Page 114 of Power Move

“Whatever they’ve got,” he answered.

Everyone else added their support for burgers.

“Eva?” I asked.

“I want three scoops of ice cream. That is about all I can manage right now. The hazelnut they have over there at the cafe. But who is running for this order? Meg is out for lunch.”

So, shedidget the message with the calendar invite. I found Eva so infuriating sometimes. How long did it take to send a thumbs up emoji? Three seconds!

“I’ll do it,” I said. “Does Claire need anything?”

“Get her a burger anyhow,” Eva said. “She will not turn it down.”

I rang my sister’s kitchen to put the order in. When Dahlia came back to revitalize the company’s flagship restaurant, things took off. Evening was high-class, but lunch was the busiest meal. It was a little less white tablecloth, and the Wagyu burger was to die for.

“Davey, we’re in lunch rush,” Dahlia rang back, groaning. “You’re asking for a lot. Twenty hamburgers?”

“We have an ongoing issue. Eva’s team needs fuel. I just bought enough for the key players.”

And then some.

“I thought you had the scan?—”

“Cancelled. She insisted and was over it. Eva just wants that hazelnut ice cream but add a large order of fries on there and a coke because she’ll eat them. It’s one of the only foods I can reliably get her to eat.”

“Okay,” Dahlia sighed. “I’m not going to starve our nephews. I’ll have a runner bring it to the desk.”

“I will come down to meet them. Text me when the order is up,” I wanted an excuse to walk.

Thirty minutes later, by some miracle, Dahlia texted a three-minute warning and I ran downstairs with an intern to bring the bags of food upstairs—past Eva’s office. Her eyes followed, so Iknewshe was flagging. About to play hero, we sat the bags down in the conference room.

I popped my head into her office. “Food is here. Everyone help yourselves. And if you want to use the big conference room instead of crowding here, please do.”

The guys filed out. Eva followed and called to one of the analysts, “Hey, Jim, can you go run down to the floor and tell the others to come up, so we don’t have to keep doing this over the phone? We’ve got space. And tell Claire there is food. Tell red team to come up.”

“Will do,” he agreed.

I pulled the tiny bag with Eva’s order aside. “I got you a Coke because I knew you’d want it along with ice cream and some fries. There is ketchup in the exec kitchen.”

“Why the fuck are you doing this?” She whispered.

“Because I love you and you weren’t going to listen to reason unless I took matters into my own hands.”

She shook her head. “Well, I’m somewhat grateful.”

“Somewhat?” I scoffed.

“Okay, it’s honestly good for the team to see you like this. They were frightened at first, but they’ve come around.”

“Frightened?”

“You are imposing, David. They are… softening. You seem human. Keep it up.”

Eva

“You alright?” Davey popped his head into my office.

“I am trying to test stuff,” I said. “Or, rather, break shit.”