Page 7 of Dark Verse

“That silly man double-booked himself today, but he should be here soon.” She laughs. “How’s California? Your mom was telling me about a new contract you might be starting. How’s that going?”

“It’s going well. I’m hopeful that by the time I return home, they will be ready to sign with us. The Green Harp just gained historical significance status from the Santa Monica Historical Society.”

“That’s exciting,” Eve offers.

“It is. It means there could be grant money to renovate the place, so our company won’t have to invest as much capital at the beginning.”

“That all sounds positive.” Eve nods. “So I wanted to run an idea by you. I was racking my brain trying to remember who my best connections are in the L.A. area. You see my nephew…”

She continues speaking, but my attention gets pulled away from Eve when I hear a change in the sound quality of the music. It sounds muffled for a second, with one instrument under pitch for an eight count, before the sound clears up again.

“…and I can set you two up.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, caught off guard by where I am in this conversation.

“My nephew, Bennett. He just moved out to Pasadena.”

“Oh, yes, sorry, Eve. Yeah, I don’t mind showing him around. Pasadena isn’t far from L.A.”

“He’s a great man.”

I nod. “If he’s related to you, I bet he is.”

“He just graduated with his master’s in engineering and moved out there for his new job.”

I nod again, although the action is slower this time.

“He’s making such good money he was able to put a down payment on a house.”

“That’s great for him,” I say.

I feel my eyebrows trying to knit together, but I force my expression to remain neutral.

“And with California housing what it is, can you believe that?”

Here we go again.

“That is a huge accomplishment,” I say flatly.

“So what about you, Ray? Other than work, what’s new in your life?”

I shrug. “Nothing much. Work takes up the best hours of my day. There are a lot of moving parts in a business like Headliner Music Acquisition, and I’m always trying to learn more. That doesn’t leave a lot of hours in the day for much else.”

“So, no significant other?”

“No, not really. I spend 90% of my time with my co-workers. That seems like it could get real messy real fast.”

Eve smiles. “That is a smart choice. I really cannot fault you for seeing the wisdom in that. Even the most amicable splits can lead to tension in the workplace. But what about outside of work? No one’s caught your fancy outside of work?”

“Umm…” I say, trying to stall.

Eve takes that as an invitation to keep going.

“Well, you know there are lots of different ways to meet people these days. Dating apps, websites, speed dating events. One of our clients met her wife at a tattoo convention.”

I shouldn’t be surprised that we’re having this conversation at a wedding, and yet…I really have to suppress eye rolls and groans. Glancing past Eve, I see Jeremy Treeburn, a longtime family friend, making his way to the cake table. He meets my eyes, and I wave, silently inviting him into the conversation.

He looks like a column made from pure obsidian as he moves through the other guests towards us.