CHAPTER 77: A DATE

Days passed in a blur and the deal with Google was soon wrapped up. Unlike what Amelia or even Lillian expected, the board was completely ’on board1’ with OmniTech’s terms.

Amelia suspected that they’d even accept the two hundred and fifty million annual fee. For the first time, the board, including Mr. Grayson had one thought in mind:

What’s more costly? Paying OmniTech, or risking a breach OmniTech could’ve prevented?

The answer was pretty obvious.

Their golden goose was still relatively young and they’d do anything to secure it.

Across the city, Lillian sat cross-legged on her hotel bed, staring at the finalized agreement in her inbox. A part of her still couldn’t believe it. She had stood toe-to-toe with Google — Google! — and walked away with terms that would have made Wall Street legends jealous.

Her phone buzzed.

A message from Ethan.

Ethan: "Good work. I’ll review the closing documents tonight. Take a day to rest — you’ve earned it."

She read it three times before realizing she was smiling like an idiot. Aria, sprawled on the couch scrolling her phone, caught the look immediately.

"You’re simping again," she stated, only to have a pillow thrown on her face

With a chuckle, Aria sent the pillow to the side and sat up straight, looking at her friend, "Since you’ve got a day off, why don’t you invite him on a date, y’know, as a chance for him to see you as more than just a business partner," Aria finished, wiggling her brows.

Lillian nearly choked on air. "A—A date? With Ethan?"

"Exactly," Aria affirmed, "a date."

"I don’t think Ethan would be interested in a date," she said, "besides I’m not int—"

Aria leaned closer, cutting off whatever Lillian was going to say with a softer tone, "look, Lily. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re hiding behind excuses. You like him. Don’t waste your life being scared to admit it, or else, someone else would just snatch him away."

Silence fell in the room after her words, with Lillian seriously contemplating it.

Her phone buzzed again.

It was another message from Ethan.

Ethan: "We’ll be moving faster from here on. Rest well, you’ll need it."

Her fingers hovered over the phone’s screen as she contemplated whether to text or not. Aria peeked into the the phone before moving back and giving Lillian ’the look.’

"Fine," Lillian said in resignation before she started typing.

Her thumbs tapped nervously against on the screen.

What do I even say?

Aria leaned in again, grinning like the devil on her shoulder. "Keep it simple. Coffee. Lunch. Dinner. Whatever. Just don’t send him an essay."

Lillian shot her a glare before deleting three half-written drafts. Finally, she settled on something that didn’t make her want to crawl into a hole.

Lillian: "Thanks... actually, since I’ve got the day off, would you like to grab dinner tomorrow? My treat."

Her finger hovered over the send for a while.

"Do it," Aria urged.

She hit send and as the message changed from delivered to read, she immediately regretted it.

What if he thought it was weird? Or maybe unprofessional?

Yes they were actually friends and yes she had invited him for breakfast at Sammy’s multiple times, but the intention this time was different.

The first few times, he hadn’t invited him because she wanted a date, she invited him as a friend.

The three dots that indicated that he was typing caused her even more nervousness. And she held her breath, alongside Aria who was also watching with anticipation.

Ethan: "Sure, dinner works, 7PM tomorrow?."

Lillian froze and Aria immediately squealed.

"He said yes! He actually said yes!"

They way she celebrated, you’d think she was the one who had gotten a date with her crush.

Aria grabbed both of Lillian’s hands and bounced in place on the bed. "Lillian Hayes, the girl who negotiated with Google and then got a date with her boss in the same week. You’re living the dream!"

Lillian, on the other hand, looked like she was about to faint. "It’s just dinner. He probably just said yes out of politeness."

"Girl, please," Aria scoffed, flopping dramatically back onto the couch, "Ethan doesn’t look dense enough to not notice your intentions."

Lillian paused, thought about it for a while before she smacked herself lightly with a pillow, groaning. "What do I even wear?"

