140 Misjudged Intentions and Dinner ns
140 Misjudged Intentions and Dinner ns.
“I’d like to invite both teams to dinner tonight,” Jonathan continued. “We could all use a break, and it would be nice to celebrate our progress in a more rxed setting.”
“And yet she’s leading this project,” Jorge noted.
As Julian walked away to get coffee, ra continued working. She felt someone watching her and nced up to find Jorge staring at her from the conference room. When their eyes met, he quickly looked away.
ra shrugged. “Good for them.”
“Particrly that security architect–Jorge. He keeps looking over here.”
Jonathan nodded. “Good. The YodaVision team is making excellent progress. We’ll be wrapping up for the day soon.”
This made ra look up. “Really?”
“The integration is going well,” ra agreed, gathering her things. “That’s what
matters.”
Xavier nodded thoughtfully. “And now she’s married to Damien Thorne but seems… attached to her business partner.”
Julian motioned ra over. “El, Jorge has some questions about the security encoding.”
ra nodded, pushing thoughts of Vivienne aside. “Let’s go.”
Jorge’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you were co–founders?”
Jorge leaned back in his chair, watching Julian and ra through the ss partition. The way they worked together seemed too intimate–too synchronized. Their heads bent close, shoulders almost touching as they discussed something on the tablet.
“She doesn’t seem very responsive to him,” Jorge observed.
ra saved her work and stood, joining Julian as everyone gathered around Jonathan.
Jorge watched as Julian returned with a coffee cup, saying something to ra that made her shake her head without looking up from her work.
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“You’re making incredible progress,” Julian noted. “The neural pathway adjustments were inspired.”
Vivienne sighed softly. “Like I said–possessive.”
“She keeps staring at us,” Jorge muttered, shifting ufortably.
Strange, ra thought, then returned to her code.
“The logic was sound,” ra replied, focused on her screen. “The algorithm just needed tweaking.”
Julian patted her shoulder. “That’s my El. All business.”
“I just want to finish this project, Julian. Office romance drama is thest thing on my mind.”
Jorge frowned. “I thought she seemed capable earlier.””
“It’s necessary for maintaining data integrity while allowing for neural learning,” ra continued. “I’d be happy to share our white paper on the methodology.”
“She designed the entire security architecture,” Julian said. “One of the many reasons YodaVision brought her back as CTO.”
Jorge blinked, clearly not expecting such a technical response. “That’s… quite sophisticated.”
“Who?” Xavier asked.
Xavier whistled low. “Must be serious!”
“Everyone knows,” Vivienne said simply.
“ra. Every time Julianes near our direction, she gives us this look.”
Vivienne checked her watch. “I’m afraid I have ns tonight. Damien’s expecting me.”
Jorge watched ra approach, his gaze assessing. “Ms. Vance, I was curious about your approach to securing the neural pathways.”
“We are,” ra confirmed, sending him the document. “But I took a break from thepany for personal reasons. This is my first major project since returning.”
“Oh
yes. ssic signs. The leaning in, the excessive attention, the way he keeps finding
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140 Misjudged Intentions and Dinner ns
reasons to agree with her.”
As ra pulled up the document to send him, Jorge nced at Julian, who was watching with an amused expression.
“At you or me?” ra asked absently.
“Ready to go?” she asked, touching Jorge’s arm lightly. “Xavier’s waiting by the
elevator.”
Xavier followed his gaze. “Apparently not.”
ra nodded. “Dinner sounds nice.”
Xavier opened his mouth to respond when Jonathan entered the main workspace, pping his hands once to gain everyone’s attention.
“That’s just her way,” Vivienne exined. “Cold on the outside, but trust me, she’s tracking his every move.”
“Great work today, everyone! I think we’ve made tremendous progress. The integration is moving faster than scheduled, thanks to our coborative efforts.”
“Please,” Jorge nodded, his expression shifting from skepticism to interest. “That would be helpful.”
As the group dispersed, Jorge approached Julian. “Mr. Croft, I wanted to ask about your security protocols for the neural pathway encoding.”
Jorge’s expression fell slightly. “I also have a priormitment. Perhaps another
time?”
“Excellent!” Jonathan beamed. “Seven o’clock? That should give everyone time to wrap up here.”
Vivienne adjusted her gold bracelet, drawing their attention back to her. “ra has always been possessive. Even as children.”
“Connections,” Vivienne replied smoothly. “Being a Thorne opens doors.”
“Very, Vivienne confirmed, her voice silky. “Just waiting for… certain situations to
resolve themselves.”
Julian clinked his teacup against ra’s tablet. “We’re free, right, El?”
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ra didn’t look up. “She’s good at that.”
After they left, Julian chuckled. “I think someone just realized he misjudged you.”
“You grew up together?” Jorge asked.
“Call me Julian,” he replied. “And I’d be happy to discuss it. In fact, ra developed those protocols–she’d be the better person to exin.”
“She really doesn’t like sharing him, does she?” Jorge murmured.
As they prepared to leave for the day, ra noticed Vivienne watching her through the ss doors of the elevator, her expression unreadable. When their eyes met, Vivienne’s lips curved into a small, cold smile before the doors closed between them.
Julian nced toward the conference room where Vivienne sat with Jorge and Xavier. “Your sister seems to have made new friends.”
ra shook her head. “No thanks. Almost done with this section.”
Julian ced his tablet down and stretched his arms overhead. “I need caffeine. Want anything?”
From across the room, Vivienne watched their interaction, her expression tightening when she saw Jorge’s obvious reassessment of ra. She walked over, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
“Perfect,” Vivienne answered. “Just discussing implementation strategies.”
Jorge’s eyes drifted back to ra. “And she knows about you two?”
Jorge nodded. “Yes, thank you for the information, Ms. Vance.”
Her expression brightened. “We’ve been together for years. He’s taking me to Marseille next weekend for the yacht exhibition.”
“Half–sisters,” Vivienne rified. “Same father, different mothers.”
Julian slung his bag over his shoulder. “Ready for dinner?”
“We’ve implemented a tripleyer encryption system,” ra exined professionally. “Each pathway contains embedded verification nodes thatmunicate
bi–directionally.”
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140 Misjudged Intentions and Dinner ns
Jorge’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. “I see.”
Vivienne’s smile was carefully measured. “ra only has a bachelor’s degree, you know. Julian’s the real genius behind YodaVision. His MIT doctorate thesis revolutionized neuralwork architecture.”
Outside, ra stood and stretched, rolling her shoulders to release tension. Julian said something that made her smile–a quick, genuine expression that transformed her serious face.
“Oh, she’s smart enough,” Vivienne conceded. “But there’s a difference between being smart and being qualified.”
“Speaking of which,” Julian said, “dinner tonight could be interesting. Jonathan seems quite impressed with your work.”
Jonathan nodded, then turned to Julian and ra. “What about you two? I know a fantastic Thai ce nearby.”
Julian chuckled. “Definitely not me. Though I think he’s more interested in Vivienne.”
“You’re not even slightly curious?”
The conference room door opened. Jonathan Chen, InnovaTech’s project director, poked his head in. “Everything okay in here?”
ra shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here to do a job, not win poprity contests.”
As Jonathan left, Jorge turned back to Vivienne. “So you and Damien Thorne…”
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