In the meantime something unexpected happens; I usually do not read news related to work, but while logging into various services little blocks with daily updates sometimes show up.
One of them flashes with Blue Lowen’s name, and of course I immediately stop to look.
I click on the article and to my astonishment discover a press announcement stating that the supervisory board of Malden Pharmaceuticals has chosen a new CEO!
And it is none other than Blue Lowen.
My jaw drops. The announcement says that the company’s owner, the original founder, now over ninety years old, died a few days ago without leaving any heir or successor for the company.
Lowen was chosen not only because his family holds significant shares in Malden Pharmaceuticals, but also because his achievements as a scientist with groundbreaking discoveries in tissue regeneration make him an excellent candidate.
Wow, so now I am not going to meet just the head of the genetics department but the CEO himself.
My excitement rises, because it means he has even more power to start a new research project, which increases my chances too. The day before the meeting I even have to take calming medication because the anxiety will not let me sleep.
The next day I show up an hour early and wait nervously in the lobby.
Eventually Mr. Lowen’s secretary appears and leads me with a kind smile, but this time to a completely different place,not to the office where I saw Blue before. Of course, he has been promoted.
We take the elevator to the top floor.
Well, CEOs do not sit in little side offices, so I am not surprised.
The room I am led into is enormous, almost absurdly so, because Blue Lowen is so tiny.
It is a typical modern office, with massive leather furniture, elegant cabinets, glossy surfaces, sharp contrasts of white, black and gray, and a huge panoramic window because what else would there be.
I walk into the office and my eyes lock onto Blue who sits behind this enormous desk, even bigger than the one he had before, almost disappearing behind that vast black polished surface.
"Good morning," I blurt out, but stop abruptly when I realize Blue is not alone.
There is another man standing by the window.
I do not recognize him from behind, but then he turns slowly, and the light coming from outside catches the beet-red tone in his hair.
For a moment I just stare at him, unable to process the facts. Well, Blue invited someone here…
This cannot be a coincidence, it cannot be some random person, and I wonder if it is possible, truly possible, that this is indeed my father.
But is too much, my breath starts to falter, a wheeze tears out of my lungs and I fumble at my pockets, but I must have put the inhaler in the other one, my vision spins and I collapse to the floor, losing consciousness.
When I open my eyes I am lying on a leather couch in Blue Lowen’s office.
A face leans over me, the face of a man I have never seen in person.
It is a very youthful face, he actually looks like someone my age, delicate and handsome, the face of an omega I know from the Lowen family’s press photos.
This is Sebastien Lowen himself, co-owner of Omega Red Line Agency.
His young appearance does not surprise me, because it is caused by the fact that Sebastien met his TM, the same phenomenon I saw with Bay’s parents.
His face resembles mine, although amusingly not as strongly as Blue’s does, and I guess I must be one of those children who take after their uncles, it happens sometimes.
He is roughly our height, maybe an inch taller, and his eyes carry a shade somewhere between graphite and sapphire. Even at first glance, the resemblance between us is obvious, though a bit less striking than it is with Blue. However, the fact that he is here tells me everything I need to know.
He hands me the inhaler they must have found in my pockets.
I take a deep breath and after a moment my lungs loosen.
