I laughed. “Oh, no. Two out of three. You’re not going back on this bargain.”
I sprinted into my bedroom, tossed my purple rose comforter to the side, and dug through my backpack until I pulled out my handheld camcorder. I flipped open the display screen on the side as I walked back in. The light at the top flashed red and then a steady green. Serenity’s image appeared in the side screen.
She grabbed a couch cushion and blocked my view with a laugh. “Now? Can’t you at least wait until I’m not in my underwear or something?”
I hopped up on the couch and batted away the pillow. “I’ll do only a close up of your face and edit out all the naughty parts.”
“You make it sound dirty.”
I grinned at her a wriggled my eyes brows. “Well, maybe it is. You know the underside of the Proprius Project.”
The smile on her face disappeared, and she sat up, brushing her hair from her face. “It’s too early for there to be an underside yet.”
“True.” I plopped down beside her, keeping the camera trained on her face. “So, Serenity Vargoss, how did you enjoy the first day of the project?”
“It was pretty hectic,” she said. “Hopefully James will be able to iron out all the kinks in our team.”
“What did you think of him being named lead developer?”
She gave a one shouldered shrug. “It’s something I don’t have to worry about. I can focus on actually writing the program.”
“How do you see this project turning out? Do you think it will succeed with all the different groups involved?”
“I think there’s the potential for something extraordinary here.” Her eyes took on a faraway look. “The concept is brilliant. Whether we accomplish it I think is up to the people running this.”
“Brilliant, huh? You almost sound like you were complimenting Mercer Chaplin.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Who said he came up with the idea?”
I shrugged. “It seems like his sort of thing. So, why don’t you like him?”
“He’s an asshole.”
“I think it’s more than that. How long have you two known each other?”
She flashed her gaze to me and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t see what that has to do with the interview.”
I snapped the display shut and rested the camcorder in my lap. “It doesn’t. But this goes so much deeper than you want to let on.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “It’s not something I want to even think about, much less talk about.”
“You weren’t some crazy stalker or anything?” I asked. “Maybe an ex-girlfriend?”
“What?” she gaped at me. “Of course not.”
I reached out and poked her knee. “Come on. I’m worried about you.”
“What about the woman that showed up the other night?” she asked. “You called her your aunt.”
I clamped my mouth shut and chewed the inside of my cheek. She watched me with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile hovering. Touché. If she expected to me to back off with that threat, she was wrong. Besides, Aunt Joanna wasn’t leaving anytime soon. She’d flat out told me she wasn’t returning home without me. So, Serenity would see more of her in the months to come.
“Aunt Joanna came to visit for a while,” I said. “She wanted to surprise me.”
Serenity raised an eyebrow. “She came all the way from Georgia for a surprise visit?”
I shrugged. “That’s what she said.”
“I almost thought you were an orphan with how little you talk about your family.”
“We don’t really see eye to eye,” I said.
“Is that why you always avoid their phone calls?”.
“What about you?” I asked. “It’s not like you’re so forthcoming about your own family.”
She leaned back against the armrest and clutched the pillow to her chest with a sigh. “Mercer is.”
I blinked. “Mercer’s what?”
She glared at me. “I swear you can be dumb at times. We’re related.”
My jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you say anything? Your uncle? He seems too young to be your uncle, though. A cousin?”
“Something like that,” she mumbled.
“Come on. Tell me.”
“Look, we’re barely related, okay? I don’t think we’ve ever even done a thanksgiving together. He thinks he’s too good for our family or something.” She shook her head. “Like I said, he’s an asshole.”
“Yeah, but a famous asshole. I mean, he could help you get almost any job you want.”
She rolled her eyes with a soft chuckle. “And end up owing him for the rest of my life? Hell no.”
“So, what happened between the two of you? The usual family tiff?”