Chapter 51 Elizabeth
ELIZABETH
@pancakesareelite:
Are you sure?
@theanswerisno:
No
@pancakesareelite:
What aren’t you sure about?
@theanswerisno:
I don’t know
@pancakesareelite:
What’s that supposed to mean?
@theanswerisno:
I’ve never been sure about anything
@pancakesareelite:
Gaaaaah, you’re infuriating
By hour five, my brain felt as though it would leak out of my ears. But at the same time, this test was exhilarating and reminded me of all the reasons I went into engineering.
Every late-night crying fit over a difficult revision, every minute spent studying Lincoln’s final drawings, even the fundamentals of designing by hand, all came back and guided me through this process.
If I didn’t get this job, I knew without a doubt that I’d grown as an engineer by leaps and bounds. I stood a chance. Nerves and excitement bubbled up at the thought.
The last eight weeks had led to this moment, and I’d done it all in spite of Douglas. For a few blissful hours, while connecting roads and creating open public spaces, I forgot he existed.
And that was a victory on its own.
As the test’s timer neared zero, Mr. Anders walked in and his curious gaze settled on me. “Okay, interns. The managers are ready to scrutinize your drawings. I’ll give you a few seconds to save your work, and for the sake of maintaining anonymity, send it off to the printers when I say so.”
“Now.” He made finger guns, and I hit print along with the other six interns in the room.
I exhaled a long breath and laid my head in my arms. Everything ached. I needed food. I needed a bed. I needed Lincoln.
But I also needed to know the outcome.
“Well done, everyone.” Mr. Anders applauded us, and while nothing he did ever felt sincere, my eyes still welled up. “You did it.”
We did it. Whether we did it well was a different question.
Cedric’s hand shot up. “Mr. Anders, when will the scoring begin?”
“Immediately. It’ll take the managers and senior engineers at least two hours to work their way through your drawings and accompanying reports.
In the meantime, we’d like to invite you upstairs for a few drinks.
After all, we’re celebrating your new job or saying farewell. Either way, it’s a party.”
I looked down at my phone. It was already 4:00 p.m.
I shuffled out of the boardroom along with everyone else. Mr. Anders stood at the door, grinning at everyone and slapping them on the shoulder. But when I reached him, he froze. A smile that made me uneasy spread across his face. “Congratulations are in order.”
“For what? I haven’t gotten the job yet.”
“For managing to romance the robot,” he said with a chuckle. “You can tell him I said that. He’ll laugh.”
Lincoln? Mr. Anders knows?
My mouth dropped open, and he took a step closer to me. “Please don’t parade it around the office. Despite his resignation, it’ll still be a touchy topic for now.”
“Resig— What?” I choked out.
The regular smirk I expected appeared on Mr. Anders’s face. “I better let him take over.” He lifted his brows.
I spun around and found Lincoln standing behind me with two foil-wrapped sandwiches in hand.
That lopsided smile appeared, and for a moment, I wondered if I had imagined everything or if I really existed in a world where Lincoln Carden brought me a sandwich without asking. Where Lincoln Carden was mine.
He extended both sandwiches. “You must be hungry.”
“I’m starving,” I whined. “What’s what?”
“Grilled cheese.” He lifted his left hand and then his right. “Chicken salad.”
If we weren’t standing in the middle of the office, I’d walk into his wide chest and take a big inhale of his delicious clean and citrusy scent. “I can’t pick. Don’t make me pick.”
“I’m not. They’re both yours. I had a feeling you rushed out of your apartment this morning without breakfast, and I know how it goes when it comes to lunch.” He grinned and took a few steps closer.
My stomach grumbled. He knew me better than I knew myself. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’ve already eaten,” he said, and the smile he offered me let me know that, if we weren’t around the exact people we were hiding from, he’d lean down and give me a kiss.
He led me to the stairs leading to the roof, where all the other interns were gathering.
“You resigned, and Mr. Anders knows about us. How long was I in there?” I asked, already stuffing a big bite of the stretchy grilled cheese sandwich into my mouth.
“Someone told Anders about us and so he confronted me. I don’t like lying.”
“And then you resigned? Lincoln!”
He pushed open the door to the roof and held it aside so I could step ahead of him. “I have so much to tell you, but I want to do it when we’re alone. I promise I’ll tell you everything later, okay?”
I stood on my toes and whispered, “So you can kiss me while doing it?”
A slight redness crept to the tips of his ears. He looked around. “It’s no wonder we got caught out.”
“Any idea who tattled?” I narrowed my eyes and zoomed them straight in on Cedric.
“No, and I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, they did us a favor. Fewer secrets. Less guilt.”
No more secrets. Lincoln had no intention of hiding me. My heart expanded while I finished off the rest of the grilled cheese sandwich.
My beautiful boyfriend unwrapped the chicken salad sandwich and handed it to me. “Can I get you a drink?”
I took the sandwich, and my heart hiccupped as I remembered something Lincoln’s mother had said. He fed the people he loved.
Lincoln Carden loved me.
“I love you,” I whispered, quickly realizing how impossible it would be to work alongside him knowing how he felt. Every surface in that office would need extra support and disinfectant.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked. “Your cheeks are bloodred.”
Before I could tell him, I was swept away by one of the senior engineers, who was gathering the interns and wishing us farewell. Without the need to impress anyone anymore, the time passed in easy conversation.
Mr. Anders eventually walked out onto the roof, followed by a few of the other managers. “Okay, the results are up. Boardroom Two has each drawing stuck underneath a number. Feel free to look through the designs and claim your position.”
My mouth went completely dry. If I had been chewing, I’d have choked. I scurried downstairs with Lincoln following.
Cedric practically leaped to the lower floor and sprinted toward the boardroom. His cheer cut something in me. “Number one!”
As soon as I reached the doorway, I froze, but Lincoln’s strong body nudged me across the threshold. I surveyed the room for my familiar design and found it underneath a large printed 3.
My stomach dropped, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a second.
Lincoln released a long, low grumble beside me. “I’m so sorry.”
I leaned in and scrutinized my own design, reading the comments scribbled across it. Not all were critical. There were so many positive notes too. I grinned and spun around to look at Lincoln. “Number three ain’t so bad.”
He smiled. His eyes sliced toward numbers 1 and 2, and I knew he wanted to check them out. We walked over to Cedric’s design, and honestly, I had no idea how he managed to do this much in the time we were given.
“Good job,” I said.
“Thanks.” Cedric seemed to resist his natural inclination to snarl and said, “I’m impressed you went from seventh to third. That’s quite the feat across eight weeks.” After complimenting me, he looked like he may throw up.
We moved over to number 2, but before I could get a proper look, my phone buzzed in my hand. Eight weeks ago, I’d set an alarm to call my grandmother so she could celebrate or whine with me.
I hit dial. She rejected my call. I sent her a text instead, letting her know she could call me back when she had a chance.
“I better pack up my office,” I said, my heart a little sore at my loss, but I was not nearly as devastated as I had anticipated.
“Oh crap,” Lincoln mumbled. “Packing. I’m supposed to be packing up my childhood home.
” He grimaced and ran a large hand across his face.
“New owners are moving in on Monday, and the cleaners are coming over the weekend. I promised my mom I’d have everything out by today.
” He shifted on his feet and then met my gaze.
There was a heaviness in his deep brown irises that wasn’t there a second ago.
“Is there any chance you want to come with me?”