SOREN

That morning, my head was hurting worse than usual. Liam was driving while I sat next to him, massaging my temples, feeling a sharp, throbbing pain.

"Director Nolan wants to talk to me," I muttered, without much enthusiasm, avoiding looking at Liam.

"I wonder why. There's a rumor going around that they're forming an additional team. Maybe they want you to join it?" Liam worked in a different department, handling database management, while I was in the mobile projects division directly under Manager Durden, with Director Nolan as head of the department. Still, Liam was always up to date on all the gossip.

Director Nolan oversaw a few different teams, including the graphics department and several specialized programming teams, each with its own manager. I'd also heard from a colleague that they were planning to form a new team by splitting off part of the one managed by my current supervisor, Durden, a perpetually dissatisfied, prickly omega. His team had gotten quite large after hiring additional people for the ByteBites project.

"Maybe, but what difference does it make? We're already embedded in the ByteBites project. I don't think they'd reassign us to anything else. Everyone already has their roles; we're all in too deep," I replied, with more irritation than I intended, staring out the car window at the streets passing by. Suddenly, I felt Liam's hand on my knee and flinched slightly.

"Hey, I was thinking about this weekend. What would you say to a trip to the beach? It's September, but the weather's still warm, and the water's nice. We could swim and relax a bit."

I frowned, not really into the idea. I was black-haired but with very pale skin, so I hated intense sun. What was I supposed to say? I shrugged slightly. "If you want."

"But do you want to? Do you feel like going?" Liam asked cautiously.

"I don't care. We can go or not," I grumbled, annoyed. For the past two weeks since Liam and I had officially started seeing each other, I'd been an unrepentant bitch. Liam had the patience of a saint to put up with me because I couldn't stand my own behavior. I was constantly on edge or just checked out, avoiding eye contact and, as much as possible, refraining from touching him.

Liam pulled the car into the parking lot, and I jumped out with relief, glad to finally be in a more open space where his energy wasn't suffocating me so much.

But I was wrong if I thought I could escape him. Liam quickly got out of the car and walked over to me, taking my hands in his, which made me clench my jaw tighter.

"Maybe the trip would help us relax for a bit. I know how you love swimming. We've had so much work these two months; it'd be nice to just chill."

"Fine, fine, we can go," I muttered, just to get him to let go. I didn't want to yank my hands away. For the last few weeks, I'd made a real effort not to show how much I hated his touch and his closeness. "But I'll sunburn!"

"I'll put sunscreen on you…"

Gosh, another dreadful idea. I fought hard not to wince.

Liam stared at me for a moment. I forced myself to meet his gaze and finally managed a crooked smile. He immediately brightened up. God, this was hard. What had I gotten myself into? My damn life… I hated it six months ago, and now I hated it even more. Before, I was forcing myself to be in the Kingdom of Promises, and now I was forcing myself to be in a relationship with a person I wasn't attracted to. When the hell would this torture end?

And it was all my own doing—my own stupid decisions!

I felt a surge of anger toward Skye. Why did that bastard even come into my life and mess with my already confused, poor head, only to ignore my emails, deny me a chance, just disappear, leaving me shattered, broken, crushed?

Why did I let him influence me so much? Why did I let him get so deeply dug in my very soul, breaking through all my defenses? Another mistake I'd made in my life. One thing was for sure, no matter what decision I made, everything led to disaster.

We walked into the building and took the elevator up to the 17th floor. Liam was talking about beach activities and what we should bring, but I barely listened, staring blankly at the elevator buttons.

I felt relieved when we reached my floor since we'd be splitting up; the data department was a floor above the mobile app department.

"See you at lunch," I muttered, quickly turning away to avoid any sappy goodbyes. I'd caught him a couple of times leaning in for a kiss, and it really bothered me.

It was five past nine when I walked into the office. One of the employees I worked with called out to me, "Director Nolan asked you to head to his office as soon as you got in."

"Okay, thanks," I muttered, dropping my briefcase on the desk. Then, without hesitation, I turned on my heel and headed to Nolan's office.

I knocked and heard some noises inside; it sounded like several people were gathered there. Nolan's voice called me inside. I turned the doorknob and stepped in. The director was sitting behind his desk, and five people were seated in chairs along the wall. I glanced at them briefly.

And then… reality seemed to glitch, like someone had paused a film, rewound it a bit, and played it again.

I blinked, not believing what I saw.

Skye was sitting in one of the chairs, staring at me with those bright turquoise eyes of his, and a soft smile warming his handsome face.

This had to be a dream. I rubbed my eyes and wiped them again, but he didn't disappear. Everyone was staring at me, not knowing what I was doing, and suddenly…

…everything went black.

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor, with Director Nolan's face hovering over me.

"Soren? Soren! Wake up!"

Wait, what? I felt embarrassed. Was I asleep? How could I have fallen asleep at work? Nolan's hand gently shook my shoulder. I blinked and saw that face, the one I couldn't believe was real, just over his shoulder.

Yep. Real. Still real. Skye's concerned gaze was fixed on my face.

