There's a magic about London on a workday morning, certainly on Mile End Road.
Connecting the suburbs to the inner city, the Tube rumbles beneath it. The skyscrapers, slowly growing in size the further you get to London Bridge, glitter in the rising sunshine and even during winter when the wind is cold and makes the tip of commuters' noses burn, there's a warmth in the air... Part petrol and part solidarity, of belonging to a crowd whilst being entirely on your own.
And looming over it all, one of the oldest and reputable hospitals in the city, is the Royal London Infirmary. A major trauma centre, a teaching hospital and, to those who know it, a symbol of anarchy from a not-so-forgotten elitist world.
And in it? Doctor Maryam Azizi, only one year out of medical school. She loves her job. She loves her friends, too, sometimes.
But the man she's going to marry? Doctor Adam Kaiser, specialist trainee in paediatrics?
Him she doesn't love so much.
In fact, alongside everything else that comes with the Infirmary, she's going to have to pretend to be in love with a man... She really doesn't know at all.
... Wonderful.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]