Chapter 43

Miranda

“How are you doing with the dropper formula?” Jessica asks from behind me. I sigh and swivel around. I smile as best I can but it probably comes out more as a grimace than anything else. She laughs. “That bad, huh?”

“It doesn’t want to work with me today!” I groan. “I honestly give up! If it doesn’t want to work for the full 12 hours, then so be it!” My arms flail and I throw the upper half of my body onto the workstation.

Jessica pats my back and laughs some more. Go on! Enjoy my misery! It’s not like I’m the one who signs your paychecks!

“It’ll be okay…you’ll crack the code soon enough!” Jessica’s optimism is what keeps me going sometimes. She truly is a shining light in a world where the lab we work in is so dark.

Maybe I’m just a little too dramatic today. I blame Ella for rubbing off on me.

“How’s your little project coming along, Jess? Have any progress to show your very capable boss who doesn’t want to give up whatsoever?” I ask in a cheery tone.

“You know, it’s so funny that you say that!” Jessica nervously chuckles, scratching the back of her head. She steps backward, inching away from me. It’s my turn to laugh now!

“Oh? Is that so?” I ask, matching every step she takes back. She turns around, quickly escaping the close proximity we are to each other. I quickly chase after her. Jessica screeches and I chase her around the lab like we’re in high school.

The lab is filled with laughter but our laughter quickly dies when the lab door opens. We stop our game of cat and mouse and turn to Sebastian’s Beta, who enters in a rush.

“Did you…did you run here?” Jessica asks. I nudge her side, shaking my head in a disapproving manner. She rubs her side and rolls her eyes, sulking off.

“The Alpha King needs to see you, Miranda. It’s urgent,” his Beta approaches me. He signals to the door and then immediately walks towards it, leaving me behind.

I look around, stunned by the sudden information. What do I do? I have to go! My feet carry me out of the laboratory and after the Beta, hustling towards the elevator.

The next thing I know, I’m pushing through Sebastian’s office doors, bursting through as if his life were on the line. Sebastian turns around, one eyebrow perked up.

“Sebastian? Is everything okay? Your Beta made it seem like…” my words trail off when he steps to the side, revealing Lily, who wears a nasty scowl on her face. My heart drops.

I turn on my heel to exit the office, but Sebastian’s Beta closes the doors in one swift motion. It’s like he’s closing them in slow motion, shaking his head at me before his face disappears behind the wooden doors.

Oh. I see how it is.

I clear my throat and turn around, shifting my weight between my two feet. I suddenly became aware of my outfit: a messy lab coat, messy hair, and crocs with charms that Noah and Ella picked out for me.

This is going to be awkward. Very, very awkward.

“Miranda. Good to see you. Moonlit Lab would like to hire you for another job,” Sebastian’s voice calms any form of anxiety that blossomed throughout my body. My shoulders relax and I move my gaze towards him.

“You need my help with what, exactly?” I ask, trying to make it seem like I have other things to do.

I have many things to do! Like how to figure out how to lengthen the eye color formula and not to mention, I’m a single mother who has a very lively home life.

“Lily, why don’t you fill her in?” Sebastian circles around the room, ending up at his desk. I watch him closely, watching him as he shuffles through papers on his desk.

Out of the corner of my eye, Lily rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. I can feel a temper tantrum about to hit his office, most likely accompanied by whining and complaining about how her life is so horrible. Lily is so intolerable, I don’t even know how her parents put up with her.

“Why should I? You’re the one who immediately wanted to call her for help!” Lily complains. I glance at Sebastian, who avoids my gaze by looking at the computer on his desk.

“Lily,” he groans, finally looking up and at her. I sharply inhale and move towards his desk, eclipsing Lily and catching his gaze from her. His jaw relaxes and he leans back in his chair. He tilts his palms into the air, shrugging.

“Is there something wrong with the formula? I thought we fixed it?” I ask, looking at him, concern laced in my tone. “The doctors were sending back positive results. The medicine is working!”

“It’s not that, Miranda,” Sebastian stands from his desk. With every step he takes towards me, the faster my heart races in my chest. He looks down at me. Inches separate us, tension slowly building in the air around us.

“Another drug failed,” he states, his chest slowly moving up and down. My eyes drift from his eyes down to his lips, my heartbeat making my ears ring. My body wants to move closer to his, desperately begging to close the small gap between us.

“It’s the small sulfa tablets that the frontline medics use for the more severe wounds on the battlefield,” Lily’s voice instantly cools my body down, yanking me out of Sebastian’s trance. I look at her from over my shoulder, one eyebrow raised at her words.

“Sulfa tablets? Those should have been discontinued years ago…” I mumble to myself, hoping that they don’t hear me, and I shake my head. I turn to fully look at Lily, who stares at me like I’m the scum of the earth. “Sure. I’ll help you out. I want the same amount of money as last time, though. That’s my fee.”

“What?!” Lily gasps, scoffing to herself, “That’s outrageous! Absolutely not!”

“Why can’t you handle it on your own then? You are the CEO of Moonlit Labs. You should have some idea on how to fix this mess,” I say with a shrug.

“You two need to put your negative feelings aside and work together,” Sebastian’s voice is soothing to my ears. “We need to save the lives of our country’s soldiers. We can’t have them die because of your petty beef with one another.”

“He’s right, you know,” I speak directly to Lily, who rolls her eyes at me.

“Fine. Whatever. Work for me or not. At the end of the day, I’m still in control,” she waves her hand in my face and storms out of the office. I watch as she leaves.

She doesn’t even acknowledge Sebastian’s Beta when he bows his head. How cruel. I shake my head and sigh, turning to Sebastian.

When our eyes meet, my breath gets caught in my throat. He slowly steps in my direction. Inches turn into centimeters and I swear there’s some pep in his step. I look up at him, lips parting, as my lungs burn from the lack of oxygen.

“Sebastian…”