his pocket. “But her rack is better than yours.” He raised the phone to his ear. “Speak.”

And out he marched.

Before the door was fully closed, she was on her feet. “Excuse me.”

Myles opened the door wide again, and she went striding out, crossing past other executive offices and up the half dozen shallow stairs that led to his office.

She didn’t even look at those congregating inside the door, just stormed through them.

“Hotshot.”

He turned to her. “I’ll call you back,” he said, putting his phone away. “The rest of you out.” When she heard the door close, she folded her arms and waited. “Miss me?”

“Want to tell me what that performance was about? I have to work with these people. Why would you put me in charge?”

“I want in your pants,” he said, sauntering toward his desk. “Is it working?”

She wasn’t amused. “Hotshot!”

“Don’t get shrill,” he said, dropping into his chair. “Tell me who else I know better in that room?” She faltered. “These people will work under your purview and you’ll work under me.”

“Under your purview.”

“That too.”

“Hotshot,” she warned. “These people don’t know about us. That we know each other.”

“Why not?” he asked, rocking his chair in a slight arc back and forth.

“They’re my colleagues, our colleagues,” she said, trying not to show her surprise. “You want them to know?”

He shrugged. “We know each other.”

“Yes, but—”

“But nothing,” he said, smirking. “I don’t tiptoe around in cover-ups. We’re friends.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, brightening his smile for a flash. “I want a raise.”

“Nope.”

“Bigger apartment.”

“Nope.”

“Perks? Benefits?”

He inhaled like he was considering it, then sighed out his words, “Okay, you can suck my cock. I won’t make you beg.”

“Oh ha-ha,” she said. “You’re a comedian.”

“If I’d chosen another path in life…”

“I’ll text you if I ever get desperate.”

“Or wasted. Pussy pics always welcome. Upskirt it for me anytime.”

“What do you need me to do?” She was quick to hold up her hand to delay his response. “With Huddle Hope.”

While opening a hand to the chair opposite, he slid in at the desk. “I need Leon on SIT full time until the choices are final and the ball is rolling. But I can’t lose the reins on Huddle Hope; it’s too important. I need eyes and ears in that room. Yours. This is a minefield.”

“I know.”

“Why shouldn’t we have people cleared by medical professionals?”

She went to sit at the desk. “Take the cost out of it—”

“I have the money.”

“Exactly, and I already have you donating tablets and tech to users who need them. Don’t worry, I plan to spend your money.

Plenty of it. But we can’t take the place of real, honest to God healthcare providers.

We’re a support, not a replacement. Being cleared by a medical professional takes time, it takes practical steps.

If someone needs support at two in the morning, they need it then, not when it’s been okayed by some grump in a white coat two weeks, or two months, later.

That’s not to say we can’t hire a team of medical professionals to monitor interactions and look for red flags. ”

“And if they don’t see them?”

“I considered maybe…”

“Don’t temper yourself,” he said, pushing back in his chair. “I feel you holding back. Remember who you’re talking to. If you restrain yourself, I’ll send you back to the switchboard. Give it to me, Radley.”

“I do that, and I’m likely to get up and start pacing.”

“You want to scream,” he said, opening his arms, “do it. No need for headsets here.” No, there wasn’t. “You haven’t been online.”

Had he checked? “Been settling into my new place.”

“Kept waiting for my alarms at the house to go off.”

Coy didn’t work on her. “I thought about sneaking up there and checking out your pad.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Wasn’t sure if the orgies and virgin-sacrifice continued in your absence.”

“Oh, yeah, I have people who take care of that for me when I’m not home. They water my plants too.”

“Yeah, right. You’re ridiculous. There’s no way I believe you have houseplants.”

A beat passed. Shit, was that tension weighing in her gut? It was something. Looking him in the eye changed what had always been between them. The thrill? Yes, that was expected. Even in voice chat they had that. But there was greater exhilaration in person than she’d have predicted.

“What did you think about the red flags?” he asked.

“What if we have user flagging? We have our professionals, but we also foster an environment of support. So others online can flag or highlight concerns about another user.”

“We’d need safeguards.”

“Obviously. We monitor the monitors too. This needs to start as a pilot program.”

“It’ll have to run at least six months.”

Her head tilted. “A year would be better.”

“Yeah, a year would be better, but we don’t want to miss the train on this.”

“You think there are others in the field?”

“Others who won’t mind poaching or cutting corners.”

“Then I guess you have to decide,” she said, waiting until his wandering eyes came back to her. “You want your lady to fake it or make it? Sometimes getting to the top takes time. That doesn’t mean she isn’t worth the climb.”

One side of his mouth rose. “I love it when you make things about sex.”

“Got to keep it in your frame of reference to help your understanding,” she said, playing it straight though some part of her enjoyed him enjoying her.

“Anyone else who wants to play on this field will have to play by our rules. They rush, they make mistakes, and someone gets hurt. That woman isn’t calling you again.

That woman makes headlines with words like ‘horror’ and ‘suicide’ and ‘avoidable.’ When you stand in front of your business journalists and tell them we’re in this, you’re going to tell them we’re doing it right, not fast.”

“On the money, not for the money.”

“Exactly, which leads me to—”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said, opening his laptop.

“Worry about what?”

“How we monetize it. I have enough money,” he said, typing in his credentials. “That’s not what this is about.”

She couldn’t deny her curiosity. “What is it about?”

“You need something to distract you.”

“Distract me from what?”

“Baiting me.”

And if that didn’t just prod her hard. “Excuse me? You think—”

“Go back to work, Radley,” he said, amusement twisting his lips.

He wanted a rise and she’d given him it. “Clever,” she said, turning to go. “Be online tonight, we’ll see who’s baited then.”

“No,” he said, stopping her just before the exit.

“No?”

“We’re having dinner tonight.”

“I eat dinner every day,” she said, being deliberately obtuse. “I’m sure you do too. Or does the blood you suck from your victims sustain you longer than that?”

“A virgin’s blood can last me a whole week. If I keep it chilled.”

“I’m sure,” she said with a smile that was more of a sneer.

He spoke again before she could leave. “But I meant all of us. There’s a group.”

Oh, yeah, he was just back from his trip. He hadn’t spent much time with her colleagues and would want to get to know them.

“What time?”

“Car will pick you up at eight.”

“A car? Don’t you live on the—”

“You don’t want to walk around the lake in heels or hooker boots, and they’re the only thing women are allowed to wear in my house.”

“Clothes optional?”

That corner of his mouth ascended again. “Forbidden… for females.”

“You know you’re a pig,” she said, swinging the door open.

“Noted!” he called after her as she sashayed out. “Back to work, Slacker!”