Page 79 of Head First
‘I’m an adult,’ I remind her. ‘That was my choice too.’
And now, maybe because I’m closer to Millie than ever, or I’m busy preparing for Boston, but whatever the reason, my loneliness is starting to subside. Millie figured out a way to livestream my presentation, which only made me work harder to make it perfect. I’m proud of how it’s shaping up and excited to show my new team that I can do something apart from working heads-down in a research lab.
I run through my presentation with Millie for the final time. ‘This isn’t necessary,’ I complain, reiteratingagainthat our boss already OK’d the final draft. We’re presenting on the regeneration of coral and implying that the butterfly wrasse is still alive, but without the dive log we can’t say definitively that it is. Millie forced me to include some of the photos I took, even though none of them are clear proof. I look over the photos again. I find nothing.
‘I want it to be perfect,’ Millie says, clicking through slides. She settles on the one that has the least grainy photo of the reef. ‘You’re sure you don’t have any better pictures?’ she asks.
‘Millie,’ I say, rolling my eyes, ‘yes, I’m sure. I’ve told you that a thousand times.’
‘And no one else took pictures?’
I hesitate. ‘I mean,’ I say, ‘Derek did.’
‘You never told me that!’ Millie says, leaping up from the couch. She’s regained all of her vitality and previous mobility. She’s even coming to terms with her new breasts, although she still refers to them as her ‘chicken cutlets’.
‘I didn’t?’ I ask. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of Derek sooner.
I hastily search back into my email for the last one I received from the Coral Sea Dreaming tour company. In the string of CCs, it included Derek’s email: dwilson@texastech.
‘Are you gonna ask him? The camera guy?’
‘Yes! I’m going as fast as I can,’ I say impatiently, taking the computer out of Millie’s hands and plopping it into my lap.
I fire off a quick email, explaining why I need the pictures and asking if he minds just sending off whatever he took during the last day.
I am about to shut my computer, not expecting Derek to respond right away, when I hear the familiar ding of a message landing in my inbox.
‘OMG,’ Millie says, peering over my shoulder.
‘We don’t know if it’s even him who’s responding,’ I remind her.
But it is. Derek has attached a zip file with over a hundred photos.
His message reads:
Hi Millie/Andi,
Nice to hear from you. I hope you’re well. I attach a zip file of all the photos I took on the last day. If you’re wondering how I could send them so fast (because yes, working in tech is quite time-consuming, I wasn’t lying about that), it’s because Hugh just asked for the same set of photos. If I’m honest, Natalie was worried she left a bad taste in your mouth after the trip. If you’re reaching out to me for photos, I’m glad to assume that’s not the case!
She was hoping to speak to you while we were on the boat, but she never got the chance to – she is spearheading a new campaign for a skincare line that includes sunscreen and she wants to pitch to her boss the idea of including a marine biologist as a user. Would the marine biologist in your family be interested? I’m going to pass along your email so she can send you more details.
Cheers!
Derek
Millie snorts with laughter when she reads the opening lines of the email.
‘I told you,’ I say, also laughing, ‘he isthatguy. You know how many times I heard about how much he works?’
‘Skincare!’ Millie squeals. ‘Did she ask you to model?’
‘That’swhy she kept talking to Hugh?’ I shake my head in disbelief.
‘You could have gotten free sunscreen?’ Millie squints at me in disbelief. ‘And youdidn’t?’
‘I didn’t know,’ I say. ‘God, I’m so dumb.’
‘Is she the one you didn’t like?’
