Maia swiped her access card, beep, green light, open door, phew.
It hadn’t been a sure thing by any stretch, but they were in, and the real work could start.
Janya slipped past her, a pat to the shoulder his only sign of approval. Approval for her months of grind to get into the company, then make herself valuable enough to warrant all-hours access. Screw her.
Brendan was worse, he just smirked as he strolled through the open door, like he could have done better.
The infuriating thing was, he probably could. Not because he was smart or anything, but he was a D&D bard-level seduction machine. If it passed for human, he’d find a way to get it so desperate for his attention, they’d have thrown open the whole building for him. Asshole.
No, she didn’t want to get into his bed. Maybe, briefly, at the start of this whole thing, but not now. She knew too much.
The one person she wanted acknowledgement from? The one person who she needed to nod, or smirk, or pat her on the shoulder? He ghosted past without even looking at her. She should swipe that stupid card a second time and lock them all in there, see what happened then.
But she didn’t. Sucker that she was. She followed them in, and led the way to the server room.
There was someone in there. Shit. What kind of idiot would be poking around the back-up files at this time of night.
Obvious answer, Lynda. And it was.
The rest of the team hovered in the shadows of the main office as Maia walked through the door. “Didn’t realise there were other people as completely lacking in a life as me.”
Lynda snorted. “Three teenagers, remember? And I’m ‘not their real mum’. This is the only place I get any peace, or respect.”
Double shit, she was being human.
Lynda leaned back in her chair. “So are you going to invite your friends in?”
The DNA of Stories 