The trade deadline approached faster than I anticipated, and suddenly, it was the last Monday of February and I had a packed day at work, unable to really follow any news around the decisions being made. Though I made sure to message Derrick when I was finally able to find a half hour to take my lunch.

How are you holding up today?

Honestly, I'm on edge. Coach pulled me aside to let me know that the front office definitely has my name in the mix, but I'm still expected to follow today's workflow until anything official comes through.

I'm sorry 😔 I hope things end up going your way, but if they don't, I hope it gets you one step closer to hoisting the Stanley Cup.

No response came through after that, and with the craziness he was likely dealing with, I didn't necessarily expect one to. However, just as I finished my lunch and stepped out of the café I'd popped into, my phone buzzed.

Though it wasn't Derrick. It was my mom.

"Mom? Everything okay?"

Her familiar laughter sounded through the speaker. "Of course, dear. What? A mother can't call and check in on her own daughter?"

"You can," I said, turning my face away from the wind, "but you normally don't during lunch. Or on Mondays."

Normally our weekly catch up took place on Sundays, whenever both my parents and I could find time to talk, though yesterday, while I hadn't been busy, neither of my parents had been free.

"Well, our weekends might be a bit busier out here for the foreseeable future, so these spontaneous calls may become a regular thing."

"Busier?" I chewed my lip with worry, trying to rack my head for something I'd missed over the holidays. Some hint that things may be off, or changing, but I couldn't think of anything. "What do you mean? Should I be worried about something?"

"No, no, really, nothing's wrong. Quite the opposite actually," she responded. "Have you ever heard of San Fran's Food Fantasy?"

"I... think so," I said, trailing off as I remembered where I'd heard that name. "They're a food blog, right?"

"Yeah, they are. And they actually did a piece on the restaurant last week."

"Mom, that's great!"

The joy seeped into her words as she said, "I know, I know. It's crazy, and since the post went live on Wednesday, we've been swamped."

"Well, you've always been popular in the city, so it's about time the rest of the state—and the rest of the country—knows it."

"Thanks, honey." After a short pause, she decided to turn the conversation back around to me. "But what's new with you? I know you've been swamped lately working on your defense."

"It's definitely been busy," I replied as I finally reached my building, stomping the snow off my boots. "Things are going good though. I'm still hoping to make some sort of connection between my research and the rest of the team's, you know, to really solidify that I'm valuable enough to keep around after April, but otherwise, there hasn't been many hiccups."

"You're the most valuable woman I know, Lia, and I'm sure—whether you can strengthen your defense or not—the department will see that."

I sighed, leaning my head against the lobby wall. "I hope so."

"But outside of work, how are you doing? I don't mean to pry, but I know last Sunday you said you had plans that night, and it didn't escape me that it was Valentine's Day, so... is there someone I should know about?" I felt my face heat as I chewed on the inside of my cheek, debating whether to tell her about Derrick, but my lengthy pause was enough of an answer for her. "There is!"

Laughing at her excitement, I said, "Mom, it's nothing serious. I've been out with this guy a few times, but I don't know if it'll last all that much longer."

As in... I didn't think it'd last past today if the Knights shipped him off.

"Well, as long as you're being safe and enjoying yourself, I guess that's all I can ask for."

"I am, mom, don't worry," I mused, because while our lines of communication were pretty open, there were just some things you didn't need to delve into when talking to your mom about your sex life. "But I should go. My lunch break is over and the data from my lab yesterday isn't going to organize itself."

"Okay then. I love you, and don't work too hard."

"I won't," I said, smiling. "And I love you too."

***

The rest of the day flew by in a blur. After lunch I'd plopped myself down in front of my computer and sorted through all my research for any final points I wanted and needed to address in my defense. I'd experimented with a lot of different techniques—some successful and some not—to transplant specialized proteins I'd manufactured into living cells, and while I knew I'd done great work here, I also felt like I was only at the cusp of discovering something more. Something more than I could've imagined when I'd started years ago.

But nothing was jumping out to me. Not in my data, not in my handwritten notes, and not in my very rough draft of a report. And it was incredibly frustrating.

As it approached five, I felt a headache begin to thrum behind my eyes and knew I needed to wind down for the day. Rubbing the bridge of my nose as I closed my eyes for a moment, I was spooked when the door opened suddenly.

"Rough day?" Miles asked as he walked into our office, and I spun around in my chair to face him. Coat on and bag over his shoulder, he'd clearly only come by to grab something before leaving for the day, and when he reached for two books that'd been stacked on the far side of his desk, my theory was proved correct.

"No," I said, sighing, "just long."

He chuckled. "I totally feel you on that one. Though hopefully these kinds of days will be behind us soon."

"Here's hoping."

