Michelle rapped her knuckles on the table, the sound muffled by the white cloth that covered it. "I knew it! I heard he had a kid just about your age. You look just like him!"

  Elliot nodded politely. "Have you met my father, then?"

  The woman waggled a hand back and forth. "Well, not directly. I've got some friends in biotech that have worked in his circles though. But dang, Kate! I didn't realize you had such good taste!"

  Kaitlyn blushed, still processing what she'd seen. As innocent as Michelle appeared, that familiar predatory glint had yet to leave her eye. It reminded her somewhat of Heather—not the Heather that spotted a hot guy she wanted to nab, though. This was more like the Heather that talked business about Kate's Kitchen.

  She heard Elliot reply as the implications ran through her head. "I wouldn't say that. If anything, she's the more impressive one, especially in this crowd."

  "I'll say. People can't help but rave about her, you know. She's becoming a real hotshot at the company. So I guess you're more like a super power couple!"

  Kaitlyn's cheeks continued to warm. "I'm really not that special! I swear. It's just that I'm young, that's why everyone's so surprised at what I can do."

  "Ehrmbullshit."

  She looked across the table to see Corvin stifling a "cough." He shot a wink at her before turning to continue his own conversation.

  "Either way, that's so cool that you guys are students together!" Michelle leaned forward, leaning her chin on her hand. "Since you're doing bio stuff, are you looking to take over the family business one day, then?”

  As the trio continued talking, it became abundantly clear that Michelle was trying to cozy up to Elliot. Based on the woman's repeated references to her career and connections in biotech, she seemed to be treating this as some sort of high-value networking opportunity. One that Kaitlyn had not intended to drag Elliot into.

  To his credit, Elliot handled it incredibly well. Not a single hint of annoyance snuck through his demeanor, even as his attempts at subtle redirection were repeatedly thwarted by Michelle's obliviousness. He'd clearly had all too much experience warding off such advances.

  ...But he doesn't have to do it alone.

  Kaitlyn rolled her neck. Elliot being here, being in this situation, was entirely her doing. So it only made sense for her to take responsibility for it. Besides, he'd been helping her navigate conversations all night. The least she could do was return the favor.

  It took her a few moments to formulate a plan. Once she did, she sprang into action immediately.

  "Elliot," she interrupted Michelle's latest not-so-subtle attempt to talk business. "Would you mind grabbing me another serving of those little cheese-stuffed peppers? If they have them."

  She met his gaze, trying to convey her intent as clearly as she could. Let me take care of this. I think I can distract her.

  Luckily, he seemed to understand. With a nod, he stood and picked up his own plate. "Sure, no problem. I was just about to grab seconds myself. I'll be right back."

  Before Michelle could even consider standing to follow, Kaitlyn leapt on her with a question of her own. "By the way, Michelle, were you around for last year's party? I heard it got a little crazy…"

  The woman's eyes lit up. "Oh, it did. You should've seen it. Why, Klein, the CEO, still hasn't lived down his karaoke attempt…"

  Evidently, company gossip and stories were too tantalizing a bait to pass up---just as she'd hoped. With a little bit of effort, Kaitlyn managed to draw some of the other nearby partygoers into the conversation as well, each adding their two cents to the stories and recountings. Ones which, admittedly, did make last year's party sound more like one of Vinny's rather than this swanky affair.

  By the time Elliot eventually returned with their food, Kaitlyn had managed to safely divert an increasingly inebriated Michelle toward a conversation with her other seat neighbors. Kaitlyn introduced herself to the person on her other side—some guy from marketing—just to seal the deal.

  "Oh, thanks!" She smiled at the ginger as he transferred some of the peppers over to her plate. "I'm surprised these didn't all get taken."

  "They did. But I managed to bribe the catering people into making some more. It's why I took so long.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Of course not. Actually, I'm pretty sure you're the only one who likes these things. Everyone else seems to avoid them like the plague.”

  “What! But they're so good! The bleu cheese gives them such an interesting flavor...”

  “Mmm-hmm. 'Interesting' is a good word for it. I might need to get a new plate so all that flavor doesn't infect my other food.”

  She pouted. “You're so picky...”

  “If it keeps me from eating that garbage, then yes. Definitely.” Elliot glanced over her shoulder toward Michelle, who was currently engaged in a rather emphatic discussion with another group. “Seems like she's having fun.”

  “Yup. And so were we.” Kaitlyn gestured to the marketing guy on Elliot's opposite side. “Elliot, this is Roger. Roger, Elliot. Apparently, he also went to Hartland...”

  ***

  After hours of partying and socializing late into the night, it finally came time for Kaitlyn to call it quits. She and Elliot both had eaten, drank, and talked their fill, and the slow stream of people beginning to leave meant that it was completely acceptable to do the same.

  After retrieving the Bowley from the valet—and giving it a quick once-over for damage—they slid inside, relaxing back into the cushioned seats with grateful sighs. Kaitlyn flicked on her seat warmer to ward off the momentary chill they'd walked through, taking a moment to simply rest and enjoy.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Well... that was something.”

  She looked over at Elliot. The guy had shed his suit jacket and bowtie, exposing his partially-unbuttoned white dress shirt in full. The stark contrast made even this relatively formal attire seem casual and relaxed—an impression certainly helped by how he sprawled across his seat.

  Kaitlyn nodded in response, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. It really was. Not nearly as bad as I thought, though.”

  “Good. Told you it wouldn't be a big deal. Did you have fun?”

  She bit her lip, then nodded after a moment of thought. “Yeah. I did.”

