Page 56 of Ghost of Ex-mas Past
Charlie
I’m on my way up.
Bea
See you soon!
This meeting has been in the works for months now, and it’s been difficult having a conflict of interest. Obviously, Nash knows that I’m stuck in the middle, but we’ve been managing expectations.
Since the blowup over Christmas, Charlie was pretty disheartened about Rivrse. Our new relationship was a great distraction, but it was only temporary. After the start of the new year, Charlie had to dig into work again. I knew it was going to be hard, but it helped that I stayed at his place more often than mine, and I also had a deepening friendship with Marco, Brin, and some of her friends from the restaurant.
In the distance, I hear the elevator ding and stand. I pluck the half-frozen bottle of water from my desk and stop at the door to Nash’s office. “Charlie’s here. I’ll send him in soon, okay?”
Nash smiles. “Sounds good.”
I walk toward the elevator and intercept Charlie in the hallway. His smile blooms when he sees me. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. You look great.” He does. His suit is a crisp dark gray, his tie a subtle green, and his briefcase is a soft, buttery leather that I know because I picked it out myself for his birthday present this year. I put a hand on his chest, beneath his tie, where I can feel his fluttering heart and the heat he radiates. Summers in New York can be rough, and I’m sure the combination of his nerves and the July heat are equally responsible for the slight dampness I feel.
“Come here,” I say, and pull him into an empty conference room. I hand him the cold bottle. “Here, drink this.”
Charlie’s anxiety has been through the roof too, and I’ve learned to recognize the signs and what things I can do when he’s struggling. He forgets to hydrate often, and in this heat, he needs it even more.
He chugs the bottle, taking long pulls until the ice clunks against the plastic. “Thank you,” he gasps. Then he holds the icy bottle to his forehead.
“You’re going to do great, okay? And it’s Nash. You like him, he likes you.” In addition to spending more time with Brin and Marco, I’ve also spent some time with Nash and Clara. Socially, anyway. Away from the office. Charlie has met Nash a few times, but this is all business today.
“Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?” he says.
“You can tell me again.”
A grin pulls at his mouth. He pushes his nerves aside as he backs me up against the wall and grabs my chin, tilting my lips up to meet his. The kiss is deep and a little messy as our teeth clack together.
A throat clears behind us. Whoops.
Charlie steps back and laughs when he sees Arlo, who must have come up in the elevator a minute or two after Charlie, in the doorway.
He apologizes to his mentor, who just grins. “Whatever it takes to get your head in the game.”
I like Arloa lot. He’s supported Charlie so much through the years and I’m glad he and Nash are finally meeting—I think they have a lot in common.
Charlie lets me lead them to Nash’s office. Nash stands and greets them with handshakes and offers them a seat on the couch. I offer all three of them one last wave and close the door.
Charlie
Two hours later, I walk out of Nash’s office in a bit of a daze. Bea gives me a hug, and whispers in my ear that we can talk about it tonight. She hugs Arlo goodbye too, and we leave Heartly’s offices.
This time, when I step out on the streets of Manhattan, I want to shout for joy. The past seven months have been a trial, and while I’m still not where I thought I’d be, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I turn to Arlo. “You don’t think that’s too good to be true, do you?” I ask.
His smile might just be brighter than mine. “It’s definitely true. We don’t know if it’ll pan out yet, but it’s the best offer we’ve had in a while.”
It’s the best offer we’ve had since ImmUniverse, he means. Which, in retrospect, wasn’t a great offer.
This offer, while for less money than the previous one, sounds much better; a venture capital firm and Nash have partnered with an offer for Rivrse. Arlo knows someone on the VC board, and through Bea, I know Nash. He won’t be involved in Rivrse after the sale, but he’s taking a risk and putting money into its future success.
Legal troubles with ImmUniverse took some time. A big social media company filed separate lawsuits against Rivrse and ImmUniverse, with the lawsuit against Rivrse eventually being dropped, in part because, with the help of an expensive legal team, I filed my own suit against ImmUniverse. It’s a massive liability to take on, but if Rivrse can win or settle, that will help repair our reputation. It also helped that Heartly didn’t sue Rivrse.
