FAINTS FROM EXHAUSTION

This was the man she crashed into at the cafe yesterday. She flinched when she recalled how she lashed out at him. If he were someone who holds grudges, then this was his opportunity to get back at her. 

"Ms. Bennett. I was told you have concerns about our new cardiac imaging device." He said.

"Con...concerns?" Anna stuttered. She regained herself and decided it was best not to mention that incident unless he brought it up. It will only complicate the current issue.

Lewis also felt a jolt of recognition but he didn't show it, he wanted to gauge her reaction to him first. He could tell from how she initially lost her composure that she remembered something. However, he'd wait to see if it was only the previous day's encounter she remembered, or she also remembered that evening at the party. It's amazing that they had met again before he even attempted to call her about Stefan's request. 

"Concerns!" She raised her brows as if he'd cracked a wild joke and pulled out her sketch pad. "You stole my work."

That got his attention. He straightened, and Anna noticed how easily he dominated the room without effort. 

"You do understand that's a serious accusation?"

"These are my illustrations." She placed the sketchpadon his desk, flipping through the cardiac image sequence. "I created them for submission to medical textbooks about three months ago. I don't know how they ended up in the design of your company's new device."

He moved closer to study the images. His nearness brought the scent of cologne mixed with coffee and something uniquely him that was distracting. "These are impressive," he said. "But our in-house development team designed all the images."

"Really?" Anna pointed to a particular detail, a special shading technique she formed. "This is my signature style. I can show it to you in my other files."

"I remember hearing you are from MB Digitals' legal team. How are these your illustrations?"

"Oh, that!" She stared at her feet. "I'm sorry, I said it so she would let me see you. I didn't have an appointment, but I was desperate." She looked up again. "I did submit it to BM Digitals, though."

Something flickered in his expression. "Why haven't you published these before now?"

"I tried, but I got twelve rejections." The words tasted bitter. "I was working on the thirteenth submission when..." She stopped herself. She didn't need to feed him with boring details about the accident and hospital bills.

But he saw the hesitation. Those gray eyes of his studied her with the same intensity he'd given the illustrations. "When what?"

"That's another story." She rubbed her neck. "The issue now is that your company is using my intellectual property without my consent."

He moved to his desk and pressed an intercom button. "Gibson, bring all development files for Project Heartbeat. And inform legal to come up here." He turned back to Anna. "If your claim is true, someone on my team has some explaining to do."

"I don't need explanations," Anna said. "What I want is compensation for my work."

"Of course," his tone was professional. "Though I can't help but wonder why you came directly to me instead of sending your lawyer to handle this."

'Because I'm desperate, and I'm overwhelmed with hospital bills,' she thought. 

"I just saw the news on TV and couldn't wait for a lawyer. Besides, I'm not sure anyone else will understand how it feels to have your sweat and blood snatched by a tech giant." She said instead.

   

A knock interrupted them. Gibson entered with some files, and two men in formal suits followed closely behind her.

"Here are the Project Heartbeat files, Dr. Cole," Gibson said.

Lewis straightened in his seat, his brows knitted in concentration. From the language they used when they started talking, Anna guessed they were lawyers. They spread documents on the conference table in his office, comparing timestamps and development logs. 

Anna watched as her illustrations were analyzed and traced through the company's development pipeline.

"Here," said the older lawyer, pointing to a date. "The design was gotten through the FreeMed Database."

"That's impossible," Anna said, her voice sharp. "I've never uploaded my work to FreeMed."

Lewis looked up from his phone, and his eyes narrowed. "Show me the purchase record."

More papers shuffled. Anna's throat tightened as she saw her work, hours of sweat and painstaking strokes, being discussed in legal terms. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the office, reminding her that in three hours, she had another meeting with the hospital's finance department for the initial deposit. Whatever compensation she got from here should be able to settle that.

"There's no record of the original upload," the younger lawyer said. "Just the d******d by our development team."

"Which means?" Lewis's voice took on an edge that made his employees shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"Someone must have uploaded Ms. Bennett's work without permission," one of the lawyers said carefully.

Anna's hands clenched in her lap. Her work had been stolen, then sold, then bought legitimately by Cole Med-tech.

Lewis turned to his lawyers. "Draft a settlement and full compensation agreement for Ms. Bennett.

They left, and Anna found herself alone with Lewis again, her pulse was doing strange things as he moved to the window.

"I apologize," he said, looking at the bustling city below. "This should have never happened. I guess I will have to be more careful with our verification process now."

That touched Anna. He was apologizing even though it was obviously not his fault. "Not at all." She said with dismissal. "You handled it better than I expected, more than most CEOs would."

He turned and flashed her a sad smile. "I was first a doctor before I became a CEO. The ultimate rule is to not hurt anyone who has caused me no harm." 

"Thank you for taking this seriously." She paused, then spoke with determination. “And I'm also sorry for my outburst yesterday.” 

He smiled again. “I thought you were going to pretend you didn't remember.”

Anna's cheeks burned in embarrassment. “I was already provoked, and my anger was let loose when I couldn't find the card.”

“It's okay.”

The head of legal appeared with files in hand, and Lewis retook his seat at the conference table. He and Anna were each given a copy of the settlement document to sign. A tiny tremor ran through her hand as she opened to the last page.

Her hand flew to her mouth in shock. "This is more than generous, Dr. Cole."

He gazed at her intently. "You deserve it."

She rummaged through her purse for a pen before the lawyer offered her a black ballpoint.

"Thank you," she collected it and signed her name. Lewis did the same; they exchanged and signed again. He extended his hand, and she shook it, finally making eye contact with him for the first time since their meeting.

"Thank you very much for the generous offer, I really appreciate it." She kept her copy in her bag while the lawyer left with Lewis's.

"You can collect the check from Gibson on your way out. Let me know if you have any issues cashing it."

"I will." As she stood to take her leave, a sharp pain shot through her, and she felt lightheaded. She sat back instantly, her right hand bracing the side of her head.

The skin on Lewis's forehead crinkled. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, I think I'm just dehydrated. Can I have water?"

He moved to his desk and pressed the intercom. "Bring a glass of water for Ms. Bennett."

She glanced at the clock for what seemed like the hundredth time before the door opened.

A young lady (Helen) came in with the glass of water, setting it on the table before her.

She whispered thanks and reached for the glass of water, the tremble in her hands was very obvious.

After a few gulps, she returned the cup and took deep breaths. Satisfied she'll be able to make it out in one piece, she stood up again. This time, it was as if her thoughts were wrapped in a fog and her temples throbbed with ache. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog, but it only seemed to clouden more before she blanked out.

Helen froze in shock. Lewis, who had been watching her every movement but hadn't predicted she would faint like that, was at her side in an instant.

"I'll call 911," Helen said, recovering from the shock.

"No, tell Thomas to bring the car out front." He lifted her effortlessly, Helen following closely with a phone to her ear and Anna's purse in hand.