"Speaking of which," he said, sitting on the edge of his desk, "do you happen to have a bit of time over the next day or so to look through my report? As a second set of eyes, you know, to poke holes, ask questions, point out where things aren't flowing properly, or my conclusions don't seem strong enough."

Though I could've declined, busy with my own work, I knew his defense was set a few weeks earlier than my own, and I didn't want to leave him hanging. Plus, I was very likely going to need his same expertise when it came to reviewing my report.

"Yeah, I should," I replied. "If you send over the file, I can take a look tonight and leave my comments."

"Thanks, Lia," he said, looking down at his phone as he pulled up the file on there and shared it. "There, all sent."

Turning back around to my screen, I moved the mouse over to my email tab and sure enough, there was a new message giving me access to his report. "Got it."

"Great, thanks again, and I promise I'll repay the favor when you need it."

My lips curved slightly as I looked back over my shoulder and saw him leaving. "Noted."

And while I very well could've begun packing up to head home myself, I figured I might as well take a peek at his report to see how much work I was in for tonight.

And if it could be done with wine.

Opening the file, my eyes widened when I saw the report was a whopping eighty-three pages, though as I scrolled quickly to the bottom, luckily, more than half of those made up the appendices. Forty wasn't horrible, especially because I saw more than enough graphs and tables taking up a sizeable amount of space.

Going back to the top, I took a quick look at his results section, intrigued by the way he'd laid out his research. In no way was I looking at them with the critical eye that was needed, that is, until I briefly glanced over the graphs for one of his spotlighted findings. Findings I'd reviewed with him before. Though seeing the results in this new form immediately had the gears in my mind turning.

The way two of his successful experiments for creating cellular metabolism began using cells with very similar characteristics to a pair of cells I'd created artificially.

Clicking back over to my own research to confirm my suspicions, a new hypothesis began to form. With my brain working overtime, I barely had a spare second to think about my actions as I leaped out of my chair and made my way to Professor Klein's office, hoping she hadn't already left for the day.

Luckily, she was seated behind her desk and as I skidded to a stop in her office doorway, she lifted her head with a quizzical expression. "Lia, anything I can help you with?"

"Yes. No. I don't know," I said in a rambling fashion before taking a moment to breathe. "Well, the thing is, I was just reading through Miles' draft report and one of his experiments caught my eye." As I talked through the rest of my ideas—explaining the brief results I'd seen in Miles' work, how they could possibly link up to my own research, and my preliminary suggestions about how the processes could be modified to fuse together—I paced the length of her office. Step after step, my words continued to flow, and when my spew of thoughts came to an end, I turned to Professor Klein and waited for a response.

"That... could be a big discovery, Lia," she said, clasping her hands together atop her desk. "If you're correct, that could be a huge step forward for this department. How sure are you on this?"

"I can't say for certain yet, but my guess would be 75-80%. If I can reproduce the same type of cells using some of the top methods I've researched, and then link those cells to the beginning of his metabolic tests in the lab with satisfactory results, I believe we'll be able to build more comprehensive strategies off those results and move closer toward fully functioning synthetic cells."

"Then I'll recommend to the department that your defense be moved back until the end of April," she said. Picking up a pen, she wrote down a quick set of notes on the notepad in front of her before meeting my gaze again. "You'll have an extra five weeks to prepare some preliminary findings for this theory of yours, and if you can get lab results to prove it, well, let's just say the chances the department decides to keep you on and offer you the lecturing position increase monumentally."

"Understood."

This was it. The chance I needed to prove to both myself and the department that I was the right fit to stick around and continue my work with the university. It certainly wouldn't be easy, and would likely mean countless late nights over the next month and extra work on the weekends to get these experiments done on time, but I'd do it.

I had to do it.

As a woman in STEM, even with the strides made over the last decade, there were only a limited amount of opportunities available. So when one came along, there was no other choice but to grab it and hold on with all your might.

***

When I arrived home, there was a sense of excitement in my chest. A giddiness at what tomorrow would bring, but all it took was one phone call from Esme to turn my mood on its head.

"Did you see?" she'd asked, almost nervously.

"See what?"

"The hockey headlines."

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The trade deadline.

My research and new ideas had completely consumed my afternoon. So much so that I hadn't glanced at my phone since hanging up with my mom, and sure enough, as I clicked out of the call and opened up Twitter, I saw Boston's number one trending topic was about the Knights.

More specifically, about Derrick.

And as I sank down on the couch, phone in hand, I felt a rough grip squeeze tightly around my heart as my eyes scanned the headline.

DERRICK WELLSLEY HEADS TO LOS ANGELES. NEW ROAD AHEAD FOR THE KNIGHTS. 

a/n: did you guys think it was ACTUALLY going to happen? I'm so excited to you guys to see how this changes Lia and Derrick's relationship! 

remember to vote and leave your comments below!