“Oh, no, your tray.” Mia’s voice seemed to immediately change the atmosphere. Wyatt hadn’t even noticed her walking in on the scene, and he didn’t recognize that soft and sympathetic tone, but it worked like a charm.
Amika immediately deflated. “What am I going to do, Mia?”
“Do you have the baseline data and last recorded data from your samples?” Mia asked in that same gentle voice, and Amika nodded. “Well, how about you take Carissa and the two of you run the samples through the spectro, run some labs, compare it to what you have and make sure nothing’s changed?”
“Yes.” Amika nodded again, turning to look at Carissa, her eyes growing large when she saw the tears still streaming down Carissa’s face. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“I’m sorry I moved your tray,” Carissa answered, sniffling.
“You didn’t know,” Mia assured Carissa, patting her on the arm. Wyatt noted she hadn’t touched Amika to offer comfort. “Go clean up and come back to help Amika, okay?”
Carissa nodded and turned to leave, squeaking in alarm when the door slid open and she was met with a sea of curious eyes.
“Back to work,” Wyatt barked at the onlookers, who scurried away in a slight panic. Wyatt had yet to yell or scold anyone since he arrived. He didn’t like doing so now.
“My apologies, Doctor Jenkins,” Amika said, meeting his gaze to show her sincerity. “I like things a certain way and sometimes don’t react well when they aren’t how I need them to be.”
“No, Amika, I’m the one who owes you an apology.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, looking over Amika’s shoulder at Mia. “I should have known how to handle the situation better.” Amika opened her mouth to respond, but Wyatt needed to get out of there, fast. “I assure you, you did nothing wrong. I’ll let you get to your testing.”
Amika nodded and Wyatt hurried away, ignoring the clicking sound of Mia’s heels following him.
“Wyatt,” Mia said once the door to his office closed behind her.
“No, don’t.” He lifted a finger in her direction before pulling his hand back and raking his fingers through his hair. “I know what you’re going to say, but please, don’t.”
“What is it you think I’m going to say?”
“That you were right. That you should be the one running this hub and I’m only here because mydad’sname helps get funds.” Wyatt felt the weight on his chest grow heavier with every word. “I can’t do what you do, I don’t know the people who work for me the way you do. Jesus, Mia, I’ve been fucking you for over a month and I wouldn’t know what to do if you had a meltdown like that. What am I even doing here?”
Wyatt let out a sharp exhale, willing himself to calm down, reason away the self-doubt gnawing at his insides.
“Are you done?” Mia asked in a calm voice, waiting for Wyatt to nod. “I wasn’t going to say any of that.”
“But you werethinkingit.”
“Since when do you care what I think about you?” Wyatt snorted.If only Mia knew how much he cared.
“Never mind.” Wyatt shook his head, rounding his desk and plopping down in his chair. “I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” Mia said, following him and straddling his lap. “You’re frustrated because you can’t manage your underlings. You’re a control freak who lost control of his kingdom today.” Mia pressed her breasts against his chest, cupping his jaw. “Do you need to feel powerful over a subordinate,Doctor Jenkins?”
Wyatt knew Mia was only trying to make him feel better, but that knowledge didn’t stop the bile rising from his gut, so he pushed Mia off him and stood.
“Don’teverplay that game with me, Mia,” he warned through a clenched jaw before grabbing his satchel and coat, intent on putting as much distance as possible between himself and the hub.
Could this day get any worse?
The Human Side of the Beast
Mia
Mia was officially worried.Wyatt had stormed out of the hub almost three hours ago and seemed to have disappeared.
At first, she figured he’d cool off and come back, but after an hour she realized he wasn’t planning on returning to the hub.
She went to the campus café, to his flat, to her own, then circled back to the hub. Wyatt was nowhere to be found.
There was only one place left, the one place Mia was hopingnotto find Wyatt at barely 4pm. Of course, that’s exactly where she found him when she pushed the doors of the dimly lit pub open, sitting on the bar and nursing a lowball of clear liquid.