** Eli **
A whole day had passed since the last "practice session" with Harper, and Eli was still having a hard time recovering from it.
A hard time, indeed. He had spent almost an hour in the shower after Harper left last night. It felt mortifying to admit that, a whole decade after adolescence, he'd yet to see another day when he had to take care of his own needs. Even more mortifying to admit that the girl who triggered it was—
He grunted, still unable to wrap his own head around the thought.
He had known Harper for half of his life, ever since she was a little girl in ponytails bouncing around the house with her toys. Maybe the earlier years in one's memories tend to leave a stronger impression than the rest, or maybe he had simply been too close to Tyler to have empathized with his perspective … Either way, Eli could swear that Harper had always been like a little sister to him, and nothing more. He had barely even registered her as a "woman" in the same way that he'd thought of all the others … until now.
And now, as if seeing her in a completely new light for the first time, his body just suddenly decided to react. To want her. To ignore the fact that she was his best friend's sister, that she had clearly drawn the line and made it clear that their meetups didn't constitute dating, and want her. In a way that was even more eager than he had felt for any other women in recent memory.
It seemed pretty seriously messed up.
Eli got up from his sofa and strode into the dining room, planting himself in a dinner chair instead. He couldn't handle sitting on that sofa anymore without being reminded of last night, and he was almost getting hard again just thinking about it. Pretty seriously messed up indeed.
Unsure what he could use to distract himself from the unwanted thoughts, he glanced at his phone. Then he remembered that the notification from Harper's web novel update had come in a couple of hours ago, and he had made the mistake of trying to read it immediately. Two paragraphs in, he had realized in agony that the girl had almost transcribed their "lesson" word by word into the new chapter, and that reading the entire scene was almost certainly going to lead him to another long shower. The rest would have to wait.
He ran a hand down his face. What a great situation he had gotten himself into. It had barely been two weeks since he got back in touch with Harper, yet so many things had already changed completely between them. And to think that he'd be visiting her company next week, trying to wipe such thoughts from his head while listening to her presentation …
Yeah.
Speaking of the presentation, though …
Eli's head cleared a little as he dragged his train of thought toward work. He still hadn't talked to Harper about this. It was obvious that she was still in the dark about who those "investors" she was preparing the presentation for were, and he intended to keep it that way. For the sake of earning her project the objective consideration it deserved, it'd work out better if she goes into the meeting blind. But that meant lying to her by omission about his company's involvement, and by the time she eventually found out … She wasn't going to like it.
Eli didn't want to get himself into another four years of silent treatment. He'd better start working on salvaging the inevitable fallout before it hits.
He reached for his phone. Snoozing the notification for Harper's chapter update again, he scrolled down to her name in the text message list.
[ Hey, did you say the investor meetings you got coming up next week is on Wednesday? ]
Maybe he shouldn't be asking about her work at 9pm on a Sunday night, but oh well. Knowing Harper, she was probably buried in her writing like it was any regular weekday anyway. He wondered idly what she was like while working on her chapters, what kind of live actions played in her mind while she typed up those new sex scenes. He simpered to himself a little at the thought before hitting "Send".
It didn't take long at all for the reply to arrive. [ Yep, why? ]
The excuse came easy. [ I happen to have two tickets on Wednesday night to a place that I think you'll like. You could probably use some more de-stressing once that scary meeting is over. Interested? ]
That wasn't exactly the truth, of course. He didn't have any tickets handy, although it was easy enough to get some whenever he wanted. The place he had in mind wasn't exactly the type for de-stressing either … maybe more like steam-venting, which was what he expected she'd need after getting mad at his lies.
She took a little time to consider. [ Mysterious. Not gonna tell me where it is? ]
Eli felt the corner of his lips curve up. Did he catch her curiosity? But surprise was the key — Harper was too clever to not start growing suspicious if he told her too much. [ It's not The Balconies. And no awkward movies. Trust me this time, you'll like it. ]
Thankfully, the answer was quick. [ Lol, ok, I'm in. I usually get off around six, where do you want to meet? ]
Hmm, about that … What kind of expression would she make when she finds out that he'd be right there at her office, ready to offer her a ride as they walk out of the same meeting room together?
The smile widened on Eli's face as he started typing the response. Wednesday might be a long day … But it couldn't come soon enough.
** Harper **
If Harper had more time and mental bandwidth, she might have dwelled a little longer on the not-so-surprising yet still disheartening revelations from May, or the ill-timed invitation from Eli that sounded suspiciously like a date. But with the investors meeting drawing closer and closer, she had neither the time or the mental bandwidth, so all the whirlwind of events from the weekend were quickly behind her as the dreaded Wednesday finally arrived.
The marketing team had decided to pull another last-minute meeting just before the investors' arrival, so Harper found herself sitting in the conference room at 7am, groggily sipping her coffee, and watching the presenter walk through every single slide yet again. It had become increasingly clear over the week how important this meeting was for their company — from the amount of time and manpower pulled into the presentation, to the simple fact of how dressed up everyone was. She felt a little out of place wearing her typical work blouse and casual slacks, while all the other men and women were clad in sleek suits and black dresses.
But then again, unlike them, she was from the product development team. She wasn't officially part of the presentation anyway, only a sit-in just in case the investors ask tricky technical questions. In the end, no one would really pay her enough attention to notice what she was wearing.
