Page 49 of Time Stops With You

Sara glances between me and Nardi. After a while, she hops forward. “Hey! I remember you from yesterday. You had such a unique name. What was it again?”

“Nardi.”

“Oh right. And who’s this?” Sara coos.

Josiah doesn’t respond as he’s busy on his phone.

Nardi gives him a nudge.

“I’m Josiah,” the boy utters reluctantly. Then he finds whatever he was searching for and shows his phone to me. “Mr. Cullen, I saw the school flyer. Are you really leading the Advanced Python Club?”

“Not personally. But I’ll be dropping in to check on your progress.” As I speak, my eyes stray to Nardi again.

She’s looking at me too but, when our gazes collide, she quickly looks away.

“Nardi told me I couldn’t work on your simulation, but if we work on it at school…” Josiah arches an eyebrow invitingly.

“If your sister said no, you should respect that,” I answer distractedly.

Josiah rolls his eyes.

“But maybe I can talk to Nardi about getting you a laptop and allowing you to code after you finish all your homework.”

“She won’t listen to you.” Josiah leans in and whispers loud enough that everyone can hear, “she thinks you’re a creep.”

I cough.

Nardi winces.

Sara lets loose a nervous chuckle. “Well, would you look at the time? Mr. Cullen, we have that interview to get to.”

“Come on, Josiah. At this rate, I’ll be caught in traffic and be late for work.” Nardi drags her brother forward.

I step out of her way for fear of being run over. The scent of her vanilla-honey perfume floats in the air as she brushes past me.

The moment they’re gone, Sara exhales loudly. “Well, that was awkward.”

Clenching my jaw, I stride ahead of her.

Sara scrambles behind me.

Inside the building, dust hangs like a cloud in the air. I’m forced to wear a face mask and gloves, but even that isn’t enough and I know I’ll need to bathe at least three times to get all the dirt off my skin.

I follow the path of transparent plastic hanging from the ceiling until I get to a finished office. The scent of paint is still strong, but the window is open, allowing fresh air inside.

A new desk and a powerful computer are waiting in the center of the room, not a speck of dust on them. I make a mental note to pay the contractor a bonus. He must have hired a cleaning staff to meet my requirements.

Asad and Dr. Young are seated in chairs to the right of the desk. Dr. Young is reading a book while Asad is sitting on the edge of his seat, his eyes so wide they’re about to fall out of his head.

The target of his attention is a slim blonde woman with her back to me. The woman turns and smiles when she hears our footsteps.

“This is Jenna Straugn.” Sara introduces the woman.

Jenna rises, her eyes fastened on my face. “Hello, Mr. Cullen. I’m a huge fan.”

I note the way the woman, unlike other fans of mine, doesn’t try to shake my hand. On any other day, her consideration would please me.

But not today.

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