Slipperless Series (Book #1)(27)

He gestured towards the door. “Close it?”

I nodded and within a few seconds Andrew sat across from me.

“Well, what do you have for me? Anything unusual to report?”

Andrew thinned his lips as he began to answer. “Hmm, well, things have been pretty normal. Most everyone is hard at work. You really lit a fire under the team’s collective butt with that idea of yours. So, no. Nothing at all. That is, until the last day or so…”

I frowned as he finished his thought. “What’s happened?”

Andrew propped his elbows up on the arms of his chair. Bringing his hands together, he tented his fingers in front of his face.

“Well, I happened to be passing by the break room and…” he paused as his voice trailed off and looked at me in silence for a moment.

“What?”

Andrew shook his head and started to speak once more. “Look, not that it’s any of my business or anything but…”

As before, he stopped speaking. I was under a bit of a time crunch if I had to get on the call I’d spoken to Holly about a few minutes earlier.

“But what? Just get on with it, Andrew.”

“Okay, um… Well, is there something going on between you and Fiona?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Why do you ask? Did she lead you to believe there was?”

“She didn’t, no.”

“I’m not following Andrew. What happened in the break room?”

Andrew spent the next several minutes relaying the details of the conversation he’d overheard between Amanda and Melissa. The gist of it was they suspected I was playing favorites in the competition and that it was a forgone conclusion Fiona would win because of a supposed dalliance with me.

This created an annoying problem for me, to say the least. First of all, the purpose behind the contest was legitimate. I wouldn’t, and didn’t, need any form of trickery or manipulation to get Fiona in bed. As if all that wasn't bad enough, there was still more…

“Well this has gotten off track hasn’t it?” I said with an exhale. “Are they at least on schedule to complete their work?”

“Yes, as far as I know. All them except for Fiona.”

I cocked my head in disbelief. Fiona? Behind? It couldn’t be. Dumbfounded, I pressed him for more information.

“Why is she behind? What’s happened?”

“She had a mishap, lost a large culture sample. By my estimation, it’ll put her behind by a week, if not more.”

“Hmm, well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Strange thing though, about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I happened to be in the lab when she lost them. I talked to her about it, and I’m positive it wasn’t her fault.”

As he finished his thought, I leaned forward, interlocking my fingers and resting my joined hands together in the middle of my desk.

“Are you suggesting someone tampered with her work, Andrew?”

He leaned back in his chair and dropped his hands, covering his kneecaps.

“I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest Fiona would make a mistake like this. She’s exceptional in the lab. Especially when you consider how young she is.”

What little I’d seen from her work, I’d have to agree with him. It would be out of character for her to do something like this.

“So if I may… The likely culprits are Amanda or Melissa or both?”

“I’m not going to make any accusations, Gabe. You asked me to report strange goings on in the lab and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Mmm, hmm. Okay, fair enough.”

“I would say this though. Whatever is causing this issue is having the exact opposite effect of what you’d hoped to achieve, I think. If all this jealousy is real, well, Amanda and Melissa are distracted by it. I can’t think you’re pleased about that.”

I scoffed. “Maybe I should dispense the raise and promotions altogether and just offer to sleep with the winner instead.”

Andrew chuckled. “Well, there’s a few men in the competition don’t forget. I'm not so sure they’d be as thrilled.”

I laughed at his wisecrack, unusual for him.

“In all seriousness, Gabe. You’ve got to find a way to deal with this situation before it escalates much further. Work on the Link Protocol is at risk, in my judgment.”

“I will Andrew. I will.”



FIONA

I’d spent the better part of the next day trying to play catch up after the disaster with my experiment. I didn’t have the time, not to mention the evidence, needed to prove someone other than myself was responsible for what happened.

And even if I did, it still wouldn’t change the fact the work had to be finished. Even if I had to sleep at the lab and drag my grandmother’s bed here, I would. If I worked non-stop, there was chance I could catch up and maybe, just maybe, still win. But no sooner had I figured out how I might be able to get back on track than I received an email from Gabe while sitting at my workstation.