Page 35 of Power Move
Claire extended her hand. “Oh, fun! We don’t get all that many visitors up here. No worries on the PCI thing. I will just need a bit to read over it before our 1.”
“I have you covered,” I said.
We continued walking until Davey appeared on his way to the espresso machine. He made eye contact, panicked, then kept walking, as if he read my mind.
“What is he…”
I pulled Ellie into my office and announced, “Isn’t it great?”
Ellie’s jaw didn’t return to its usual spot, andnotbecause my office was glorious.
I closed the door.
“Who is Davey? And what are younottelling me?” Ellie demanded in a low tone.
“Davey is David Delphine,” I winced. “Daphne’s big brother. Our CEO. Thebigboss. I found that out when I arrived for my first day at work and had to deal with his bad attitude.”
“He seemed perfectly nice?—”
“He swears he is working on it. I told him I won’t put up with his bullshit, but you canseewhy it’s a mess.”
“Girl, they arerich!Like rich, rich, rich. Like gilded age royalty rich!”
“I am well-aware. And he’s insistent I need his money to raise this thing in the same fashion as Daphne’s baby.”
“Well, it makes sense. Jesus, Eva! You’re carrying a Princess—or a Prince, basically.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am eight weeks and one day pregnant with a baby that may or may not end up fabulously wealthy but will be loved as much as I can possibly love anything. Let’s leave it there.”
“Babes, this ismessy. What will happen when people find out you’re pregnant? Are you going to tell them? I mean, it would have to be obvious.”
I lacked answers and suspected I considered it more than Davey.
“Why are you so interested in this?”
“I work in an elementary school. There are two male teachers—both are gay—and neither one is dating the other. The women are constantly going throughsadbreakups. I am a single mom about to marry her long-term boyfriend. We arevanilla. We are wonderful, but it’s not chaotic. This is chaotic in a great way.”
“Great? Great how?”
“Your boss ishot. Like really, really hot. He’s obviously into you. And what? Can he ignore you? No!”
I sighed, about to tell her to stop when Daphne knocked on my glass door. She gave a little wave, so I opened it.
“Hi! I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but my brother and Claire said you had a visitor.”
“Oh, this is my best friend, Ellie,” I said. “Ellie, this is Daphne Delphine.”
Daphne extended her hand. “Oh, I’ve heard so much about you, Ellie! It’s great to meet you. What brings you into Chicago proper?”
“I was moral support for Eva.”
I winced. “Eight-week scan.”
“Oh, geez. Good! I’m glad you had someone to go with you. I cannot imagine the stress of doing that on my own. And did it go okay?”
“Yeah, the baby looks good.”
“Great news. Well, anytime you need time, Claire and I aresupportive. Let us know if you need anything. I gotta go soothe a nervous shareholder’s concerns with Davey. Thankfully, he is in a very good mood this morning. I’m a little afraid he’s seeing someone, which with me about to go on leave is thelastthing I need, but what can you do?”
