by Lily Menon
June met her with a beaming smile. “Yes, I am. And I’ve had a breakthrough with the aggression algorithm. I’m just finalizing the last bit of code.”
“Awesome!” Annika booted her laptop up and took a sip of her coffee as she waited, glancing around at the office in satisfaction. Her enclave. The place she felt right. The windows threw sunlit squares on the wall, highlighting the painting above the settee. “When you’re done, I’d love to take a look at it.”
“Sure.” June turned back to her computer for a second before looking back up again. “Oh, by the way. How are you feeling about that tech volunteering thing this afternoon?”
Annika shrugged. “Pretty good. Early to Tech, Early to Rise is one of Lionel Wakefield’s favorite charities. It should be fairly low-key, and I’m hoping it’ll be an easy way to get into his good graces before EPIC. Plus, they do really good work, so it was a no-brainer to volunteer Make Up’s services.”
June leaned back in her chair. “It’s basically just Make Up and a couple of other start-ups doing presentations for a bunch of high school–aged entrepreneurs, right?”
“Right. Apparently, the CEO of Early to Tech is best friends with Lionel. So if we can really impress her, it’ll feed to Wakefield—and then we just might have EPIC in the bag.” She grinned, loving the adrenaline rush right before an event she knew she was going to slay.
June nodded. “I’m glad you’re feeling good about it.” She kept staring at Annika, now fiddling with her Darth Vader figurine.
“What?” Little niggles of worry began to replace Annika’s excitement.
“Nothing, just that … Ziggy said Break Up was invited, too. Hudson will be speaking.”
Annika stared at her. “What? Since when?”
“Apparently since forever ago. Didn’t Early to Tech, Early to Rise tell you?”
“No. They definitely didn’t tell me.”
June quirked her mouth. “But … it’s fine, right? Since you feel good about it and everything?”
Annika quickly turned back to her laptop. “Oh, no, yeah. Totally fine. Why should I care whether or not he’ll be there?” She and Hudson hadn’t spoken at all since the weird almost-kiss at the fountain on Thursday. Which was fine. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to talk about. Period dot.
“Why, indeed? It’s just Hudson Craft, and y’all sabotage each other with every opportunity you get. No big.”
Annika glared at her. “Are you teasing me?”
June opened her blue eyes wide. “Of course not.” There was laughter in her voice. “I’m just saying, you know he’s going to be up to something if you guys are part of the same thing.”
“Oh, I know. He’s always up to something. You can’t ever have your back to him.” Annika reached into her drawer for ZeeZee and began kneading him. “But you know what’s great about Hudson? He always underestimates his opponent. And I’m not nearly as sweet as I look.” She smiled the most vicious smile she could conjure up. “So you tell Ziggy to tell Hudson that.”
June groaned. “It’s like high school again.” When she saw Annika’s narrowed gaze, she quickly added, “Okay, okay, I will. But first I’m putting the finishing touches on this code right here and then I’ll upload it to the repo.”
“Sounds good.” Pushing thoughts of Hudson and the tech forum from her mind, Annika tossed ZeeZee back into the drawer and pulled up the Word document in which she’d begun to outline the EPIC pitch.
She read through all the bullet points and then read them again. Her pulse began to quicken; her palms tingled. She could see it—she could see the direction she needed to go.
She pulled her laptop closer and began typing up her vision furiously, barely hearing June when she said, “Someone’s going down the rabbit hole.”
When Annika emerged from the rabbit hole three hours later, Hudson was knocking on their door and letting himself in.
She sat up straighter and pushed her chair back, even though there was barely any room to maneuver in her office with him taking up so much space. She blinked, feeling dazed from all the ideas that had been tumbling through her mind only moments before. “Oh.”
June’s desk was empty. She hadn’t even heard her leave. Annika blinked and rolled her neck, coming slowly back to the present. Right. Hudson was here. Her discomfort surged at the memory of how they’d ended their last encounter. “What, um—what are you doing here?”
