I wonder if he's happier. Or if he's just waiting for something to happen.
My phone buzzes: a new email. My heart does a weird little jump. I check it.
It's from Elad.
Subject: Re: Building the Next Evolution of Intelligence
Let's talk. Tomorrow, 9am PST. Here's a Zoom link.
-E
I stand there, phone in hand, almost unable to breathe. Then I laugh, long and hard, until my neighbor bangs on the wall to tell me to shut up.
I text Jian and Maddy: "We're on. 9am tomorrow. Don't sleep."
I pour myself a drink, even though I hate drinking alone, and sit in the dark until the glass is empty.
We're really doing this.
I close my eyes and try to picture the future, but all I see is that business card, and the words that started it all.
"Let us know if you want to lead."
I hope we remember this feeling, years from now, when everything is different.
I'm betting we will.
The morning of the call, I'm in a shirt with actual buttons, hair smoothed with water, sitting at the kitchen table and counting the seconds until the Zoom meeting starts. Jian joins first, tie and blazer, face set like he's about to face a disciplinary committee. Maddy logs in right after, wearing a NASA hoodie and holding a mug that says "World's Okayest CEO."
"Ready?" I ask, voice cracking.
"No," says Jian.