Page 225 (1/2)

I don't knohat the fuck has co Kane The one le wo over so hundred other woet this particular wo mind no matter how hard I try

I look over at Cheryl "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask "I'm fine A little tired maybe, but fine"

Do I sound convincing? I'h it

"Ethan, I've known you for a long time, and I've never seen that look on your face before"

"You're overreacting," I laugh, shrugging her off "I'm sure you've seen ht here in this "

"Okay, well, beyond this angle, I' that the bottom line is this—our focus should be on the people, our potential customers," she says "To build buzz, I think we can turn this product launch into a full-scale event We should also have our pre-orders set to

go live soon Do you know the official pre-order launch date? Ethan—are you listening?"

"Yes, sorry," I reply "What was your question again?"

"No—you're definitely different today," she says, halting thetalk "Where were you yesterday?"

"I was here," I say

"No, you weren't You left early… and I've never seen you leave work early"

"Oh, I—uh—I had a ," I say

"With who?"

"What is this, a gaate mother"

Cheryl looks atanother word I can see her brain working overtime I break the aard silence