Chapter 13 Lincoln
LINCOLN
@theanswerisno:
What do you do when you feel like everyone is moving on without you?
@pancakesareelite:
I start a new game
@theanswerisno:
Good to know we have
the same coping mechanisms.
@pancakesareelite:
Jokes aside, I try to remind myself that everyone is moving. So are we. Different paces, different places
@theanswerisno:
I didn’t expect such a profound answer while we’re playing a game pretending to be goats
@pancakesareelite:
You underestimate me
@theanswerisno:
I have to. Because your greatness knows no bounds and any estimates I have would therefore be less than what you are.
@pancakesareelite:
Are you flirting with me?
@theanswerisno:
I blasted your goat into the ocean and now you’ll have to swim back, haaaaaaaa.
It was Neema’s turn to pick a game, and to my surprise, it wasn’t Dungeons & Dragons.
For years now, whenever it was her turn, she’d pick D&D.
Between her enthusiasm and Shaun’s love for her enthusiasm, the game went on for hours too long.
I enjoyed it on most days, but after a twelve-hour workday, I was relieved when she picked Azul.
“I know, I know.” She unpacked the game with a big sigh. “But I’m tired. I’ve been throwing up all week, and this is all I have capacity for right now. Rose brought along her set, too, so we can have two groups.”
I stood and helped prepare the second set.
“We can split up the couples so there’s no cheating.” William playfully shoved Rose out of his way.
It was hard not to notice that everyone was coupled up. I was the third wheel, then fifth wheel, and now the seventh wheel. There had always been a quiet loneliness, but it was louder now since Claire’s husband, Dean, started joining game night and after Rose and William hooked up.
Still, William had a point. Whenever Shaun played beside Neema, he played in her favor. As did Dean with Claire. The only two who fought tooth and nail were Rose and William, and the winner was truly anyone’s guess.
Rose, Claire, and Shaun joined me at the board I set up. Neema, William, and Dean took the second set beside us.
The conversation flowed easily between them. I’d always been more of a listener than anything else. I didn’t mind it. They lived interesting lives, and I looked forward to their updates.
“How’s work going? My office is still boring.” Shaun picked up a tile I needed.
“Work’s awesome. This set was from them. There are some perks to working for a board game production company.” Rose beamed. “How about you? Anything you’re not telling me? How’s work? Still saving lives, Dean?”
“Uh…” He shrugged. “I treated a child for a fake cough today.”
Dean was a favorite doctor among the moms. I swore they brought their kids to his practice just to be around him.
“Hannah runs now. So all I do when I’m not working is run after her.” Claire huffed. “I haven’t even been able to read.” She turned to me, always noticing when I hadn’t contributed to the conversation. “Lincoln? How’s your new office mate? Still driving you nuts?”
I shook my head before I’d even had the chance to formulate a sentence.
“You’re sharing a space with someone?” Rose’s mouth made a perfect O.
“I haven’t told them a thing. See! Not even about who she is,” Claire said, and then squeezed her eyes shut. “Crap.”
“Who is she?” Shaun asked as though it were a simple question. I suppose for most people, it was. For me? It felt as though sharing anything about anything would somehow put me at risk.
But this was game night. Game night was safe. I repeated it to myself like a mantra.
“Elizabeth Gordon-Bettencourt,” I said, forcing it out of my system… and admittedly, relieved that, when I thought of her now, it was because someone else brought her up. A totally reasonable reason to be thinking about my employee.
“Why’s that name sound familiar?” Dean asked, his arm snaking around Claire’s waist.
“Already on it,” Rose said, whipping out her phone. A second later, her eyes widened. “I remember her. She’s the heir to GB Productions. She must be a million—billionaire. Is she awful? I was always jealous because Oscar Lenard admitted to having a huge crush on her.”
“Oscar Lenard,” William grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Stupid, pretentious vampire.”
“She’s not awful,” I said, ignoring the thing my heart was doing. I should get checked out for pericarditis or something. “She’s… uh… actually really nice.”
Rose’s face lit up like a cartoon cat. I lifted a warning finger.
It didn’t stop her.
Rose scooched closer. “I’m trying to find her social media accounts. It doesn’t seem like she has any. The only photo of her on the entire internet other than her modeling years is one that is so beautiful it’s surely fake.”
“Cool,” I choked out, trying not to sound too interested.
She’d never mentioned anything like that.
In fact, she rarely spoke about herself even though she seemed to be talking all the time.
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t like her in, like, that way, and I’m only saying that because I know you need to hear it. ”
“I mean… office romance is my second favorite trope,” Claire said. “Weren’t you annoyed with her at first? It could totally count as enemies-to-lovers.”
Rose tilted her phone toward Claire, whose mouth dropped open.
I grumbled, dropping my head in my hands and hoping my curiosity wasn’t showing.
“Oh my goodness, she’s gorgeous. Is this her?” Neema turned the phone to face me.
I spotted those now-familiar gray eyes. Her hair was redder, and her freckles bright. But it was her. She was breathtakingly beautiful. And they all agreed, so that was simply a fact. It didn’t mean anything. It was scientific if you considered that the majority in this room thought so too.
I nodded.
“No wonder you have a crush on her.” Rose let out a failed wolf whistle.
“I don’t.” I looked at Claire for help. “I said I don’t.”
She raised her brows and simultaneously narrowed her eyes. “You sure?” She wasn’t teasing like the rest of them. She looked… worried.
“I don’t. She’s nice and smart and kind…
and a better engineer than I expected her to be.
I misjudged her. I’m the problem here,” I rambled.
“And besides”—I tried stopping myself but the words came out faster than I could filter them—“she’s my employee.
Even if I did like her, I can’t do anything about it. ”
I glanced over again and saw the caption on the photo read: GB Production Princess. Nausea gathered in my stomach.
“So, you do like her,” Neema teased.
Shaun leaned in for a closer look. “I get it.”
“Stop, okay? Stop, please.” I rubbed my hands across my face and all the way to the back of my head. “Talking about her like this is inappropriate.”
“Sorry,” Rose retracted fast. While she was quick to tease, she also knew when to pull back and never pushed thereafter. She silenced the rest of them with a glance. “We won’t say anything else.”
William also knew when to fly to her rescue. He grabbed his laptop. “Change of topic.”
I blew out a long breath, grateful for whatever it was William would show us.
“Rose and I have game news.” He navigated over to the video game he and Rose designed together and double-clicked it.
“Overpower is ahead of schedule, and Thunderstruck wants us to capitalize on the current buzz around genre-blending and host a huge in-person LAN where local gamers can access an early version.”
He opened a saved file, and a dark-haired sorcerer appeared on-screen with a sharp-eared dwarf that undoubtedly resembled Rose.
My eyes widened, and I leaned in. I hadn’t seen these updates. “This looks incredible.” I’d been following the creation of this game since William had the brilliant idea of surprising Rose with it. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to play this version.”
Rose beamed, and I could see how she tried her best not to launch herself into my arms. “Really?”
Over the last few years, I’d been updating Lily on Overpower’s development, knowing how much she’d love it. And how much I’d love experiencing it with her. In my head, I’d already blocked off release weekend in the hopes she’d be available to play it with me.
“It’s sometimes all I can think about.”
Wait.
Lily follows William. She could see his announcement. For an in-person LAN.
That means… Lily could be there.