“Hey, you don’t have to participate if this isn’t what you want,” Pen said as she walked by Thea’s side. This time she was looking like a presentable person in her formal attire and her red curls gathered stylishly on top of her head.
Whoever saw her in her disheveled state in the lab wouldn’t believe that she was the same person as before.
“It’s okay. I don’t want the old geezer to have to say anything about this again. He’s already going to give me a hard time with Robert as it is,” she said as she sipped from her tea.
“You’re making it sound like it’s your fault… I mean Robert was the one cheating on you,” Pen answered, then she added, "You've been drinking that tea a lot more these days."
Thea paused for a moment, looking down at the teacup and then at her friend before feeling a rush of heat spread up to her cheeks.
'Nope... She wasn't doing it because of him. She just liked the taste...'
“Yeah... I guess." She said, then continued as if nothing happened, "You know how the old man is, he just needs an excuse to make me come to this meeting,” She said, wondering why he was making a big deal out of her attending this meeting.
Robert was definitely going to hate seeing her there. Not that that’s any of her business.
“Well, it is an important meeting and you’re the only one available enough to be leading this research, so it should naturally fall upon you even without your grandfather’s pressure,” Pen said carefully.
Thea knew that she was right. She was pushing it as it is without doing research all this time. She was so fixated on opposing her grandfather that she lost sight of what she really needed to do—her duty as a fellow professor at this university.
“I will take it…” She said, mustering the determination she found in her to finally make this decision.
“Are you sure?!” Pen exclaimed, looking at her with a broad smile.
“Yeah,” Thea said awkwardly while wondering if she had made the right decision, “This is the best opportunity to make a comeback anyway, and I would have you to work with, so it’s a win-win…”
“Yay! Finally!” Pen said, hugging her enthusiastically, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to finally say that!”
“Although, we will have to get through one last hurdle before this…” Thea said.
“What?” Pen asked.
“You know that Robert is going to use every trick in his bag to make sure that he gets control over this project. I can see him salivating over the Chim&Bio executives.” She said,
“Ugh… You’re right…” Pen said, “But I’m sure that you can make it work. This is more your field of expertise than it is his.”
Pen was right. The domain of plants’ chemical usage was more in her field of study. Although it had been a while since she'd done any real research, she was still keeping up with her studies, unlike Robert, who was more concerned about university politics these days.
“I’m not here to compete with him, to be honest.” Thea said with a deep sigh, “But I can’t say that I’m not interested in the subject. I think it’s a good opportunity and I will do my best to earn it,”
“That’s my Thea…” Pen said, slapping her on the back hard, “I know you can do it when you’re determined,”
Thea gasped and glared at Pen, who smiled sheepishly.
“You’re as weak as ever…” Pen said.
“You’re the one who has too much strength,” she answered.
“I’m sure that this will be advantageous for you. I hear that the future CEO of Chim&Bio is going to supervise this project personally.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Thea asked.
“You’re such a shut in. Everybody knows Chim&Bio’s future CEO, the handsome and super sexy young man who keeps making the headlines,” She said, “If you get this project, you will be working closely with him…” She said with a smile and Thea wanted to sigh,
“Dealing with those kinds of people is annoying…” She complained.
“Those are the famous last words of the girl who ends up falling for the CEO…” Pen said and grinned at her and opened the meeting room’s door, stepping inside before her.
Thea followed behind her, greeting her seniors and trying to ignore Robert who was practically glaring at her. He didn’t want her there. And he wasn’t even trying to hide it.
“Thea…” Her grandfather called, motioning her over.
He was standing with a young man who looked like he was in his early thirties. He wore a tailored suit that fit him perfectly, with a crisp white shirt and a deep blue tie. He had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that accentuated his sharp features and gave him an air of intelligence and efficiency.
Was this the infamous CEO of Chim&Bio?
“Thea, This is Haden Bruce, one of Chim&Bio’s executives. He came today as a replacement for his superior who will be supervising the project,” Her grandfather explained, “Haden, this is Professor Thea Keaton. We were hoping to have her direct the biology part of the project.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” She said, extending her hand to him, “I will be looking forward to working with you,”
“Likewise, Professor Keaton,” Haden said with a smile, looking at her in the eyes.
He knew who she was, and he was giving her a careful appraisal to see if she got the position thanks to her grandfather or her own competence. By the end of the meeting, this man would have his verdict for sure.
“Now, let us not delay this meeting any further,” her grandfather said, and she felt excitement build up within her. She hadn’t felt like this in a while, she was looking forward to how things were going to work out.
As the meeting went on, Haden Bruce and her grandfather led the conversation as they identified the objectives of this research.
