"He didn't snuff anything out, Barbie, please. Rainer's just like all the other junior executives. Charming and cutthroat. Lazy until it comes time to take credit. You've heard me talk about work. Seriously. Do you think it's a good idea for me to fall for anyone at my office?"
Barbie studied my face and then looked back at Rainer. She frowned. "I want him to be different. He seems different."
Rainer caught us looking at him and waved. He shook hands with the crew and then strode towards us. "You must be Tasha's sister," Rainer said. "Nice to meet you."
Barbie reached out to shake his hand, but I looped my arms around her shoulders and turned her away. "My sister was just picking up something to eat on her way home. I'm going to walk her to her car."
Rainer looked hurt but erased the evidence with another bright smile. Now, he looked more like the man I knew from the office. He even pulled on his suit coat and buttoned up his white shirt. "Guess I better get back to work then."
Barbie glanced from him to me and back again. "I hear you'll be working over here in the East Bay for a while," she said. "Tasha will have to bring you by our house one of these days. We could have dinner."
"Thank you. I'd like that," Rainer said.
"Let's not make any plans yet," I said. "We're not just here to have fun."
Rainer's smile cooled. "Speaking of work, Mr. Reynolds is ready for the final pitch. I'm going to walk him through the garden."
"The garden?" I scoffed. "It's a lumpy patch of weeds."
"Don't worry, Ms. Nichols," Rainer said, glancing at my high heels. "I can handle it."
He smoothed down his shirt and buttoned up his suit coat. Barbie and I watched him get out his phone as he met up with Mr. Reynolds in the parking lot. It was enough of a transformation that even Barbie looked confused.
"See?" I asked. "He's sweeping in to take all the credit. I'm the one who found this location, convinced them to let us come in the first place. And I did all the work on the app, which is the whole point of this whole thing."
"So, what are you going to do?" Barbie asked. She too looked at my high heels.
I kicked them off. "I'm going along for the final pitch. I'm going to record him trying to take all the credit so I can play it for Stan."
"You're going to tell on him?" Barbie asked.
"No. I'm just not going to let him get away with business as usual," I said.
Barbie watched me scoop up my high heels. "I'd say this is anything but business as usual."
Across the parking lot, Rainer was giving me an inscrutable look. I waved for him to wait for me, but all he did was throw his hands up in a gesture of irritation.
"See? What was all that about?" I asked Barbie.
She sighed. "Maybe he was trying to be nice."
I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "And that's why I love you. You're always trying to see the good in everyone."
"He can't have any good in him?" Barbie asked.
It was my turn to sigh. "You don't know the corporate world. It's all smiles and backstabbing."
My sister looked skeptical, but she wished me luck anyway. I waited while she waddled off to find Deanna and the rest of the barbecue, then I spun on my bare feet and marched over to the garden patch.
Both Rainer and Mr. Reynolds looked at my bare feet but then continued their conversation. "I guarantee that your garden will have a personal touch because that is exactly what Hyperion needs. We need to prove that GroGreen is best used outside, in the garden. So, this is right where we'll be."
Mr. Reynolds turned to me. "I know publicity stunts always sound like a good idea, but are you sure?"
I winced at the rough ground but covered it with a bright smile. Inside my suit pocket, I pressed record on my phone, certain Rainer would still try to take the credit. "My team did not design GroGreen to be nothing but a game. We want to show what GroGreen makes possible."
Rainer caught my arm as I stepped on another sharp rock. "Tasha here has the real vision. She's been with GroGreen from the brainstorming stage. With her in the lead, you can be sure we'll see all the possibilities her amazing application makes possible."
I wrenched my arm free from Rainer. Did he know I was recording him or was he actually giving me the credit?