Chapter Eleven

Ireturned from the bathroom to find Clem in bed with the blankets over her lap. The unremarkable results cleared away her preoccupation apparently. She still wore her button-down shirt as neatly as before, but as soon as I approached, I noticed she wore nothing from the waist down while she stared at her phone. I gnawed the inside of my cheek as I approached, then caught a few sentences of the video explaining something about gene splicing and words I could hardly understand. To get her attention, I slid my hand up her lap then gripped her hip before perching myself on the edge of the bed.

She lowered the phone right away, setting it on the nightstand, and smiled. ”Hi.”

”Well, hello.” I chuckled and stroked her cheek. ”Didn”t expect to find you here when I clearly remember last seeing you in the kitchen.”

”I reckoned I”d get a jump on things.” She snickered and slouched into the pillows, the cutest expression taking over her pretty face.

I laughed and climbed on top of her, straddling her thighs before capturing her in a hurried kiss. She gripped my wrists as I cupped her face through it. Before Clementine, I never knew what to do. How to act. When to initiate or not. I questioned what my partners wanted, or what they wanted me to do or how they wanted me to act. With her, I didn”t. Not at all.

She leaned back, her lip between her teeth as she gazed up at me, her eyes glazed over with a sort of spacey expression. I tucked her hair behind her ears and let out a slow breath.

”What are you thinking? Your face looks like you”re thinking,” she asked, her voice husky with rapid speech.

”That before you I had no idea what I was doing. Like I would wait for something to happen between me and someone. Usually wait for them to do something first, but it”s not like that with you. You just…know what you want and tell me.”

”Social cues are not my strong point so I”ve found direct communication is the best course of action,” she said, matter-of-factly. ”And I like sex. I like having sex with you. You”re quite good at it.”

”Am I?” I laughed uncomfortably and she grinned.

”You are.”

”Only because you know what you like…”

”Yes, but that”s the balance, isn”t it?” She rested her hands on my chest as her fingers moved in gentle strokes.

”It is.” I pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. ”And I like when you tell me.”

”Even if it”s crass?”

I nodded, a shiver racing through me when the echoes of some of her previous requests made it to my memory. ”Yes. I do.”

”Good.” She pulled me into a hug, then melted into the pillows when I laid myself on top of her. ”Because I like you on top and I like when you make me lose myself to you,” she whispered against my ear.

”You”re very good at that.” My body burned from the inside out, starting from the place behind the zipper of my jeans and radiating upward.

”Shh.” She pressed her finger to my lips and grinned. ”It”s a secret.”

I laughed and nipped her finger. ”I have something you might like.”

”What?” Her brows flicked upward as she released me to fall back into the pillows and twirling her hair around her finger.

I glanced down to the space between us where the blankets bunched around my middle. I moved off her, holding myself in a pushup above her, nose to nose. She chuckled and watched me until I lowered myself down on top of her, my pelvis pressing hers first. With the blankets still between us, I wasn”t sure she could feel all of me, but I stayed there.

When I didn”t move she wiggled under me until her brows flicked upward and a pause befell her. Again, she shimmied until her smile broadened.

”Like that?” I asked, my lips brushing hers then.

She nodded and a shiver raced over her, bringing goosebumps to her skin.

”Want it?”

Again, she nodded and chewed her bottom lip so hard I worried she might bite it off. I brushed my thumb over her chin, then smooched her cheek as I leaned over and tapped the mounted screen on her nightstand. The triangle button appeared in the center, and I hit play on the music we”d listened to earlier that night. The playlist shuffled to song beats that seemed to match the mood of the moment.

I rolled up to kneel and release the button of my pants. Clem unbuttoned her shirt while she watched me, letting it fall open casually. No bra hid her from me, and I simply reveled in her forward readiness.

”Never seen one like that,” she said, her hands on my hips as she caressed the tight boxers that hugged my lower half while supporting the purple contoured strap-on in the front. ”So much better than the ones with all the strings.”

”To be honest, it”s the first time I”m using one like this and I really like the idea of it. Willing to see how it performs for us?” I caressed her arms and she nodded enthusiastically.

”I am.” She ran her hands up the front of my T-shirt, pushing it up a bit stroke my sides. Her eyes wandered over me, seemingly taking me in.

