Moments of Julian (17 page)

Everyone gives a sympathetic laugh.
Lake walks over and grabs Lucian and swings him up onto his
shoulders.

“
Sisters aren’t so bad,”
he says. “And if you ever get sick of them, you just call one of
your uncles for some boy time, okay?”

“
Otay,” Lucian says, his
lower lip quivering. He wipes his eyes with his pudgy
hands.

“
Hey, uh, thanks for
breakfast,” Kale says as he stands. “I got to get to work. We’ve
got a shoot today. Something for some romance book cover, I
guess.”

“
Sounds scandalous,” I say
with a wink.

“
And seriously, thanks for
the OJ,” Kale says as he tips his drink toward Julian.

“
Anytime,” Julian says
with a half-smile before he puts the rest of his sandwich in his
mouth.

The kids finish eating and immediately
ask to watch more cartoons and I am happy to oblige. Having left
Lake, Lucian attaches himself to Julian’s side. He sits between the
two kids, his arms wrapped around both of them as they watch some
show about kid mermaids and a huge talking fish that is apparently
their teacher.

“
See,” I whisper and elbow
Lake in the side. “He’s not so bad.”

Lake gives me a smirk and wraps an arm
around my shoulders. “Fine, I’ll admit it. He seems okay. He may
look like a bad boy with all that ink, but he’s obviously a huge
nerd.”

I wrap my arms around his torso and
give him a tight squeeze. “I wish you weren’t going on another
tour. I’ve missed you.”

“
I miss you too, sister,”
he says, kissing the top of my head.

The front door suddenly opens and in
come Mom and Dad.

“
Hello, hello!” Mom
singsongs loudly. Lake and I both turn to see them come in and wipe
their shoes on the rug which is more for looks that practicality
considering the three hundred dollar price tag. “We got over here
as soon as we could get clothes for the kids and all their stuff.
Aw, you two will melt a mother’s heart.” Mom smiles when she sees
Lake and I hugging.

I make up a look of mock disgust and
step away from Lake, who folds his arms over his chest and turns
away from me.

“
Stop it you two,” Mom
says as she puts the bags down on the table. “I saw you.” She winks
at us.

“
I see you wrangled up
some extra help to keep the hooligans under control,” Dad says when
he spots Julian on the couch with the kids. “And it looks like he’s
pretty good at it too.”

Julian unwraps himself from the kids
and stands to shake Dad’s hand.

“
Julian Dohring,” he says
with a wide smile.

“
Robert McCain,” Dad says,
smiling as well. Until he notices the extensive tattoos that cover
Julian’s arms. “Nice to meet you.”

“
Robin McCain,” Mom says,
forgoing Julian’s extended hand for a full-fledged hug. He looks
over her shoulder at me with a slightly surprised expression, but a
smile none the less.

“
It’s nice to meet all of
Sage’s family today. Well, nearly,” Julian corrects himself. “I’m
happy to hear that Kaylee is okay. And the twins.”

“
Oh,” Mom says with a wave
of her hand as she turns back to the bags on the counter. “It’s no
surprise at all with those twins. Did Sage tell you that I was a
midwife before I married Robert? I can’t tell you the drama that
comes with twins.”

“
I didn’t know,” Julian
says as he drops his voice when Paisley shushes him. “I can imagine
that would be some very intense work.”

“
It was,” she says with a
smile. “But not quite as intense as my work to come as a mother
would be.”

“
I’m sure,” he responds.
Lucian starts demanding that Julian watch the show. Julian settles
on the arm of the couch, looking between the TV and the
adults.

“
Sage, honey,” Mom says as
she produces two sets of clean clothes from the bags. “Have the
kids had a bath yet?”

“
Uh,” I stammer. “I hadn’t
even thought of that?” I say with a sheepish shrug of my
shoulders.

“
I didn’t think so since
you’re still in pajamas yourself and I don’t think I’ve seen you in
those since your senior year of high school,” she chuckles. “You
did at least put some food in their stomachs, right?”

“
Yes ma’am,” I
say.

“
Paisley, Lucian, come on,
we’re going for a swim in Auntie Sage’s bathtub!” Mom says
enthusiastically as she extends a hand toward them. They grumble
and complain for a minute, but when she fixes them with her “look”,
they jump up immediately. She heads off in the direction of my room
with them in tow.

Julian clicks the TV off and I see him
eying the clock.

“
You need to get going,
don’t you?” I say. I try to keep the disappointment from my voice,
but I don’t succeed.

“
I’m afraid so,” Julian
says as he stands. “I’ve got a huge project I’m on a deadline for,”
he explains for my father. “I’m in computers.” He gives the
explanation to the question he knows will be asked.

“
Well, it was nice to meet
you,” Dad says, once again shaking Julian’s hand.

Julian meets my eyes and I can see it
there. He wants to give me a kiss goodbye. Moment number five. But
now is not the time with my dad standing right there and no
detailed explanation for who he is and why he is here
given.

“
I’ll call you later,” he
simply says.

“
Bye,” I say quietly and
watch as he heads for the front door.

Once again, I wonder how he got here
and where he might have a car stashed. Maybe he walked.

“
Sage!” Mom yells from the
bathroom. I can hear the water gushing into the oversized tub. “How
do you turn these fancy jets on?”

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

“
Mr. Maxwell wants to talk
to you,” Gretch says over the speaker phone. I look up and see
Gideon in his office looking at paperwork on his desk.

I drop everything I’m working on
immediately and head across the hall. Mr. Maxwell always has
classical music playing in his office, usually nearly as loud as
his speakers can go. When he sees me enter the room, he graciously
turns it down and tells me to have a seat.

