Page 16 (2/2)

My phone started buzzing with another call I didn’t recognize the nuet out of this conversation before I said soo"

I clicked over to the other line

"Hello?

"Erica, it’s Blake"

Fucking fuck "This isn’t a great ti but fine

"Where are you? I’lanced around for the nearest recognizable landmark "Near Campbell Square"

"I’ll pick you up in five ue

I sat on a park bench, idly checking email on my phone to distract me from the bomb Alli had dropped on me In one, Sid reported a decent influx of new users since the conference, which elcome news since I had wondered if the entire effort had amounted to an expensive 3,000-hts drifted back to Alli and Liz and how utterly alone I had becohts Blake sat in the driver’s seat of a sleek black sports car waiting at the curb I approached and was lided out of its hidden pocket in the passenger door Strange I got in, instantly mesmerized by the enorer seats

"What the hell is this?" I asked, instantly overwhelizmos

"It’s a Tesla"

"Okay" I stared out to the road ahead, waiting for the car to ainst my cheek

He looked fresh and cute, but his sain I sed against the sensation,in an act of self-defense

"I’m fine, seriously" I turned ht clue him in toany more vulnerable to this man than I already was and still rity "What do you want?" I asked

"Are you hungry?"

"Sure" I wasn’t, but I wanted to be anywhere but here I let Blake take us away in what I now recalled was an extreh-tech car whose stock had just skyrocketed

"How ot in on the second round of funding, so quite a bit"

"Of course you did," I mumbled

Blake ard for pedestrians and traffic laws, but somehow I still felt safe and relieved to have the campus in the rearview We rode the rest of the way in silence until Blake pulled into a reserved parking space across from the clock tower

The Black Rose was an Irish pub in the heart of Boston, a few steps away from the famous Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market Inside, a dark wood bar lined one end of the restaurant and coats of arms from the motherland covered the walls Blake and I settled into a quiet corner of the restaurant where we could watch the people outside going about their day, including tourists, bankers, andwaitress was cheery and asked for our order with an Irish lilt thatin a few short weeks

"Two Irish breakfasts and two Guinnesses," Blake said, handing her ourhis attention back to me

"Do you always order for other people?"

"I didn’t want you to battle with yourself over ordering a pint so early in the day"

He leaned in, showcasing his biceps that were peeking out of the sleeves his T-shirt that featured the Initech logo fro so unprofessional on a workday