"No coffee necessary, thank you, William," Trinity said as she unfolded her laptop. "Your guys on the West Coast have already got me hopelessly addicted. I'm practically mainlining it every morning at this point just to keep up."
The associates laughed with surprise at her joke, and the tension in the room seemed to immediately give way to a more relaxed anticipation. Taking a page out of Eddie's icebreaker book, Sam thought approvingly. Trinity always adapted herself to an audience more readily than he ever could.
"Hey, Trinity?"
Trinity turned to him. "Yeah, Sam?" Despite her effortless humor, she still sounded breathless with nerves.
Sam handed her his copy of the final schedule. As her fingers closed over it, he tugged her to him, and caught her lips in a kiss. When he pulled away, he saw the utter shock at his public display written all over her face.
"You're up first," he concluded with a grin.
Trinity's hazel eyes rounded. She nodded, and a wide smile slowly started to bloom across her face. If a part of her had suspected Sam would take the lead, he hoped the silent, confident encouragement of his lips had just put that private fear to bed. This may have been their collaboration, and he was giving her the reins. As he turned to take a seat, he saw William's slight nod, and wondered if he had just inadvertently passed another test. Whatever strings his brother was pulling behind the scenes of the company, Sam attributed his personal growth to one person and one person alone. For the first time in his life he was completely confident, and completely satisfied, with taking a backseat.
He settled himself in to watch the woman he loved run the show.