Page 24 of Personal Escort

“I know this doesn’t make up for the disruption to your own work,” I say as we stroll down the production line. “But we want to be transparent in our QA efforts.”

“Hey, I’ve been in business long enough to know that bad luck sometimes strikes way more often than it should.”

“Chaos theory is my nemesis,” I growl.

He laughs. “Don’t I know it. Listen, I know I’m just a small peanut compared to what you’ve achieved, but I’m seriously impressed with how you’ve handled this. Before you get dragged off to that hotel and all the press stuff today, I just wanted to say, thank you—again.”

“You know, I didn’t say this before, because I don’t believe in sentimentality, but I remember your first order. It took me a while to connect the dots. But you took a chance on my processing chip when early reports were calling it glitchy. I’ll never forget that.”

“I’ve been married for thirty-five years, son. I’ve learned to value sentimentality. At the end of the day, the year, the decade…when you look back, it’s the relationships I see. I took a chance on your company because of your heart, not your product. And as I told you, I wouldn’t hesitate to go somewhere else if quality was a concern. But I knew you’d make it right, and you did. A decade from now, we’ll remember this moment, too.”

I have no doubt.

Cara: Excellent presentation. Gold star.

Toby: You watched?

Cara: I told you I would. I liked the bit about Mike Rodriguez. You’ve had a busy few weeks!

And the best part of it has been talking to her, which is a dangerous kind of pleasure. I need to get a handle on that feeling, because it can’t rage out of control.

Toby: That’s the job. Wouldn’t have it any other way. But it’s nice to have a weekend off.

Cara: LOL weekend off? Are you not going into the office tomorrow?

Tomorrow being Saturday.

Toby: Only for a few hours.

Cara: My face right now…

I can only imagine.

Cara: Take some time off.

Toby: Sure. Maybe we can do cyber-brunch on Sunday.

Cara: That’s not helping my impression that you work too hard, but sure, I’ll take it.

CHAPTERTWELVE

CARA

IT TAKES two weeks for Ben and Elana to hear I’m dating someone.

I knew they’d find out eventually. Obviously, when I fake-elope, they’d hear then at the latest.

But for some reason, I didn’t really connect the dots that telling Nana to back off with her matchmaking plans would lead to my siblings being worried about this guy named Alex, and his intentions toward their baby sister.

Good thing I have my log.

I tell Ben that Alex is sweet, and a total gentleman. I’m not sure he buys it, but it’s the truth, in a way.

Elana’s a tougher one to divert.

“Tell me everything,” she says when I answer the phone Saturday afternoon.

“Not much to tell,” I hedge.

---