Page 71 of The Disasters of Dating
“Ah,” Evan nods. “Okay, that makes more sense.” He frowns. “But are you really a tourist?”
“Right?” I lean forward and lift my hand to the screen. “Thank you. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her. But she says living in a hotel means I’m a visitor to the state.”
“Hmmm,” Evan folds his arms. “Maybe it’s time we get a company apartment.”
I laugh. “I don’t think the company needs to foot the bill. But I was actually thinking about looking for an apartment. I mean, you’ll bemoving here—at least part-time—in January. And I’m here more than part-time. Financially, it’s probably better for the company to stop paying for a hotel.”
“Would you give up your apartment here?” Evan asks.
My shoulder lifts. “I haven’t planned it out. But I don’t think Dad would mind if I sacked out at his house on the weekends.. It doesn’t make sense for me to have two apartments.” I smirk at him. “You don’t pay me enough for that.”
“Haha.” He gives me a bland expression. “Okay, let’s put a pin in that conversation. We can talk about it when you come home.” His head drops to the side. “Whenareyou coming home?”
“My flight leaves Salt Lake at 10.”
“Tonight?”
I shake my head. “No, this morning.”
“Okay. Then I should probably let you go so you can get to the airport. But there will be a conversation about Poppy when you get home.”
I nod. “Okay, but can you please not mention it to everyone yet? It’s still in a weird place, and I don’t want to answer a bunch of questions if it doesn’t pan out.” I hope it pans out. After last night, I’ve started to see a future with Poppy. Although what that entails, I’m not sure.
“Yeah,” he says reluctantly. “I’ll keep it to myself.”
“Including Shay, Evan,” I state. I sometimes think that he thinks of himself and Shay as one person. At least where ‘secrets’ are concerned. I like Shay, but I’m not ready for her to know the intricacies of my love life.
Evan holds up his hands. “Okay. I won’t even tell Shay. Even though that goes against everything we’ve promised. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“Yeah, well, this isn’t your secret to tell. It’s mine, and you just happened to stumble upon it.”
He nods. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll keep it to myself until you’re ready to share the news.”
I relax now that I’ve extracted the promise from him. “Thanks, Evan.” I shift to a more comfortable position. This chair is the worst.
“Anything else?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Nothing that can’t wait until you get back tonight.”
To make up for the time I lost in the office while flying yesterday, I came in this morning to sort some things out. I’m going over the newest financials for GridWolf. Evan was right on. Everlake Tech is driving the company into the ground. It’s a strategy I’ve never fully understood. I mean, why ruin a financially stable company that could make you plenty of money? The only thing I can figure out, in this case, is pride and vanity. They don’t like to see a company that wasn’t their creation doing better than their own. Anyway, whatever the reason, it seems very short-sighted. And in the long run, it’s all for nothing. Evan will soon have ownership again, and he will be the one making the money from it.Andtaking a big market share. So, in essence, they paid him a huge sum of money for nothing. I don’t need an MBA to know that’s not good business.
I open the first file on my desk and look through the papers, organizing them into stacks on my desktop.
I lift the first paper and lean back in my chair to read it.
“Hey Keaton. What are you doing here on a Saturday?” Shay asks as she leans against the door frame.
“Oh, hey, Shay,” I say, laying the paper down. “I’m trying to catch up on a little work. I got in later than I expected yesterday.” I raise a brow. “What are you doing here?”
She dips her head to the side. “Evan left some key fob here that he needs.” She lifts a shoulder in an I-have-no-idea-what-it-is look.
I lean back in my chair. “His two-factor authentication key fob?”
“Sure,” she nods, but I know she still does not know what it is. She comes in and sits in the chair opposite my desk. “So, Evan tells me you’ve met a girl.” She leans forward and puts both elbows on the desk, cradling her face in her hands like she’s waiting for a story.
“How forthcoming of Evan.” I smile tightly at her. He’d promised me he would keep it to himself. I can’t believe he went back on his word.
Shay lifts a shoulder. “We talk. A lot. And we pretty much tell each other everything.”
