To his surprise, Summer came to pick him up before he could leave his house. Not only that, she had changed into a blouse and skirt that matched her current sunny smile. She looked him up and down and her smile widened with glee. How did she still have so much energy? Well, he also felt a bit more energized after seeing her so maybe it was similar. He held out his hand.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  Summer took his hand without hesitation. “Yes!”

  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The mood was comfortable until they arrived at the party. Summer was understandably shocked by the haphazard preparation that the lack of communication standard in large companies was bound to cause. After that, the all too familiar awkwardness set in. Ashton had known from the beginning that things would be like this.

  "We don't have to stay if you don't want to," Ashton told Summer. Parties like this really weren’t Ashton’s thing, but he didn’t want to force Summer to leave either.

  "No, we should stay," Summer decided, "We need to at least say hello to everyone. They went out of their way to welcome us on such short notice.”

  Short notice huh? That was a possibility as well. Ashton hadn’t really spent enough time at Gale Industries to know how each division and department communicated. Still, judging by the fact that the food was from three completely different cultures there probably wasn’t much to speak of, short notice or not.

  For now, he took Summer to meet Harper and Jared, and then introduced her to Jared’s team who he had spent some time training with. Ashton didn’t really know anyone else so their greetings stopped there. Even Summer wasn’t up for greeting the random assembly of strangers present. Most of them were people they would probably never see again.

  To fill some time after that, the two of them grabbed something to eat. The pizza should probably be safe, right? It was just cheese, but at least it was a finished product. The same could not be said about the taco bar and the disorganized Chinese ensemble. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Summer spoke up again.

  “I never would have put orange chicken with tacos before but it is better than I expected,” Summer blurted, clearly flustered.

  “That’s good,” Ashton replied. He wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. Did Summer want to talk about something? Should he bring something up to make things easier for her. Before he could, Harper approached them.

  “Ashton, sorry to bother you during the party, but something important came up that I need to confirm with you,” she told him, sending both him and Summer an apologetic glance.

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  “It’s fine,” Ashton said, “As long as it doesn’t take too long. I promised to spend time with Summer today.”

  “It won’t take long,” Harper assured, and led Ashton away.

  If she really had something so important to say, why had she waited to bring it up now instead of when they had greeted her earlier?

  "Is this something that couldn't wait until after the party?" Ashton asked.

  "I gave you some time to enjoy your date," Harper said with a shrug, "Besides, this information is more personal to you so I thought you would want to know sooner rather than later."

  "Fine," Ashton sighed, "What is it?"

  "Your team has officially been granted security clearance to know about and deal with the facilities," Harper announced, "Including Summer. She is going to find out where you came from sooner or later, so you should start thinking of how to tell her before someone else does."

  Ashton had always known that this was likely to happen sooner or later, but they hadn't even finished training yet. "Isn't it a bit soon to get that kind of clearance?" Ashton asked.

  "In most cases it would be, but your team in particular will be working closely with the facilities," Harper explained, "So much so that we need to cover it in your training. Besides, other than Summer all of you already know so it was only the process of approving one person."

  "What happens if the truth scares her off and she tries to leave?" Ashton asked.

  "We let her, with some conditions," Harper answered, "Her last chance to remain an innocent civilian is tonight. Our training tomorrow will tie her to our secrets forever."

  The imagery of that sentence gave Ashton chills. It described the feeling of being sworn to secrecy all too well. Once you knew a secret you could never escape it as long as you lived. Unlike them, Summer had no real reason to get dragged into this mess. No real reason to live surrounded by secrets forever.

  "Thanks," Ashton said, picking up on her intention, "I will warn her before we split up tonight. She is quite stubborn, though. I can't picture her actually leaving."

  "That is good," Harper replied, seeming satisfied, "Make sure to warn her, but I personally hope she sticks around. Your team could use an outsider's perspective on things."

  An outsider's perspective. The reason she had been recommended to his team specifically was starting to make more sense. There were plenty of other profiles from outside the facilities but he hadn't even given them a second glance. He should have known to expect this kind of sneaky manipulation from Gale Research as well.

  Summer was still waiting where he had left her when Ashton returned, but she looked a bit off. "Are you alright?" he asked.

  "Yeah, this party is just really disappointing I guess," Summer admitted.

  Ashton held out his hand. "Then do you want to go somewhere else?" It probably was for the best if they didn't discuss what he had to say there. Whether for the date or the warning, it was time to ditch this party.