Page 3 of A Midnight Romance
“Wivver!” Sophie says as she bolts down the hall, behind him.
I crouch down to catch her, scooping her up into my arms. “Hey, Sophie, what are you doing here?”
“You were the one who wanted it to be today. I was supposed to be off,” her father answers for her. “And my wife is away for the weekend on a girls’ trip.”
“We’ll make this quick so Daddy can go home,” I joke, turning my attention back to Sophie.
I don’t want to be here as much as Felix. But if I want to keep my nightly operation running, I have to maintain my regular daily life, which means ensuring I still have a hand in the successful technology company Sebastian and my parents built. That’s why I still hold my position as CEO while Felix, our COO, runs the day-to-day operations.
Felix shakes his head. “The rest of the board is waiting for you,” he tells me, taking Sophie from my arms, then lowers her to the ground and takes her hand.
I follow behind them as we walk past the rows of employee offices, each with a view of the downtown. I chose this exact building because I wanted my staff to have the best workspace so they wouldn’t notice my constant absence.
“Did she get the gift I sent her?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood, even though I’m the one who hasn’t slept all night.
He shoots me a glare from over his shoulder. “You mean the obnoxiously loud drum set?”
I knew he’d love that. “That’s the one.”
“Yes, we did. I love waking up to the sound of banging drums at five a.m. on a Saturday morning,” he deadpans.
“It’s my absolute pleasure.” I give him a friendly slap on his back. “Her birthday’s coming up soon, right? I’ll make sure to send another thoughtful gift her way.”
“How kind of you,” he retorts, opening the glass doors to the conference room.
Six out of the seven suits who make up the Thompson Innovation’s Executive Board are all waiting. Felix places Sophia in a rolling chair next to him.
“Good morning,” I greet them. Each member appears more than a little tired and disheveled, but they all return my jovial grin with weaksmiles. So I decide to tease them a little and reinforce the persona I’m putting on. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be at work at eight a.m.? This isn’t that much earlier.”
“That’s subjective,” Felix comments playfully.
“Then we’ll make this quick.”
A collective sigh of relief floats through the room as I slide in my usual chair at the head of the table near the presentation screen. I then give a nod in Felix’s direction, indicating for him to begin.
“Thompson Innovations has been working closely with the Department of Defense for years, but we haven’t provided them with any new prototype in some time,” he begins, handing me the briefing before taking his place at the front.
I’m scanning over the front page, absorbing this month’s objectives while Felix goes through his entire presentation. Even though this meeting was scheduled last minute, Felix’s presentation is extremely thorough—which isn’t surprising. He’s been loyal to our company for years and never comes unprepared.
“Go on.”
Felix clears his throat. “I would like to allocate more money to Research and Development for the upcoming quarter.”
“I think that sounds great. Did you already have a project in mind?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Felix says, his voice filled with excitement. “Check this out.” He beams, then removes a small cylinder no bigger than the length of the tip of my finger to my wrist from a bag on the floor.
He presents it to me, like I should know what it is. “What is this?”
“A lip gloss Taser.” He hands it to me. “It’s only a prototype, but I wanted to show it to you before we sent it off to the FBI for field testing.”
“What does it do?” I ask, examining the product.
“It’s a Taser,” he tells me.
“I got that part,” I say with a light chuckle. “But does it work?”
He laughs. “Fortunately—andunfortunately—all of our developers can attest to its efficacy.”
