One Step Closer

Lucy spent the night and they had one of their drama watching-filled sleepovers to take Selene's mind off of everything that was going on. Lucy said she would play the nice best friend and watch C-dramas since the night was for Selene's sake. This was met with an eye roll instead of thanks, to which they both giggled.

They decided to order a pizza with soda for dinner, which had been Lucy's suggestion as she did not want to chance going out for food with Max again. Not that she minded another chance to see what would happen, but she also did not want to see what would happen. "Ugh. I make no sense," she thought.

Her head was still full of their encounter earlier when she had gone to the kitchen to get them snacks in the afternoon. Selene didn't want to chance seeing Ben as she still didn't know what to say to him, so Lucy said it was no problem for her to go get the snacks. Selene told her where the pantry was, and she already knew where the refrigerator was for the drinks.

When she got to the kitchen area, she saw that Max was already there. He was about to put a mug of coffee on a tray that already had one mug on it. Lucy decided to play it cool and casually remarked, "Energizing up for the rest of the afternoon?" as she entered the kitchen.

Max was a little caught off guard when he first saw her and spilled some coffee. He quickly regained his composure and placed the mug down. He grabbed a towel that was nearby and answered, "Oh yah, it's one of those days. Need all the energy we can get." Then as he was cleaning up the spill he said, "Gotta make sure I don't miss a *spot.* There, got it." Then he picked up the tray and started making his way out of the kitchen. "See ya later," he added as he turned to leave.

"See ya," she called out. Once he was gone, Lucy let out a breath. "Was that?...Huh?," she thought as she scrunched up her face in confusion. "He did say the word spot weirdly right?...Or am I imagining things? Ok. Snap out of it Lucy! You're being weird. Get the snacks and go. Yes, snacks," she told herself as she opened the refrigerator.

After getting their snacks and drinks, Lucy headed back to Selene's bedroom. She decided not to say anything this time as she was too embarrassed.

The next morning, Selene and Lucy slept in until after 10am as they had been up pretty late watching a particularly addictive drama—4 Lives, 4 Worlds. They had breakfast alone in the kitchen and then Lucy had to leave to prepare for her big picnic date.

Selene took a deep breath as she decided it was time to talk to Ben and at least end the awkwardness, even if she wasn't ready to share the bedroom yet. She stared at his office door for a long time, gathering her courage, until she finally knocked. When she heard "Come in," she was a little surprised because it did not sound like him. "Maybe it's Max again," she thought as she slowly opened the door.

It turned out to be Johnny, but he was sitting where Ben would normally sit, and Ben was nowhere to be found. "Umm, sorry, I was, uh, looking for Ben," Selene said shyly, realizing she was still in her pajamas. Fortunately, her pajamas consisted of a t-shirt and shorts, but still, she wasn't wearing a bra. She crossed her arms across her chest to hide anything that could be seen through the t-shirt's thin material.

Johnny looked amused as he told her, "There was something important at the office that required his attention so he asked me to come here to stay with you."

"You mean guard me," Selene offered, eyebrow raised.

"Technically, yes," Johnny conceded. "I hope that's alright with you?," he asked.

She considered the alternative, being alone, and realized she would feel safer with someone there so she responded with, "Yes, of course." Eyebrow went down gracefully.

Johnny saw the expressions that went across her face and felt sorry for her and Ben. It just added to his resolve in terms of the whole situation.

"If you need anything, just let me know," Selene said before she left the room.

About 20 minutes later, Johnny's logged into a video meeting with Ben and Max.

"So how'd it go with Hybrid?," Johnny asked, elbows on the desk, with palms open and fingers touching.

Ben chuckled with a sarcastic tone, "Oh, they're on board, of course."

Johnny looked surprised and said, "Really? I didn't think it would be that easy." He hadn't had a chance to be briefed on the particulars of the meeting yet.

"It wasn't easy necessarily. But they didn't have much of a choice, now did they?," Max scoffed.

"So threatening them about how Selene's phone was tampered on their property was enough to convince them?," Johnny asked, eyes squinting as if not believing.

Ben shook his head, "Of course not. Like those bastards give a damn." His eyes became grim as he recalled the meeting with CEO Garrett. The man had asked why they were doing this to him and his company. Ben had told him, "Originally, we had another company in mind, but after you allowed Drakos to use your offices to lure my girlfriend into a trap, how could I let that go?" Garrett had tried to say he didn't know what Drakos did, but that was a lie. Ben had looked into the CEO's dealings with Drakos, and they went back a long way. Garrett was fully aware that Drakos's hands were always dirty and that there had to be a reason why he would want to meet Selene in his offices instead of at the Drakos's. After some pushing, the man finally admitted it and showed his true colors.

Ben went on, "There's no proof of that. But, on the other hand, evidence of CEO Garrett engaging in insider trading and other illegal activities that we were able to purchase from his enemies thanks to Max, was enough reason for him to help us."

Max added, "I called in some favors. That's all."

"It's not a small thing that you did for me, man," Ben corrected. "I won't forget this."

"We all have each other's backs so don't mention it again," Max said fiercely. "And plus, taking the Drakos organization down benefits us all. I mean, how else am I going to retire?," he laughed a little trying to lighten the mood.

"That's true," Ben let out a chuckle. "You've been talking about retirement practically since I met you."

"Who doesn't want to retire to Hawai'i?," Max asked, playing innocent.

Johnny answered, dryly, "I don't."

"That's because you're made of stone," Max quipped.

Before Johnny could answer back, Ben interjected, "Okay, okay, before we get too sidetracked, let's get back to the reason for this meeting, shall we?" He rubbed his chin and said, "Now, Max has the meeting notes that show we talked about a potential partnership focusing on the second generation of the FitGuard we are launching next quarter. It also has the line that notes they asked about the Phantom Project's medical application, but we said we could not discuss that. Then make sure to have it go through the same channels as all our meeting notes so it's in the record. That way we have it verified that it wasn't discussed. The next step is to let it leak that the there was discussion about a potential partnership."

Johnny said, "And then after that…Um, have you talked to…that is, before everything, did you get a chance to?"

Ben looked down and answered, "No, I didn't. The kidnapping complicates things, of course. She doesn't want to leave the penthouse. And I'm not about to have Garrett meet there. And I don't even know if I want to put her in that position now. Asking her to be bait."

Johnny nodded, "I understand that. I do. But, we need her to do this. It's for her benefit too. For her safety in the long run. If you explain it like that, she will understand. You will have to tell her the whole plan, of course."

Ben was hesitant, "Yet again, something I kept from her." He let out a long sigh.

"It's all to protect her. You just have to keep that in mind. Eventually, she will understand. Just remember that," Johnny maintained, trying to comfort his friend.

"I agree with Johnny," Max chimed in. "Both of you will get through this. The important part is making sure this plan goes through because this is one way to get through it."

Johnny nodded, "I wonder how long it will take before Carlson and Zhang take the bait?"

"Not long, let's hope," Max replied.

"And then, we can move on to Phase 3," Ben declared.