And I need you to be straight with me. Okay. What are you doing here? Not the scarf, not the text. I mean, what is this, Lauren?
Because I need to understand what I'm in the middle of before I'm in the middle of it. She didn't answer immediately. He respected that. She was thinking not stalling. I don't know yet, she said finally.
But I know that Friday night was the first time in a long time I said something real to someone and they didn't immediately try to manage me. She looked at him. I'm not here to cause problems for you. I know what your job means. I know what my father means to your livelihood.
I'm not I'm not careless with people. Daniel, I didn't say you were. You were thinking it. He was. He looked away then back.
Then what do you want from these conversations? Just the conversations, she said. That's it. Someone to talk to who isn't in my father's pocket. He thought about that for 10 seconds.
That felt longer. I have a break at 10:00. He said, "There's a coffee spot two blocks from here. Nothing fancy. " She almost smiled. I'll find it.
She left the yard before Larry could get his eyes on her for too long. Daniel went back to his cord and spent the next hour and 45 minutes thinking about everything except the clipboard. The coffee spot was a narrow counterplace that mostly served construction workers and people between bus transfers. Lauren arrived 3 minutes after he did, looked around once, and sat down across from him like she did this every day. Your guys saw me at the yard, she said.
They're not my guys in that way. They work for your father, too. Will they say something? Larry might mention it to the office manager. The office manager will file it away in case it becomes useful someday.
He wrapped his hands around his cup. Welcome to being the owner's daughter at a logistics company. I grew up in it, she said. I know exactly how information moves in those buildings. Then you knew this wasn't the most discreet move.
I know. She looked at him directly. But discreet hasn't gotten me anywhere. I've been discreet for four years. He leaned back, looked at her.