Page 52 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“I just started over the summer,” Lily said.
“How are you liking it?” Katya asked, taking a swig of her beer. Dani looked at her bottle, knowing she should follow suit, but,yuck. She faked it instead, pressing her lips closed against the opening.
Lily hesitated, her finger tracing a drop of condensation on her glass. She smiled, though it was restrained. “It’s a challenge,” she said. “Always something new every day. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“I can’t wait,” Katya said. She was about to say something else when someone changed the subject, complaining about some caustic spill in one of the labs. From there, the conversation swept away from them, ebbing and flowing to and from the topic of OneiroLabs. Dani sensed Katya’s impatience and pressed her shoulder gently against hers—wait for the right time. Katya seemed to get the message, and they spent the next forty minutes or so letting the friend group do its thing, chiming in where they could and answering questions when asked directly.
Finally, Sage and two of the others got up to refresh their drinks, and Dani and Katya stood to let them out. When they slid back intothe booth, Dani ended up right next to Lily. She waited until Frank seemed engaged enough in a discussion with someone else, then turned to the woman.
“So where were you working before OneiroLabs?” she asked. She didn’t want to start right in on the sensitive material—that would be too suspicious.
“I was actually at another pharma company in Austin,” Lily said. “A recruiter from OneiroLabs reached out and offered me a more senior position here, so I decided to take the chance.”
“Was it worth it?” Katya asked.
Discomfort pinched Lily’s face, so Dani intervened: “I think she means the move. Don’t you miss the weather?”
Lily laughed. “Honestly, no, not at all. I hated the heat, so that hasn’t been a problem.” She sipped her drink, which was mostly melted ice at this point. “So you two are both students at Fox’s Leap?”
Dani nodded.
“Frank was, too. We get a lot of our employees from the university.”
“Yeah, we know. Fingers crossed,” Dani said.
“Sure,” Lily said, and the sarcasm in her tone was amaryllis red. “Fingers crossed.” She seemed to realize how that had sounded and looked over at them contritely. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure you’ll have a great experience as interns.”
“I hope so,” Dani said. She paused, then added, “I get the sense that things have been a little stressed in the department recently, though.”
“Not just in the department. The whole company.” The red intensified, but Lily caught herself quickly. “There’s just a lot going on lately. Growing pains are common for any company in this stage, nothing to worry about.”
“Of course. It’s a weird time, with the new product and everything.”
“You need another drink?” Katya cut in. “I’m going to grab one.”
“I’m good,” Dani said, indicating her still-full beer.
“I’ll take another vodka tonic, if you don’t mind,” Lily said.
“No problem.” Katya rose, leaving the two of them alone as Frank and his friend continued to talk quietly to each other. She’d clearly arranged this moment to give Dani’s ability the opportunity to really work on Lily. Dani made a show of taking a sip of her beer, this time really doing it and having to fight back her automatic grimace at the taste.
“I thought it would be exciting to come on when there was a new product about to launch,” Dani said casually. “But it seems like it’s just a big headache.”
When she said the wordheadache, she imagined it like a bruise, pressing into Lily’s skin. She realized she was getting used to her power, developing an instinctive sense for how to bend it in the right direction. Though it still made her feel gross, she’d be lying if it wasn’t the tiniest bit exhilarating.
“A huge one,” Lily said, and another red bloom answered Dani’s pressure. “They’re super uptight about it, which I can’t blame them for, obviously. But it’s really a pain in the ass for the rest of us when only three people knowanythingabout what’s going on.”
“Three people? That’s it?”
“Yeah. The CEO, the security lead, and the Head of Research. Speak of the devil,” Lily said, and Dani followed her gaze toward the door. Her blood ran cold when she saw who had just stepped inside—none other than Dr. Phoebe Rodriguez herself.
“Shit,” Dani said under her breath.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
“Oh, um. Nothing.” Dani slanted herself away from the door, putting one hand up to shield her face. If Dr. Rodriguez saw her, the whole night would be over. Her anxiety rose to an eight out of ten. “She’s just kind of intimidating, that’s all.”
“Who, Dr. Rodriguez?” Lily scoffed. “She’s all bark and no bite, to be honest with you. Incredibly smart, but too up her own ass for her own good, in my opinion.” This last admission was underscored by a mental swoop of silver.