He smiled lazily, as if he could read her mind. “It’s time for the tech forum. Thought we could all go together. Ziggy, Blaire, and June are by the elevators.”
“What, already? What time is it?” She went to get her bag in the storage closet.
“Around noon.”
Right on cue, Annika’s stomach grumbled. She realized she hadn’t had her midmorning snack.
“You should feed whatever’s in there,” Hudson joked.
Annika tossed him a dirty look as she started toward the door. Was he just going to pretend everything was fine between them? That his whole rejection thing had never happened? Or that they were friends now, or something? “Some of us actually work hard for a living, and that means forgoing the occasional meal.” Even if it was an accident.
He didn’t seem fazed by her rudeness. “Oh, I ran into Seetha in the parking garage on the way into work today. She said you missed yoga Friday, so I said I’d stop by and say hi.” He paused and leaned against the doorjamb, his arms crossed. He was wearing a green button-down today, which perfectly matched his eyes. “Hi.”
Annika glanced at him as she walked into the hallway, her chin up. “Hi.”
After a pause, he trailed after her. “You nervous? About having to talk to people at the same time I’m talking to them?”
Annika rolled her eyes. She could hear June and Ziggy down the hallway, just around the bend. She was so close to freedom, to not having one-on-one Hudson attention. “Yeah, I’m so nervous about how great I’m going to look after they spend two seconds listening to your arrogant ass.”
No response. Annika turned around to see Hudson cocking his head as he watched her. “You’re mad because I didn’t kiss you,” he said finally, giving her a smug, lopsided grin. “I can remedy that right now, you know. You haven’t had anything to drink today, have you?”
Annika spluttered for a good ten seconds before finding her voice. “Incorrigible,” she muttered loud enough for him to hear, as she turned back around and began marching to the elevators again.
He laughed. “Admit it. It bothers you.”
Clutching her bag tighter, Annika picked up the pace and refused to respond, not wanting Hudson to know how right he was. “Hey!” she said to June, as soon as she rounded the corner to the elevators. “We’re riding together, right? You and me?”
June smiled at her. “Actually, Ziggy already said he’d take me and Blaire.” She leaned forward and whispered in Annika’s ear, “But I was sure you wouldn’t mind riding with Hudson.”
What? What? What had she ever said to make June think she wouldn’t mind riding with Hudson Craft?
“Yeah,” Ziggy said, before Annika could set her best friend right. “My car can only fit four, so would you and Hudson mind riding together?”
“Of course not!” Hudson replied heartily, from behind Annika. How had he caught up with her so fast?
She turned to him, trying not to glare. “I can drive myself, thanks.”
“Annika.” Hudson sounded shocked, though his eyes were twinkling. “Think of the environment.”
She glanced at June, who shrugged, as if to say, He does have a point. “I have a hybrid,” she said, eyeing him haughtily. “The environment will be fine.”
* * *
The tech forum was being held at the Manhattan Beach Library, a giant glass structure with views of the ocean from its top floor. The wide-open space had been converted for the event, with a small stage set up in the front of the room, complete with a podium and projector. The rest of the space was filled with about
two dozen chairs, presumably for the high school entrepreneurs, who were yet to arrive.
Annika, June, Hudson, and his team fanned out across the space, the Break Up team talking among themselves about some award they were getting from Tech Now and how they should find a way to slip that into conversation with Rita Davenport, the CEO of Early to Tech, because it would definitely impress Lionel Wakefield. Occasionally, Hudson would catch her eye over Ziggy’s or Blaire’s heads, but she forced herself to look away immediately every time. She would not get sucked into the Hudson vortex.
She walked with June to the windows, where they stood looking out at the ocean for a while. Annika took a deep, calming breath. “This is pretty cool, getting to meet the young techie minds of the future. How many girls do you think will be in the group?” When she got down about not making progress as quickly as she’d like with Make Up, Annika liked to focus on the fact that she was showing other young women entrepreneurs out there that they could do it, too. The glass ceiling might still be there, but it was smashed and splintered almost beyond recognition.
