Page 42 of A Conflict of Interest

“No—they’re, um—I’ve never, uh—Veronica? I don’t know why you ask. You mean Veronica Preston?”

“No… a different one.”

“Oh.” I gave the phone a weird look. “I’m not going anywhere with a different one.”

Lucy paused. “So, where are you going with that one?” she said cheerfully, and I almost dropped the phone.

“What? Her? Nothing. Nowhere? What do you mean? I, uh… huh?”

“Going out for dinner?”

“It’s lunch.” My heart dropped. “Lunchtime. Not dinnertime. Why would you say dinner? I don’t, um… we’re not going out anywhere.”

“A lunch date’s more casual. Good call. Don’t want to dive straight in.”

I hunched my shoulders, hugging myself and pouting at the phone. “It’s not a date… I just want to talk to her. Figure this thing out. I mean… a lot of things. Anyway—that’s not important! What kind of fuss is she causing? What’s happening?”

“Apparently she’s hellbent on getting you back on the video project. The project manager at ECR said some very nicely coached things about the outreach coordinator with the important sway on the project being insistent that it was Kelcey Huntington or nothing… he was trying to use nice, soft language, but it’s pretty clear what he’s getting at isVeronica has the project files and she’s holding them hostage until Kelcey is back.”

“Oh my god, Veronica.” I groaned, putting my head in my hands.

“And from his measured tone around the current situation, I’m pretty sure aforementioned outreach coordinator described Christopher Beckham in the harshest language possible.”

“Christopher? What’d he do?” Guy seemed perfectly lovely. Pretty quiet. Reliable enough even if he needed project deadline extensions a lot.

“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine,” she said idly. “Probably his sin was replacing you.”

I sighed, slumping back. “I told her she doesn’t need to do this…”

“It’s not the worst,” Lucy laughed down the line. “Might help us get the sway to win Berg over to some reason. But, uh… you do understand how much of a conflict of interest this whole thing is, right?”

“I mean… I’m very conflicted in how much I’m interested.”

“That too, but not like that. You know if it came to lightwhyVeronica is doing all this, it raises some… ah… eyebrows. Draws some scrutiny.”

I scowled at the phone. “I mean, says the one who topped Anna in her office while she was still provisional office head above you.”

Lucy was quiet for a good three seconds before she said, “So, you, uh, you were still hanging out in the office.”

“I was coming to ask you two something but you seemed like you’d rather wait until another day.”

“Hm. Well. I think you read the situation right.” She cleared her throat, and when I heard Anna’s voice in the background, Lucy muttered something to her aboutI’ll tell you later.I was sure she would. “Okay, well,” Lucy said, “point taken. Guess I’m no one to throw stones. Think of it more as a, uh… a tip from someone who’s been there. You’ll have to be careful if you go dating Veronica right now.”

“Um—” So much for being cool. “I’m not… we’re not dating—I’m not dating her. We’re just going to talk.”

“Well, enjoytalking,and if it turns into something more than talking, then… be careful. Just don’t rush anything. Patience is a virtue. And it’s not one of Veronica’s virtues.”

“I… I’ll be careful. And it’s just talking! I’m not so easily suckered in, you know. I’ve learned a lesson or two. I might have even learned three! Just you wait and see.”

“I believe in you,” she said lightheartedly.

“Tell Boss Anna I said hi,” I said, standing back up, and Lucy said something away from the microphone for a second before she answered.

“She sayshi, Kelce, be careful around my sister.”

“Psh. Sure. She’s like eighty percent still just fixated on whatever you said you’dtell her laterbecause you’re blushing thinking about it and she knows what that means.”

“Hm.” I knew thatvery polite, very restrainedtone in her voice. “Well, you have such a carefully imagined picture of the situation, I’d hate to contradict it.”

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