“You’re already off?” she asked him.
“Yeah, I didn’t spend any time with you last night. Today I’ll make up for it.” Kathy should have been thrilled at his response, but not after the day she’d just had. He asked, “Has something happened?”
She hesitated, then pulled a report from her bag. “This details the third stage of our drug development. There’ve been different degrees of repelling reactions, but I can’t find a reason why.”
Joseph furrowed his brow, and didn’t take the report. “This drug is still in development. I’m not part of the company.
“Good point. Never mind,” she said, shaking her head.
But though she’d not asked him, that night Joseph received an email from Edith regarding the drug’s problems. Kathy, sitting at his side, saw it and asked, “Will you reply?”
“Is this project important to you?” he asked.
She bit her lip and did not respond. She was very hopeful about this drug—after all, it was the only one of its kind, and it could be enormously helpful in treating heart disease. But she also didn’t want to be involved. Her grandfather had wanted her to enter the Booth Group,and everything she did was preparation for that.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to refuse my grandfather, but this project is part of Booth Group’s research and development. I don’t want anything to go wrong.” With Joseph’s help, they might even be able to get it on the market early. His skills were unmatched.
“My services are expensive,” he smirked. Edith requesting his help surely had something to do with Kathy. She understood that to help her was to help Kathy.
“I know. If you don’t want to do it, it’s okay. You’ve already done so much, I don’t want to make trouble for you.” She reached over and deleted the email herself.
“Sure?” He took her by the chin, looked deep into her eyes.
“Yes,” she nodded.
Apparently unwilling to wait for Joseph’s response, Edith called. Joseph happened to be in the shower, and Kathy did not answer it, instead waiting for Joseph to finish. He didn’t even look at it, instead rubbed a towel over his wet hair and pulled Kathy in for a kiss.
She pushed him away. “Answer the phone!”
He frowned, and did not. Kissing her mouth aggressively, he pushed her beneath him and said lowly, “If I answer, you’ll get jealous.”
“… I will not.”
“You will.” Taking her by the back of the head, he made sure he had her full attention.
…
Over the course of the next week, the drug did not progress at all. As she was having lunch with Zack, she could feel his displeasure. “I’m not hungry,” he said, waving a hand.
Kathy looked at his bowl full of porridge, and frowned with worry. The doctors said he barely ate anything these days, and that his mood had to improve, else his condition would worsen. “Grandfather, what do you want to eat? I’ll go make it.”
“No need. You go to work. I just want the drug finished!” he said decisively.
“It’s going smoothly. There’s no need to worry,” said Bertie, stepping in from outside.
Kathy raised her eyebrows. Smoothly? The past few days in the laboratory, problems had piled up without end.
Zack’s eyes lit up. “Is that so?”
“It is. I promise you we’ll get it on the market.”
“That makes me feel much better.” It seemed Zack took Bertie seriously, and trusted him.
But Kathy didn’t. When they left the room, she demanded of him, “Didn’t the third-stage trial fail?”
“Yes, but Edith’s already launched a new stage of the drug. The testing began today, and the results are promising.”
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