“I’m hoping for half this time,” said June, ever the optimist, turning to Annika with a brilliant, fuchsia-lipsticked smile.
“Annika Dev? Hudson Craft?”
Annika and Hudson both turned toward the voice to see a Black woman in her midthirties striding toward them. She was dressed in a white sheath dress and espadrilles, and held out her hand to each of them, a winning smile on her face. “I’m Rita Davenport. We’ve been speaking via email. Thank you so much for agreeing to present to our teens. You don’t know how much it means to them, and to our organization.”
Hudson took her hand and gave it a firm shake. Annika made sure her handshake was even firmer. “It’s our pleasure, Rita,” Hudson said, smiling in his annoyingly charming way. Ugh. Annika could see Rita being dazzled in real time. “Break Up is all about giving back.”
“Ha.”
Rita, Hudson, and June all turned to look at her, Hudson’s eyes flashing in annoyance. Oops. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Looking pointedly at Rita, Annika said, “Sorry, tickle in my throat. Anyway, it’s the same for Make Up. We’re all about giving back—only we give back to both the community and the people who use our service. We want to make the world a better place all around.” She tossed a glance at Hudson, whose eyes were narrowed, as if he was calculating his next move.
“Wonderful,” Rita said, looking a little taken aback. Rallying, she added, “Well, I have heard that you’re both going to be participating in EPIC in June. I can see there’s already some friendly rivalry here.” She laughed throatily and Annika forced herself to chuckle right along with her, though she made sure her eyes narrated a very different story to Hudson. You’re going down, Craft. May the best me win. He didn’t seem too intimidated, but that meant nothing. Wait till she outshone him in every way in front of Rita.
“Anyway,” Rita continued, oblivious, “the other entrepreneurs should be arriving any moment, and we’ll have the students file in when everyone’s here. Would you like some tea or coffee?”
“I’d love some tea, thank you, Rita.” Annika smiled warmly. “But first, would you mind telling me where it’d be best to plug in my laptop?”
* * *
By the time Annika finished plugging her laptop into the only available outlet beside the stage, the other tech entrepreneurs had arrived. One was a tall Korean American man and the other a short bespectacled white man. Rita made the introductions as they stood by the refreshments table and then walked off to welcome the first of the arriving high schoolers.
Hudson shook the other two men’s hands, and then said, “If you’ll excuse me. I have the first presentation, so I want to make sure the AV setup’s all good.”
Annika watched him go and then turned to the Korean American man, whose name was Tom. “I’m next, and I think you’re third?” Tom nodded. “Well,” Annika continued, “I hope your presentation goes well. I think the three of us”—here she included the white guy, Gavin—“are going to really blow this away.”
Gavin took a bite of a chocolate-glazed doughnut. “Oh, I don’t know. Break Up is pretty good. I think they might steal the show.”
Annika laughed. “They’re all smoke and no fire, Gavin. I wouldn’t worry too much.”
“It’s not a competition, though, is it?” Tom pulled at his collar, looking nervous. “I thought this was just a presentation to benefit the kids. No one told me we were supposed to compete.”
Annika looked at Hudson, who was fiddling with the mic onstage, and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, it’s always a competition.”
* * *
She had to hand it to Hudson: He had great timing. His presentation was short, funny, and timed down to the second. He was done at seven minutes exactly, with three minutes left for the Q&A. It was just too bad she hadn’t had time to plan some sabotage.
Annika stood by the refreshments table and watched as the high school kids, all of whom had been quiet aside from laughing at the appropriate times, shot their hands in the air when he asked if they had questions.
“I saw online that Break Up was in the top twenty most downloaded dating apps this month. So, what does success mean to someone like you?” a short Black boy with a full, curly head of hair asked in a rush.
Hudson spoke confidently into the wireless mic he took off the podium, his big hand clasped firmly around the handle. “Success, to me, is the only way forward.” He shrugged, but his green eyes flashed, intense. “Success is the way you prove to yourself that you’ve earned every single sacrifice someone else had to make to get you to where you are. Success means nothing if you don’t push yourself every moment to top the previous day’s efforts. It’s the way you say thank you for everything you’ve been given.”
