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Chapter Fifteen

Sera

The next morning, I arrange a meeting with Graham. He’s been difficult to work with since we came home, locking himself in his office, refusing to talk to the rest of the team. He had a lot riding on NeuroDrive’s showcase. Our part in the AI was going to be significant for the department. After the cancellation – and considering what Ellie is going through – I don’t blame him for being depressed. But this can’t wait.

He grunts when I knock on his office door. He looks tired, bags under his eyes. Above his desk there’s a photo of me, him, and Ellie at an amusement park.

He stands, trying to plaster an effortful smile on his face. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I…”

In the reflection of the recently cleaned photo frame, I can see Graham’s three large computer screens. Two of them show news articles about NeuroDrive, and the third shows an email… with the heading: We Need To Do MORE!!!!!!!!!!

“I wanted to talk about…” I murmur, sitting opposite him, my head spinning as I put pieces together.

Graham was adamantly against me spending time with Luke, showing an interest in my love life he had never shown before. Of course, I didn’t have much of a love life before Luke, so maybe that’s not so odd. But now that I think about it, he seemed awkward leading up to the trip to CES too. I thought he was anxious for it to go well, but what if I’m wrong? That email is sending off alarm bells.

“Sera?” he says, with that familiar impatient look, seeming as if he’s burying a lot.

“The Peterson report,” I say, referencing another piece of work that has nothing to do with Luke. “Do you still need it by the end of the day?”

He frowns. “Yes, of course.”

“Okay, that was all.”

“That was all ?” He says pointedly.

“Yes, sorry. I just wanted to be sure.”

I return to my desk, taking out my phone and texting Luke.

Sera: So, it seems I will need to break into my boss’s office to learn the truth.

I return to my work but keep my phone nearby. About an hour later, it lights up.

Luke: Sparkplug, what are you talking about?

Sera: Something has… well, sparked my suspicion, you could say. I hope I’m wrong, but I won’t be able to leave this alone until I know for sure.

Luke: You’re like a dog with a bone.

Sera: Is that a compliment?

There’s a smile on face as I reply, wishing he were here, wishing those few magical days in Vegas could have lasted forever, relive them like Groundhog Day so that we’d never have to face any of this.

Luke: I’m worried for your future kids ha ha.

Sera: Is that why Mr. Mysterious, the oh-so-busy CEO, found time to respond to me? To talk about kids?

Even with the world falling apart, flirting with him feels good. It’s like a soothing spell that somehow makes all of this better.

Luke: I never talk about having a family.

Sera: Is that because you don’t want one?

Luke: It’s because I’ve never found a woman I’d want to have one with… but I’ve always wanted a family. How about you?

Sera: I’m the same. I’ve always wanted one in a vague sense… in a ‘what if’ way, but I never let myself fantasize about it TOO much. Before Vegas, the idea I could have chemistry with a man seemed unbelievable.

Luke: We had more than chemistry, Sparkplug. We had the whole lab.

I smile again, wishing he were here so badly. We shouldn’t be talking about kids or anything like that. Nothing good can come of it.

Luke: Why are you sneaking into your boss’s office?

I ignore his message, chaining the topic instead,

Sera: Aren’t you scared to have kids considering you had a crappy childhood? I remember you said you grew up in foster care.

Luke: I’d make it my mission to never repeat the mistakes of the past. I’d give them the childhood I never had.

Sera: That’s how I’ve always thought about it, too.

My cheeks glowing warmly as I reread my message, my heart pounding. To say that I miss this man would be a gross understatement. It goes beyond missing. It’s a physical ache.

Luke: Then we have more in common than I already knew. But I won’t torture us by stating the obvious.

Sera: Please, don’t. Don’t talk about how neither of us ever thought we’d have a family, but now we’ve found somebody who wants the exact thing we do.

Luke: I wouldn’t dream of doing that. No more than I’d dream of flying to Tampa tonight and making it a reality.

Sera: And then your business would implode while everybody wonders where the CEO is.

Luke: Maybe I should sell the damn thing.

Sera: You don’t mean that.

I almost want him to tell me I’m wrong. He means it. He wants to forget about business and simply make a life with me. But it’s not like I want to let my work aspirations go, either.

Luke: I’ve got another meeting. But I’ll talk soon. Be careful, Sparkplug.

I work for another fifteen minutes until Graham finally leaves his office. He’s holding his empty coffee cup, which means I’ve got a few minutes. Picking up a folder from my desk, I carry it into his office to make it seem like I’m delivering something.

I quickly hop onto his computer. Thankfully, he hasn’t locked it.

But I’m not thankful for long, not when I see the email. It’s the same one he had opened earlier. In fact, all the screens are the same. It’s like he’s been sitting in here, staring at them, trying to process what he did.

The email is from a man named Damien Whitaker. When I read the name, a shudder moves through me. Damien—that’s the name of the man who was watching Luke at the conference.

From: Damien Whitaker

To: Graham Rourke

Subject: We Need To Do MORE!!!!!!!!!!

We’ve taught him a lesson, but we haven’t done enough, old boy. We’ve got more work to do. We’re going to turn his world to SHRAPNEL, get it? We’re going to turn it to NOTHING.

DW

I jump to my feet, my heart threatening to break out of my chest, and almost run from the office. My eyes grow blurry, like they’re filled with tears.

I rush to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. I can’t believe it, can’t accept it. Graham is working with Damien. Graham, who cares about this department and its future more than anything, has risked it all…

Why would he do that? I want to ask him, but I can’t. It would be like asking a stranger. I don’t know who he truly is under the mask he’s obviously been showing me all this time.

I take out my phone and text Luke.

Sera: Can we talk later? Maybe we can do a video call? I want to have a real conversation with you.

Back at my desk, I see that Graham’s door is closed again. No one has raised the alarm. I finish my report and drop it into his office. Graham doesn’t meet my eye. He just stares at his computer screen like it’s hypnotized him, as if he’s struggling to deal with what he’s done, the risk he’s taken.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I murmur.

“Uh, sure,” he replies. “See you then.”

I go home and open my laptop, searching for Damien Whitaker. His LinkedIn profile appears on the first page: black hair tied up in a bun, a thin smile… a thin smile… Wait a second, he looks just like the guy who spilled coffee all over my laptop. Am I going nuts, or is it the same guy? Is it possible there was something on that laptop they didn’t want me to see? That seems a little far fetched, but then again, I never, not in a million years, would have believed Graham capable of sabotaging his own work.

My phone vibrates.

Luke: It will be late, probably one or two AM for you.

Sera: That’s okay. I’ll wait.

But moments after sending the text, doubt curls through me. If I tell Luke, will he make it public? It will ruin Graham and Ellie’s lives: corrupt what little time they have left together.

Hell, Graham, why did you have to do this? You were like a father to me.