Alexia’s POV I opened the door to my apartment, knowing that my mother would already be inside waiting for me. The last person I expected to see sitting in my living room with her was Brandon’s mother, Helen. As our gazes met, the onslaught of emotions that rushed to the surface overwhelmed me once again. I could no longer hold back the sobs that I had been fighting from the moment that I laid my eyes on Brandon. My mother and Helen both got up from where they were seated on my couch to rush to my side. They both radiated love and concern. “Come sit down, dear.” I heard Helen say in such a way that made me sob even harder, but I followed her and my mother to my couch and sat down between them. I sat there and cried until I couldn’t cry any longer. My mom was the first one to break the silence. “Alexia, I need you to tell us what happened? Did you not get the job?” “No. I got the job.” I mumbled while I fiddled with my hands. Helen and my mother looked at each other quizzically
Brandon’s POV I opened my office door and walked in. I went over to the couch that I had slept on many nights in the past. I was so caught up on replaying Lexi’s words in my head, that I didn’t even notice that Teddy was sitting in one of the chairs at my desk. “Uhm, Boss?” He asked cautiously. I jerked my head up to look at him. “Teddy, I didn’t realize that you were in here. Is there something that I can help you with?” He watched me for a moment trying to gauge what kind of mood I was in. “No, I just wanted to make sure to remind you that you have that meeting with the pharmaceutical rep at 1:30.” “See if you can reschedule it for later this week. Tell them that there was an emergency with one of the computer systems that we use to run the pre-trials.” I said without a second of hesitation. Teddy gave me a curt nod as he walked towards my office door. “Yes, sir. I will let you know the new day and time.” He shut the door behind him. I laid my head back down and closed my eye
Alexia’s POV I laid in my bed trying to get to sleep. I sent mom and Helen home not too long after I got off the phone with Brandon. I wasn’t in the mood for company and just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep. Now all I wanted was for my brain to shut off and allow sleep to take over, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Brandon meant. How was he broken? He seemed like the same old arrogant jerk that I remember. I can’t deny the haunted look that I saw in his eye though. It looks so similar to the one that I see when I look at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t sure when I finally drifted off to sleep, but I woke up around four crying and soaked with sweat. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, so I got up and started stripping the sheets off my bed. The nightmares that plagued my sleep keep replaying in my mind, even though I am no longer asleep. After getting the sheets in the washing, I decided to go for a run to try and clear my mind. I walk into my closet
Alexia’s POV I was not disappointed at all. I didn’t really talk much throughout the tour. I was just so focused on taking it all in and listening to everything that Brandon was saying, that I only gave him short replies or nods so that he knew that I was paying attention. The last stop on the tour, before going to my office and the research lab that I would be working in, was the robotics lab. We walk in and I see the two guys that I met earlier standing in front of a computer talking about a robotic leg prosthetic. We walk over to them so that they can talk a little about what projects they are working on. “How is this one coming along, guys?” Brandon asked them once we were within earshot. Dr. Langford gave him a frustrated look. “Man, it’s still glitching. I can’t figure it out. I have tested every bit of the mechanics and even rewrote the programming for it. Nothing seems to be wrong, but it obviously is.” I stood there and listened while also inspecting the leg closely. It
Brandon’s POV As I made my way back up towards my office, I kept replaying what Lex meant when she said that I was only a small part of the reason she couldn’t let me back in. I wonder what other ghosts haunt her? I could tell that they were bad, just by the look in her eyes. It was the look of trauma and scars that ran deep. I hope that she has someone that she can talk to about it. I know having Mark and Thomas to talk to about what we experienced definitely played a part in my healing process. I know I still have some issues, but they are nowhere like they used to be. When I finally reached my office, I noticed that my door is slightly ajar, which is something that I don’t do. My door is always shut no matter if I’m in my office or not. I immediately go on high alert, as I slowly push my door open. I let out the breath that I had been holding, when I saw my mom sitting on the couch to my right. “Mom, to what do I owe this lovely surprise?” I asked as I walked toward her and kis
Alexia’s POV “So, Bri. What advice can you give me about this place? Are there any problem people, or is everybody pretty cool here?” I couldn’t stand the silence at the moment. After everything Brandon just unloaded on me, silence would do nothing but keep me in my head and that’s the last place that I wanted to be right now. “Ummm. I wouldn’t necessarily say that we have any problem people, per say, but there are a couple of folks that might try to be problematic in your department. It won’t be because they dislike you as much as they dislike that they didn’t get your job. If you ask me, though, there isn’t a person in your department that deserves to be anything more than an assistant.” Bri said in such a way that I had to keep myself from snickering. “So, what I’m hearing is that I’m going to be dealing with immature jealousy?” Man, I hope that these people aren’t going to be like that. I have been in charge of my fair share of research groups, but I prefer adults over childre
I have seen my fair share of research labs, but this place has me at a loss for words. The thought process that went behind the layout alone, is amazing. When you first walk through the double doors, you come into a room that has ten to twelve cubicles, as Bri called them. I mean, they are cubicles in the sense that they don’t have doors and the walls don’t go all the way to the ceiling, but that’s where it stops. These cubicles are huge. I figure that the average cubicle is about twelve square feet. These are double that easily. They each have a desk equip with a computer, printer, and a desktop safe. Then there is another table stocked with things like beakers, test tubes, pipettes, petri dishes, and what looks like one of the OMAX microscopes. I don’t think that I have worked at any other lab that had separate areas for their research staff. It makes me feel like I might have made the right decision after all. Bri pulled me out of my head, just as a brunette woman started walki
Alexia’s POV The last few days have gone by rather uneventfully. Thomas has been extremely helpful in showing me how everything works around the lab and helping me find my footing with everyone. I haven’t had any other issues with anyone since the little test from Mika. I think the suspension and official write-up may have solved that. She hasn’t given me any issues for the past couple of days. I can’t say that we got off to a great start, but I can say that I am impressed with her work. Her research is great, from what I’ve seen so far. I haven’t seen much of Brandon since he showed me the steps I needed to take to send in Mika’s write-up, either. I’m not sure if I’m happy or disappointed about that. Mark drops by every so often. Apparently, me helping solve the big issue with the one prototype means that he needs my opinion on all of them now. I don’t really mind much. It helps break up the monotony of looking at computer screens and microscopes all day. That’s not all I do, but