Aria’s head shot up instantly. "Oh, now you’re talking my language."

And that was how the next two hours of Lillian’s ’day off’ vanished with them going through clothes after clothes, with none of the clothes matching the vibe Aria wanted.

She wanted cute and seductive at the same time, Lillian just wanted something casual and comfortable.

By the time the bed was littered with rejected outfits—skirts, blouses, dresses, and even one pair of jeans Aria had vetoed without mercy—Lillian lay flat on the mattress with an arm over her eyes.

"This is impossible," she muttered. "It’s just dinner. Why does it feel like I’m preparing for war?"

That earned a laugh from Aria, who finally pulled something from the closet and laid it across the bed. A navy-blue wrap dress, simple but flattering, paired with soft silver earrings and low heels. "This. It’s elegant but not screaming for attention. You’ll look like yourself—just... a more date-appropriate version."

Lillian sat up, studying it with wide eyes. "It’s... not bad."

"It’s perfect," Aria corrected, plopping beside her. "And trust me, if Ethan Carter doesn’t notice you in this, the man’s either blind or is completely uninterested in ladies."

She gave a short laugh that sounded more like a groan. "Great. So either I impress him, or I find out he’d rather be married to his laptop."

Aria shrugged, completely unfazed. "Better to know than spend your nights staring at contracts and wondering what if." She tapped the dress with a finality that left no room for debate. "You’re wearing this tomorrow. No arguments."

Lillian just nodded and her eyes going back to the ceiling, she wondered why he said yes, was it really out of politeness or something else.

"What are you thinking about?" Aria interrupted her thoughts, "get up and try these on."

______

Ethan leaned back against the headboard, the glow of his laptop screen washing over his face as he read through the finalized agreement with Google.

There was the faintest smile on his face as he read through, although, it was mostly not due to the successful deal.

It wasn’t unusual for him and Lillian to share meals—breakfast runs, quick lunches between meetings, the occasional late-night bite after marathon negotiation sessions. But this felt... different.

And he knew exactly why. He wasn’t dense enough to not notice why.

He had seen how she looked at him, he knew.

At first, Ethan had brushed it off. Admiration, he told himself. Dependence. She was just an introvert who was hesitant to even interact with people. Of course she’d gravitate toward

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair, setting the laptop aside. The Google deal was monumental, but it wasn’t what lingered in his mind tonight. No, what lingered was the simple line of text that had lit up his phone:

Would you like to grab dinner tomorrow?

As hesitant as he was to entertain any kind of romance right now, she deserved a reward for completing the test.

Besides, he couldn’t be stuck in the past either, he couldn’t be stuck on Olivia, but that was easier said than done.

But speaking of Lillian, Ethan wanted to see her as more than a piece of his puzzle.

He wanted to see her outside of boardrooms and contracts. He wanted to know who she was when the armor came off, when she wasn’t carrying the weight of OmniTech on her shoulders. He wanted—

Ethan cut off the thought before it could spiral, shaking his head. Dangerous. All of it. Still, he reached for his phone again, his thumb hovering over her contact. For a brief second, he considered sending another message—something light, something that would make the dinner less formal, less loaded. But in the end, he set the device back down.

No. She’d made the first move. He owed her the honesty of meeting her halfway, without diluting it.

But for now, he shelved those thoughts. Whether he’d let her in or not was undecided and maybe it won’t be until he satisfied his hate towards Olivia and Nathaniel, but one thing was for certain, Lillian was a lot more than a piece of puzzle for him now.

"Athena, can you check up on the two Dmitri just recruited?" He ordered, "I don’t want to be caught unaware."

That made zero sense since Athena constantly had eyes on them and any change would be relayed to him.

Even Athena knew that this was a tactic to distract himself from the rousing thoughts but she decided not to call him out.

[Understood,] she answered.

With that, Ethan lay down eyes closing for a rest as the thoughts he really didn’t want to address right now, running in his mind.

pun intended