I nudged her chin so she”d look up at me, and again, she bit her lip while holding my gaze for a fraction of a second. I leaned down to kiss her, then helped myself to handfuls of her breasts. The gasp that left her ended the kiss almost as fast as it started. My thumbs brushed her firm nipples and I felt her body shudder under me. Her reaction caused a shockwave of shivers through me. I used my knees to urge the blankets from her body and she tilted her head back when I revealed her to me. Her overheated body pressed against mine and I rolled her nipples between my thumbs and forefingers.

A soft moan left her and I felt her thighs clench under me. With her warm reception, I kissed my way down her body, and the moment my mouth met her stomach, I couldn”t slow myself down. The urge to devour her, take her, and hear her shouts overcame me. No waiting happened, no slowness, and most importantly, no doubts as I found myself tumbling between her thighs. She grabbed a handful of my hair when I placed a long lick against her soaked pussy at the same time that I rolled her nipples again. She pulled my hair, and parted her thighs in a welcoming bow. Her sweetness enticed me, reminding me of a luscious honied nectar gifted only to me. Lust overtook me, and she met me there with eager pushes and pulls of her own. My mouth devoured her, tongue lashed her, and my fingers invited her to come to me the way I knew she loved. Her shouts, her writhing, and the way her body arched as she came under my affections drove me to the edge and I felt the raging inferno spread in me as well.

I couldn”t hold myself back, allowing whatever instincts that possessed me to take over. She soaked my palm, and I kept working her until I managed to quickly move above her, replacing my fingers with the slippery tip of the dildo between us. She scratched her nails down my arms when I held myself above her again, then allowed my pelvis to collide cautiously with hers. A deep-chested cry left her and she nodded again, tearing at my shirt as if to pull me closer or deeper. I didn”t think, didn”t feel beyond the connection we shared, and my middle took over as naturally as anything. My hips thrust against hers, and her bucking hips demanded more, faster or harder or something in between, but I let her take it and gave her what I could.

I dropped down, taking one of her nipples in my mouth as I pounded against her, reveling in the way the base of the toy jolted my clit. The succulent burn of arousal that threatened pleasure gripped me, and I found myself succumbing to it, the harder and faster I took her.

She sucked in her breath suddenly, her body tensing as she tore at the sheets until a guttural moan left her lips, a smile accompanying the release that caught her. She didn”t stop bucking against me, and the wetness that burst from her spilled warmth between us. I loved it when she lost herself so completely and the images of her drowned me as I came along with her. A long, slow, rising orgasm that the friction of our lust developed like a snap-shot photo. It lasted minutes it seemed, for both of us, until we slowed to heated breaths.

Clem wasn”t finished, however. After a momentary pause, she nudged my shoulders and I slipped from her, holding myself above her to allow her the space she needed. She turned on her belly, slid her hands under the pillows then buried her face in it. The way she lifted her hips, pressing her rear against me, spoke all the cues I needed, and I obliged to taking her from behind.

Feral was the only word to describe us that night. Perhaps primal or hungry might work, too. The way we touched, kissed, hugged, and enjoyed each other became the easiest thing in the world. I didn”t have to think, analyze, wonder. I simply went with it, moved with the flow of our emotions and energy, and it was the easiest thing in the world.

When the light of morning peeked through the drawn curtains, I found myself resting in the cozy pillows of Clem”s bed with one arm behind my head, and the other around her. She lay on her side, one leg draped over mine, with her head on my shoulder. I pressed my lips to her forehead, and she nuzzled my chin with her nose. I ran my fingers through her endless hair and she smiled up at me.

”Hey, beautiful,” I whispered, to which she scrunched her nose. ”What?”

”Not beautiful.”

”Incredibly beautiful.” I stroked her cheek and she leaned into my touch. ”Can”t you see that?”

”Maybe.” She smiled and nibbled my finger. ”You”re beautiful.”

”Nah.” I scoffed, but playfully.

”So, we agree that each other is beautiful but ourselves are perhaps mediocre at best.” She tapped her finger against my lips.

I laughed, nodding hard with it. ”I think that sounds about right.”

Her smile broadened and she settled against me again while I stroked her back. I pressed my lips to her forehead again. She pulled the blankets over us, and the warmth of us wrapped together soothed me. The comfort of her body beside mine eased the thoughts from my mind. Her breathing evened to rhythmic rises and falls as sleep caught her, and I wasn”t far behind.

