Page 18 of Atlas
He crossed his arms as a corner of his lips lifted with a twist of humor. “Sure.”
“You’re a private man. Intelligent, but quite naïve.”
Atlas snorted. “I’m anything but naïve. I don’t trust people easily, and I keep a distance.”
“Ah, but you think that I would come and work for you without Googling you. That’s naïve.”
The tension in his torso, neck, and jaw was like someone had zapped him with a taser.
“Now, you’re wondering what else I know about you.” I smiled to ease the tension. “I know this isn’t your main job. You work at Solver Industries. I also know that you’re younger than me by six months and that you don’t smile much in photos. Your taste in women seems to be goddesses in tight dresses with long hair.”
He waited for me to continue.
“You should Google yourself, and you’ll see that I’m right about you never smiling in photos.”
His tension eased. “You did your research.”
“As one should.”
He nodded. “Yes. You’re right. It was naïve of me to think you hadn’t researched whom you’d be working for.”
A tingle ran up my spine the way it sometimes did when I was onto something. I sensed that he was relieved. “What did I miss?” I asked.
“Nothing. It all sounds very accurate.”
Atlas was sly, but I had trained for years to know how to read people, and my intuition told me that he was hiding something, but before I could dig deeper, he turned the questions on me. “Why did you ask me how old I was if you knew already?”
“It’s a strategy to read people. You ask them questions you already know the answer to so you can decipher their body language going forward.
“What are you, a living lie-detector test?” Atlas asked
I smiled. “It’s a great skill-set to have.”
“I bet. You’ll have to excuse me. I’m going to check in on Diane and Brian. I’m curious to see how things are progressing.
My head was spinning as I watched Atlas walk out of the office. He had excellent manners and didn’t want to tell me outright to stop prying, but his leaving was a reliable indicator that he didn’t want to discuss his private life any longer.
Again, the gnawing feeling came back. What was his agenda for funding all this research? It was clear that he was hiding something, and despite his immaculate surface, I sensed a darkness in him.
My dad’s friend, Jimmy, was married to a Harvard professor. Maybe, he could dig up some information on Atlas’ time there.
My mind was so busy racing with all sorts of crazy theories as to what Atlas could want with the research that I jerked in my seat when he returned. If Atlas knew what horrible thoughts I’d just had about him abusing people, he would be horrified. I felt my face heat up and knew I would be blushing now. It was something I’d always hated because I couldn’t control it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“You look…” He trailed off and gave a small shake of his head as if stopping himself from saying what he was thinking. “I have something for you.”
Atlas stood a few steps from me. I wanted so badly to ask him about his agenda for the research institute, but Atlas was a private person, and I didn’t want to make him angry with me. I needed the income from this job.
“You have something for me? Is it a new assignment?”
“No.” He smiled. “I got you tickets to the Super Bowl on Sunday.”
I scoffed. “Very funny.”
“No, I did.”
