Page 127 of Not Safe For Work

“All right,” I say. “What’s this big thing you’ve been wanting to ask me?”

“I’m not gonna ask you when you have that attitude. This is serious.”

Shit. He does look serious. “Okay,” I say, sitting up straight. “I’m listening.”

“As soon as the lockout period’s over, I’m going to announce that I’m leaving Sizzl.” This isn’t a huge surprise. With the company now owned by Mojave, Daanesh is more of a figurehead than a true CEO. “I’ve been working on an idea lately. An AI platform that businesses can use to predict data outages. I already have some sample code to start pitching to investors.”

“Wow, Daan. That’s awesome. I’d say I’ll miss you, but you know I’m gonna be looking for something else as soon as I can collect on my options anyway.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t want you to miss me.” I give him a quizzical look. Are we about to get all mushy about this? “I mean, I want you to work with me. I know you’re done with sales. And I know you had your heart set on going to the investment side. But how would you like to be my partner? I need someone like you to help megetinvestors, and to help me hire the right kind of people to run the business side of things. After Sizzl, I just want to stick with the engineering part of the company.”

I’m silent for a long moment, just watching Liv and Andie float together on their blow-up unicorn. A partner? It’s a lot more responsibility, but that’s what I’ve been wanting, right? And being the one pitching investors does sound fun. It sounds like a challenge. I haven’t had one of those since I met Olivia.

“Well?” he asks.

“This is for real? You really want me to be running half of a company?”

“I really do. I think you’d be great at it. And I like knowing that you and I have the same vision for a culture. Some of thepeople Vaughn hired just ruined things for me at Sizzl. The sale couldn’t have come at a better time. I know that won’t happen with you. Also,” he clears his throat. “You know I hate talking about money, but it will be public knowledge soon enough. I’ll make around a hundred million from the sale, give or take, and I plan to invest most of it back into the new business. We’ll be able to hire top talent right from the start.”

“I was already sold, Daan. You didn’t have to woo me with your newfound millionaire status.”

“I figured. Just laying all my cards out.”

“Do you have a name yet? For the company?”

“We’ve got two marketing gurus over there.” He nods to the girls sharing the unicorn. “I wanted to ask you first, but I thought they might be able to help us with that part.”

“Good call,” I say, standing up and pulling off my shirt. “I’m in. But it’s the weekend. Let’s figure it out on Monday.”

I jump in the pool and tip the raft, watching the girls squeal as they go under. Daanesh jumps in after me. “They might kill you for that.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” I say just before Olivia pounces and takes me under.

“Ahem,” Andie shouts. “This is a classy place. Let’s try to act like we belong here.”

“You’re right,” I say, pulling Liv against me. “Let’s come back in three months when we’re all rich.”

“When you’re all rich,” Liv says. “My options are worth like ten grand.”

“Good thing I plan to spend all my money on you,” I whisper in her ear.

She knows I’m joking, mostly. Gabby and I have already started planning where the money will go. We’ve created accounts to pay for school and to pay off every loan or lineof credit we’ve ever accumulated. The rest will mostly go into savings and investments.

But I might have a small fund set aside for Liv. For the ring I plan to get, for the house I’ll buy us one day that has a huge yard for all our dogs, for the vacation to Mexico I’ve already planned where we’ll celebrate the anniversary of our first kiss. Another trip that I still need to tell her about.

“Should we head inside and take showers? We have to be at the restaurant in two hours for dinner,” Liv says to the group.

“How long does it take you to shower?” Andie asks.

Liv’s eyes find mine, her cheeks turning pink. I save her from answering. “My fault. I take forever to get ready.”

An hour later,we’re done showering and I tell Liv about Daanesh’s offer.

“You have to do it, right? I mean you don’thaveto do anything, and my opinion doesn’t matter, but just in case you want it, I totally think you should do it.”

“I love you.”

“What kind of response is that? Are you going to do it?”

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