***

”You seem very calm today,” said Tatiana the next night while we lounged on the sofa together sharing a pint of coconut ice cream.

”I am. I slept at Clem”s.”

”I noticed.” She grinned and nudged me. ”Seems like that”s going very well.”

”It is.” I smiled while thinking of her. ”She”s working late tonight.”

”What”s your favorite thing about her?”

”Um…” I swallowed my gulp of ice cream before responding. ”She”s funny without realizing it. Affectionate. Smart.”

”And sexy as heck.”

”Yeah, of course.” I felt my cheeks heat up and cleared my throat.

”And the sex is amazing, right?”

”Shh.” I shoved her shoulder. ”Be nice.”

”I am. Talking about sex isn”t un-nice, Jags.”

”But I don”t want to.”

”Okay.” She rubbed my arm, then gave it a squeeze when I met her gaze. ”You can say that.”

”Okay.” I leaned against her, then turned my attention to the movie we weren”t watching.

My phone rang and I pulled it out to see Sali Miller”s name on the screen. I let out a small groan before swiping to answer.

”What”s up?”

””Sup, yourself,” her snide voice responded.

”You called me.” I frowned, and Tati cocked a brow at me.

”Yeah, well. Got a lead. Let”s go.”

”It”s Sunday.”

”Murder does not respect the sabbath, Roth. Let”s go.”

”Where am I going exactly?”

”Outskirts of Olympia. I”ll thingy you the location thing.”

”I don”t have a car. Gotta go to the station first.”

I could almost hear Sali roll her eyes as she let out a dramatic sigh. ”Take. An. Uber.”

”Take an Uber to a crime scene?” I sat up then, my feet hitting the floor with a thud. ”Are you out of your mind?”

”Actually, yes, in fact. Clinically confirmed. Take an Uber—”

”Sali, is that Jagger?” Maggie”s voice piped in the background.

”Mags. She needs to get here—”

I tapped speaker on the phone so Tatiana could hear the two of them.

”She doesn”t need to take an Uber to scrape dirt off a slab of concrete—”

”Chain of custody!”

”You already fucked that up by illegally breaking and entering, by illegally traipsing all over the place, and illegally obtaining evidence. None of this is admissible in court. Scrape your own muck and bring it to her.” Maggie”s intense scolding had me stifling my laughter.

Tatiana covered her mouth, and we kept listening.

”It”s not illegal! It”s just…unethical!” Sali fought back, terribly.

”That”s worse. That”s so much worse.”

”C”mon—Roth, let”s go—”

”No.” Rustling happened in the background until Maggie”s voice grew clearer. ”Hi, Jagger.”

”For fuck”s sake, Mags!”

I distinctly heard the sound of a hand colliding with a shoulder echo through the line.

”Hello, Detective Miller.” I tried to hide the amusement from my voice.

”Can you meet us at the crime lab to run some materials?”

”Yeah. I can. Gotta call ahead on a Sunday though.”

”Not that one. We have access to FBI resources.”

”Uh…okay. I can meet you there.”

”Sounds good.” Maggie paused for a moment, then I heard her huff. ”See you soon.”

I hung up and looked over at Tati. ”Fun”s over. Gotta run.”

”They sound pretty fun,” she said, helping herself to finishing off the ice cream.

”Sali Miller is absolutely obnoxious. Brilliant, but obnoxious. She”s so overwhelming.” I leaned into my bedroom to grab my jeans off the chair, but stood in the doorway in order to keep chatting.

”You can handle it.”

”I know. It”s the crash after that kills me.”

Tati nodded then saluted me when I moved toward the door. ”Be safe. We gotta pick your kid up tomorrow so you better be alive.”

I chuckled, nodding my agreement. ”Can”t wait. Miss her.”

”She doesn”t even speak in English to me on the phone anymore.” Tati smiled, leaning into the sofa with a faraway look in her eye.

”It”s what you wanted, isn”t it?”

”It is. But my kid is growing up.”

”In the best way.” I blew her a kiss then headed out into the afternoon.

I met Sali and Maggie downtown at the crime lab as expected. It wasn”t as rainy today, and the sky appeared on the brighter side, casting the buildings in shimmering light. I shielded my eyes when the peaking sun joined the fray, and cursed myself for forgetting my sunglasses.

””Bout damn time,” mumbled Sali.