"Am I dreaming?" I asked stupidly, realizing I was making a fool of myself.

"No, you're not. Can we talk in a more vertical position?" Nolan asked with a very official and stiff smile.

I forced my unwilling body to move. How did I faint? What was even happening? Was I in some movie or alternate reality?

Slowly, I sat up with Director Nolan's support. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, his pale gray eyes watching my face intently.

"Yeah, probably just low blood sugar. I skipped breakfast," I lied, trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

Nolan gave me a strange look, clearly not buying it. He raised his eyebrows and made a sound like a soft snort.

"Somehow, I don't think you have diabetes. I suspect there's another reason, but it's not the time to discuss it," he said, taking my arm and helping me to my feet. He guided me to a chair positioned directly across from his desk. I didn't know why I'd been given such a prominent spot; the chair was alone in the center, while everyone else sat in a row lined up against the wall.

I blinked, avoiding looking in Skye's direction. He had returned to his place and was now sitting with the others.

"Alright, let's put that fainting incident behind us and get to the reason I wanted to talk to you," Nolan began.

I sat there stiffly, listening to him, but it felt like I was watching him on a TV screen. His words didn't seem real to me; didn't fully register.

In the room with me was Skye. That was all I could think about.

"As you may know, we've been considering creating a dedicated, separate team for some time now," Nolan explained. "The ByteBites project is large enough and distinct enough that it should be handled somewhat separately from our other initiatives. So, we've decided to finalize the formation of this team to make things easier for you all. Since you're the most experienced with this project, we'd like to try you out in the role of team leader."

I blinked again.

Director Nolan gestured toward the people sitting along the wall. "These are your designated team members. Four of them you already know—they've been working on this project with you—but we're also bringing in a new team member, our intern, Skye Nolan… with whom you may already be acquainted."

The director's tone dropped slightly, sounding oddly snarky. What was this all about?

The moment had arrived. I swallowed and slowly turned my head toward Skye. Our eyes met. For the first time, we looked at each other, fully aware of what we were doing.

I was trembling, like a taut string, like a birch tree in the wind, like a thin membrane stretched too tight. Every nerve in my body was shaking; I wanted to get up and throw myself at him, to hug him, to cling to him, to merge with him, with every hungry, obsessed cell in my body.

Skye.

Skye…

But instead, I forced myself to look back at Director Nolan and cleared my throat.

"Thank you for this opportunity and for your trust. I hope I will do well as a team leader, even though this comes as quite a surprise to me. But a pleasant one!" I quickly added, my voice uncharacteristically calm and formal. I was almost proud of myself.

Nolan slowly tilted his head.

"I believe in you, and I believe you'll lead this team to success and bring the ByteBites project to a satisfying conclusion," he said in a slightly pompous tone.

Blinking, I nodded solemnly.

Director Nolan turned to the new team members. "Thank you, everyone. You can get back to work. I'll have a few more words with your new team leader. Starting tomorrow, you'll all be moved to your new room."

Skye and the others stood up and left. He gave me a brief, unreadable look but didn't say anything.

So I sat there, feeling stunned, still blinking slowly. Then I raised my eyes to Director Nolan, who was watching me closely.

"I know about the situation, Soren."

Wow. Those words hung in the air. I immediately knew what he meant; he didn't have to explain it to me. But I still had to ask, had to play dumb.

"What situation?"

"Yours and Skye's."

There was no way around it. Clenching my fists, I asked, "Did Skye tell you?"

"Yes. But I don't pry into your private lives. It's none of my business. What I do expect is that your past won't affect your professionalism in carrying out your duties. We need no drama here. Can you promise me that?"

I didn't know why his question stung me so much. I felt deeply disturbed. By what right could he demand an answer from me about that? He was the one forcing this on me! He didn't know how I felt, didn't know what I'd been through, didn't know if I could handle this situation. It was one big terra incognita, one huge tremor to my system, and I was supposed to make a promise to him?

Maybe I wanted to be a fucking mess!

He hired his own brother here, for fuck's sake. Literally—my ex!

And he dared to ask me to behave?

"Can I be honest with you, Director?" My voice sounded strangled.

"Of course."

"I'm a bit surprised to see him here. For full clarity, let me explain that I was the one who initially pushed him away, but then I tried to contact him multiple times, and he rejected me. So, it's unclear to me what he's doing here…" I choked out, averting my eyes.

"It's not up to me to explain his intentions," Nolan replied. "But it is up to me to ensure this project runs smoothly. I'm taking a big risk putting the two of you together on this, but I'm counting on the fact that since Skye is new and won't be handling any crucial parts of the project, you'll be able to see it through without any major issues, even if there are some tensions between you. Are my expectations too demanding?"

Feeling strangely irked, I hesitated, but slowly shook my head. And yet, I just had to point out, "I don't entirely understand why, if you have concerns, you're assigning him to my team."

