Page 48 of Knot Your Sunshine
"If your approach wins, we implement it across all locations." He straightens. "But if mine proves superior, you follow my model. No arguments. No community focus. You run this like a real business."
I feel the alphas shift behind me, tension rippling through the room.
"Deal." We shake hands, his grip trying to establish dominance. I squeeze back just as hard.
"My team will handle logistics, daily test results tracking, everything," he says, gathering his materials. "We'll just need your franchisee prospects by tomorrow to include them in the testing framework."
"You'll have them tonight."
Chapter nineteen
Keanu
So, that happened.
Mia passed on lunch at the mountain-view terrace, saying work came first
I sink into our office's leather couch, letting my body melt into the cushions. The ceiling has this swirled plaster pattern that looks like waves if you stare long enough. Or maybe that's just my brain telling me I should be out on the water instead of sitting here, pouting over the fact Mia turned us down.
Josh sits frozen at his monitor, staring at the blank screen like maybe if he concentrates hard enough, Mia will magically appear in the pixels. His fingers hover over the keyboard, not typing, just... hovering. Noa's pacing again, that restless back-and-forth between the windows and his desk that he does when he's nervous.
"So," I drop. "At least Mia looked pleased when we handed over those signed contracts before she left."
"Yeah, that's nice," Josh agrees, his voice flat as week-old soda.
Noa just grunts, his footsteps maintaining their steady rhythm.
"And judging by the general vibe in here," I continue, "I'm guessing we're all low-key freaking out?"
"High-key," Josh corrects, finally spinning his chair to face me.
Noa stops mid-pace, hands on his hips. "She could lose."
We all let that settle in the air like smoke from a blown-out candle. Our future pack princess omega having to watch her whole project get shredded by Chadwick…
"She'd be devastated," Josh says quietly, adjusting his glasses. "You saw how she talked about those clients. The way her eyes lit up describing that study corner she made. That's not just business to her."
"It's who she is," I agree, sitting up enough to see them both. "And Chadwick ends up right..."
"She'll have to implement his model." Noa drags both hands through his hair, making it stand up. "Turn her project into something she hates."
"But would she really have to?" I swing my legs off the couch, planting my feet on the floor. "We're the ones paying Chadwick. One word from us and he backs off."
"Sure," Noa says slowly, resuming his pacing but slower now, thoughtful. "But it'd still crush her. She obviously wants to prove her model works both for the community and economically. If she finds out it doesn't..." He shakes his head. "That kind of disappointment, that failure… I'm not sure how she'd handle it."
Josh's foot taps restlessly against the floor. "She must be so stressed right now, searching for franchise prospects. Then a whole week of test. What if she won't sleep or forget to eat?"
"Remember that documentary about those Antarctic researchers?" I ask, concerned. "How they got so focused on their work they forgot meals existed?"
Josh makes a pained noise. "We need to make sure she eats actual food. Not just coffee and whatever snacks she can grab."
"And sleeps," Noa adds, finally stopping his pacing to lean against his desk.
"And doesn't spend the entire week glued to her laptop, waiting to get test results," I continue.
We look at each other, and over two decades of friendship means I can practically see the same thought forming in all our minds simultaneously.
"We keep her busy," Noa starts, a slow smile spreading. "So busy enjoying paradise that she forgets to stress. And we convince herweshould monitor the test results."