”It”s been twenty minutes. Calm down.” I frowned at her then stopped short when a mini-me version of Sali stepped out from behind Maggie.

The girl, probably twelve or so, glanced at me while holding Maggie”s hand. Her black hair hung to her waist, and she wore a full-length white linen skirt and a boho top to match. Although her blue eyes and freckles matched Sali”s, her outfit did not.

”Uh…”

”Well, don”t look so stunned there, Roth.”

”You have a kid?”

”I”m not a kid,” said the kid, in what sounded like fragments of an English accent.

”Uh…”

”You say uh a lot,” she said, though not once did she look at me. Instead, she seemed to be inspecting my shoes. ”Are you a skateboarder?”

Maggie smiled when I glanced at her, and I noticed she gave the girl”s hand a squeeze.

”I am… How did you know?”

”Aunt Sali”s shoes are smooth near the toe like that, too.” She pointed at my foot then looked up to Maggie. ”Where”s Caroline?”

”She”s coming.” Maggie nodded toward the building. ”Want to look around?”

The girl nodded, and the two of them headed inside.

Sali waited until they were out of earshot to address me again. ”Ride-along.”

”Didn”t know you had a kid… Who talks like she was born in London.”

”Not my kid.” Sali smirked and glanced over her shoulder.

”Could”ve fooled me. Why the ride-along?”

”She wanted to see the lab.” Sali shrugged. ”Let”s go.”

I followed her into the building I”d only visited a few times on occasion over the years. Agent Donovan eventually joined us, and the quartet traipsed through the seemingly endless halls. On a Sunday, there wasn”t much bustling about, but a few key workers seemed to man their posts. The tiled floors, bright halls, and overwhelming lights wrapped me in an uncomfortable glaze. For the most part, I managed to tune it out when the technology grabbed my attention. It far surpassed that of the precinct I was used to, and more aligned with Clementine”s equipment. State of the art, robotic, and space-agey seemed like the right adjectives to describe it.

”Roth,” called Donovan.

”Yeah?”

”Thanks for bringing the evidence you obtained legally and with appropriate investigative licenses to the FBI,” she said, tossing a glance at me over her shoulder.

I glared at Sali immediately after. ”What have you done?”

”Nothing.” She shoved a brown evidence bag into my palms. ”Good work.”

”What”s even happening with you people?” The crunch of the paper bag annoyed me, but I held on to it anyway.

”Just doing our jobs,” said Sali.

”Yeah, but dragging me along like a probie.”

”Comparatively, you are.” Sali nudged me with her elbow. ”Just follow and learn.”

”How to let other people do my job? I don”t think so.”

”Jagger,” called Maggie in a gentler tone. ”You”re still connecting the pieces within the realm of your limits. We exist so you can go beyond that.”

”It shouldn”t be that way,” I said, and glanced to the kid who walked side-by-side with Donovan now while looking left and right. She didn’t seem to care about us at all, only the sights around her.

”Gordo asked a colleague to join us here,” said Donovan while pushing open the door for all of us. ”Some specialist.”

”Good,” said Sali, then glanced to the kid again when she walked right up to the man waiting inside.

”Sali, don”t let her see too much,” warned Maggie when the girl ran ahead. ”She acts calm, but it will follow her later.”

”She likes sciences, Mags.”

”Yes, but forensics is a different kind of science. She can see the science, but not the photos or the conversation. I”ll take her for a snack when it gets to that part.”

Sali nodded in the serenest way ever. The subdued nature of her submissiveness to Maggie unnerved me. In a way, I”d grown used to her flying off the handle at any suggestion that wasn”t her own.

”What”s up, Phoebe gal?” The curly-haired man asked as he bumped fists with girl.

”I thought you were in Cyber Crimes, Gordo? How come you”re here to learn about the genealogical matches of the evidence? Is it the computers?” The girl, who I now knew to be called Phoebe, asked in such a way that it struck me with an air of familiarity.

”You betcha. I”m working with these guys here—” Gordo jabbed his thick thumb over his brawny shoulder— ”to help get some new equipment set up. Want to watch?”

”Yeah!” Phoebe clapped her hands once and bounced on her tiptoes. She followed him that way the entire time, walking in a shy, yet excited posture.

Sali chuckled and glanced at me. ”It makes her happy.”

”I see that. Think she”ll be a P.I. like you some day?”

