“I have a lot to catch up on.”
Margot won’t let it go. “Oh, working hard?”
“I always work hard.”
“Not in the last few weeks.”
“I needed a break from this place. Worked from home. Stop with the jealousy, Margot.”
“Pff.” She exhales through her lips and fakes a laugh. “I’m just cautious. What’s so special about her that you let her stick her nose in the employee files? Is there no security protocol now?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
But she does. She thinks everything I do is her business.
After the Change, a handful of spring-breakers went back to the mainland. As per the congressman’s request, my dad, who flew in right after the attacks, took Anna Reich, the congressman’s daughter and my then girlfriend, back home, which made me officially single.
But Margot threw a fit when her dad sent a helicopter to pick her up. He had connections in Australia where she could’ve lived happily ever after.
But she didn’t leave.
I didn’t say a word and raised an eyebrow when she said she’d stay on Zion and work for Gen-Alpha. I mean, the girl didn’t have to work a day in her life. She had a string of rich beaus in different parts of the world, if they were still alive that is, but chose to stay here.
So yeah, my respect to Margot for her decision. But mostly to her brilliant brain that she seems to use only in the data center. When she is around me, she starts this sophisticated mating ritual that gets on my nerves.
Kat can’t compare in upbringing or financial background, but her confidence can be intimidating to others. Margot is worried. It’s in the way she swings her foot repeatedly and her finger curls one of the pink strands too vigorously.
One of my assistants calls. “Anything you need, Mr. Crone?”
Like everybody else, she’s surprised to finally see me in the office.
“Yes, a coffee.”
Haven’t had one in weeks. Usually, it’s booze, and I’m itching for a drink. Addiction is a burden, Pavlov’s reflex on a chemical level, and I need to break it.
“And tell the new girl about the meditation rooms,” I say just to mess with Margot.
“Already did, sir.”
“Tell her there is a printing room and an employee break room in the data center next door.”
“She knows. She spent an hour there this morning. The team knows her.”
Margot’s lips curl in a smirk at the same time as I raise my eyebrows.
“A quick one, huh?” Margot pushes off the desk and sashays toward the door. “Will she beworkingin your office soon?” She snorts as she turns to throw me an angry look.
“You know my rules.” I don’t sleep with employees.
I stare at her as she leaves, and my eyes shift to Kat at her desk, who raises her eyes to follow Margot for several seconds then shifts her gaze to me.
Goddam, those eyes…
She purses her lips with intentional exaggeration like she knows my secrets and slowly blinks down.
Somehow, I feel like I am going to break my rules very soon.
10