"Well, that's a good question. I thought it would be a smart idea, for one—you know him, his skills, his ways of working. The second reason is he's an alpha, and not many managers want alphas on their team for various reasons, but your familiarity could help. From what I understand, you tutored Skye before, and it could help in establishing an authority position. He respects you, and other managers don't have that kind of dynamic already in place. The third reason is much simpler: your team truly needs another member. An intern is perfect for that, and he can be easily replaced if needed. Moving him to another department won't be a problem, and it might be if I had assigned a regular employee to your team."

"Did he ask for this?"

"No. He just wanted to work for the company, no matter what department. That is solely my decision, based on these three reasons I listed."

We stared at each other. I knew I had to play along. He was Skye's brother, dammit.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully chose my words. "Okay. Whatever my personal feelings about Skye may be, I will, of course, strive to maintain professionalism in the workplace and not jeopardize the project. I appreciate your trust, and I'll do my best not to let you down, though… I can't deny that his presence here is quite a shock to me. And to be completely honest, I'm in a relationship with another person now."

Nolan blinked slowly, then stared at me cautiously for a while.

There was a long pause as he thought about it, his face vacant, his gaze somewhere above my head. His very pale gray eyes were somewhat creepy, almost alien. It was rare to see such light irises on people; they were more common in cats or wolves. Finally, he snapped out of his pensive state and directed his gaze back at me.

"I didn't know this, Soren. That changes a lot."

He stood up and approached the window.

"Listen, I'm not forcing this on you. I know it can be hard for both of you to separate emotions from work. I admit I had the spontaneous idea that, since you know each other, the familiarity could help, and it might be easier for you to introduce him to the project. But I obviously didn't have the key information about you being in a relationship. I sense you're uncomfortable. Would you prefer that I move Skye to another team?"

Despite the logical part of my brain being on board with the idea of removing him, I also felt a wave of stress. My heart was screaming: No, don't move Skye! No matter how irrational or stupid it sounded, even in my own head. I needed him close, for some reason. I was grateful Nolan gave me the option out, yes, but I was never going to take it. No way, no matter how shocked and jittery I was.

So, I quickly assured him, "No, no, I can handle it. I'm open to challenges, and thank you for choosing me as team leader."

"Are you sure? The challenge may be a tad too big. If you're really with another person, it can be a horribly stressful situation for all of you."

"I'm positive. I can handle it."

Director Nolan stared at his hands for a while before asking, "Can I ask you a personal question, Soren? You don't have to answer."

A nervous shiver jolted through my body. "Yes."

"Did you ever have feelings for him, even just a little bit, or was it just a casual thing for you?"

Answering him was a challenge because my jaw suddenly clenched painfully.

"I did, and I still do. But since he didn't want to take me back, after two months, I moved on, accepting a relationship proposal from my long-time friend, who works here too, one floor up."

"Are you sure, Soren? There will be no consequences if you want Skye out of your way. Nothing changes. We can just assign you another intern. Don't feel obligated just because he and I are related."

Raising my head high, I answered, "I'm sure. If there's a problem, I'll report it and ask for Skye's reassignment. But let's hope for the best."

Winter was silent for a moment, then he nodded and stood up. "Thank you. Marcus from HR will handle all the formalities. Now, I need to go; I have a meeting to attend. Go back to your office. Tomorrow, you'll be moved to your new room, where you'll start to manage the newly formed team."

I stood up as well. He extended his hand, and I shook it, feeling a bit uncertain.

As I approached the door, Director Nolan walked past me and suddenly said in a low voice, "Good luck. You only live once."

And then he walked down the hallway toward the conference room.

I stood there, mouth slightly open.

The fuck? What was he alluding to?

That I should perhaps… reconsider?

Easy for him to say; he wasn't in my shoes, hadn't lived through what I had. ‘You only live once'? Really? More like, ‘You suffer many times along the way before you die', and sometimes… you just want to limit the amount of suffering!

As I lingered there, the shock of the whole situation began to wear off, and the cold, harsh reality started to sink in.

The consequences.

Maybe I was too flippant in rejecting the idea of moving Skye to another department?

I was in a relationship with Liam now, trying to work on myself, trying to pull myself out of the misery and depression I'd been stuck in for the past two months. Yes, I admit, without any success—but I believed that eventually, I'd get out of it. Somehow? Someday?

But now, with Skye around, there was no chance of that. Yup.

The apocalypse was upon us.

Sooner or later, Skye would find out that I was with Liam. What would he think? What if he had read those emails and finally felt ready to meet me, maybe try to repair our relationship? But I was already with someone else—it would probably look strange to him that I'd moved on so quickly. But what could I do now? What happened, happened.

A whirlwind of anxious thoughts surrounded me, pulling me apart, tearing me to pieces as my head spun. I leaned back against the wall, trying to steady myself with deep breaths. This had to be an anxiety attack.

Shivering, I breathed and breathed, desperately trying to get some air, trying to pull myself out of it. I couldn't move, paralyzed, standing there still as the minutes passed. I couldn't even feel happy about seeing Skye again. To be honest, I was scared—but for some reason, I was also hard. I had no idea how that was even possible!