Nathaniel had been able to work—thankfully. His thoughts kept drifting back to Clara and the very unexpected, very vivid morning he'd walked into… but he forced himself to stay focused. Mostly. The images tried to replay every few minutes, but he pushed them away and kept writing, reviewing, signing, anything to keep his mind busy.
A knock sounded on his office door.
"Come in."
He didn't bother looking up. He already knew it was his secretary, Sarah.
"Sir?" she said, and Nathaniel immediately sensed the hesitation in her voice.
"Hmm."
"Dr. Patel is here."
That was surprising enough to make Nathaniel lift his head. Dr. Patel rarely came up to this floor unless something was genuinely important.
"Sir," Dr. Patel greeted.
"What is it."
Dr. Patel didn't waste time. "There's been an issue in one of the research labs."
Nathaniel nodded once, gaze already dropping back to the documents on his desk. "Handle it. Do whatever is necessary."
He picked up his pen again.