‘Finding new components to replace the chemical version of some types of medicines,’
After getting the gist of everything, Thea began to put in her suggestions. Robert pitched in a few times but after realizing that this wasn’t his field of practice, he reluctantly stepped back. Both Thea and Pen were the only ones involved at the end of the meeting and when Thea looked at her grandfather she found him carefully looking at her with a barely hidden smile.
He was pleased... She didn't know how to deal with that, she was too used to his disapproval that she was now confused.
“I think it’s decided!” Said one of the senior professors, “Professor Grace and Professor Keaton will take care of this project. No one can deal with it better than these two…”
“I have no complaints so far,” Haden said as he gathered his notes from the meeting, then looked at Pen for a moment too long.
He had been stealing glances at her since the meeting started. Pen didn’t seem to notice though.
“We would be sending some of our people to audit your lectures if that’s okay. Just as a final procedure,” he added with a smile, and Pen nodded, moving her glasses as she looked down at her notes. Thea could swear that she saw Haden swallow hard as if he was choking on his own breath.
“Of course, I will send you my schedule via email. You can attend any relevant lectures you may find interesting,” She said as she looked up at him.
Haden, who seemed captivated for a moment, blinked almost imperceptively before clearing his throat and nodding with his professional smile.
“That would be great. Thank you…” He said.
Thea wanted to smile, looking at the dynamic between the two. All the men who met Pen when she was put together fell for her almost instantly. But not all of them stayed when they got to know her other side when she’s too absorbed in research to care about anything.
Not that Pen seemed to mind them. They were all as dispensable to her as the fancy clothes she wore when she felt like it.
For a moment, she wondered what category Haden would be. If he would run away as soon as he sees her other side too.
“Are you doing this on purpose?” She heard someone say from behind her and she was startled for a moment before realizing who it was.
When did Robert get the chance to move around the table and stand behind her?
“I thought that we agreed to leave each other alone unless it’s necessary for work,” Thea said in a low voice matching his before standing up and looking back at him, trying to put some distance between them.
“You are the one marching into my territory, this research would have been mine, if you hadn’t stepped in,” he said with so much confidence that it made her wonder if the man was joking.
“This is not your area of expertise, Robert, and you know it.”
“I don’t understand why you would say that. After refusing to do research for years, Why would you suddenly be interested in this?” He asked.
“Because we both know that I can’t slack off on research any longer. No matter how convenient that might have been for you,” She said, and he glared at her, making Thea wonder why she was even dating this scumbag of a man in the first place.
She should take a moment to re-evaluate her standards, seriously…
Just as she thought about that, the memory of the stranger at the park popped back into her mind and she shook her head trying to get rid of the disturbing memory.
That was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. There was no way that she was going to meet that person again. And there is no way that he is as wonderful as her memory was suggesting right now…
With that thought, Thea turned around and left Robert standing there.
Probably doing research was a good choice after all. She needs to use her brain on something more challenging than dealing with Robert's pettiness to step up her game a little bit.
As soon as Thea left the meeting, she made her way toward her car. She still needed to visit the outreach center since it had been a while since her last visit. The workers there must be worried about the budget cut as it is… “Thea…” She heard someone call her and she turned around to find James standing there. “May I have a moment?” He asked with a serious expression on his face which made Thea wonder what was going on. “Of course,” she said as she followed him to a side sitting room near her grandfather’s office. “Is everything okay?” She asked as she sat down before him. “I wanted to talk to you about something in private,” he said, looking more hesitant than ever. “What is it?” She asked, feeling nervous. “It’s about the outreach program funds…” He said, looking at her with worry, “You know how your grandfather cut the funds for it… There is much more to this than what he told you.” Thea remained silent as she kept listening to James. “You know how the funding for the out
Thea wondered where the commotion came from as she stepped into the lecture hall. She was pretty sure that it wasn’t because of her. It wasn’t that unusual for her to cover for Professor Wilson so the students mustn’t be too surprised by her presence there. Continuing to walk down the stairs, she put down her bag on the table and looked up at her class. Everyone was busy looking from her to someone in the back row. And as her eyes traveled up following their gazes, she realized what drove their attention this much. Sitting at one of the far back rows was no one other than him… The stranger from the park. The man who almost ran her over. Sitting there, Thea couldn’t help but note why the students were making such a fuss about him. He was sitting there looking down at his phone in his clearly expensive three piece suit. He looked too much out of place and to be honest way out of league of his entourage which made Thea wonder why she hadn’t seen that when she first met him. So… This
