Connie refused to let Charlie stop her and she frantically made her way through the department, pushing him away.
There was only one place she was going - to her office to find Grace.
Connie really had believed that she was never going to see Grace again when she was trapped in that building earlier, facing the prospect of being buried alive.
The thought that she had lost Grace, had been devastating, it just confirmed to Connie that she couldn't lose her daughter again.
Connie pushed open the door and immediately pulled Grace into a tight embrace. "My baby girl." She cried.
She couldn't stop the tears, but she didn't care, just let them fall as she held Grace against her.
"I love you so much." She sobbed.
She looked to the window of her office. She saw Jacob watching from the department. He looked sad and upset, heartbroken.
Connie couldn't pull away her gaze from him. Although today had confirmed to Connie that she couldn't lose Grace, it had also made her realise that she couldn't lose Jacob either. She couldn't lose either of them, she just didn't know how keeping them both was possible.
"I love you." She repeated, as she held Grace's head against her chest and stroked her daughter's hair.
But those words weren't for Grace this time, they were for Jacob.
---
The next few days passed.
Both Connie and Jacob spent the days avoiding each other, every accidental encounter between the pair was awkward. It was strange how quickly things had changed between them, it now felt so distant between them.
Connie couldn't ignore that warm feeling that still filled her insides when she spotted Jacob around the department.
She couldn't deny how much she wanted to feel the comfort of his arms again, every time they were close.
She felt lost without him. Now, without Jacob, she was finding it hard to get through every day. Connie couldn't remember how she had lived before Jacob, he'd had such a profound effect on her.
Connie was torn.
She just wanted to be happy, with the two people she loved in her life.
---
Connie strode through the department towards her office.
The last few days had been unbearable for her. She couldn't take another day of being so distant with Jacob, having to try so hard to deny her feelings for him whenever he was around, not being able to act upon them.
Connie called out to Jacob on her way, who was near cubicles, asking him to follow her into her office.
He initially refused, but Connie glared at him until he reluctantly obeyed and followed her in the direction of her office.
Grace smiled when her mum entered through the door. Connie had asked her to wait in there for her, while she went upstairs for some sort of meeting.
But Grace's smile soon faded when she saw who had followed her mum into the room.
Grace rolled her eyes and stood up, beginning to make her way out of the room. Did her mum not understand that she was serious about this? She really would go back to New York if her mum didn't end it with Jacob.
"Why is he here? I-" she began.
"Grace just be quiet!" Connie interrupted, shouting in exasperation.
"Please, just let me speak." she added, a little less harshly.
Grace stopped, surprised at her mum's outburst. Jacob was rather surprised too, at Connie's harsh tone towards her daughter, as he believed that Grace had her mum firmly wrapped around her little finger and could do no wrong.
Jacob and Grace stood awkwardly, side by side, waiting for Connie to speak, both wondering what her intentions for this meeting were.
Connie took a deep breath.
Two people stood before her, both of whom, she very much loved, neither of which, she could bare to lose.
Grace said something had to give, but she had realised that it couldn't be either of these two.
She had also realised, that although her daughter's happiness was important, so was her own. Grace wasn't the person who she should let make decisions in her life. This was Connie's life, something which Grace was a an important part of, but not in control of. She respected Grace's concerns, but there were other ways of resolving this problem.
She looked at Jacob.
This was a man who had managed to do something that no other had truly been able to do before. This was a man, like no other she had ever met before. This man had opened her heart, he had captured it. With him, she had experienced what it felt like to love, and how it felt to be loved.
She looked to the girl stood beside him.
This was her daughter, her only a daughter.
She loved her little girl so much, she always would. This was a girl she had let down too many times before, a girl she had a lot to make up to. She couldn't ever let her go again.
Since she was given the ultimatum by Grace, Connie had spent every day since wondering what to do.
She had a big decision to make, a choice to make between the two of them, which one she was going to lose.
Connie gave them both a tight smile.
"I can't lose you Jacob. I can't lose you either Grace. Which is why, I have informed the board of my decision to step down from the position of clinical lead. I have just been with Hanssen now, he supports my decision and-
Jacob stared at her in shock. "What?" He interrupted. "You can't-"
Connie gave him a small smile, she nodded. "I can Jacob, and I have. There are two people standing in front of me right now. Both of them I very much love, both of them I never want to lose again. For the whole of my career, it's always been about the job; the position, the power. It has always come first and been the most important thing in my life. On too many occasions, I have put it before happiness and before love, I even put it before my own daughter.
I don't want to do it anymore.
Maybe, it's time to follow my heart and make decisions based on the happiness it will bring. And the thing that would make me happy, is having both of you in my life. If stepping down as clinical lead is the only way for that to happen, then I'm willing to do it."
Grace and Jacob stared at her, speechless.
The last thing Grace expected, was for her mum to give up her job. This was the person who had let her go to New York last time because of how important her job was, and now she was giving it up?
She felt guilty, like this was her fault. She was the one who was making her mum decide between her and Jacob.
Maybe, she should have given her mum a chance, to prove that she did have time for everything this time, because maybe, her mum had been telling the truth when she had said things were different this time.
Maybe, her mum would have had time for both of them and the job after all, but, Grace hadn't even given her a chance.
Jacob too was surprised at Connie's bold decision. He couldn't imagine Connie taking orders from anyone else.
This wasn't like Connie at all, it didn't seem in her nature to do something like this.
Once, it definitely wouldn't have been a decision which Connie would have made.
But, she had since grown as a person, she had changed for the better.
She was willing to make this change, in exchange for a happy life, with two people she loved.
