Chapter 10
Daniel
Lydia followed me quietly into the elevator. She looked exactly the same as every other day I saw her—same clothes, same hairdo, same ring. Her nails were a different shade of gray than the week before, but other than that, nothing changed.
“Sorry about Becca, again.”
“No need to apologize, Mr. Mason. I like her.”
“You don’t have to agree to sit with us. I mean if it happens again, you can say no and go to the office.”
She didn’t answer, so I added, “I’m happy if you stay. Just don’t think you have to. I won’t be offended and neither will she.”
“Thank you.”
“So, how did you celebrate your birthday?”
I instantly regretted the question. Everything about her demeanor changed, and the air in the elevator suddenly felt heavy.
“I don’t really celebrate my birthday. The cupcake was nice, though.” I expected her voice to sound different based on how she seemed to react to my question, but it was just as cool and professional as ever.
When we reached my floor, I gave her the tour, introduced her to Dianne at reception, and showed her the meeting room, waiting room, kitchen, break room, Chris’s office, my office, and her desk.
Chris was already in his office when we got there and instantly ran to me with questions and updates on my day’s schedule, sparing only a fraction of a moment to acknowledge Lydia.
There wasn’t anyone to onboard her, so she started on her own.
She sat at her desk, set up her computer, and then went to talk to Dianne.
I was in my office with the door open when she came back to her desk with a pile of documents.
Chris walked in and sat in the chair in front of me. “Have you had a chance to go over the offer from Ethan Howard?”
“Yeah, seems fair. Not sure why he’d be interested in it.”
Chris shrugged. “He wants to set up a meeting to talk about the acquisition.”
“Set it up. Keep Lydia in the loop. She’s going to go through a lot of documents, help you with taking and filing notes. She needs to have context.”
“Can she help in the meeting?”
“I trust you to know what you need to do yourself. Anything you think can be done by a junior, give to her.”
Chris nodded and went to talk to Lydia.
The office phone rang.
“Yeah.”
“Mr. Mason, Mr. Michaels is on the line.”
“Thanks, Dianne.”
I waited for the click and shut the door for some privacy. “Terry, what’s up?”
“Something came up on Lydia Davis.”
“Your team said she passed the screening. Poly, too.”
“Yeah, she did. I just thought you’d want to know that there was something strange. Her birth certificate isn’t normal. Parents and attending physician are unknown and the filing date isn’t anywhere near her birth date. It was filed when she was nine years old.”
“What does that mean?”
“Fucked up childhood, probably. I couldn’t find any other information that would indicate a false identity or something criminal. As far as I’m concerned, she still passed the screening. Just thought you should know.”
“Thanks, Terry.”
“Want me to keep digging? I’m guessing there are probably sealed records.”
Yes.
“No.”
I wasn’t going to dig into her past when it was illegal and overstepping boundaries.