“
So, my assistant tells me
the Canadian bank deal totally wrapped up Friday,” he says as he
laces his fingers together and rests his hands on the
desk.

“
Yes, sir,” I say with a
nod. “I got confirmation that their first deposits were made into
our account this morning.”

“
That’s fantastic,” he
says with a nod as his eyes drift back down to the paperwork on his
desk. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to resell them on a new
product in about a year though.”

“
Excuse me?” I ask, my
brow furrowing.

“
I have to apologize for
the way I treated you the night of the banquet,” Mr. Maxwell says,
his blue eyes meeting mine. The word ‘apologize’ came from his
lips, but there is no genuine feelings of sorryness behind them. “I
was harsh on you that night. Word started getting around about a
new product we are procuring and I get a little panicky. No one is
supposed to know about it yet.”

“
So we
do
have a new product that is coming
out?” I ask to clarify.

“
We’re about to beta test
it,” he continues. “For the last year, hackers have been going
after the Blue Wall with fervor. We knew it was starting to be a
dated technology. About three months ago, the inventor of the Blue
Wall informed us that something to replace it was almost ready.
Something hackers wouldn’t be able to touch, at least not for
another five years.”

“
Wow,” I say with a
breath. “That’s…frankly, it’s hard to imagine working with anything
else. The Blue Wall is what made this company.”

“
And this new product is
going to make us the
only
name in the account security world,” his eyes
grow dark and excited at the same time. “Which is why I am sending
you to China to meet with one of the largest companies in the world
to pitch it for beta testing.”

“
Sir, while this is an
amazing opportunity, and I appreciate it, I don’t know anything
about this new technology. How am I supposed to sell
it?”

“
You will only be in
charge of getting them to sign the contract. I will have someone
meet you there that will explain how the product works, and all its
benefits and security measures.” Mr. Maxwell leans back in his
chair and stretches to reach the volume knob for his speakers. He
turns the music up. Loud.

He then leans forward, indicating for
me to come closer. I lean in.

“
I want to impress upon
you the significance of this deal. If you close this, we are
talking billions, very quickly. If you can close this deal Sage, it
will mean big things for your career.”

For a moment, my well-practiced
exterior slips and my eyes widen.

Is he offering me the job I’ve been
eying since I stepped foot in Digit Securities’ building for the
first time?

“
Yes sir,” I say as I
settle back into my chair and he turns the music down. “When do you
need me to leave?”

“
A week from tomorrow,” he
says.

Over the next three days, Gretchen and
I do research. The company we are trying to sign is Ling
Enterprises. They are an umbrella company that owns many
operations, everything from retail, to real estate, to
manufacturing. Their profits are in the trillions every year and
they are one of the richest companies in the world.

I will be meeting with their COO and
CEO. Both of them speak English quite well, but there will also be
a translator there to communicate with their board members who do
not.

Often before a big sales meeting, I
get nervous. Every time I sign a new client it means millions of
dollars. Every time I don’t sign a client, not that it has happened
more than half a dozen times, it means we don’t get millions of
dollars.

But this is a whole different ball
game.

And I am trying to pitch a technology
I know nothing about. And the company isn’t telling me anything
about it yet.

I’ve never had to rely on anyone else
to sell a client. And I don’t like this.

I imagine who this person is that’s
going to be explaining the tech to the client and I keep picturing
two different people. A girl with greasy hair and grungy geek
clothes, or an older man who wears huge, square glasses and carries
a calculator in his front breast pocket.

It’s terrible and I’m stereotyping,
but I can’t help it.

Part of the reason I am so successful
is the way I present myself. I am generally pretty, I’m level
headed enough to admit that. I dress for success. I make myself
look nice, but not too intimidating. I know how to sound confident
and put people at ease when I want to.

I have no control over someone else in
this type of situation.

So no matter how much preparation
Gretchen and I put into this, it will never be enough to cover
every circumstance.

Some of the mystery that has been
going in the last few weeks starts to clear up. Mr. Maxwell must
have been talking to the shareholders at that secret meeting about
the new tech. Maybe Gideon suspected it was Corbin who said too
much about it too early. He had ripped him a new one after the
meeting.

I didn’t know, and it didn’t really
matter.

I skip ballroom and text messages
between Julian and I are few and far between. By the time it is
Thursday evening I am so stressed out, I only want to rent a
mindless movie and let my brain transform into mush.

I’ve just changed into pajamas and
popped the DVD into the player in my room when my cell rings. I
grab it from the nightstand and see a name I haven’t read in quite
some time.

“
Becky?” I answer
excitedly. “I haven’t heard from you in forever!”

“
I know!” she says and I
can hear the smile on her face through the phone. “Life tends to
get in the way, right?”

I’m about to say something affirmative
back when she rushes on.

“
So, I have this little
surprise this weekend if you’re up for it. Since we’re both still
single, I thought maybe we could both wrangle up some guys and go
on a double this weekend?”

“
What kind of surprise?” I
ask warily. Becky is one of my best friends from high school. She
talks too much, wears too much makeup and tends to wear cheap
clothes that she thinks look nice, but she’s still a sweet person.
She was one of the few people who tried to understand why I changed
so much when I did.

“
I promise it will be
fun,” she says. “What kind of surprise would it be if I told you
what it was?”

“
I can’t be out late that
night though, I have to fly out Sunday morning,” I
clarify.

“
Is midnight too late?”
she asks.

I contemplate it for a moment. Yes,
midnight will be too late, considering my flight leaves at ten and
I don’t want to have to rush things in the morning. But after the
nightmare this week has been, a little fun could be good for
me.