Page 36 of My Turn

The group roared with laughter. Patrick slapped me on the shoulder like we were old pals. “Last time I saw Jayce, I told him he should leave engineering behind and join the corporate world.”

“And I told him I’d need to borrow one of his fancy ties so that I could hang myself.”

“He’s something, this one. Jayce, we’re going out tonight and I’m dragging you along.”

“I can only assume this involves booze and expensive women.”

He grinned. “Only if we’re lucky.”

Even though that didn’t sound appealing, I agreed. Outside, we passed by a few more prototypes that had been set up for this event. I stopped at one in particular, a military drone that was only slighter taller than me. The sign beside it made me clench my teeth.

In Honor of Jaykob Weste

I remembered when he was working on this. He didn’t have projects as big as mine and this was one of his more important ones. What nobody here would know was that I’d helped him with quite a few of the components. He was good at what he did, but he didn’t do well under pressure. Expectations made him choke. He was weak.

Viktor came up beside me. “Weste. Any relation?”

“My brother.”

“Oh, wow. You’re in the same field. That must be exciting.”

“It was interesting.”

He looked confused, then he read the rest of the plaque. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you kill him?”

He looked at me with horror on his face. “No, uh, I…”

With a smile, I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Don’t apologize, then. It’s all good.”

I turned and rejoined the others. He’d probably think I was weird now, but it didn’t matter. He was another guppy here. The other suits were familiar with me and they’d probably band together against Viktor if I disliked him. That was how this world worked. He’d be eaten alive if he kept trying to suck up to everyone.

*****

Between the boisterous laughter and the music, it was so fucking loud. It might be better if things were less blurry. Were they blurry or was I moving? I looked down at myself. I was sitting, so it must’ve been the former.

Booze this expensive wasn’t fit for human consumption. It went down smooth and settled heavily in my bloodstream. When Patrick pushed another shot toward me, I shook my head and made a cutting motion across my throat.

“Come on, Weste. First meeting isn’t until eleven.”

“You’re the devil,” I shouted over the music. “Last one, though.”

He clapped his hands together and I blew out a breath before knocking it back. I slouched further into the seat and stared up at the ceiling. The flashing lights were actually pretty nice to look at. If I kept at it, though, I’d probably get sick.

I pulled out my phone and frowned down at the unanswered text I’d sent Alana. She’d been vague about her conversation with the lawyer and when I insisted that she tell me more, she read it, then left me hanging. I didn’t appreciate that. I pulled up her screen and saw that she was reading. She was probably trying to distract herself.

I had a better way.

Navigating to my app, I sent her a message.

Erebus:Are you ready for our second date?

My leg bounced while I waited for her to respond. The bubbles popped up a few times, then disappeared as if she was going back and forth about texting back. When the phone vibrated, I sat up straight.

Alana:Leave me alone.

Erebus:Never. What if I showed up right now?