Page 26 of Starrily

In a way, Stan was the first friend Simon had made in this life, and probably the person he trusted most. He trusted Everett with business decisions—but he trusted Stan with everything else.

“What do I do?” he asked.

Stan didn’t bother to look at him, but Simon knew he understood.

“You like challenges,” the bodyguard said. “So don’t look at it as an annoyance. Look at it as a challenge. You might yet come to like her.”

Calliope’s face flashed in his mind, caught in that brief moment when she’d almost smiled. Maybe Stan was up to something.Liking—Simon wouldn’t think about that too much for now. But something brighter had to be hidden somewhere deep inside. She seemed to live a good, comfortable life. Surely, she couldn’t refuse to take any enjoyment out of it.

Even a simple smile.

So that would be his challenge. He didn’t know how he’d achieve it, but Calliope Guidry had better watch out—he was coming for her and he was going to make her smile.

Chapter 7

Callie worked alone for the next week—with Jessica having other business, it was back to the good old days.

Drink tea.

Check email.

Read research papers.

Check how the code is running.

Eat lunch.

It was quiet, and peaceful, and solitary.

She used to think she didn’t mind that.

It was Friday, and she was staring too closely at a graph of galaxy metallicity when there was a knock at the door. In the second before it opened, Callie thought—Simon came back after all—and then Dr. Watzmann peeked in.

“Callie, look!” He put a magazine down, opened somewhere in the middle. “The article is out!”

Callie’s face stared back from the paper, looking only mildly unimpressed. Jessica had picked a simple picture from the observatory, no excessive posing, no Simon in sight.

“That’s nice,” she said, her voice flat.

“Says only good things about you and QueLabs. Well done!”

Was it well done on her part, though?

“Just in time for the talk, too.” Watzmann bounced back and forth on his heels. “Something to show the students, huh?”

Right. Her talk. Callie’s stomach churned. Who thought it was a good idea to have scientists do live presentations? If she wanted to talk in front of a crowd, she’d have become a motivational speaker, not an astrophysicist.

Simon would say she’d be a horrible motivational speaker.

“Your two shadows are not here today?” Watzmann’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“No,” Callie said, but the words of explanation got stuck in her throat.

“Oh, well. I’ll leave you to reading.” He tapped the page and, like that, was gone.

Callie stared at the far wall. When did her too-small office start looking too big? She hadn’t changed anything, rearranged no furniture.

She huffed in annoyance and got back to work.