CEO??

Chapter 11

They followed us into the elevator. "Wait, what did he come down here for anyways?" the young man from earlier asked Bishop. "The boss man doesn't usually come visit us. Am I missing something?"

I sighed. "Mr. Blake, I came to speak with your group about a project, but now that can wait. We will continue our discussion after you have slept and eaten."

"How do you know our names, Sir?" another young woman asked. She was probably 17 and had dark hair pulled back into a loose braid.

"I make a point to know everyone's names, Ms. Lane. I have a very good memory."

When we arrived at the guest floor, I showed each to their rooms and told them to shower and come out for food when they were done. Then they would sleep.

"Mr. Parker, do you think this is what all the labs are like?" Darren asked.

I shook my head. "I do not. They were probably overlooked because their efficiency remained the same as the other labs because of their competency. They are all extremely gifted. Now, would you please check with Amber to see where the tour group is?"

He nodded and went a ways away, calling Amber. I smiled. He made an amazing assistant and learned quickly. Maybe he can be my assistant, I thought. Lord knows I could use one. I decided to make this shadowing experience a trial run.

He hung up and came back over to me. "She says they are currently on their way to the cafeteria for lunch."

I nodded. "Thank you. After lunch, the tour group will be leaving. Would you like to say goodbye or stay here?"

"I would rather stay here," he responded immediately. "They know where I am so they won't be worried."

I nodded and plopped down on the couch. "Tell me about yourself, Darren."

"I skipped quite a few grades so I'm a lot younger than all the kids in my classes. Uh, I like to write. I am pretty good at rollerblading, I think. I want to work at SI when I am older."

"Oh? What do you want to do here?"

He lit up and began rambling about his dream job: an assistant to a head of a department. He explained that he wouldn't want to be in charge because it's just not his thing, but he would like to be helpful to someone who is in charge and makes a difference. He wanted to be the side character that is always there to help.

I smiled slightly. He would be great at that job. I let him ramble until the first intern walked back out. Food had come up not that long ago and they sat down to eat. They began scarfing down food as fast as they could, soon joined by the others.

"I think we might need more food," I whispered to Darren, who nodded with wide eyes before tapping his tablet and placing another order.

After they had eaten and slept, they came back down, dressed in their lab clothes, which had been washed and ironed.

"So... Boss Man, what project were you wanting to talk about?" Blake asked.

I tossed the file onto the table. "There's no name. Will someone please tell me who made this?"

Bishop picked it up and glanced at the handwriting. "Connor, this is yours," she said, handing it to Blake, or, rather, Connor.

He looked mortified. "Eleanor! Don't sell me out like that!"

She shrugged. "What's wrong with it?" she asked me.

"Absolutely nothing, other than the lack of a name to accredit the work to."

Connor grumbled and wrote his name down. "There, now it has a name."

I nodded in satisfaction. "Great. Connor, you are going to be working with me."

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"You'll be working with me in my private lab. Your projects impressed me, which is no small feat," I said.

"Oh, wow. I'm gonna be working with the boss man!" he exclaimed, looking around as if waiting for someone to say, lol, just kidding! No one did.

"Mr. Parker, Mr. Keener is requesting to come see you," Darren said. "Why he didn't text you directly is beyond me."

I laughed. "He knows I don't check my phone while working. Tell him to come down. And, you can call him Harley, Darren." Even as I said it, I knew he wouldn't.

I went back to my conversation with the interns, promising them that they won't be as understaffed anymore.

Then the elevator dinged and I was tackled with a hug. "I'm sorry, Peter!" my boyfriend cried dramatically. "Please don't withhold cuddles any longer! I'm not sure I can survive!"

I snorted. "Fine. Apology accepted."

He sighed happily and plopped down next to me, pulling me onto his lap, with my back flush up against his chest and his arms around my waist. I pretended as though nothing had changed and said, "Harls, this is Connor Blake. He impressed me and will be working with me in the labs."

"You impressed my boyfriend?" Harley asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "That's hard to do. He's usually too busy with paperwork to take notice of specific projects, and even then he rarely is impressed. Approving, maybe, but not impressed. You must be some kind of genius."

Connor blushed at the compliment and Bishop nudged him with a smile.

I smiled and nodded. "Absolutely. I haven't seen a single project as well designed, thought out, and useful as his are."

"Well, what is it?" he asked.

"It's an engine that draws its fuel from the air therefore reducing a huge source of pollution and eliminating the need to stop and refuel," I explained. "But here's the good part: that wasn't the only project in the file! There's at least thirty genius designs!"

Connor blushed as his whole team turned sharply to him.

"Connor!" Eleanor scolded. "We've talked about this! You can't put all your projects in one file just to save time!"

"I have better things to do than sort out a million files, Ellie!"

I laughed and waved my hand dismissively. "It's a good thing you didn't because I don't think I would have noticed it otherwise."

"Mr. Parker," Darren interrupted, "I apologize for the interruption, but Princess Shuri will be landing in 40 minutes and you said you wanted to meet her on the runway."

My eyes widened and I tapped Harley's arm to release me. He grumbled but did, allowing me to quickly stand and gesture for Darren to follow me. "Everyone here may come if they would like to. Tony has cars with plenty of seats that we can take."

Harley brightened at the thought of seeing Shuri and the interns looked down at their lab clothes self-consciously. I snorted. "Guys, you five look more professional than me right now. You're fine."

Lane looked to Bishop pleadingly. "Come on, Ellie! The princess is supposed to be the best inventor in the world! She's a literal genius!" 

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Thoughts?