“I need it ready. April 21st Arnoldson.”
My voice tightens. “Sir, that’s… two weeks early. We’re already red-lining the team. We need the full window to—”
“Two weeks ain’t gonna kill you, son,” Tobias says, calm but steely. “You should already have this shit figured out! We shouldn’t still be having problems this close to shipment. Those robots should be packed and ready to go. That’s what you assured me before. Unless your word means nothing.”
My jaw works. The stress falls over me like a lead blanket. I feel it in my chest, my temples.
“Understood,” I say quietly. “We’ll make it happen.”
Tobias nods once. “Good. Keep me posted. Do not fuck this up Lincoln… or you and I are going to have some issues.”
Turning to leave, my legs wobble as I arrive in front of the elevator to take back down to Level B.
I try to stand upright in the elevator, but my body betrays me. I double over, hands slamming onto my knees, gasping for air as my heart hammers like it's trying to break out of my chest. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to punch something, anything, to make this stop. It feels like the very thin wire stretched to its max inside my psyche is about to snap.
“I can't. I fuckingcan't. Ican't…” I start to say, recognizing I'm heading down the plummet for a mental break.
Slapping myself once in the face, I straighten up and take a deep breath, body trembling and shaking. I can't take a breath.
~~“You have the mostbeautifulmind I've ever seen”~~
My body shivers as I fight to take a breath.
~~”Being with you is like a piece of heaven. I might not understand everything you say, but I'm grateful to share it with you. And… I'm so… so proud of you. You're going to be abadassinventor or something one day.”~~
Taking one final extreme and relieving inhale, I release the tension out of the breath as Gabby's words wash over me.
Words I’ve always held dear to my heart ever since she uttered them. Words that fed my soul.
She always believed in me even when she didn't understand. I don't understand why I sought to have someone who could comprehend my work when all along that wasn't what was most important.
I needed someone who would still be in my corner and encourage me, motivate me.
Gabrielle has been that for me.
Even when she was missing me and my hours bumped up at work, even when I was too tired to make love to her, she would still be there to pet my hair, to kiss me, to tell me everything would be okay.
I wish she was here now.
Mercifully, my breathing slows back to homeostasis as the elevator doors slide open.
And there, stepping off the opposite elevator, Morris in his little carrier, looking confused but determined… is Gabrielle.
9:00 a.m. sharp.
On her day off.
My stomach drops.
She isn’t supposed to be here today. What the hell?
-??-
Chapter 50
Gabrielle's POV
"Gabby? What are you doing here? It’s your day off," Lincoln says, approaching me.
