She was on her third attempt at the same paragraph when Ricky walked in.
Aurora didn't look up immediately. The quarterly report for the Nexus Media partnership had been sitting at the edge of her desk since morning, and the clause she was reviewing—a revenue-share structure that was reasonable in isolation and quietly problematic in context—required the kind of attention that kept evaporating every time she thought she had it. She pressed her fingers against her temple and kept reading.
"Any news on the Nexus Media deal?" she said. "Their legal team was supposed to send the revised clause by noon."
"I'm not here as your COO."
She looked up.
Ricky was standing across from her desk with the particular expression he wore when he had decided something was going to happen and was quietly pleased about it. His jacket was off. He looked entirely too relaxed for two-fifteen on a Thursday.
"What?" she said.
