Page 36 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

"Sure," he says, then taps away on his tablet to take notes as the presenter explains a few AI tools to make all of our jobs easier.

"Are you all right?" Adam asks when he finds me after the presentation, and I roll my eyes.

"Why is everyone asking me that today?" I mumble, admittedly annoyed. Yes, I’m having a bad day and it’s not getting any better by people constantly asking me about it.

Adam takes my snip in stride, eyebrows shooting up in surprise for a moment before an amused expression washes over his face instead.

"Because you're feisty today?" Felix asks from behind us, the grin evident in his voice, and I groan.

"Great, now the two of you have teamed up against me."

"No such thing," Felix teases me and laughs, linking his arm with mine as we walk down the corridor.

"God, I need another coffee. Or a nap."

"We're just spitting facts." He says it with irony dripping from his voice, sounding like a wannabe cool kid, but I just can’t today.

"You're spitting-" I interrupt myself and pinch the bridge of my nose. No way am I finishing that sentence. Then I stop and wait until I have their attention. “For the record, yes, I'm alright. I'm just grumpy because I couldn't sleep, and I'm tired of dealing with misogynistic assholes like Chuck."

"Misogynistic?" Adam asks surprised and raises his eyebrow. "He was an asshole, no doubt about that, but what about it was misogynistic?"

Before I can answer, Felix jumps in and makes my case, so I continue to walk. I need some lunch and a nap.

"In a room full of CEOs, why would he ask Lily if she was writing along? Come on, big boy, I know you've got the brain cells." The two of them trail after me and I listen in curiously.

“Because he doesn’t like her? Did anything happen between them?”

“I’ll give you one more try,” Felix says amusedly, but my patience today is shorter than my last relationship.

"Because I was the only woman in there and as we know, all women are secretaries," I say over my shoulders and turn to the lobby. Jackpot, they have pots of coffee and some treats line up for us. Their filter coffee is weak as fuck, and I’d love to have an iced one, but if it means I don’t have to walk outside go to a coffee shop, it will do. It’s been raining thewhole day – which would be awesome if it meant the heat would become more bearable, but instead it just became more humid outside.

"Oh," Adam says intelligently, but I barely pay attention as I make a beeline for the coffee. "I did not realize that."

"The joys of being a woman.” I shrug. He looks shocked, but I can’t find it in me to continue this conversation.

“Now if you'll excuse me," I take a look at my watch, "I need lunch." And I need a nap, then a goddamn break, but I don’t say that out loud. “See you later, Adam.”

Felix trudges after me, swiftly taking the coffee cup from my hands. “You’ve had enough for now.”

"Here, maybe this will brighten your mood." Felix hands me a stuffed plush he just won at a game arcade after dinner, and I force myself to shoot him a quick grin.

"I'm sorry," I say, my shoulders sagging with disappointment in myself. "I was in a terrible mood today. Sorry for snapping at you."

"I don’t know what’s on your mind, but if you want to share, my ears are yours," Felix offers, but I shake my head.

"There is,” I admit, knowing it’s no use to lie to him further. “But I don’t even know how to verbalize it yet. Thank you, though. Maybe later.” I hide a big yawn behind my hand. “I need to sleep. Are you staying or coming with?”

Felix nods and grabs his bags, filled with prizes from the arcade we just visited. I have no idea how he intends to get them home, but there is no doubt in my mind that, somehow, he’ll manage.

"I didn't know you were so good at those," I say once we’re outside and I don’t have to shout over the blaring music, nudging him with my shoulder.

"I didn't know either, but I watched a lot of YouTube videos on these yesterday." The proud grin on his face makes me chuckle, until it turns into another yawn.

"Ah, so it was cheating."

"No cheating," he disagrees. "Just research and skills."

"Well, then let's hurry, so you can put all of that stuff away and still be on time for the next meeting," I giggle and point at the bags with stuffed toys that are reaching up to my hip, but just as we round the corner, we see a familiar face in the distance.

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