He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 06

He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 06

Elliot ran alongside the train for a dozen or so steps before a platform barrier cut him off.

A station attendant grabbed his arm.

“Sir, you can’t go any farther.”

He stopped there with one hand still outstretched.

The jagged edge of the broken pin had sliced his fingertip, leaving blood across the number 442. He wiped at it several times, only smearing the numbers until they were even harder to read.

When I got back to the forecast center, the first thing I did was submit a request to relaunch my model as a standalone project.

My coworker, Caleb Rowan, slid a stack of validation data toward me.

“We can finish the first run tonight. If you get tired, go grab a nap in the break room. Don’t try to

outlast the machines.”

“I can handle it myself.”

“Fine. Then I’ll sit across from you.”

He tore open two packets of coffee.

“You don’t have to talk to me, and I’m not here to manage your schedule. If the system throws an

alert, I’ll wake you.”

At one in the morning, Elliot showed up at the forecast center.

He looked at me through the glass security doors, His phone pressed to his ear.

“I’m not going to defend Paige. I was wrong about your credit. Withdraw the complaint, and we’ll

resubmit the project with both of us properly credited.”

I passed him a temporary visitor form.

“You can’t enter the work area. Leave any documents at reception.”

“First it’s ‘Mr. Mercer, and now you’re making me sign in?”

His fingertips pressed against the glass.

“Mara, don’t punish me by treating me like a stranger.”

“All visitors sign in.”

Caleb came over and took the form, giving Elliot a brief look.

“Overnight visitor check–in closes in twenty seconds. Mr. Mercer, if this is business, put down your

organization. If it’s personal, make an appointment tomorrow.”

Elliot saw Caleb holding my coffee for me and slowly curled his fingers into a fist.

“I don’t need an appointment to see her.”

I turned back to the monitor.

“You do now.”

The secure entrance locked for the night when the countdown hit zero.

Elliot stayed outside until morning.

By then, the competition committee had sent him notice that the top prize was suspended pending review, his graduate fellowship nomination had been put on hold as well, and he was required to turn over the complete development history.

He went back to his dorm room and opened the files on his computer one by one.

The versions Paige had organized looked complete, but every critical parameter traced back to my

original emails.

Each email ended with the same line:

[Sunny again today. Don’t forget to eat.]

All he had ever sent back was:

[Got it. No need to remind me.]

Paige knocked and came in, her eyes red.

“The review board called me in. Elliot, we need to get our story straight. We’ll say Mara only gave

us the initial idea and that we rewrote the code ourselves.”

He looked up at her.

“Who wrote the Replacement plan?”

“I did, but you signed off on it too.”

Paige pulled up their chat history.

“You said she didn’t understand competition rules and that giving her credit would only make

things complicated. You also said she’d make a fuss for a few days, then fall in line.”

Elliot stared at the messages, his throat working once.

Paige softened her voice.

“She can’t walk away from you. Once this blows over, go spend her birthday with her and she’ll

come back.”

He opened the calendar.

The slot for my birthday was empty.

When he typed my name into the search bar, a single gray message appeared.

[Member not found.]

I restored the fifth sun–code set to the model.

The full validation results appeared on–screen immediately.

Caleb pushed a blue folder toward me.

“The model’s error is down twelve percent. You’re presenting at tomorrow’s industry review yourself. If you need help setting up the equipment call me.”

“Okay.”

I looked down and touched the brand–new pin fastened to my chest.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”