Page 23 of Whispers in the Dark

Brynn would be everything my mother wanted, and everything that I didn’t. At least it should’ve been that way. The longer I stared, the more natural it all seemed. I was losing my fucking mind, and I knew why. I also knew the way to regain control.

Rising up from my chair, I moved over to her. I had no sooner put my hands on her shoulders when my cell phone rang. Pulling it from my pocket, I answered it right away. “Did you receive it?”

“I did, but I have another ask of you. As you know, Benedict Technologies is asking for a large grant to fund the studies of the microchips, and I need a bit more information than that which was provided.”

“What else do you need?”

“I need to have the figures in columns D and F broken down into subgroups. Could you delve a little deeper and provide those to me?”

“When would you need them by?”

“As soon as possible. I think I have enough for my meeting, but I would like to be able to assure senior leadership that more figures are forthcoming.”

I looked over at Brynn who was now staring at me. I flashed an apologetic look her way before returning my attention to the call. “I will have those to you shortly.”

After I hung up, I returned to my desk and Brynn soon followed. “Is there anything I can do to help you with those?”

Since Brynn wasn’t privy to this level of sensitive data, I shook my head. “Unfortunately not. I have to get this information to Japan tonight. Would you like for me to drive you back to BT to get your car?”

She seemed even more disappointed than me at that, and quickly shook her head. “I could never do what you do,” she said. It was said so softy that I’d almost missed it.

“Do what?”

“Work all the time. You stay at BT from dusk to dawn, and even now when you’re home. I suppose your company keeps you too busy to do other things such as decorate.”

“Decorate?”

“This place. It feels so dark and cold. Christmas is in a few weeks and you haven’t even put up a tree or the first decoration.”

I chuckled, then noticed that she was serious. “I don’t celebrate any holidays.”

She gasped. “Not a single one?”

“No.”

Brynn turned away for a split second, then turned back around. “I’ve just ordered an Uber, so I’ll wait for it downstairs. It’s just my luck that there’s one in the vicinity at this time of night.”

I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to leave, however, the words wouldn’t come out. When I tried to speak, only a single one would. “Okay.”

She took a deep breath, then plastered on a fake smile. “I will leave you to your spreadsheets and numbers. Good night.”

With that, she headed toward the door. Before she could call for the elevator, I cleared my throat. “We should make arrangements for another night at Lotus.”

“Okay,” she said, using the same tone I had earlier on her.

I should’ve gotten up and at the very least, escorted her downstairs myself, but when she hit the call button, the doors opened. Seconds later, she disappeared behind them, and I was left shaking my head, only it wasn’t at her, but at me.

16.Brynn

My peek inside Adrian Benedict’s lair had stuck with me for days afterward. His home was basically a carbon copy of his office: sterile and impersonal. On the one hand, it didn’t make sense. How could someone so successful have nothing to show for it? Nothing outside of luxury cars, a penthouse, and a multi-million-dollar company. On the other hand, it did make sense. The reason BT was so successful was because the man had killer focus. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to try and change things a bit, though.

For Thanksgiving, my dad had come down and we spent that time together. I enjoyed the extra time with him and so did Lug Nut. BT was closed the entire week of Thanksgiving and would be closed for the week between Christmas and the New Year. Adrian would still be working, but he had assured me that I had earned the time off. He teasingly, in his Adrian way, threatened to “fire” me if I came into the office.

Thankfully, my mother had decided to fly off to the Caribbean, so I didn’t have to dodge any requests to come visit her. She wasn’t a fan of San Francisco, so I didn’t need to worry about unexpected visits, either.

Dad and I were out shopping for Christmas. He had been seeing a new lady friend and wanted to get her something for their first holiday together. I had met Nicole when I went to see him, and every now and then, when I called Dad, she would answer his phone just to say hello. They seemed happy.Hewas happy, and that’s all I could ever ask Santa for.

“So, sweetheart,” he began. I could tell by the tone of his voice, that he was ready to talk about my job and my boss. I smiled, wrapping my fingers around his arm.

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