When she answered chicken sandwiches, he said yes. They sat on the edge of the loading dock with several feet between them. For a while, the conversation stayed harmless. Traffic, rain, Victor's strange ability to own what seemed like six identical blue work shirts. Celeste handed Desmond a coffee.
He took one sip and looked down into the cup. When she asked what was wrong, he wanted to know whether the place had actually put coffee in it. Celeste stared at him, then laughed. It's from a very good place. That doesn't answer the question.
You criticize everything, only wiring and coffee. The building felt different without dozens of people moving through it, quiet enough that the rain filled the empty spaces. Celeste's phone buzzed beside her. She looked at the screen, then turned it face down. After a while, she asked whether Tessa was still working on robots.
Desmond said she was redesigning the arm on the competition robot. Celeste asked if it had failed. Desmond told her the problem was that it had worked. If it fails, she knows what to fix. If it works, she thinks she can make it better.
Celeste smiled. That sounds familiar. Don't tell her that. She'll take it as a compliment. The ease between them lasted long enough for the conversation to go somewhere neither had planned.
Celeste asked whether Desmond ever got tired of people assuming things about him. He said it depended on what they assumed. She mentioned people assuming a man who worked with his hands did not understand business or that a single father must need saving or that someone without much money must want theirs. Desmond looked at her differently. You're not bad at guessing.
Celeste looked down at her cup. People do the opposite with me. They assume money means I don't need anything or that anything I do need can be bought. She told him about a man who asked about a prenuptial agreement before he knew how she took her coffee. Another wanted access to one of her investors before their third date.
Someone else had told a reporter they were serious after only two dinners. Sometimes I don't know whether they're looking at me or everything standing behind my name. Desmond did not tell her wealth was a good problem to have. He simply asked, "When was the last time somebody asked what you wanted? " Celeste tried to answer and realized she could not, so she returned the question. What do you want?
Desmond's answer came too quickly. For Tessa to know I showed up, Celeste watched him. That's what you want for her. It's enough. Is it?
Desmond looked toward her. Celeste sensed she had reached something private and did not push. Instead, she asked about the foreman training Victor had mentioned. Desmond said it was not the right time. Celeste asked whether work was the reason.