I’d intended. She shot me an unreadable look but if my reaction surprised her, she gave no indication.
Suddenly she was fiddling with her wedding ring, twisting it on her finger, then smoothing a hand over the jeans that covered her long, shapely legs. Then one hand ended up on the door handle, the other one resting on the parking brake, idly pressing and releasing the button at the end of the handle. Over and over again.
Without even thinking of doing it, my hand went to cover hers, enfolding it with my own. “Don’t sweat it, Kat. You’ve got this. And if he pulls any type of attitude, I’ll back you up. You’ve got this,” I repeated.
She turned to me, her face still pale but something new in her eyes—gratitude? Appreciation? “Thanks,” she whispered.
But I knew that this wasn’t what was truly bugging her. No the source of that issue would be hitting us in the face once again the minute we returned home to our unwanted houseguests. There was definitely something up between her and her brother—and the rest of her family, for that matter.
Maybe she’d come clean about it soon. Or maybe I’d be forced to ask her directly.
As usual, we went our separate ways at work. Me to meetings, her to one-on-ones with the devs who relied on her for white-box testing. Kat was a valuable asset to our department because of her extensive knowledge of coding. She was able to look at code alongside the finish product and predict potential problems. It was rumored that she’d be heading her own team of white box testers soon, if not running the entire department if, God willing, I got that much-coveted promotion.
Speaking of which, my self-appointed “mentor” for the new job showed up just after the last meeting that morning as I caught a quick bite in the cafeteria. Jordan plunked himself into a chair at my table, an apple hand, while I finished up with some notes on my tablet. I didn’t even bother to look up.
“Hey there, young padawan. How goes the married life?”
“Just dandy,” I answered drily.
I signed off on what I was doing and closed the app. Pushing the tablet away, I turned to him. Jordan had an elbow on the table, his fist under his chin, staring at me as he thoughtfully chewed his apple.
“Have you done any more work on your concept for the new company? The clock is ticking and I want you to get this job.”
I mimicked him, eyes narrowing, resting my own chin in my hand. “And just why is it so important to you that I get this job?”
Jordan casually shrugged a shoulder, leaning back in his chair and looking away. “Because we’re friends? Isn’t that enough?” He bit into the apple and chewed again, avoiding my gaze.
“I’m working with one of the astronauts. We’ve come up with some ideas.”
At the periphery of my vision, I caught a glimpse of someone approaching us. We both looked up at Jeremy. The competition. He nodded at Jordan, smiling nervously. Jordan motioned for him to sit down but Jeremy shook his head and tapped his wrist. He must be on a deadline.
“Just ducked in to grab a bite to have at the desk while I get my stuff finished up.” Jeremy turned to me. “I just wanted to thank you for those links you sent. The Unreal Engine is a great idea.”
I nodded. “Sure man, no sweat. Good luck. Tell Michaela I said hi.”
Jeremy’s mouth twitched and his face clouded. Hmm. Was something going on there? I darted a glance at Jordan. If there was, I wouldn’t ask him now. Jordan and Jeremy weren’t all that close, anyway.
“Well with all these good ideas you have, I see the competition is stiff,” he snorted. “I thought I’d had you beat until you made that impossible deadline. And now with this creative side showing…”
I raised a brow at him. “Don’t act so surprised.”
Jeremy laughed. “I’m just used to you yelling at me about my bugs all the time. Didn’t know you could do all this other stuff.”
Jordan watched our exchange, quietly crunching on his apple and progressively frowning.
“Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Enjoy your lunch.” Jeremy’s eyes shifted from me to Jordan and then back again, as if his suspicions about Jordan’s preference toward me were now stirred. Jeremy raised a hand and turned away and I watched his receding back for a moment.
How weird it was to be competing for this high-level