"That should leave us about fifteen minutes for questions," the presenter, a partnership strategy specialist named Naomi, concluded at the end of the walkthrough. "From our past experience, potential partners are typically interested in topics such as market outlook or future product line strategies, and my team can easily answer those. But we did hear that one of the senior members on this board likes to go into technical details." Naomi gave a nod toward the corner where Harper was sitting. "So, product team, we'll be expecting help. Make sure to stay sharp."
Next to Harper, Wallace nudged her elbow. "Show time," he winked. "Excited?"
Harper smiled. The anxiousness building up all week collided with a tinge of pride and hope, and she wasn't sure if that could pass as "excited". This was the moment to test her work … Would it manage to impress? Would she really be lucky enough to earn a chance for her proposal, like what Eli suggested?
"Alright, the bigshots are coming in any minute now. Everyone back to your posts." One of the program directors clapped his hand, and everyone rose in a clatter of chairs.
"I'm honestly a little nervous," Wallace declared on their way out of the conference room. "They said the investors are looking at six different companies across the northeast region. That's a lot of competition. Theoretically speaking, we should have some advantage being local, but rumor has it that they really hit it off with one of the startups last week." He sighed. "The pressure is so high."
It was the first time that Harper heard about such insider's information. "The managers all know that already?" she asked. "No wonder the workload only got heavier and heavier over the week … I suppose the product team is pretty cut-off from news like this. I actually don't even know who the investing company is."
"Seriously?" Wallace gave her an incredulous stare. "I mean, you can practically see their building from our windows. It's—"
A burst of voices cut him off. They both turned around. At the office lobby, a small group of suited men had just joined the equally suited management team, followed by a busy exchange of greetings and handshakes and introductions. The bigshots had arrived.
"Opps, we should probably make room. They're going to be touring the office soon." Wallace made a gesture to move down the hallway.
Harper, on the other hand, couldn't help a longer look. The earlier conversation had made her oddly interested in this new group's arrival, and she wanted to catch a better glimpse of who these mysterious devils were that made their whole company shiver under stress for a week. She studied the strangers curiously.
It was a smaller crowd than she expected, maybe five or six people, most of them mid-aged men. An old-fashioned company that valued experience and social power, she reckoned. The figure at the front of the group, however, who was currently facing away from her and half-blocked by a dozen bodies, looked younger, his dark brown hair standing out among the rest. And in a strange way, he seemed a bit familiar …
"Harper?" Wallace called from behind her. "They're coming this way, let's—"
Harper turned to follow him back to their cubicles. Or, at least, she began to. But right at the same moment, the investors group started to move as well, down the hallway she was standing right in the middle of, and when the front figure turned his face toward her—
Harper froze, staring into a pair of blue eyes that she couldn't be more familiar with.
He looked different in a suit. Amazingly so. Elegant, professional, perfectly combining the air of a fashion model and a billionaire in the making. But how could it be him? How could Eli, out of all people, be the leader of the investors board?
"Harper McKenzie?" Eli said as he halted in his tracks, seemingly surprised to see her as well.
Except … He couldn't be surprised. He knew she worked at Miracles, and he knew she had been preparing a presentation for this meeting the entire past week. He knew they would run into each other today … So why didn't he tell her? Why hadn't he mentioned at all that it was his company coming today?
"You two know each other?" The marketing director came up to Harper's side, his face suddenly eager. Personal connection advantages were too precious a thing to not make good use of.
"Yes. What a coincidence." Eli smiled at her, his expression making the "surprise run-in" perfectly believable. "Good to see you here. Are you working with—" he looked at the group of marketing managers.
"Ah, she's on our product development team." Brandon made his way out of the crowd, beaming as if it was the most privileged thing to be Harper's boss. "Concept and Narrative Designer. In fact, one of her projects—"
"That sounds like a fascinating job." Eli smoothly interjected, in a way that was surprisingly not rude. "We should catch up later then, Harper. I would love to hear an insider's scoop once we've learned all about your company through the meetings."
Dozens of pairs of eyes shot toward Harper, some curious, some jealous, some suspicious. Harper wasn't sure how to react at all. "Um … Yeah, of course. I'll be happy to," she managed to say, hoping it was appropriate for the situation Eli was trying to orchestrate.
He smiled again and nodded once. Without more delay, the group resumed their tour, and Harper hastily stepped aside as far as she could.
"I can't believe it." A voice whispered behind her, and she almost jumped at the abrupt reminder of Wallace's presence. "You know that guy?" he asked in pure amazement. "Eli Sterling, Vice President and Venture Capital Director of Sterling Trust?"
Well … Was it too late now to pretend that she didn't?
Ahem, Harper gets to check off some office romance tropes from her practice list now XD
Just a quick announcement here for all my lovely angels: you might notice a couple of minor changes coming to this book in the next couple of weeks, as I’m trying to experiment with different ways to help it gain some more traction. If you start seeing a shift in my update schedule (most likely earlier instead of later, don’t worry it’ll still be daily!), or a new book cover that you don’t recognize, or one of those automatic chapter comments that says I shamelessly gifted myself, etc., please don’t be alarmed (and please don’t judge me too harshly)! Getting exposure on WebNovel seems to be a bit harder these days, so thank you for bearing with me while I try to figure it out :) And of course, if you don’t like any of the potential changes, such as the schedule or the cover, do let me know and I’ll appreciate the feedback.
Again, many thanks to all of you who are reading my story and supporting me with your votes! Special thanks to Skye_4447 and mepope for your continuous golden tickets <3 Hope you’ll keep enjoying the book, the journey has just begun!
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