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“Then was the flight delayed, perhaps?” Hugh worried his lip. “Will you check the flight status,
Finch?”
“Of course, sir.”
While Hugh resumed his hurried pacing, Finch took a sleek, glossy-backed phone from his
pocket and went about tapping on the screen. “The flight arrived on time, sir.”
“Then what could the matter be?”
More tapping. “Traffic, sir. It appears there’s been an accident on the highway, leading to
congestion on the northbound corridor. Reports specify that commuters will experience a delay
of approximately ten minutes.”
Relieved, he sighed loudly before taking a seat on the grand staircase close to where his most
trusted Attendant stood. Finch returned the phone to his pocket and folded his hands politely
behind his back. “Oh, Finch, how good it does my heart to hear that. What would I do without
you?”
“I’m not sure I know, sir.”
“Nor do I, and I hope never to find out.” Hugh afforded Finch a good look. As always, he was
prim and proper, a picture of perfection, but Hugh also saw what Finch tried not to show—the
tension that ran all the way from his thinned lips down to the backs of his knees. How
exhausting it had to be, embodying excellence at all times, no matter the circumstance.
Wanting to show the man kindness, Hugh patted the space beside him. “Will you come sit with
me?”
Finch eyed the step, and a glimmer of something uncharacteristically wild reared in his eyes.
It was gone a second later, and Hugh had to wonder if it was real, or a product of his addled
mind. Whatever the case, Finch nodded curtly and came to sit next to Hugh, lowering himself
onto the step with tremendous grace and delicacy.
They sat for a short while in silence, during which Hugh took simple comfort in the close
physical proximity of someone he held in such high regard. Then, when the rushing beat of his
pulse became too much to bear, Hugh turned to Finch and asked, “How do you think I’ll know
when I’ve found the one?”
The tips of Finch’s ears went red. “I’m not sure I understand your question, sir.”
“The right omega,” Hugh elaborated. “When Astrid arrives, how am I to know if she’ll be the
