Braden glances over his shoulder, but then turns forward without a word, continuing down the street. There is no sidewalk, just the quiet, winding road surrounded by trees. The branches rustle in the wind and the sky gets even darker, making it look more like dusk than midafternoon.

“Braden!” I yell.

“What?” He stops walking and spins around. “What could you possibly want now?”

“Don’t talk to me like that.” I’m taken aback. “You are the one who was supposed to handle the businesses side. I built the damn thing—you’re the ‘CFO.’” I mimic him with a goofy voice. “Remember? Why the hell would you send us into a meeting with zero preparation?”

“I didn’t think they would get back to me that quickly. I—” He grabs his head, digging his fingers into fistfuls of his usually perfect hair. He turns to the side and paces into the road.

Raindrops fall around me, a few at a time. One drops directly on my head, feeling almost as if an angel was tapping me with her finger.

“No, that’s not fair,” I say. I straighten my shoulders, building up my nerve. “Don’t act ignorant. You could have waited until we were ready, but you didn’t want to.”

He turns back around and stares at me, his mouth agape.

“You want so badly for this to be huge. Saying it was ready when it wasn’t, talking it up to the paper, setting expectations waaay beyond what we could hope to achieve.” I laugh, even though it’s not funny at all. “You don’t build anything—all you do is screw us over.”

“You think I don’t know that?” His voice cracks. “You think I don’t know that I am not the one who comes up with ideas or knows how to build them?”

He sits on the curb and clasps his head over his knees.

“Oh...” I was going to tell him not to sit, that the mud will ruin those expensive pants. But he’s on the ground before I can warn him.

I purse my lips, trying to find the words to respond. I wasn’t expecting Braden, of all people, to be so vulnerable, but that doesn’t make me less mad at him. Or maybe it does. I don’t know. Pity and anger swirl inside me, like red and green smoke competing for room.

I stay silent and just look up and down the road, watching as a Tesla races past in the opposite lane, headlights cutting through the ever-increasing rain.

Braden looks up at me. “Do you know why they talked to us fuckin’ months before I would’ve expected them to?”

I shake my head.

“Because his partner recognized my last name. He even said in the email to ‘say hello’ to my dad.” He rolls his eyes. “Classic.”