  Despite everything—her initial hesitations, the unfamiliar crowd, and the ostensible formality of the event—she really had enjoyed herself. The people were incredibly friendly and the food was better than expected. Heck, even dressing up had been more fun than she ever could have guessed. All in all, Kaitlyn couldn't find a reason to regret coming to the event.

  I even feel like I actually belong at the company a bit more than before. Weird. I mean, I know things like this are specifically engineered for that purpose, but that doesn't mean I expected it to work…

  “Thanks again for coming," she told Elliot sincerely. "Really. I don't think I would've had nearly as good of a time without you.”

  Elliot gave a noncommittal shrug. “Of course. Not like I had anywhere else to be."

  "That's not true. You said your bandmates invited you to another party." Vinny's party, to be specific.

  "Eh," he shrugged again. "Yeah, but I might've just stayed home from that one, anyway. This sounded more fun."

  Yeah, right. You would've been there.

  After attending the Dream Lizards concert a few weeks back, Elliot had fessed up about his involvement in the band during lab. It hadn't turned into much, just the usual "don't tell anyone" request that she'd come to expect. Still, it was just one more piece of evidence that the band angle had been a red herring.

  He did seem to enjoy himself more at this one, though. I guess I should take heart in that.

  After taking a moment to stretch, Kaitlyn started the car and started heading for the main road. A few scattered stars twinkled in the dark sky above, the rest hidden by the bright city lights. Normally, she would spend another few hours working or doing some reading before considering sleep. But with all of the socializing and activity? She felt about ready to turn in for the night already.

  After a few minutes of companionable silence, streetlights gliding past their windows, the ginger spoke up again. "I'm glad you had fun. Gotta say though, I still don't get you at all."

  Kaitlyn glanced over as they reached an intersection. "What do you mean?"

  "Where does all that self-doubt come from?" He jerked his chin back toward the direction they'd come from. "You're obviously competent—beyond competent, based on everything I heard. Not just at work, either. I've been around you long enough to know that. It's not like you've got much to be self conscious about. And yet you act like you should be nervous about all this stuff. Why?"

  She frowned. "I don't act like it. I am nervous. You saw me at that first practice dinner!"

  "Eh, it wasn't that bad." He waved off the objection. "The start was shaky, but by the end of it? You were just fine. You just had to get out of your head a bit. You know, forget that you're supposed to act all timid. Same thing happened here."

  Kaitlyn shook her head vehemently. "That's not what's going on at all. I am nervous. If anything, I'm just getting better at faking confidence."

  "Hey, faking it is a perfectly viable tactic," he pointed out. "People use it all the time."

  "Yeah, that doesn't mean I want to. I'd much rather just be confident."

  Elliot leaned back, interlacing his fingers behind his head. "Well, if you can't be confident at this point, then I dunno what to tell you. You should be. But hey, maybe once they promote you to CEO you'll figure it out."

  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the road. Right. Even if someone was insane enough to let that happen, I'm sure it would just make me feel even more like an imposter… Shoot. Yeah, I guess that means he has a point, doesn't he.

  "...It's because I feel like I'm faking it," she eventually admitted. "Not just the confidence thing. Everything. Getting this job, how good everyone seems to think I am, the whole 'prodigy' thing. It all feels so… wrong. Misleading. Like I'm lying to everyone, even though I'm not trying to."

  "You're not running some sort of scam, are you? Stealing code or pretending that you're doing your work when you're really not?"

  "No! Of course not." Her tone turned offended.

  "Figured. Even if you were, you're definitely not faking the lab and cooking stuff. So then, what's the big deal?"

  She took a deep breath, considering how to respond. "It's… it's mostly that I'm really not as good as they think. And that's not just me putting myself down. It took me way longer to learn this stuff than anyone will ever know. But… no one would believe that. They just see that I'm some young college student who's better than she should be and instantly say 'prodigy.' They put me on a pedestal, even though I deserve it less than anyone."

  There it was. The issue that had been weighing on her, loop after loop, job after job. It was one of those things that was hard for other people to understand, much less for her to explain. It still would have been, even if she could have given the full version without risking a reset.

  And yet… it still wasn't everything.

  "...I can get that," Elliot conceded. He gazed out the window at the passing scenery, starlight glinting in his eyes. "Believe me, I can. You're not the first one to suffer the whole 'hard work versus talent' conundrum. And yet, regardless of how you got there, you still did. You're still way more competent than most people even twice your age. And yet you don't even give yourself credit for that?"

  Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. "It's… not that easy."

  But Elliot was right. It wasn't everything. Some part of her knew that she'd accomplished a lot. Some part recognized that she'd come so far and become leagues better than she'd ever been—even better than she could have ever imagined. And yet…

  …If I admit that to myself, then even I'll start thinking I'm special. That I'm some sort of uniquely-impressive person. Even though anyone else could do the same thing, if they were stuck in a time loop like this.

  But was that really true? And even if it was, did that devalue the work she'd done? She had still done it, after all.

  Elliot's chuckle interrupted her thoughts. "Of course it is. If I can do it, you can too. For example, I'll gladly take credit for getting you to this point, confidence-wise."

  "You should. I wouldn't have gotten though this without you."

  "I know. One of the perks of learning from the best."

  Kaitlyn snorted, shaking her head at the unabashed self-aggrandizement. As far as she'd come, talking to Elliot really did have a way of putting her own self-esteem into perspective.

  "...Thank you. Really."

  Elliot's expression softened into a smile. "Anytime. Though I'm pretty sure all of this means you owe me at least one favor, now."

  "Just one? You're letting me off easy."

  "I know. Better hope I don't change my mind later."

  Kaitlyn couldn't help but laugh.