He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 02

He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 02

I caught the elevator door just before it closed.

“Paige, what exactly is getting replaced at nine tomorrow night?”

She blinked and turned her phone facedown in her palm.

“It’s just an internal task label. Do you really need me to explain competition jargon too, Mara?”

Elliot stood at the far end of the hall, his voice turning cool.

“There’s a research showcase tomorrow. We need to swap out the presentation deck. Mara, stop turning everything into something about our relationship.”

I let go of the elevator door.

“Okay.”

The next afternoon, my faculty advisor called me into the auditorium.

“Your urban rainfall forecasting model was added to the showcase at the last minute. They’ve reserved a front-row seat for the original developer. Put on your badge and get inside.”

For a few seconds, I just stood there.

I had spent two years building that model. Elliot had borrowed it to improve the algorithm for his competition project, and he had promised he would only present the integrated module without touching my authorship credit.

But when the screen lit up, the title slide displayed only Elliot’s and Paige’s names.

The host smiled as he introduced them.

“These two student competitors integrated a weather model into traffic management. I hear even the shared calendar helped inspire the project?”

Paige picked up the microphone with a modest smile.

“The concept was mostly Elliot’s. I just organized some of his day-to-day logs. None of those little entries was technically sophisticated, but they did give us a few ideas.”

Someone nearby whispered,

“His girlfriend’s in meteorology too, right? She probably just kept track of the weather for him.”

“After three years of long-distance dating, how much could she really know about his project? At best, she’s basically his personal assistant.”

My advisor whipped around to look at me.

“Wasn’t the original model yours?”

I didn’t answer.

Elliot had already spotted me. His gaze rested on me for half a second before he looked away and continued explaining the model’s distinctive sun codes.

During Q&A, I raised my hand.

“Why is the fifth sun-code set missing?”

Elliot held the presentation remote, his expression perfectly composed.

“The early sample had limited value, so we removed it during data cleaning.”

“Who authorized you to remove it?”

The auditorium went silent.

Paige was the first to laugh.

“You may not be familiar with how competition teams work. Elliot is the project lead. He has every right to remove low-value data. There’s no reason to waste everyone’s time over one old record.”

Elliot looked at me and lowered his voice.

“Mara, sit down. We’ll talk after this.”

“Then what about my credit on the original model?”

His fingers tapped lightly against the remote.

“Your model never cleared independent validation on its own. Adding your name now could complicate the judging. Once the project is stable, I’ll formally document your contribution. Don’t make a scene here.”

My advisor stood up.

“She submitted a complete validation report. I signed off on it myself!”

Paige’s expression flickered, but her smile returned almost immediately.

“There were so many versions of the files. I may have missed it when I was organizing everything. Elliot has been under a lot of pressure lately. Since you’re already here, Mara, don’t make him deal with relationship drama onstage.”

Elliot didn’t even look at the report. He simply gestured to the event staff.

“Keep going.”

The screen switched to the acknowledgments slide.

Faculty mentors, teammates, partner labs—name after name appeared on the screen.

Mine was the only one missing.

As the applause started, I took off the badge identifying me as the model’s original developer and left it on the empty seat.

Elliot followed me backstage and caught my wrist.

“Are you done making a scene? Your credit is only being held back for now. I’m not refusing to give it to you.”

“Is that what ‘Replacement’ means? Cutting me out of the project?”

He was silent for a moment, then reached up and straightened my crooked collar.

“It’s temporary, to avoid any appearance of favoritism. You’re my girlfriend. If your name is on the submission, the judges will wonder whether I gave you credit because of our relationship. Paige and I are only teammates. Her name won’t raise the same questions.”

I looked at him.

“So apparently being your girlfriend makes me more suspicious than your teammate.”

“Don’t get hung up on it.”

He let go of me.

“Once I secure my graduate fellowship nomination, I’ll make sure you get more out of it than a name on the project ever could.”

Paige poked her head through the doorway.

“Elliot, the university wants publicity photos, and they’ve asked for the core team only. Mara isn’t on the team, so she should probably sit this one out.”