Salvatore
Thisdinnerwasn’tafriendly meeting of the tech minds—it was an ambush. If not for my long history with Sam, I would have taken Bea and walked right out the door the moment I realized what was happening.
I should have from the start. Sam had barely acknowledged Bea’s presence, skipping over her to reintroduce me to Drew, Minnie, and Don, the founders of Gravis Systems. Up until now, I’d forgotten we’d met at an industry event months ago. But as they talked, my initial impression came back. They were young and hungry, with an overabundance of funding and a dearth of talent and innovative ideas. That still stood.
Things only went downhill from there.
Sam went straight for the pitch. “You’ve probably heard about some of the things they’re doing at Gravis. They’re interested in a collaboration around the security suite we’ve been developing, and I thought we could have an informal chat over dinner. Low pressure.”
I flinched. Visibly. Sam’s gaze shifted to Don on his left, as if looking for backup, and that felt like a gut punch on top of a gutpunch. Since when did he look to veritable strangers for support? We leaned on each other. Always.
Bea’s hand slipped under the table and found my leg, squeezing with grounding firmness. I covered her hand with mine, running the tip of my index finger along hers.
“We’re not going to be doing that,” I uttered through a tightly clenched jaw.
This wasn’t up for discussion. Not now. Not ever. The security suite was still in development, and the information was far too sensitive to be paraded in a public arena with no care for security.
Sam knew this. He’d been part of the team that had written the architecture. He knew how critical it was to keep this project under wraps until it was thoroughly tested and ready to be put into use,especiallygiven the nature of what it had been designed to protect. We weren’t talking about a simple update or a UI tweak. This was the foundation of everything I’d built. My reputation, my work, a lifetime of sacrifice and obsessive, deliberate planning.
And Sam had just handed it over like it wasnothing.
We had strict protocols for a reason. Everyone at Nox abided by the layers of clearance, internal firewalls, encrypted access, a need-to-know chain of knowledge that began and ended with me. That was how it had always been—the only way what we did made sense.
It was not up to Sam to unilaterally decide when and with whom we discussed this. If we went public—which was very much undecided—it certainly wouldn’t be with a trio of venture-backed newbie sniffing around for an easy shortcut to relevance. We didn’t add anyone to the equation without a thorough vetting, no matter how much capital they raised.
This wasn’t a slip. It had been a choice.
Bea reminded me she was next to me, her shoulder brushing mine. I narrowed in on our two points of contact, my hand over hers, tracing the line of her knuckles, the solid weight of her leaning into my arm.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself back from the edge. No matter how furious I was with Sam, we were in public, and I had an image to uphold. The last thing I needed was the Gravis team spreading around that things at Nox were less than stable. It was imperative we present a united front.
“It’s too early to talk about,” I said, so evenly, I’d impressed myself. “And this isn’t the time nor place.”
Sam chuckled lightly, the sound falsely casual. It might have fooled someone who didn’t know him. But I did. That laugh was the same he’d used when Mary Rosedale had corrected his citation in our Tech Ethics and Policy class. Sam could play easygoing when it served him, but he hated being undermined. Nothing got under his skin like feeling exposed in front of an audience.
“No need to get worked up, Tore. It’s not like I shared any specs or code. This is just a conversation. No pressure. A vibe check.”
I turned my head slowly, letting the silence stretch.
A vibe check? Since when didIhave vibes? I was as anti-vibe as they came.
Bea laughed. “That reminds me of a story I once heard. This woman’s boyfriend had learned the term ‘vibe check,’ so he’d started using it to take their relationship's temperature. At first, she’d thought it was cute and funny, then he’d started saying it all the time, even when she’d asked him to stop. Her last straw had been after her mother’s funeral. She’d been crying, a complete wreck, and he’dwalked up to her, looked her directly in the eyes, and asked, ‘Vibe check, babe?’” She shook her head. “‘Vibe check’ has been dead to me ever since I heard that.”
Drew wagged his finger at her from across the table. “I think I read that one on Reddit. Everyone said she wasnot the asshole.”
Minnie scoffed. “I hope it was unanimous.”
“Oh yeah. I’m pretty sure it was,” Drew replied.
A new discussion launched about other unhinged posts they’d read on Reddit, effectively cutting off the tension at the knees. Bea joined in effortlessly, keeping the mood light while never taking the pressure off my leg and shoulder. She was aware of me, even as she guided the conversation and charmed the Gravis trio.
Sam pretended he wasn’t seething, but I couldn’t miss his balled fist and rippling jaw. He wasn’t happy hisfriendly, casualdinner had been hijacked by my beautiful date, but I wouldn’t be apologizing.
If anyone did, it would be him. He should have been thankful Bea was here with me. If she hadn’t been, tonight would have ended far differently.
None of us lingered after the bill came, and that was for the best. By the end, I was thoroughly finished pretending to be interested in what anyone aside from Bea had to say.
Bea wouldn’t let me call a car to drive us home, but she allowed me to walk with her. We didn’t talk about what had gone down with Sam. I wasn’t sure she understood the implications of what he’d tried to do, only that I was furious with him.