”Fuck, I hope not.” Sali grinned and nudged Maggie. ”C”mon.”

Once again, I followed them into a room where Zay stood waiting for me. Beside him, Agent Roderick, who I knew to be a colleague of Donovan, joined the fray. Four technicians stood around the equipment meant for interplanetary exploration, in my opinion. They all seemed tied up in their work. Ainsley Monson swung around the corner with a thin tablet held to her chest and she smiled at me right away, a wave following. I returned the gesture awkwardly, per usual.

No one really said anything and seemed focused on Donovan who must”ve called this coup to order. Only Phoebe and Gordo chattered about tech on their way to a row of computers that hid the users behind their screens.

”Let me introduce you, Pheebs,” he said, then led her over to the row in question.

A pause followed, until Phoebe piped up. ”I really like genealogy in forensics. Do you think we”ll be able to trace back the genetic structure to infamous people one day and learn about more victims? Or maybe their blood lines. Do you think the children of serial killers and other bad people become bad people, too?”

Maggie came to stand beside me while I looked on, and Zay broke away from Roderick to join us.

”Clementine would love that kid,” I said, to no one in particular.

”Doctor Wright?” asked Zay, and I nodded. ”She”s right there. The kid”s talking to her.”

”What?” My stomach gave a great lurch, and I shuffled forward to get a better view.

”There is still question as to whether or not those who commit serial crimes are born that way or become that way. Nature or nurture. Genetics can”t account for that,” Clementine answered the girl matter-of-factly. She didn”t seem to mind that Clem never looked at her. She pointed to the screen as she pulled up a website on her hovering device. ”See this here?”

”Uh huh.” Phoebe climbed up to kneel on the stool beside Clem. ”Why do the hydrogen bonds look very different?”

”This is a different kind of double helix. A new technology. Would you like to see more?”

”Oh, yes. It”s my special interest.” Phoebe touched the screen and swiped the image to the left, then her little fingers flicked over the other graphs and charts like some sort of little expert. ”Forensic science is a special interest, too. But I also have a special interest in horses and the history of Pagan Europe. I”m not sure where that came from, but I think it”s a special interest that will fade over time.”

”Special interests…” repeated Clem, her tone fading slightly. She glanced at the girl now as if finally noticing her.

”Yes.” Phoebe didn”t look at her, but kept on controlling her screen. ”My first ever special interest was the roots of plants and how they grow. It”s not now because I know everything about it.”

Clem seemed to tense for a moment, and grew quiet, but Phoebe kept on.

”My mum taught me. Now she doesn”t. I have tutors, but sometimes I know more than them. They don”t understand special interests or neurodiversity at all. But now I have a special teacher who does.”

”A special teacher,” again, Clem repeated what Phoebe said, and I noticed how her movements slowed down as well. She turned on her stool, now facing the girl. Her fingers twitched beside her, and she tapped the middle two against her palm.

”Yes. For Autism.” Phoebe gave one last poke at the screen. ”There. That looks like a chloroplast genome.”

”You”re autistic,” said Clem, but not like a question, then looked back to the screen. ”It is a chloroplast genome.”

”Yes.”

”Me too…”

”I want to study how to synthesize the human genome someday.” Phoebe stared at the screen for a moment longer, then finally, she glanced at Clem. ”Do you do that?”

”I do that.” Again, Clem”s response sounded echoed, and her posture seemed riddled with sudden anxiety. I took a small step forward, but Phoebe continued on.

”Autistic people can do whatever we want.” Phoebe pointed at the screen again. ”Like you.” After that statement, Phoebe looked right at Clem and grinned.

It took her a moment, but her gaze flickered to the kid and a similar smile tugged the corner of her mouth. ”Thank you for saying that.”

”I say what I mean. Can you show me a human genome?”

”Sure.” Clem chuckled softly, but suddenly did a double-take when she saw me. Her eyes widened and she paused.

”Hi.” I couldn”t help the warm fluttering sensation in my stomach, nor the smile that lingered on my face. ”I didn”t expect to see you.”

Clem froze for a moment, before her gaze darted around the room. The way her fingers tapped wildly against her thighs told me my presence must”ve landed the final blow to her tolerance level.

”Hey.” I swept forward, blocking her view of the rest of the room for a moment. ”Want to get a coffee with me real quick? There”s vending machines outside.”

Clem nodded immediately and let out a puff of breath.

