Influx (Book Four)

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Staring at the project in front of me, pride fills my chest as I test it again. The fingers move on my command and I can't help but wonder if this is a lucky fluke. This is a project on the bottom of the pile that Aviva gave me, and she told me not to invest too much time into it if I couldn't figure it out. But I knew I could, prosthetics are something I have worked extensively with and this is a project I was excited to tackle.

Snapping a photo of it, I send it to the engineer next door and within a few moments, I hear a commotion, and my door is thrown open. Glancing behind me, Aviva skids to a halt next to me.

"You did it! How did you do it?" She asks excitedly and I run through everything.

"This is nothing even close to what I gave you," she says, and I frown. It wasn't anything personal, her idea would have never worked.

"But there's nothing wrong with that, it just means that we will only put your name on it," she says happily, and I relax.

"Okay," I say, and she gives me a confused look.

"You've barely been speaking to anyone for the last week, is everything okay?" She questions and I burry myself deeper into my scarf.

"I'm fine, I've just been busy working," I say, and she nods.

"You are coming tomorrow morning, right? I added the team meeting to your calendar, but you never accepted," she says, and I sigh. This isn't my job; I am not a hero. As much as I love the thrill, this isn't where I belong, and I need to stop pretending it will ever work.

"I'm busy," I say bluntly as I clean things up.

"You are? Are you and Click doing something?" She asks me.

"I think so," I say half hazardously.

"Are you sure everything is okay, Hadley? You know you can talk to me," she says worried and I just wave her off and put everything away.

Later that evening I sit on the couch reading more files about things I have missed, and I become so lost in everything I barely notice the shadows in the room starting to dance. When I realize someone is standing across the room I look up and see Cathleen, sneering behind my scarf she approaches carefully.

"Can I help you?" I ask her confused and I put down my laptop.

"Can we talk for a moment?" She asks me tentatively and I roll my eyes.

"I mean you are already here, I can't exactly say no," I say flatly, and she gives me an unamused look in return.

"Can you act your age for once?" She snaps and I glare at her.

"If you are here to insult me, get out," I snap back, and she takes a cleansing breath.

"No, I came to talk to you about the meeting tomorrow," she says in a calmer tone, but I am still peeved.

"What about it?" I ask bored and I pick my laptop back up.

"Well you and Zana conspired on something and then you just abandoned her and left Aviva to run the meeting," Cathleen says, and I do entertain the idea that it does look like that before not caring.

"They are two competent team leaders, they can handle it," I say bored. Cathleen storms over and closes my laptop and I put it on the couch and stand up, she takes a step back.