𝘉𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 #1

16. Chronicle of a death foretold

Are You – ARIZONA

I slid my thumb to the left when Leah's name appeared on the screen with an incoming call and held the folder against my chest, opening our chat window.

Sav

What's up?

I stared at the message before sending it, realizing it didn't sound like something I'd say to my "best friend." Yesterday, I'd ignored her, claiming I was busy in the lab, where the noise would prevent me from hearing her, and I could pretend I had poor signal.

I deleted the text, took a deep breath, and rewrote:

Sav

In the lab, hon, can't talk. r u okay? Anything happen?

I saved the phone and continued walking, as it wasn't entirely false that I was in the lab. But I didn't feel like talking to her; I didn't want to carry more weight on my shoulders.

I reviewed some mixes my father and I were working on remotely – him in Russia, me replicating here – when I received a message from him, asking if I was busy and needed to talk. I gave Dimitri some instructions to review the variants and how the formula reacted, then walked out. As soon as I was in the hallway, I called him; he answered on the third ring.

"Privet, Papa, what do you need?" I asked, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pushed through the main gate, heading towards the elevator.

"How are you, princess?" he asked. I felt like I'd been asked that too many times in just two days, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could pretend.

"I'm fine, just left the lab. The formula works, I asked Dimitri to keep an eye on it." I pressed the elevator button and was grateful when the doors opened immediately. I stepped in as my phone vibrated with a new notification, alerting me to a message and several more that followed. "How about you? Everything okay there?"

"Everything's in order," he said, sounding serious. But I didn't dare ask if something was wrong because deep down, I knew what it was and why he wanted to talk: Vlad must have told him about my panic attack, and he'd been calling me all day yesterday to check in. He suggested I take a vacation, saying the first few months were always intense and I might be overworking myself. I refused at first, not wanting time alone with my thoughts, but he insisted so much that I agreed to think about it. He was calling for an answer, but I hadn't reconsidered. "What about those vacations, daughter?" I rolled my eyes as my phone vibrated again, irritating me in a way it never had before. My eyes prickled with tears, but I took a deep breath while heading towards my office, closing the door behind me for privacy.

"I don't know, Papa, there's still a lot to do here." That, at least, wasn't a lie. I placed the folder on my desk and sat down, running a hand through my hair before typing my computer password.

"You said you'd think about it."

"I did," I lied, shaking my head once. "And that's my answer." He chuckled, and I could imagine him shaking his head.

"I expected you to think about it and say yes."

"Sorry, but no." I opened my email and scanned the latest message.