Chapter 71: Chapter 71: If You Suffocate in a Pretty Dress, At Least You’ll Make an Amazing Corpse

“Gracie!” Octavia hollered as she burst through the front door of her apartment.

She dashed into the kitchen where she found Gracie at the island, making herself a sandwich.

With an exhausted sigh, Octavia flung her book bag onto the clear space of the island, only narrowly missing Gracie’s sandwich.

“Hey! Watch it,” Gracie said.

“Oops, sorry,” Octavia said. “I’m so tired! I practically ran all the way from the lobby.”

“Are the elevators down or something?” Gracie asked.

“No, they’re fine. But I was in such a hurry to get here….I couldn’t wait for the next one. I took the stairs.”

Gracie observed the sweat trickling down Octavia’s face. “That was dumb.”

“It was,” Octavia agreed. “A fact that I realized by about the fourth floor. At which point I went back to catch the elevator.”

“Good call. So, what is it that had you in such a hurry?” Gracie asked, dipping a knife into a large jar of mayonnaise.

Octavia’s tired eyes immediately lit up. “You won’t believe it! This is the best day ever!”

“How fortunate for you,” Gracie remarked. “My day was so-so.”

“Well, it’s about to get better. I think. Hmm, maybe not. Well, I hope it will.”

“Oh?”

“You know that computer program of mine?”

“Yes. I thought you had put it on hold for testing.”

“I had….but then about a month ago, I was actually able to test it at the Curie facilities,” Octavia began explaining. “You know I told Indira about it when we first met.

“Later on, when I started working with Curie, she suggested I test it out at the Curie site. It was all her idea; I wouldn’t have dreamed of something like that.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Wasn’t it? Well, anyway, I just finished testing it last week. I’ve got all the bugs worked out…at least as far as I can tell…and it works!” Octavia beamed with pride and excitement.

“Can you believe it?”

“I can,” Gracie said.

“But that’s not it! Indira wants to start using it at Curie. She told me I really have a future with this. I just met with her today, and guess what? I’ve got an investor!”

“Really? That is something. I can see why you took the stairs. Congratulations.”

Octavia shrieked in joy and jumped up and down. Then she forced herself to simmer down.

“But that’s not what I wanted to ask you. There’s still a whole lot involved in getting this project off the ground. Even with Indira’s backing, I’m going to need some help.

“So I was wondering if maybe…you would be my business partner?”

Grace stopped slathering mayonnaise onto the slice of bread. She appeared to consider Octavia’s words. “You want me as your business partner?”

“You know all there is to know about technology,” Octavia said.

“I may be the whiz at software, but I’ve always come to you for the advice on the hardware stuff. Imagine if we had the freedom—and money—to create whatever we wanted?”

Octavia’s eyes were ablaze. “Honestly, we would totally run shit.”

“I don’t know,” Gracie said. “They say you shouldn’t mix business with friendships.”

“True,” Octavia said.

“But I’d have a hard time imagining what you could do that would cause a rift between us.”

“I mean, if we’ve gotten this far…,” Octavia remarked.

Gracie’s mouth tilted into a small smile. “Okay, then, Octavia Wilde, you have yourself a business partner.”

“Yes!” Octavia exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. “This is so great. I’ll text Indira immediately. We should set up a meeting with all three of us.

“And then you can come over to Curie and see how the program works. Also, what do you think we should name our business? I thought it would be cool to go with—”

“Slow down,” Gracie said, amused by Octavia’s enthusiasm. “Why don’t you start with a name for your program first?”

Octavia took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she said, “Athena. That’s what I decided on.”

“Greek goddess of wisdom?”

“That’s the one.”

“I like it. Whatever made you pick that?”

Octavia smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve looked into some Greek mythology recently, and it’s very…intriguing.”

“Hmmm,” Gracie said, “the name Icarus is from Greek mythology too, isn’t it? Interesting. By the way, does Raemon know about this?”

“Of course,” Octavia said. “He’s not my boss anymore…I don’t have to hide things from him. Also, it’s kind of hard to do that with people you’re sleeping with.”

Gracie chuckled. “And yet, plenty of people find a way.”

An idea struck Octavia. “Hey, let’s celebrate. Let’s do something to commemorate the occasion. What are you doing tonight? Nothing with Quentin, I hope.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, you’re always with Quentin. You have been for the past few nights.”

“You’re always with Raemon.”

Octavia sighed. “I know. Dammit! Look at us, two independent, successful women failing to prioritize our friendship because of men.”

“Hardly living up to the ‘girl code,’ are we?”

“I know! It’s supposed to be ‘ovaries before brovaries.’”

“‘Sisters before misters.’”

“‘Hoes before bros,’” Octavia declared. “Wait…that’s not right…”

“Okay,” Gracie said, “what should we do tonight? Just us.”

“Hmmm…ooh! I know! Remember how we used to watch MMA fights?” Octavia said.

“I still do,” Gracie replied. “There’s something strangely cathartic about watching people beat the shit out of each other.”

“Well…let’s watch one,” Octavia said.

“Cool. There’s a big match on tonight.”

“No, no, no,” Octavia said, “let’s watch it live. Let’s go see the fight. In person!”

“You can get tickets?” Gracie asked dubiously.

“Hell, no,” Octavia said. Her smile was sly as she pulled out her phone. “But I know someone who can.”