Page 67 of Rush of Jealousy

I follow Mark to the elevators, and we take the car up to the fourteenth floor and get escorted to our table at Fortune without any fuss. We are the first to arrive, and I look over the menu. Since my stomach is tied up in knots, I settle for a seltzer and a small plate appetizer. Mark orders wine and a lamb entree.

“Should we have waited to order until Steve arrives?”

“He is notoriously late for most things, so it’s best to just go ahead like we did.”

I nod and then take a sip of my water.

Mark’s phone buzzes, and he picks it up to look at the screen.

I watch as his face changes to a frown. “Something wrong?”

“Steve has another meeting running over next door at the Maylord Hotel. He says to meet him in his suite for drinks and to look at your portfolio. That work for you?”

I swallow hard over this change in our original plan. Prolonging my energy for making a good first impression is wearing on my nerves as is. I just want to get it over with and have him decide if I have enough potential or not.

“Okay,” I answer hesitantly. Surely going to someone’s hotel room isn’t the most professional, but I would regret backing out now and not seeing this opportunity through until the end. Plus, I would rather hear from Steve’s own mouth if I am not cut out for this line of work. It is one thing to have my professor hint at it. However, to have someone in the actual field express it would carry more weight.

I excuse myself to the restroom and freshen up my hair, which I straightened to lay long down my back. I reapply some lipstick and make sure it is not on my teeth. I check my cell for texts, even though there haven’t been many this week. It’s like I fell off a lot of people’s radars. Or I just forced them to stay away this time and they listened.

When I make it back to our now table-for-two, my seltzer and appetizer have arrived. I squeeze the lime into my drink and take a sip. My food looks amazing, so I dig in.

“How’s the pharmaceutical business going?” I ask, to break the silence. I try to feign being casual, even though I am always trying to gather data and information.

Mark gives me a warm smile. “Better than expected, actually. Thanks for asking.”

“Can you tell me anything about it?”

“Most is highly confidential, but I can tell you that we are making breakthroughs on some testing.”

“Oh yeah? That is great. Do you test on animals?” I have read a few articles about how vaccines were made, so I feel like I have a tiny amount of knowledge on how trials work.

“We are actually doing trials on humans—using the actual test drug and a placebo.”

“Wow. That is fascinating.”

He winks. “And super lucrative.”

“I bet.”

“If this all works out for me, I may retire early and just live off my dividends.”

“Now that sounds like something worth striving for.”

“Do you miss the agency line of work?”

I think about the question for a few seconds and then nod. “I miss having something to do.” Which reminds me, I better continue looking for a part-time job—even if just a few hours a week. I like to stay busy, and waiting around for opportunities to land in my lap is never the best strategy.

Mark smiles, pays the bill, and then helps me from my seat. We get back on the same elevator and walk through the same lobby that we did just an hour before.

“Here, hold my arm so you don’t fall. The hotel is just across the street.”

I link Mark’s arm and try my best not to break my ankle. These doomsday shoes may be the death of me. When we enter the Maylord Hotel, we walk straight to the elevators. It’s as if Mark has done this dozens of times before. He knows where everything is, selects the correct button on the elevator, and knows the direction we should walk to get to Steve’s room without even a glance at the arrowed sign that directs which way to go based on the room number ranges.

“Steve is finishing up a meeting at the lobby bar, but he texted me while you were in the bathroom to let ourselves in.”

My heart rate increases, and I clutch my portfolio to my chest. The pressure does not slow it down and only makes it accelerate faster. What am I doing? Something seems off. It’s like every warning bell in my head blares its siren at once.

Danger!

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