Read Online The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren - Free Book Online Page A

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    Good grief.
    Jess managed to find about a thousand important things she needed to do immediately. She made a DMV appointment to renew her license, scheduled her and Juno’s annual physical exams and dentist appointments. She went for a run; she took a long shower. She even bought herself a new sweater as a birthday indulgence. She had lunch with Nana and Pops, cleaned her apartment, folded every piece of laundry she could find, picked up Juno from school, and read almost an entire Judy Blume novel with her before Juno urged Jess to leave the apartment so Nana and Pops could come over and get the surprise party ready.
    Surprise!
    With two hours to kill and the notification like a splinter in her thumb, Jess gave up and called Lisa Addams.
    The GeneticAlly building was dark from the outside, but a light in the lobby flickered on as the town car pulled up to the curb. Lisa emerged, walking briskly out and opening the car door.
    â€œJessica,” she said breathlessly. “Thanks for coming in on such short notice.”
    Even in the dusk, Jess spotted the flush on Lisa’s cheeks, theway her hairline seemed just the slightest bit sweaty. She tumbled one more tick down the Uneasy Scale.
    â€œNo problem. I only have about an hour, though.”
    â€œOf course. Come on in.”
    Lisa turned, leading them into the empty building. None of this seemed like normal protocol, which made Jess feel like she’d swallowed battery acid. “I have to admit I’m really confused about why this is so urgent.”
    â€œI’ll explain everything once we’re inside.”
    Jess followed her through the double doors and down the long hallway she’d walked the last time she was here. Everyone was clearly done for the day; the offices were dark and vacant in that way that made even innocuous spaces seem creepy.
    In the conference room, Lisa gestured to six people seated around a large table. River wasn’t among them.
    â€œJessica, I’d like to introduce you to our executive team.”
    Their what now?
    â€œThis is David Morris, the principal investigator in charge of the original research, and the CEO of GeneticAlly.”
    A man to her right stood, stretching out his hand, and Jess recognized him as the person she’d met after overhearing River call her “entirely average.”
    â€œJessica. It’s so great to see you again.”
    â€œYou too.” She wiped her palm on her pants before shaking. And then it sank in: Original research. CEO. “Right. I guess I didn’t realize who I was meeting in the hall the other day.”
    He laughed a big, open-mouthed laugh. “Well, it feels a little douchey to say, ‘I’m CEO David Morris.’ ”
    â€œMaybe,” Jess said, “but you’ve earned the right.”
    â€œI’m friends with Alan Timberland over at Genentech,” he said, still smiling, “and he’s mentioned some analytics help he had. After looking at your intake information from the other day, I put two and two together and realized you’re the brain behind their new high-throughput screening algorithms.”
    Jess was a wine bottle, slowly uncorked. Oh, this is about data? Had GeneticAlly brought her here to talk about algorithms?
    â€œAlan’s great,” she said carefully. At the prospect that she was here for consulting, not because she had lemur DNA, the nausea slowly cleared.
    Lisa gestured to an overly tanned man to David’s left. “Brandon Butkis is our head of marketing.”
    Another hand closed around Jess’s, another face gave her an urgent, vibrating smile. All she could see was blindingly white capped teeth.
    After Jess had shaken every hand in the room, Lisa gestured for her to sit down in the direct center seat at the table.
    â€œIt’s probably unexpected to walk into a full room like this,” Lisa started.
    â€œA little,” Jess agreed, “but I know how important