””Kay. C”mon.” I waved for her to follow me, and we hurried out the side door where no one seemed to gather.

We left Phoebe at computer, but I was pretty sure she”d figure out how to sequence the entire human species before we even got back without an iota of prompting.

In the empty hall, Clem calmed down almost immediately. No one followed us or joined us by the vending machines nor the seating area beside them.

”You okay?” I asked, glancing around us while she paced back and forth for a moment.

”I just have to calm down.”

”Okay. What do you need to calm down?”

”Just quiet for a minute.”

”Okay. I”ll sit here quietly, and you tell me when you”re ready for me to talk.” I made good on my word and sat down on the thick armchair beside the window.

Clem paced heatedly for about a minute, but eventually she slowed to a saunter when she came to stand by the window. She looked out into the city streets below with her shoulder pressed against the glass cool enough to fog up around her body.

It wasn”t but five minutes or so when she finally said, ”You can talk now,” with softened tone.

”Hi,” I whispered, and she smiled without looking at me. As always, I admired her casual beauty. Even on a Sunday, she wore deep burgundy slacks with her saddle shoes, and a white blouse cuffed to her elbows. Her hair hung lose down her back, with light, natural curls toward the bottom.

She waved at me, still smiling but staring outside.

”I didn”t expect to see you here,” I said, still keeping my voice soft.

”I”m glad you”re here,” she said, equally delicate. ”Did you hear it?”

”Hear what?”

”What I said to Phoebe?”

I nodded. ”Sure. Yeah. She”s very very smart. She reminded me of you a little bit when she was talking about science things.”

”She is autistic,” she whispered, though I noticed she started tapping her fingers again.

”I know. I heard that, too.” I stood up slowly when whatever helped calm her down seemed to begin fading again.

She glanced at me and said, ”Me too.”

I nodded, then leaned my shoulder against the window opposite her. ”I know.”

Her lips pressed together, and the tapping in her palm grew so fast I could hear the rhythmic sound. With caution, I let my fingers brush against the back of her hand until I snuck my index finger into her palm. Straightaway, she stopped the movement and gave my finger a squeeze.

”Do you dislike me now?”

”How could I ever dislike you?” My insides melted to a puddle. ”You”re incredible, Clem.”

”You”re not tired of me?”

”No way.” I leaned carefully forward until my forehead was an inch from hers. ”I can”t get enough of you, to be honest.”

”Autism is hard sometimes…”

”Will you teach me about it? So that I know more?”

She nodded, and tears welled in her eyes despite her small smile.

”Then we”ll be okay. Is it okay to hug you?”

”You can always hug me unless I tell you not to,” she said, her voice a whisper. ”Sound.”

”Sound bothers you more. Good to know.” I held my arm to her, and she moved toward me, dropping her head on my shoulder when I slid my hand around her waist.

”I think you have acquired evidence in your back pocket,” she said, her hand on my rear. ”Perhaps you shouldn”t smuggle blood and brain matter in your pants.”

”Oh my God ew. Send help.” I yanked the bag out and held it as far away from me as possible.

Clem giggled her head off suddenly. ”You should burn your pants.”

”You just want me to burn them because they”re holey. I see your motives, girl.”

Her snickers never faded, and she gave me a tight squeeze. ”Not anymore. I like seeing your skin because it reminds me that I get to touch it later.”

”Oh you do, do you?”

”I do. Yes.” She nodded then brushed her lips against my shoulder. Despite her playfulness, I could still feel the heaviness that weighed her down after the stressful encounter.

”They”ll come get this gross stuff if they need it. Want to sit with me out here for a little while? I could use a break from feeling less than useful.”

She nodded and moved with me to the leather sofa. On the table in front of us, a screen illuminated an array of digital magazines to choose from, manifesting in an instant the difference between current times and the decades past. Without hesitation, Clem tapped a science magazine called Quantum Forensics and swiped a few pages.

”Will you read this with me?” she asked, glancing in my direction.

”If you promise to explain every like, third word, sure.” I grinned and kissed her cheek. ”I”m here for it.”

”Okay.” She smiled and nibbled her bottom lip. ”Then after we can talk about why you feel useless in a room full of your colleagues.”

”Caught that did you.”

”I did indeed. I”m rather keen sometimes.”

”I”m learning such.”

”Deal?”

”Deal.”