That’s another thing that makes me itchy and agitated. I tense my arms again just at the thought that the whole routine for the day has been thrown off by this announcement the officers want to make. I suppose that Adam would let me stay at my desk if I tell him how much I dislike it. I actually have told him before and he understood—or at least he said he did. But this time, I have a thing or two to say to his annoying best friend. And he’s here too, standing next to April Weiss.

Adam has just finished with the announcement regarding the stock prices and release dates on vesting shares owned by employees. He’s also declared that Draco will be acquiring a company to make the hardware for the new virtual reality equipment. This means more work for me as I am on the team to create the three-dimensional modeling for the new interface.

I blink. I don’t know what to think about that and I try not to, but I squint as Adam announces that Jordan has something he wants to talk about now. I saw him outside in the parking lot this morning, holding hands with April Weiss when he thought no one could see. He gets all the girls to fall in love with him.

And yet all of his advice is pure bullshit.

Maybe he lies so that no one else will compete with him. Maybe his techniques are secrets. The look on his face means he is nervous, I think. He is already talking, and I’m in my own thoughts so I’ve missed what he’s said. He is standing about fifty-three feet away and there are a lot of people between us…because in crowds, I never stand in the middle. Always on the outer edge. It’s easier to breathe there.

“If you care about the welfare of this company, know that it’s expected that what we talk about here is internal company business only,” he’s saying. I have to scrunch my brow and narrow my eyes and really focus to follow him. He’s far away, and the noise—feet shuffling, people whispering, echoes of every little thing. “The incident at the pool party in which one of our interns was wrongly humiliated should not have happened. What’s worse, it should not have been shared with the outside world via social media. But the most shameful thing about it is that she was left to face that humiliation all alone. I want to make that right. On behalf of the company and myself, I’d like to apologize to April Weiss for the behavior she had to endure at the party. I also think it’s right to let you know that I was the other party involved in the video.”

Everything is a lot quieter now. No one is moving. Some eyes are growing rounder, postures are changing, mouths are dropping. Surprise. They are surprised. Unpleasantly so.

“I also owe you, my fellow employees, an apology…” But I’m not listening now. I’m feeling tense, my fists are tight. I’m angry. I don’t like Jordan. I used to like him, but today I don’t like him.

And I’m going to tell him…just…just as soon as these people go away and it’s not so crowded. So I focus my attention inward, trying to use my tricks to think about not being in this room with these bright lights and this noise.

I spend time thinking about her. How her hair is so pale that it is almost white. Pale blonde. Sometimes she pulls it away from her face. The way it forms tiny curls around her neck. I like her wrists. They are delicate. Thin. Elegant. Even her wrists are beautiful. And her eyes. So soft a blue that if I were painting them, I’d have to mix white with the cerulean oil paint. Maybe two parts white to one part blue.

She reminds me of a Raphael angel.

It’s thirteen minutes before they start clearing out. I wait until then to step forward and speak with Jordan. He is walking beside Adam and April, and when they are nearby, I wave to catch his attention.

The three of them stop. My cousin says, “Hey Liam, everything all right?”

I take a breath, remind myself not to be irritated. Only family members call me ‘Liam.’ I tolerate it from three people only—Dad, Adam and my sister, Britt. Oh, there’s my new stepmother, too. Sometimes she slips and calls me ‘Liam’ because the others do and she forgets that I don’t like it.

“I need to speak with Jordan.” I point at him.

Jordan’s facial expression changes. His eyebrows scrunch together. Adam says something to him and then turns back to me. “Okay. See you later.” He keeps walking. April follows Adam after a little hesitation.

“I am angry with you,” I say to Jordan.

He sighs and his eyes look into mine. I jerk my eyes away. I don’t like staring in people’s eyes. I clench my fists, trying to calm myself.

“The advice you gave me was very bad.”

Jordan tilts his head to the side. “I’m sorry. Did it not work out?”