But he said them, anyway.
“I wish things could’ve been different.”
“Different how?”
“I wish we’d both been honest, right from the start.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But, to tell you the truth, even if you’d been a hundred percent honest about Jenny, I would’ve found some way to sabotage what we had going on. It was like I wanted to catch you in a lie. Like you said, I’m paranoid.”
“To be fair, you’re paranoid with good reason. Everything that happened with your dad—”
“My dad was my dad,” I cut him off, so tired of letting my father’s past actions impede my present. “I can’t keep projecting his mistakes on to every man I meet. Some guys are shitty. Some guys aren’t. You aren’t. And I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to prove that to me.”
He interlaced his fingers with mine, rubbing the pad of his thumb gently back and forth across my knuckles. “It’s okay.”
“Anyway,” I said, taking a deep breath, “the reason I came here tonight is because I saw what you wrote on Reddit.”
“Oh.” His cheeks flushed and he stopped stroking my hand.
“Thank you for defending me. You didn’t have to.”
“It wasn’t about whether I had to. It was about setting the record straight. Those assholes at Hatch think they can get away with saying whatever they want. But I wasn’t going to let them talk shit about you all over the internet.”
“And I appreciate that so much. But, honestly, you need to delete that comment.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re putting your job at risk. Bad-mouthing the Hatchlings like that will get you kicked out of the program.”
He huffed and raked his free hand through his hair. “I’m not exactly worried about getting kicked out of the program.”
“You should be,” I said. “Vijay’s vindictive. I’ve seen it myself.”
“I know he is.” Alex swallowed hard and looked at me. “But I’m no longer working with Hatch.”
“What? Why?”
“Fizz lost its funding.”
“Oh, no!”
“Look, it’s not like I didn’t see this coming a mile away.”
“What happened?”
Alex sighed, resigned. “We met with Vijay this morning. He said we weren’t up to the task of presenting to investors on Demo Day, and he was stripping us of our Hatchling status effective immediately. So, as of a few hours ago, I am officially unemployed.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be—it’s for the best. Greg was the worst business partner I could’ve asked for. I’ll be happy to never see him again.”
I looked around his apartment, a well-appointed studio in a luxury apartment building in the heart of Manhattan’s Financial District. There was no way he could continue to afford this rent without a salary.
“What’s next?” I asked.
With a shrug, he said, “I’ve got a bit of savings, thankfully. The old job may have been soul-crushing, but they gave good holiday bonuses. It’s enough to tide me over until I can find a new gig.”
“Are you still looking to work with a start-up?”
“Yeah, as long as the people aren’t total jerks, like they were at Hatch.” He shot me that dazzling smile. “Why, you got any leads?”
“Unfortunately, there are no job openings at inPerson right now.”
A look of genuine disappointment appeared on his face. “That’s too bad.”
“But you could come to the next New York Techie Support Network meeting. I’m sure you’d find some totally un-jerklike people there to connect with.”
“That’s a good idea. When is it?”
“It hasn’t been scheduled yet. I’m too preoccupied planning the inPerson mixer right now.”
“Oh, yeah. I read all about that. Are you excited?”
I nodded. “Excited, yeah, but mostly nervous. There are so many moving pieces and lots of last-minute stuff to take care of.”
“Well, I’ve got plenty of free time right now, so if you need an extra set of hands to help with coding or whatever, I’m your man.”
“Thanks, but the code’s all done.” I looked at his hands: strong, capable, wholly on offer. “I could use some help the night of, though. How do you feel about tending bar?”
“Never done it before, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Great. That’ll actually be a huge help.”
“Great.”
An awkward silence ensued, the kind where you’re not only unsure of what to say next, you’re unsure if there’s anything left to say at all. Maybe there wasn’t. Maybe there was nothing left for me to do now but go home.
I got to my feet. Alex followed suit.
“Listen, Mel, thanks for coming over. I’m really glad we cleared the air.”
“Me, too.”
The two of us stood there, staring, silently daring each other to move. Then I saw it, the flicker of hope in Alex’s eyes, and I knew it wasn’t too late.
I flung my arms around his neck, pulling him close, pressing my hips to his hips, my chest to his chest. And we let our kiss do the rest of the talking.
31
As expected, Vanessa worked wonders on the rooftop.
The fairy lights were back, as were the tin can lanterns. Instead of a fire pit, though, there was a cocktail table against the brick wall. It was a high-top, designed for standing. In fact, those high-top cocktail tables were scattered around the entire roof. There wasn’t a single seat to be seen.
“Where are people supposed to sit?” I asked her.
“Nowhere,” she said, as she arranged peonies in decorative pots. “This event isn’t meant for sitting around in one spot all night. It’s meant for standing and walking and mingling. It’s a singles mixer. People need to mix!”
I still wasn’t convinced. “Maybe you should bring out some of those floor pillows from last time?”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“But what if—”
“Stop right there.” She pointed a peony at me. “If you want to run a start-up, you’re going to have to learn to delegate. No one likes a micromanager.” Popping the peony in a pot, she smiled. “Just let me do this. I promise I won’t let you down.”