I recline in an armchair at a gleaming white med spa when my phone buzzes with a new message. I ignore the first buzz. And the second. When it doesn’t stop, I wake the screen to a flood of messages from Eileen.
Fuck you
Don’t you dare hurt my Jamie’s feelings again
You shared A ROOM with him and now you’re avoiding him???
This is unacceptable
I don’t care if you fire me over this
Have you seen him??
HE’S THE SWEETEST THING
You had better not go all turbo bitch on him
I’m warning you
I pinch the bridge of my nose, leaving my phone unlocked on my thigh as I rest my eyes. Then, a few minutes later,
I’m sorry, please don’t fire me
but still fuck you
I rub my temples to fend off the splitting headache thatmy mega-dose of suppressants is now feeding.
Eileen doesn’t know that I have a butterfly needle in my arm right now, draining a sample of blood to rush to the nearest Artemis lab for testing. I need to figure out what’s going on biologically. This is a biological problem, and it has a biological solution.
I’m coming down with something,I reply.Don’t want him to catch it.
It’s a half-truth.
I’m not going to dignify the rest of Eileen’s outburst with a response. The woman’s passion is part of what means she can hack it in my employ, and I’m not stupid enough to fire her for pure ego.
But Gia was right. Jamie isn’t an idiot. And he’s a more sensitive type than I’m used to dealing with.
And as we finish the blood draw, I update my plan.
#
I switch hotels to make sure we get a suite with a balcony. This one’s a little smaller than my usual, but the weather is lovely—in the shade, at least.
Jamie must run cold, because he’s basking in the sun.
I step out to join him, and Jamie startles. “Oh, hey.”
“I have some homework for you,” I say, handing a file folder to him and then taking a seat in the shade and propping my feet up.
Jamie cracks open the folder, and his eyes light up as he sees the test results and chemical formulas within. “Some of these aren’t commercial formulations…”
“They were some of the earliest. You’ll find a case study of one of our first patients. They’re experiencing… reduced potency. This is strictly confidential, of course.”
“Of course,” Jamie murmurs, looking up at me with wide eyes. “But… why me?”
“I’ve been out of the science for a decade or so.”
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean… just… don’t you have like,departmentsfor this?”