Annika frowned as she chewed the last of her raspberry Danish. For someone who was already close to the top, he sounded … obsessed.
“The whole concept behind Break Up is dope. How’d you come up with the idea?” This one came from a pale, lanky boy, his face bright red.
Hudson’s eyes flickered over to Annika for a second. “Thank you,” he said to the boy, walking a few steps forward. “It was a complicated process. When I thought about the way we date—or don’t date—in most of Western society, I realized there was so much lacking. We don’t communicate. If given the chance, we’d rather run away from our messy feelings. And running away from feelings … well, that just creates more mess. I created Break Up for people who don’t know how to say two simple words—‘it’s over.’” Here, he looked at her again, raising his eyebrows a bit.
Annika raised her eyebrows back and shrugged. Okay, so on the surface, his explanation seemed … reasonable. Maybe even noble, in some sense. But the bottom line was Hudson was hurting people with his app. It was being used by people like Heather’s boyfriend, the woman she’d seen in the parking garage being broken up with. It was brutal.
Her thought process was interrupted by the thunderous applause for Hudson. He set his mic back on the stand and twisted the knob to tighten it before raising a hand and hopping off the stage, right toward her.
Annika straightened her shoulders and surreptitiously brushed Danish crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “I could tell you did your best,” she said, when Hudson was within earshot. “But let me show you how to do it better.” Flashing him June’s trademark southern bless-your-heart-but-not-really-because-I-detest-you smile, she started for the stage.
“I hope you can do it with a laptop that’s woefully low on power,” Hudson said casually, smiling and popping a cream puff into his mouth.
“Wait, what?” Annika spun to look at her laptop at the front of the room. Her charger wasn’t plugged into the wall anymore—it had been replaced with a cell phone cord that was now charging a phone that wasn’t hers. “What the hell? Did you unplug me? How petty can you be?”
He swallowed his cream puff thoughtfully. “Well, I was listening to some really great mariac
hi music on the way over and it did a number on my battery.” Annika flushed. “So I needed to charge my cell. I hate when it goes below ninety percent.”
“You—you complete—” Annika’s anger was fire. “How am I supposed to … arrrhhh!”
Hudson chuckled, looking unfazed. “It looked like you only had about five percent left, so I guess you better talk fast.”
Balling her fists at her side so she wouldn’t do something that would land a felony on her record, Annika stormed to the front of the room and looked at her laptop. It was already at 4 percent—definitely not enough to get through a ten-minute presentation. Shit. Hudson was right; she’d have to talk fast and maybe even improvise the ending.
She tossed him another dirty look and flounced up to the podium with her dying computer. While the crowd sat stock-still and silent, watching her, Annika quickly looked around for a place to charge it on the makeshift stage. Of course, there wasn’t one.
Pasting a smile on her face, she placed her laptop on a small wooden stool, hooked it up to the AV wires, and lowered the mic from Hudson’s height to hers.
Well, she tried to, anyway. He’d tightened it extra hard—probably just to watch her struggle, red-faced, as she was doing right now—until finally, she snatched it off its stand entirely.
“Hi.” She sounded a little savage, and the high schoolers winced at the initial squeal of feedback, but she kept going. “So nice to see all of you! I’m Annika Dev, CEO of Make Up.” Hazarding a glance at her laptop, Annika saw it was now at 3 percent. “Okay, so without further ado, I’m going to get into the presentation. What I have here”—she gestured to the screen as she spoke, rapid-fire—“is a prototype called OLLI: the Original Love Language Interface. OLLI is a deep-learning network that we feel is really pretty innovative.” She caught June’s eye in the very back of the room. She kept miming for Annika to slow down, but of course, she couldn’t. “Umanyway,” Annika continued, seeing the 2% flashing on her screen, “thisisbasicallyawayforpeopleinrelation—”