He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 07

He Had A Calendar For Her, I Had To Request To See Him Chapter 07

Caleb adjusted his glasses, his tone matter–of–fact

“I rebuilt it from the original design and 3D–printed. It’s sturdier than the old one. No need to

thank me.”

On the day of the industry review, Elliot sat in the last row.

He didn’t have a badge for the review, so he could only listen from behind the glass.

After I explained where the model came from, one of the reviewers asked,

“Why is the fifth code set called ‘Sunny‘?”

“It started as a private marker.”

I switched to the technical slide.

“Now it’s simply used to identify extreme–rainfall samples across five consecutive years. It doesn’t

mean anything else.”

Elliot lowered his head, leaving a hard crease in the paper between his fingers.

After the review, he stopped me by the stairs.

“I read every email. Without your core model, we never would’ve won.”

“The review board will see that too.”

“I’ll file a correction and restore your name as the lead contributor.”

He held out a sheet of paper.

“I withdrew from consideration for the graduate fellowship, and I asked to have the award

rescinded. Can you… give me one chance to start over?”

I glanced at the page.

“You don’t need to give anything up for me. The review was going to take both away anyway.”

Some of the color drained from his face, but he kept holding the paper out.

“Then let me make up for our fifth anniversary. I already booked the restaurant, the train tickets,

and the cake. I made a new shared calendar too. It only has your yellow entries.”

“Blue being gone doesn’t mean yellow gets to come back.”

His fingers went still.

“You used to say that as long as I came back to you you’d always be there.”

“The Mara I used to be did say that.”

I handed the paper to a passing staff member.

“She waited five years, and you never came back.”

Caleb approached carrying a case of equipment.

“Mara, the severe–weather coordination briefing got moved up. The car’s downstairs. Let’s go.”

Elliot stared at him.

“Are you two together every day?”

Caleb’s expression remained neutral.

“We’re coworkers. We work the shifts we’re assigned. Any other questions, Mr. Mercer? If not,

please step aside.”

I headed downstairs first.

Elliot followed for two steps before a staff member called after him.

“Mr. Mercer, the review board needs you for a follow–up statement.”

When he sat down in the interview room, three records had been laid out on the table.

The first was Paige’s Replacement plan.

The second was the chat log showing Elliot’s authorization.

The third was a recording of the meeting before the public acknowledgments.

His voice came through the recording, clear and steady.

“Mara doesn’t need to be mentioned. She only built the baseline module. Our relationship is one

thing. The work is another.”

One of the reviewers asked,

“You now acknowledge that she created the original model. Why did you deny it then?”

Elliot’s hand stopped over the paper.

For a long time, he didn’t write anything.

Paige was being questioned separately outside.

Suddenly, she pushed the door open.

“You approved the Replacement plan, and you authorized the calendar deletions too. Why are you

only questioning me?”

She slammed her phone onto the table, and a voice recording from two years earlier appeared on

the screen.

Elliot’s voice filled the room again.

“Use her model for now. Once we win, we’ll figure out how to smooth things over with her.”

The reviewer stopped the recording.

“Elliot, is there anything you’d like to add?”

He stared at the screen, his face pale.

“There’s more after that. I said we were protecting her unpublished work, not taking it for

ourselves.”

Paige scoffed.

“What comes next is, ‘She’s softhearted. A little compensation will do.‘ Want me to keep playing

it?”

His head snapped up.

“You edited the recording.”

“But you said the first part yourself.”

Paige folded her arms tightly across her chest.

“I removed her credit, deleted the anniversary, and screened her messages for you. Every single

time, I checked with you first. You had no problem with any of it when you were enjoying the peace

and quiet. Why didn’t you say no then?”