Page 110 of Not Safe For Work

Budget’s taken care of, email list ready to go, PowerPoint presentation in the works. There’s just one more thing to set this plan in motion.

Me:

How would you like an exclusive tour of Diamond Sky?

Tristan Cross:

What makes it exclusive?

Me:

Possible barrel tasting – you probably know we never do those

A tour of my family’s private cellar

Oh, and I’ll be the one leading it

Tristan Cross:

When is this happening?

Me:

Next Friday. Tour starts at eleven

Tristan Cross:

I’ll be there

I hover over Gavin’s name in my iMessage window. My phone is still off so I screenshot the conversation on my laptopand send it to him. I can explain the details later, but I don’t even want to be tempted to hide it.

Me:

I’ll explain my devious plan at lunch today, just wanted to loop you in

A message bubble pops up on the screen immediately, but to my surprise, it’s not a response from Gavin.

SLACK DIRECT MESSAGE

Daanesh Khan:

Good morning, Olivia. Do you have a minute to chat?

What the hell? Daanesh and I have definitely gotten friendlier over the last few weeks, but we’ve almost never interacted at work. He’s the CEO, and an engineer at that. He never has a reason to talk to me. This can’t be good.

Olivia Diamond:

Sure. Right now?

Daanesh Khan:

Yep. Meet me in conference room B

B? Shit. I’m pretty sure that’s the soundproof one.

“Hey, Daan,”I say, walking in. I was shooting for casual, but in the current setting it feels like a possible mistake. “What’s up?”

I take a seat across from him and try to decipher anything I can from his expression. He looks tired, a little sad maybe?

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