“She’s not the kind of person we should even be considering, having someone like her work on the project you’ve worked so hard on will only taint what you stand for.” Her assistant finished and Liesel sighed.She had listened very carefully without interrupting, and now that her assistant was done, Liesel knew that she made the right decision listening to Selena.This was one of the reasons she liked surrounding herself with people, if Selena hadn’t come up with this kind of test, there was a possibility that she may never realize the kind of person Elena was.And even if she eventually found out, it might have been too late for her to actually do anything about it, and so she was grateful she took the advice.“It was good we ran the test.” Liesel eventually said, her voice came out small even though she didn’t mean for it to.Her assistant nodded in agreement. “It was necessary.” She said.“I would have given her the project based on her credentials and the proposal that she clearly

A week had passed since the last time they spoke to each other, and even Liesel had wanted to talk to Alex so much that she could barely think about anything else, Selena and her personal assistant had told her that maybe calling Alex all the time wasn’t the best idea.Liesel didn’t think she was calling him all the time, she had even managed to put a day or two break between them, but Selena had told her that for a doctor like Alex who was always busy, calling him even after a day might seem bugging.And the last thing Liesel wanted to be to Alex was a bug, she didn’t want to bother him, and so she had forced herself into waiting it out until enough time had passed and she could call him.“That way, you both would have a lot to talk about.” Selena had told her, and Liesel was glad that she had listened because it was true, Alex, who wasn’t usually a talker, had a lot to talk to her about.And she in turn had more to tell him although neither of them had managed to stay on one topic,

Elena sat behind the wide glass desk in her office, the late-morning light catching the polished surface and throwing soft reflections across the room.A small, satisfied smile kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. Everything was falling into place, and she couldn’t wait to share her happiness with Marcus.She just knew that he would be happy to see her. “You look really happy, ma’am.” Her personal assistant’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and it wasn’t until then that Elena realized she’d been closing her eyes and smiling.Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at her assistant. Of course she was happy. “Am I that obvious?” She asked her assistant who nodded and chuckled a bit.“Yes, it’s a good thing, isn’t it? I’m guessing your meeting with that woman went well.” Her assistant said, and Elena was proud that she didn’t have to talk before the reason for joy was acknowledged.“She looked like a really important person, I’m sure that collaborating with her, plus the Liesel

Alex had taken one look at the screaming infant and knew immediately that none of the measures already taken would stop the crying. They were treating symptoms while the real problem continued to torment the child unchecked.“Hand him to me.” He said, voice steady but edged with the kind of intensity that made every single person in the tent listen to him without question.The orderly didn’t even hesitate for a second before transferring the rigid, red-faced baby into Alex’s arms. “We’ve tried everything.” The orderly said as Alex took a closer look at the baby.The child’s body arched again, fists clenched, the high-pitched wail cutting through the tent like a blade. Alex shifted the infant carefully, supporting the head, then began a rapid but thorough examination of his own.He checked the fontanelle, the eyes, the mouth, the chest, and when he reached the lower limbs he paused. “What the—”He muttered to himself as he checked the baby.One tiny toe on the left foot was swollen and

“Two weeks? What do you mean ‘two weeks from now’ there is no way we can come up with a quality proposal by then. We don’t even have anything now! Give me that!” She hissed, the words grinding between her teeth as she grabbed the tablet from her assistant.Elena’s eyes racked the words, and true to what her assistant had said, Liesel had given her just two weeks to get the job done and submitted to her.How would she do that? What could she possibly come up with? Things were different when she thought she had more than enough time, but the fact that she only has two weeks had changed everything.What could she do?Elena knew enough to know that she couldn’t negotiate for a longer timeline, she hadn’t gotten to that point in their relationship yet.She looked at her assistant, who was already visibly shivering and a wave of disgust seemed to hit Elena as she thought about the fact that she had employed incompetent people.Not even one of them could come up with something showing enough