Chapter 251: Sibling Rivalry
** Harper **
Tiny suspicions on the family relationship aside, Harper’s general impression of Emory only became more positive as the day went by. The girl was a self starter, energetic and all too eager to dive right into the job. Harper had allotted almost half of the day to help the newcomer get oriented on all the project requirements and current status, but to her surprised relief, it took Emory only a negligible portion of that time to get fully prepped.
The smooth turnaround made Harper’s workload much lighter than anticipated, which was exactly what she needed with the conceptual design deadline coming up at the end of the month. It helped to lift so much pressure off of her shoulders that when she got off work, she even skipped her usual yawning stretch, replacing the habit with a spirited "I’m back!" when she got home and spotted Eli lounging on the couch.
"Hi love. You look like you had an amazing day." The man who could read her a little scarily well put down what he was holding in his hands — which she noticed, somewhat unexpectedly, to be a game controller — and patted the cushion next to him with an indulging smile. "Come over here and tell me about it."
Harper returned that smile with a big grin. She liked how naturally he would say "come over here" these days, with his arm stretched out and his gaze so soft and expecting, like it was simply the most normal thing to do for them to snuggle up that way every chance they got. Quickly kicking off her shoes, she darted to the couch and jumped into his embrace, smacking a loud kiss on his lips.
"Emory started her internship today," she reported merrily. "That girl is amazing! I expected her to take a couple of days to go through all the project documents I prepared for her, but guess what, it only took her a few hours. She understood it well too and even asked some really good questions. I think some of her opinions were actually very unique and should be added to the final design ..."
She trailed off when she noticed that the look on Eli’s face had apparently turned ... complicated.
"Um, would you prefer it if I don’t talk about Emory?" she ventured. "I mean, you asked me to tell you, so ..."
"Nah." Eli lifted her up from the couch, placing her in his lap instead, and wrapped his arms around her. "You’re just making me wish that I could apply for the internship position too and work for you," he said in a bit of a muffle with his nose buried in her hair.