Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“I will add that to my data files,” Emma replies.
Emma has a user function that allows her to listen in to gain more information about the user. She’s also got a handy stop listening function for those who think it’s creepy for a computer to listen in on your everyday conversations. I expect our users are going to trend younger. We’ve been testing the function by letting Emma listen in on us.
“Emma, do you think Ivy and Heath would make a good couple?” Ye Joon asks.
“Hey.” I’m not sure I want the answer to that question yet.
“They better after what they did in the office this afternoon,” Emma replies.
I wince. Yep. Her listening function is working well.
Ye Joon pats my shoulder. “Heath is a genius. She took in all the data and knows about your quickie. I want you to think about that. She was able to figure out what was happening.”
Ria sends him a glare. “Come on. You know that wasn’t a quickie. That was an emotional and physical connection that Ivy needed very much in the moment. I thought it was beautiful.”
“I thought it was loud,” Ye Joon counters, and then his hands come up as though staving off an inevitable attack. “And beautiful. I’m glad we’re all cool now, and we can get back to work.”
I look at these two who’ve become important in my life. Despite the fact that I feel better, my problems haven’t gone away. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep us moving forward. I believe in this project, too. It might not happen overnight, but I’ll find us the funding.”
“I don’t care what that asshat says he has. It’s not better than Emma.” Ye Joon sounds confident. “And I don’t want you to worry about me. If the worst happens, I can find a job to pay the bills and help out during my free time.”
“Me, too,” Ria adds. “Though I’m with Ye Joon. I don’t think any other system can beat Emma. We just need to be able to get her in front of investors. I don’t think we’re more than six months from being able to take her to shows, and a year from market.”
I like that timeline and I think she’s probably right, but it’s the getting her in front of investors that might be hard. We need those patents, and the fact that CeCe is paying our legal fees might be the one leg up we have.
I hear the bell chiming from the front of the apartment and the sound of someone rushing to open it. I wonder if someone ordered food. I could definitely eat. I wonder what street vendors they have around here. I got so involved in work I forgot about lunch until Heath put a sandwich in front of me, but now I realize dinnertime is close.
“Ria, Ye Joon, could I have a moment alone with Ivy?”
Lydia’s voice has me turning. It’s odd because I’ve been listening to Emma all day and when Emma’s directed toward me, she really sounds like Heath’s grandmother. I chose that. I now wonder if she’s going to give me an earful about what happened earlier. I haven’t seen her since the incident. I’ve been locked back in here working with Ria, and I realize I might have been avoiding this confrontation.
Ria looks at me sympathetically, but I nod to her. She and Ye Joon leave, and I worry as Lydia shuts the door behind them.
I’m still not embarrassed by what happened between me and Heath, but I realize Lydia might be. “I’m sorry about the noise from earlier. I promise it won’t happen again. I can apologize to your neighbor if you like.”
She waves off that worry as she sits down in the chair Ria had been using. “Oh, that was Harvey. Busybody. He’s going to spend days trying to find the pornography channel. I’m not worried about that. I am worried though. Ivy, I have to ask you what your intentions toward my grandson are.”
Wow. I had not expected that. “Uhm, well, I probably am going to have dinner with him tonight.”
She frowns my way. “You were going to leave him yesterday.”
“Not because I don’t…” It feels weird to think about the word I kind of want to use, but I settle on an easier one. “Not because I don’t care about him. I was doing it because I do care about him. It was the same reason I was going to leave this morning. That article could hurt the company.”
“Heath doesn’t want the company more than he wants you,” Lydia points out. “And I know what you’re thinking. You’re worried he could change his mind down the line.”
I’m not going to lie to the woman. “It’s a possibility. I hate the idea that he might come to resent me, but I have to balance that with who he is as a man. He promises me that won’t happen. So I have to figure out if I believe him. It’s not that I think he’s lying to me. I know he’s not.”