“That your boyfriend?”Thea paused for a moment before looking at Lucian with shock. She honestly hadn’t expected that question. Not from the man who didn’t seem to be interested in anything other than Biology and probably his company.Looking back at him, she was even more surprised when she found his dark green gaze on her unwavering and unnerving as if it was trying to penetrate into the depth of her soul and nestle the flame burning within it inside her.For a moment, Lucian looked like a barely restrained beast as he looked at her.“What makes you say that?” she breathed out wondering why she was feeling suffocated.Seeming to get out of his trans, Lucian’s look softened and the intensity in his eyes disappeared as if it was never there.“Hmm… well, for starters, He was trying very hard not to glare at me,” He answered with a glint in his eyes as if he enjoyed that particular detail.“And secondly, the way he barged into your office with an entitled expression is telling me that
The car spun for a moment as soon as Lucian pushed the brakes and Thea’s head slammed against the window rendering her dizzy and disoriented for a moment. She saw Lucian reach out for her steadying her body even though she was wearing a seatbelt and wondered why he wasn’t more concerned about himself.Everything was blurry and fast for a moment and the only thing Thea could hear was Lucian cursing and the sound of the tires squealing against the ground.“Damn it! Thea!” Lucian called as soon as the car stopped, “Thea! Are you okay?! ”“I-I’m fine…” She mumbled as she looked at him to see him taking a deep relieved breath as he removed his seatbelt and reached for her head.“It doesn’t look like you’re bleeding,” He said his eyes looking serious as he examined her.“I’m fine. It was just a bump,” She said pushing his and away, “More importantly, are you okay?” She asked and he gave her a slightly surprised look before smiling.“I’m fine. Except for the fact that I almost had a heart at
Thea sighed as she pulled up at the university’s parking lot and made her way out of the car. She knew that meeting her uncle wasn’t going to be easy, but she didn’t know that it was going to be this hard. She tried making an appointment under different guises, but she was always politely redirected by his personal assistant. Now she was wondering why she was making the effort to be courteous at all. She should just barge in and say what she had to tell him and then leave. If it wasn’t for the risk of having him put his guard up against them and cover his mistakes. She needed to find another way to talk to him. As she was deep in her thoughts, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out. “I’m on my way in, Pen,” She said into the phone, “I will be there in five minutes,” “Well, hurry up. It feels like your Mr. CEO is going to come get you with his personal helicopter if you’re any more late than this,” She told her and Thea sighed. “I keep telling you that he’s not
“Pen…” Thea started trying to calm the storm but it was already too late. Pen was already slamming her hand against the table and glaring at Lucian like a true angry bird character as her red locks flew around her shoulders in a magnificent sigh while her jewel-like eyes shone like two beams of laser. Haden who sat before her looked at her as if in a daze and Thea immediately knew that the man wasn’t going to be any help in this situation. Nor was Lucian who was looking at Pen with the same provocative smile as if he hadn’t just dropped a small bomb into her lap. “This man is insinuating that you don’t deserve your position, Thea!” Pen said, “I of all people will never be able to sit around and listen to him say something like this about you while knowing everything you went through to get here,” “Pen! Calm down. What he’s trying to say isn’t like this. He just said it without considering his words,” She said, “Oh, I mean every word I said…” Lucian said and Thea turned around and
Thea stepped out of her car as soon as she parked breathing in the cool fresh air of mid-morning. It felt like it has been a while since she went out like this and she felt the tightness in her chest dissipate as she looked around the small building in front of her. “You’re here…” She heard a male voice behind her and turned around to find a young man in his mid-thirties with short light brown curly hair and kind eyes. “Peter, hi…” She said with an awkward smile and Peter gave her a pointed look before giving her a sigh. “Let’s talk inside…” He said leading the way into the building and she silently followed him. “Thea!” She heard someone call her name as soon as she came into the building and looked at the reception desk. The young girl there came running toward her giving her a hug that pushed her back a few steps. “Hi, Nelly! Glad to see you’re doing well!” Thea answered hugging the girl back. “I am! I love attending classes at the community college and Peter said that I have
Thea shivered a little as she stood in front of the high-end restaurant waiting for an opportunity to go inside. According to her intel after spending so much time with her uncle’s old security officer, she knew that her uncle always had lunch in the restaurant every evening. It was a hard place to get into without being considered a regular or having a reservation, so after failing to get inside a few times, with the last time being grabbed by the arm and pulled out by one of the security guards, she stood there brooding and waiting for an opportunity to slip inside as the cool air began nibbling into her skin and seeping through her clothes. Seriously, she should have thought this through. Or maybe she should have attended those events her grandfather asked her to go to in his stead. That way she would have at least had access to someone who would give her an early reservation in the restaurant. “So this is why you refused to have lunch with me?” Thea turned around to find Lucian