"Ethan, there you are!"
Great. Can't I get any time to think around this place without women fawning all over me?
"Look, I need everyone to leave me al—" I say, but I'm cut off. It's Cheryl.
"It's important," she says.
"Sorry, I didn't realize it was you," I reply. "I've been bombarded ever since I walked in the door."
"Where's the prototype?" she asks me. "You left here with it yesterday, but I don't see it anywhere."
"I left it at home."
"You what?" Cheryl asks. She looks genuinely shocked.
"It's fine. I'll bring it back
in tomorrow."
"Ethan, do you realize what you've done? You've left our only prototype—the one piece of technology that we're banking on and pouring all of our resources into—exposed and unguarded. Would you leave a million dollars on the sidewalk and expect it to be there the next day?"
"It's not like I left it on the street corner," I say. "That's not a good analogy. This is my apartment we're talking about. It's safe there. No one is going to touch it."
"Are you sure about that?" Cheryl asks, her eyes narrowing. "I don't think that was the wisest thing to do because you weren't alone … You had Brittney over."
"How did you know that?" I ask.
"I dropped her off near One57 yesterday and just as I thought, she ended up at your place.”
For a moment I wonder if Cheryl has resorted to stalking me at my own apartment now.
"Look, I know you worry, but I trust her," I say.
"Since when have you become so trusting of strangers?" she asks.
"It's not like that … I've gotten to really know Brittney. She's not a stranger. I can trust her. She's opened up to me. You can trust her too."
Are you listening to yourself?" Cheryl asks, shaking her head. "Prove to me that she can be trusted."
"Why are you being so difficult? What's come over you?" I ask.
"Do you even know what Brittney used to do before we hired her on?"
"Yes, I already know all about that," I say. "She told me. She was in porn, and then started her own business, Man Chasers LLC."
"And did she tell you what she did with that company?"
"Yes, she told me all about that too," I shrug. "Look, it doesn't bother me. She helped women get back at their cheating husbands. She helped them find closure… and justice."
"Did she forget to mention how she managed to pull that off?" Cheryl asks.
"Well, we didn't go into depth on that."
"She used deceit, Ethan. That's what she did. She lied. And she was good at it. She could convince even the most powerful men to drop their pants for her, and she was cunning enough to gain access to them," she says. "Think about that for a moment."
I never really thought about it like that. I guess Cheryl has a fucking point. But what Brittney and I have together is fucking different. I'm not some cheating husband that she's been hired to uncover.
"Look, I'll prove to you that the prototype is fine," I say. "I brought my tablet. It's connected to the cameras in my apartment. I'll power it on, and I'll show you that the prototype is still sitting in my briefcase, on the table."