"Will this heat ever just fuck off." Lyla said, standing in front of the open refrigerator. It had been unbearable for the last few weeks. The weathergirl said it was only going to get hotter.
"Sunni, do you want anything from the store, I need to get out of here before I cook. What's wrong?" She asked as her friend placed her phone on the counter.
"It's my father," Sunni said, her voice breaking with emotion. "He will be here next week, he wants to come to see a rehearsal. What am I going to do?"
"Relax, it will be fine, you are a grown woman now, you don't have to see him if you don't want to. Shame on your cousin for telling him your number."
"You don't understand Lyla, you don't know anything." She gestured dramatically with her arms. "My father is not like anyone you have ever met before, I am surprised that Mo held out for so long. I will just have to meet him in a safe space and deal with it."
She stood up and walked to her room.
"My work has increased and the director wants to double our weekend rehearsal time and with this heat. I just can't seem to catch a minute."
"I am always here if you need anything. OK? If you need any help with your father I can loan you the money for a hit man." Lyla patted her friends forearm as she walked past.
"Thank you." Sunni said placing her hand on top of Lyla's. "It means a lot but I will just have to figure it out myself."
Lyla's phone vibrated as she entered the store. It was a text from Seth. "Just confirming that we are all set for tomorrow night, the weather will be perfect for an evening sail on the lake."
She quickly replied that she was looking for to it and couldn't wait to catch up with him.
Her phone beeped again, the smile drained from her face when she seen that it was a voicemail from Clarke. She had tried to keep their interactions to a minimum since her night with the investors. She still couldn't forgive him for telling Cassie about their arrangement. It made her feel cheap. Clarke had brushed it off saying that she had over heard him and Mr. Howe talking. He wouldn't elaborate on what Cassie had meant when she accused him of hiding things about the investors from her. He told her not to worry about anything.
She pressed play and held the phone to her face with a grimace.
"Lyla Hi, just ringing to let you know that I just got off the phone with Gunner, he wants to invest in us. He just wants one more meeting to finalize things, I can't thank you enough for getting them on board, I know it mustn't have been easy but I think that's the hardest part over with. It should be easier to get everything we need from now on. Just checking that you got the tickets for the talk. Today's lunch went well, he is expecting you backstage. I haven't really seen much of you the last few days. I hope you are ok. Please call or text me when you get this. Thanks."
She messaged him back and told him that she got the VIP tickets that he had emailed to her and that she would be attending as promised. She added that she would let him know how she got on and there was no need for him to text her.
"What good does he think I will be to a computer nerd?" She thought as she took a big mouthful of water and splashed some onto her face.
****************************************
For what seemed like an eternity the talk finally finished. Lyla tried to pay attention but it all went over her head. The most surprising thing she learned was how young and attractive Marlon was, she had expected some old stuffy man to be waffling on about computers for 2 hours. She was pleasantly surprised to see a tall, thin, well dressed man. His command of the stage was impressive as was the way his voice boomed out confidently, he even got the audience to laugh. His dark skin seemed to glisten under the powerful lighting. She willed everyone in the small auditorium to not ask any more questions. She wanted to get her meeting over and done with.
"At least it's air conditioned," She mused as the M.C came out and thanked Marlon for his fascinating lecture. The lights turned on and slowly they all filed out. Clarke had guaranteed her a one on one. He had told Marlon that Lyla was in the running to be a spokesperson for the new app and he would be extremely grateful if he could talk her through the software and capabilities. Clarke had told her that Marlon was something of a genius in the software world, even though they went to college together he had used up all of his favours just to get him to meet with her.
"Mr. Gilbert, it's lovely to meet you, I am Lyla Samson, Clarke's Associate" She said as he finished talking to the M.C.
"Ms. Samson, so glad you could make it, I seen you in the audience."
"Really!" She asked skeptically.
"Yes you don't look like my usual attendees." He said looking at his feet. The confident man she had witnessed on stage was completely gone. He stood before her tugging on his cuff looking extremely awkward. She found it endearing.
"I just have to do a quick phone interview now but then I will be free to walk you through the new app and software." He said once again not meeting her eyes.
"Shall I meet you in the bar or are you staying here?"
"I am using a small conference room upstairs as my base. I have some sheets printed out for you in a folder, if you want to go up there and familiarize yourself with the data I hope to be finished the interview soon."
He gave her directions and the key, his phone rang just as she left the auditorium.
She still didn't know what to make of him.
**************************
She briefly leafed through the folder he had left on the oval desk for her. She understood most of it, Mr. Howe had given her a quick rundown a few days so she wouldn't look totally lost. He had whispered to her that he understood if she couldn't get Marlon to come on board, it was always a long shot. She threw him a dirty look and recanted all that he had told her about the app word for word.
She ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
"What is taking him so long?" Lyla thought as she pushed the chair away from the desk.
She was going stir crazy in the little room, waiting had never been one of her strong suits. She had seen a water cooler out in the hallway, she locked the door of the conference room and slowly walked the long carpeted corridor. She was still near the elevator so she could see when Marlon arrived. Approaching the cooler she could hear a man talking loudly on his phone.
"I don't care how, just get her off that site!"
Lyla pressed the nozzle and filled her white paper cup, a large bubble of water gurgled to the top just as she heard her name.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me."
Her stomach dropped, she knew that voice. Quickly collecting herself she plastered a smile on her face and turned around.
"Holt how nice to see you."
"Fuck you," He sneered, malice etched onto every inch of his face. "Do you know what you have done, Halle had nothing to do with this."
