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Subject: I know your secret
Hi Indiana,
Meet me at the coffee shop at 8th Street and Main at noon. Trust me, you’ll want to hear what I have to say.
Evan Smith
My secret? Which one? That I’d gone behind Melvin’s back? That I wasn’t half the man Indiana was? Or that I wasn’t a man at all? Whatever he knew, or thought he knew, I could pretty much guarantee I didnotwant to hear it. It was only 8:00 a.m., and I hadn’t even had any caffeine yet. I took a deep breath. I could handle him; I just wished I didn’t have to.
The email was sent just to me, not to Melvin, so clearly Evan wanted something fromme, and it wasn’t just to get me fired.
I took a long shower, shampooed my hair twice, and let the warm water help center my thoughts. Evan may have deduced that I was female. Or maybe he only knew I hadn’t delivered a baby. Or that I hadn’t learned obstetrics with the SEALs. Or hadn’t had a world-record high jump. Or that I didn’t mold my thoughts aboutawar into clay. So there were a few possibilities, but Occam’s razor suggested it wasn’t any of those things. There wouldn’t be a way to hide who I was at the coffee shop, and I was sick of it all. Of keeping the creation alive. Of being in this situation in the first place. Whether Evan was ready or not, he was about to meet the real Indiana Aaron.
But, as a woman who had grown up aware of how I would stack up in an abduction kind of situation, I didn’t feel safe meeting Evan alone. Even if Patrick and Heidi and I all had Share My Location turned on in our phone settings.
So I shot a quick text to Patrick.That weird guy Evan wants me to meet him at the coffee shop on 8th at noon. He says he knows my secret.
Which one?Patrick wrote back.
Not 100% sure. Probably that my masculinity is metaphorical and not physical. Would you be willing to meet me there? Like on the downlow. I don’t want to be alone with him.
Yesimmediately appeared on the screen, and I sighed with relief.I’m bringing Joseph, he added.
Great, it’s going to be a party, I thought.Sure. You can sit in the next booth over or something. I appreciate this, Patrick. I hate having to ask.
I know but I’m glad you did.
I got to the coffee shop an hour early. It had a relaxing feel to it; the walls were bamboo, and all the fabric on the tables and booths was a soft green. They served coffee out of wide, low mugs with wraparound handles to keep the customer’s hands warm, which was a huge plus during Denver’s chilly fall weather.
I grabbed the brew of the day and settled into a booth near one of the windows. I wanted to be seated and double caffeinated before Evan got there, in part to see if he knew who I was or if he’d ignore me like he’d always done before.
About a half hour later, Patrick and Joseph showed up, both wearing impeccable suits and looking very much out of place with the shop’s casual vibe. They practically tripped over each other getting to the counter to order their drinks. They each independently turned to me to give me a thumbs-up several times.
Given his size, Joseph was even more conspicuous than Patrick, if that was possible. The two of them together would never blend in. Once they’d paid for their drinks, they walked over to the booth behind me. They didn’t speak to me. Patrick just winked, and they sat next to each other on the same side of their booth so their backs were up against mine.
“Psst,” Patrick whispered out of the side of his mouth. “Doing okay?”
I sighed. “Do you have to sit on the same side of the booth? It makes you stick out even more than you already do. You look like a couple of FBI agents.”
Joseph slid his arm around Patrick’s shoulders. “We’re just a young couple in love. Couples do that,” he said. “Nothing to see here.”
“Do they?” I asked skeptically.
“Patrick and I sit on the same side of the booth all the time.”
I supposed that was sweet, under other circumstances.
“So, wut ur de deets?” Patrick whispered out of the side of his mouth again. It took me a moment to decipher.
“What are my details? Is that what you asked?” I said loudly.
Patrick slunk down in the booth and nodded, adding a loud “shhhh.”
“Yesterday sucked. Melvin tried to cut me out of my own project, and he ruined my romantic dinner with the sharks. But I won the S.J. account and saved his ass, so naturally he’s pissed because who doesn’t hate a win-win, right?”
“Oooh, you did? That’s awesome, Ana.” Patrick turned around fully, his stealth mode momentarily forgotten. “I’m so proud of you. Sorry about Melvin, though. He’s an ass. And before I forget, did you say ‘romantic dinner with sharks’? What role did the sharks play, Ana? I need this broken down for me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t date sharks, Patrick. Focus. But I did get the account.”
