Wooden blades beat against the warm air as Laura set her mug down and cracked her laptop open. Saturdays were ordinarily reserved for chilling over the next episode of her favourite crime thriller – but not this Saturday.

Her will to power through and complete her roadmap for PillBox was stronger now that she knew her efforts would be amply rewarded. She had until Monday to make her decision, which meant she was on the clock to impress Flaco with a polished, finished proposal.

Her manicured hands flying over her keyboard, Laura pushed her figures higher. If Henry Spectre was a money-famished lion, then Flaco was a ravenous vulture with drugged hunger. And considering their main income stream, it wasn't a reach to expect deeper pockets on Flaco's clients.

She took a second to grab her mug, and her eyes fell on the golden thumb drive that winked at her under the sunlight.

She picked it up and studied it curiously. It had a simple, pop-off cap, with no seal to ensure it hadn't been accessed before its time. Jack only told her to hand it to The Medical Times; she never said Laura couldn't have a peek.

Taking the cap off, she slid the USB into her laptop, which welcomed the drive with a cheerful ding. A window jumped onto the screen, displaying a solitary folder.

LANGFORD.

She opened the folder and was slapped with a sordid sight.

Photographs of a nude Celene splashed across the screen, holding compromising positions against Jack's body. At least, Laura could reasonably guess it was Jack – her signature brown crop was visible in some pictures, but her face was conveniently obscured in all of them.

Only Celene's face shone, bright and clear in the high-resolution images.

Her heart spilling into her mouth, Laura scrolled past in a blur, unwilling to defile Celene's modesty. She hardly knew her, but no woman deserved such cruelty. She hit the bottom of the folder – there must have been dozens of photos – and arrived at a singular audio file.

With hesitation, she clicked on the icon. Static crackled from her speakers.

A soft voice piped up from the recording, and Laura immediately recognised it as Celene's.

"I'm so over my family. I've always done everything they expect of me, but the one time I want something for myself, they tell me I'm a disgrace."

Another speaker chimed in, its telltale southern accent marking it as Jack's.

"But don't you love Langford Medical? You used to say you were so proud of it."

"Of course I have to love it – it's my family's gig. But I hate how traditional they are. I'm so sick of being told I can't do something just because I'm daddy's little girl. And since I came out to my parents, they look at me differently now. I know what's on their minds. I know that they think I'm some dyke who's going to run their baby to the ground."

A lengthy pause ensued, followed by a muffled sniff and Jack's voice.

"Well, at least you have Charles Spectre, I suppose. The streets must have knocked some sense into him."

"Honestly, that's not the worst part of it. If there's anyone I could survive life with, it's Charlie. He's changed, but I still love him. He was my best friend, after all."

The recording ended.

Laura stared into the black image of the audio file, dumbstruck by the severity of the storm that was about to hit.

Flaco wasn't just poaching Laura over. Jack was also planning to ruin her lover's life.

♥

Chilled air swirled from the dewy glass of iced tea as Celene settled into the chair across the table, a whiff of her floral perfume greeting Laura before her hurried smile did.

She wondered if that scent made Charlie sigh with longing.

Placing her leather bag on the adjacent seat, Celene ordered a cappuccino from an eager waiter before turning her focus back to the table.

"Hey, Laura. What's this about on a Sunday? Is everything alright?"

Anxiety consumed her, and Laura tried to stem its assault by drumming the underside of her armrest. She couldn't reveal that she'd been talking to Flaco about jumping ship, but she had to find some way to clue Celene in.

"Hi, Celene," she began slowly. "I'm not sure how to put this, but I promise you I'm speaking the truth."

Celene's brows furrowed. "Sure. You can talk to me."

"That woman at the club with you that night – I've seen her before. She works for Flaco."

Across the marbled table, Celene's eyes softened, but her lips remained pursed in a hard line. "Yes, I know that."

"Be careful. Jack could be jealous of what you and Charlie have. She might have something up her sleeve."

The suggestion must have stabbed Celene with its atrocity, because she burst into an incredulous laugh and her emerald eyes weighed heavy with indignation.

"Jealous? Jack loves the secrecy. Laura, I appreciate the concern, but it wasn't just some one-night stand. We care about each other," she retorted, her tone hardening. "I don't think you quite understand what's going on here."

She promptly threw out a tight smile as the waiter arrived and set her coffee before her, the cup clinking into place on a delicate plate. She lifted it to her dark purple lips. "How do you know so much about Jack, anyway?"

"I have my trusted sources, and I'd hedge my life on what they've revealed to me." Laura settled behind her stonewall, but she prayed that her insistence would sway Celene. She continued to push. "If you and Jack are so close, why didn't you strike a deal between Langford and Flaco?"

The coffee gleamed on Celene's lips before she licked them dry and settled back into her seat.

"We were close. I called things off shortly after the Flaco party. You know how traditional the folks in this industry are, Laura. My family is no exception. How do you think a deal like that would fly?"

Laura gripped the cold glass of her tea, the dew clinging to her fingers. No wonder Jack was out for blood. She was a lover spurned. Yet, Laura sensed that there was a limit to how deep she could dig into Celene's personal life, and her spade was about to clang against stubborn stone. All she could do now was silently sip and wait for the rest of the dirt to crumble.

Thankfully, it did.

"A deal with Spectre, on the other hand – our families lapped it right up. Nothing like the sweet taste of wish fulfillment." Celene swirled her coffee distractedly, her voice weighted. "Some things are undesirable, but we do them because it's the only way to help the people we love."

Laura's mind played back to Celene's murmurings on the thumb drive.

If there's anyone I could survive life with, it's Charlie.

I still love him.

She set her glass back onto the table. Celene may not say anything more about her life, but Laura could still pry for information about Charlie. She pulled in a deep breath and released.

"What happened to Charlie in college?"

Like a jaguar caught hiding in the grass, Celene froze, her eyes still as she contemplated her options.

"I'm not the right person to say this. It's better if he told you himself."

Defeated by the unbudging stone, Laura slumped back into her seat.

"You don't have to hide it, you know. I know you like him." Celene took another sip of her coffee. "And I know how crazy he is about you."

Cold cynicism had evidently settled on Laura's face, because Celene chuckled and pressed her point.

"He really is. Since he returned to Spectre, he hasn't gone a day without talking about you. First it was bitching about how demanding and unforgiving his lady boss was. Then, it was about how hard it was to impress you. Then – man, I cannot forget that idiot's face when he said this – he told me you inspired him to be better. To elevate Spectre beyond what it is today."

Laura stared in disbelief, fighting to reconcile her image of Charlie as a snobbish, lustful heir with the fact that he was actually serious about Spectre Corp... and about her.

More importantly, she could barely process the fact that Celene sounded so excited – she was almost positively gushing – about how much her fiancé was into another woman.

The sombre reality of their forced engagement began to dawn onto her.

As Laura hid her words behind the straw of her glass, nostalgia crept across Celene's face. "You should have seen him after he came home from your nightly meetings. The last time he looked that happy, we were still friends."

A cheerless air sank over the meeting and melted into her tea, diluting its sweetness into a bland pool. She returned the drink to the table and gazed wordlessly at the vanishing ice.

"I'm so sorry, Laura," Celene said with weak consolation. "We didn't think things would turn out this way. We're trying to find a way out of this bind... but I'm afraid it's not looking good."

♥