Victoria walked away without so much as a backward nce. Curtis kept his eyes fixed on her retreating figure until she finally disappeared from view. When he turned back around, he found himself locking eyes with McNeil. Feeling a bit awkward, Curtis took a sip of water to cover his difort.
"Do you like her?" McNeil''s voice was low, his expression clouded.
Curtis hadn''t noticed the edge in McNeil''s tone. He set his ss down lightly on the table. "I guess you could say so. Women like her don''te around often- actually, she''s one of a kind. Besides, I hear she and her husband are getting divorced, working through all the paperwork. I''ll wait until she''s free before I do anything about it."
It was the first time Curtis had admitted his feelings, even to himself. McNeil snorted, and the two men fell into a heavy silence.
"Oh, by the way," Curtis added, "I''ve been meaning to ask-do you have some sort of issue with Ms. Ailie from our Investment Department?"
He''d wanted to bring it up for a while. Judging by how Victoria had just treated McNeil, she didn''t seem to like him much either.
Curtis couldn''t figure it out. McNeil wasn''t the sort to fool around or rub people the wrong way, so why did it seem like two of thepany''s best employees didn''t care for him?
"Who?" McNeil frowned. "Ms. Ailie... Which Ms. Ailie?"
Apart from Victoria, McNeil hardly paid attention to anyone else at Quantum Core Technologies. He honestly had no idea who Curtis was talking about.
Curtis studied him for a moment but saw nothing unusual. He chuckled. "Forget it, just curious."
Really, he couldn''t imagine McNeil offending Ailie-let alone Victoria.
Victoria had just signed contracts with threepanies, which put Curtis''s mind at ease. It felt like a small way to make up for his earlier mistakes, and it finally eased the guilt he''d been carrying.
After leaving Vertex Dynamics, Victoria invited Ailie out for dinner.
When Ailie heard that Victoria had negotiated a five percent royalty, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"McNeil actually agreed to that? No way-he''s never that generous."
Victoria''s lips curled into a faint smile. "They''ve already seen what myst game could do. They''d be crazy to walk away from that kind of money. Even with me taking five percent, Quantum Core Technologies, The Langford Group, and Golden Era Enterprises will all make a killing. It''s free cash, why wouldn''t they take it?"
Victoria was confident that any program she wrote could be a hit. McNeil only agreed to such terms because he knew her so well.
Still, he had never seen the full extent of her talent in other areas, and from what she knew of him, five percent was as far as he''d go. He''d cave, and he did.
After dinner, Ailie wanted to drag Victoria out to a bar.
It had been ages since they''d had a proper night out, but just as they stepped outside, a ck town car pulled up in front of the restaurant.
McNeil spotted Victoria and Ailie walking out together, his gaze darkening as he reached for his phone to call her.
Victoria was surprised to see McNeil''s name pop up-especially since they''d just been talking business a couple of hours ago. She couldn''t imagine what else he needed, so she answered without hesitation.
"My car''s out front. I''ll wait for you."
Victoria stared at her phone, momentarily speechless.
Ailie noticed her expression and leaned in, curiosity piqued. "Who was that?"
Victoria sighed. "McNeil."
"What? What does he want with you?"
Ailie craned her neck, half expecting McNeil to be lurking nearby.
"No idea," Victoria replied, not interested in guessing his motives. She really didn''t care to.
Ailie was quiet for a moment. "You going to see him?"
Victoria shrugged, a wry smile on her lips. "What, you think he''s going to eat me? I''ll be fine. Don''t worry."
Yesterday, Gwh had been badly shaken-but even then, she''d run straight into Violet''s arms without hesitation. As much as Victoria tried to ignore it, she couldn''t help but miss her, or worry just a little.