her close, resting his hands on her hips. “And your roommate?”
“Seyi? She is soooo sweet. Apparently her family owns a diamond mine.
Can you believe that? She went to school in Switzerland and speaks, like, nine languages. It’s crazy.”
Great, Adam thought. Another highly intimidating rich girl. “I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.
Lisa scrunched her nose. “You know you can’t. I mean, I guess you can meet her, but not as my … I mean, you know no one can know that we see each other like this.”
Adam let his hands fall from her hips, swiveling back around in his chair to face his laptop. “Yeah, I know.” He didn’t understand why Lisa still refused to tell anyone they were together or call him her boyfriend. He’d started a company, he’d gotten into a fraternity—kind of—and he had even let her take him shopping with some of the money from Doreye so he could buy a more respectable wardrobe.
“Adam, we’ve talked about this. I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” She tilted her head to the side and eyed him carefully. “Is that what’s behind all this?”
“Behind what?”
“I feel like you’ve been distant lately, like there’s something happening that you’re not telling me about.”
He turned to face her. She was wearing short white shorts and a tight pink tank top that accentuated her full breasts and small waist. God, she was pretty. He smiled reassuringly. “It’s nothing,” he lied. “I’m just a little stressed over how busy things are getting with the start-up.” Lisa’s cell phone rang and she blushed when she saw who was calling.
“I’ve gotta take this, Adam. I’ll text you later, okay? Good luck unpacking.” She pecked his cheek and scurried out of the room, answering the phone as she turned down the hallway. “Hey! I’m just leaving somewhere. I’ll be out soon, and then I can talk … ”
Chapter II
Faces
“I ’m calling it a day,” T. J. said as he popped his head into the Doreye office. “Have you got everything you need?”
“I’m fine.” Amelia didn’t look up from her computer, where she was deeply engrossed in coding. After a pause, it occurred to her that this might be rude, so she stopped typing and looked up. “But thanks,” she offered.
“No prob. See you tomorrow.” T. J. waved and was gone.
Amelia didn’t care how nice he was or how much Adam adored him; she still didn’t trust T. J. Bristol.
The day after their initial meeting at the incubator, T. J. had e-mailed Amelia asking if they could meet the next morning to “make sure everyone was comfortable with the situation.” She responded grudgingly. “I’ll be at the incubator at eleven o’clock.”
T. J. was already there when she arrived, sitting in the playroom typing away on his laptop. When he saw Amelia go into her office, he got up to join her. “This still a good time?”
“As good as any.”
“Listen,” he said. “I’m going to be totally straight with you. What you did was devastating to my family. We lost millions, and I’m not sure my father will ever recover his reputation or his pride. In fact, I think there’s a good chance he’s going to retire all together.” Amelia stared straight ahead, her jaw clenched, without a hint of sympathy.
“But despite the fall-out to my family, I respect what you did. And it just proved to me how insanely talented you are and how much potential you’ve got to be a part of the next generation of Silicon Valley. You’ve got guts
and
brains
and
vision, and that’s a rare combination around here. So I want you to know, right from the start, that if I have to pick sides, I’ll take yours. I am one hundred percent behind you, Amelia. I want to see you and Doreye succeed.”
Amelia squinted her eyes. She was studying T. J., trying to figure out what it was he wanted out of this. People like him made decisions on a cost-benefit basis: they calculated what they would have to give up to get what they
“Seyi? She is soooo sweet. Apparently her family owns a diamond mine.
Can you believe that? She went to school in Switzerland and speaks, like, nine languages. It’s crazy.”
Great, Adam thought. Another highly intimidating rich girl. “I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.
Lisa scrunched her nose. “You know you can’t. I mean, I guess you can meet her, but not as my … I mean, you know no one can know that we see each other like this.”
Adam let his hands fall from her hips, swiveling back around in his chair to face his laptop. “Yeah, I know.” He didn’t understand why Lisa still refused to tell anyone they were together or call him her boyfriend. He’d started a company, he’d gotten into a fraternity—kind of—and he had even let her take him shopping with some of the money from Doreye so he could buy a more respectable wardrobe.
“Adam, we’ve talked about this. I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” She tilted her head to the side and eyed him carefully. “Is that what’s behind all this?”
“Behind what?”
“I feel like you’ve been distant lately, like there’s something happening that you’re not telling me about.”
He turned to face her. She was wearing short white shorts and a tight pink tank top that accentuated her full breasts and small waist. God, she was pretty. He smiled reassuringly. “It’s nothing,” he lied. “I’m just a little stressed over how busy things are getting with the start-up.” Lisa’s cell phone rang and she blushed when she saw who was calling.
“I’ve gotta take this, Adam. I’ll text you later, okay? Good luck unpacking.” She pecked his cheek and scurried out of the room, answering the phone as she turned down the hallway. “Hey! I’m just leaving somewhere. I’ll be out soon, and then I can talk … ”
Chapter II
Faces
“I ’m calling it a day,” T. J. said as he popped his head into the Doreye office. “Have you got everything you need?”
“I’m fine.” Amelia didn’t look up from her computer, where she was deeply engrossed in coding. After a pause, it occurred to her that this might be rude, so she stopped typing and looked up. “But thanks,” she offered.
“No prob. See you tomorrow.” T. J. waved and was gone.
Amelia didn’t care how nice he was or how much Adam adored him; she still didn’t trust T. J. Bristol.
The day after their initial meeting at the incubator, T. J. had e-mailed Amelia asking if they could meet the next morning to “make sure everyone was comfortable with the situation.” She responded grudgingly. “I’ll be at the incubator at eleven o’clock.”
T. J. was already there when she arrived, sitting in the playroom typing away on his laptop. When he saw Amelia go into her office, he got up to join her. “This still a good time?”
“As good as any.”
“Listen,” he said. “I’m going to be totally straight with you. What you did was devastating to my family. We lost millions, and I’m not sure my father will ever recover his reputation or his pride. In fact, I think there’s a good chance he’s going to retire all together.” Amelia stared straight ahead, her jaw clenched, without a hint of sympathy.
“But despite the fall-out to my family, I respect what you did. And it just proved to me how insanely talented you are and how much potential you’ve got to be a part of the next generation of Silicon Valley. You’ve got guts
and
brains
and
vision, and that’s a rare combination around here. So I want you to know, right from the start, that if I have to pick sides, I’ll take yours. I am one hundred percent behind you, Amelia. I want to see you and Doreye succeed.”
Amelia squinted her eyes. She was studying T. J., trying to figure out what it was he wanted out of this. People like him made decisions on a cost-benefit basis: they calculated what they would have to give up to get what they
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