Page 51 of Liam
We focus on the screen, but I’m too aware of her presence beside me. I catch myself stealing glances at the way she bites her lip in concentration.
“You know,” she says, fiddling with a pen like it’s somecomplex scientific instrument, “I’m the first in my family to go into academia. My parents run an auto shop.”
“Really?” I lean in, interested and grateful for the distraction from my own thoughts. “That must have been quite a transition.”
She laughs, a sound that does funny things to my insides. “Yeah, they never understood my fascination with physics. To them, if you can’t fix it with a wrench, it’s not worth knowing.”
I smile despite the turmoil inside me. “And here you are, fixing things with your mind.”
“Exactly.” Her eyes light up, and for a moment, I forget about family secrets and looming disasters. “Although sometimes I think it’d be easier to realign a carburetor than to get these quantum states to behave.”
“Do you enjoy it?” I ask, desperate to keep this moment of normalcy going, to stay in this bubble where the outside world can’t touch us. “Working here in the lab, I mean.”
Her whole face transforms as she answers. “I love it. It’s where I feel most alive, most myself. Like I’m not just observing the universe, but actually touching it, you know?”
I nod, captivated by her passion.
She pauses, her eyes focusing on a point just above my eye. “How did you get this?” she asks softly, reaching out to touch the scar on my eyebrow.
Her fingers are warm against my skin, and I have to suppress a shiver. The gentle touch is so at odds with the violence that’s been occupying my thoughts since last night. “A souvenir from my last reckless night after graduation.
I stepped into a bar fight, trying to play hero, and caught the wrong end of a broken bottle. It took all of my father'sinfluence to keep it out of the papers. That night taught me the true cost of impulsive actions and the weight of the Valeur name. It was when I finally grew up and embraced my responsibilities.”
She smiles, her hand lingering. “So, you're telling me you got that scar playing white knight in a bar fight? How convenient. Did you leave out the part where you rescued a kitten from a burning building on your way home?”
She pauses, studying the scar more closely. “Still, it's not a terrible look on you. Makes you seem almost human.”
“Almost human, you say? Careful, Dr. James. That sounded dangerously close to a compliment. We wouldn't want anyone thinking you actually find me attractive now, would we?” I murmur, aware of how close we are.
The heat radiating from Aleria’s body seems to penetrate my suit, warming my skin underneath. Her fingers linger on my eyebrow, the touch feather-light but electrifying. The urge to lean into her touch is almost overwhelming. It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing that one step will change everything.
Our eyes meet, and the air between us crackles with unspoken desire. Aleria’s pupils dilate, her breath catching. My gaze drops to her lips, noticing how she parts them ever so slightly, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet them.
Time seems to slow, each heartbeat stretching into eternity. Blood rushes in my ears, drowning out everything else. The scent of her perfume envelops me, a heady mixture that makes my head spin.
I lean in, and Aleria mirrors the movement. The distance between us shrinks, the air growing thick with tension. Her hand slides down from my eyebrow to cup my cheek.
Every rational thought in my head screams at me to stop, to remember who we are and where we are. But in this moment, with Aleria so close, the thundering of my heart and the magnetic pull between us drown those thoughts out.
Just as I’m about to throw caution to the wind and kiss her, the door bursts open.
We jump apart, and I curse the laws of physics that didn’t see fit to open a wormhole and swallow us up.
“Oh, Mr. Valeur,” the employee says, oblivious to the moment they’ve just shattered. “I didn’t realize you were here already.”
“Just going over some details with Dr. James,” I say. My heart races, a mix of adrenaline from the almost-kiss and panic at nearly letting my guard down.
Aleria busies herself with the computer, her cheeks flushed. I clear my throat, searching for something—anything—to say.
“We should, uh, finish this later.”
“Right. Later. Good idea,” Aleria responds, still not meeting my eyes.
The rest of the day passes in a blur of meetings and paperwork, but my mind keeps drifting between two points. The almost-kiss with Aleria and the devastating family meeting. The contrast between the two is jarring.
As the office empties for the night, I linger at Aleria’s desk, torn between the desire to be near her and the knowledge that I should keep my distance.
She looks up, meeting my gaze. Her eyes are a swirling mixture of emotions. Confusion, longing, and something that looks like fear. It mirrors the chaos I feel.
