Page 7 of Her Billionaire Bossholes

"I do have some thoughts on your security," she tells Caleb, her eyes glinting with determination.

Caleb, with a hint of amusement, smirks and shakes his head. "We have a security team for that— which you already know. You're in charge of protecting me, not my work."

Charlie's expression shifts subtly, accepting the challenge he has placed in front of her. Her reply is measured yet assertive. "And you don't consider those to be one and the same?" she counters.

Caleb's eyes narrow slightly, considering her words. He recognizes the validity of her point, and a flicker of respect crosses his face. "Touché," he concedes, a touch of admiration in his voice.

Charlie's face lights up with a captivating smile, and for a moment, I'm captivated too. But as her gaze meets mine, her smile fades, and a flicker of disappointment crosses my mind. I put aside any irritation, reminding myself that I'm the one who pissed her off first.

"Charlie," I greet with a nod. She nods back. "Let's get started."

I lead her down the hallway to my section of the facility, my voice softly echoing off of its sterile white walls. “This is where I work,” I explain as we walk past a series of labs. “We focus heavily on genetic engineering and applications in biotechnology here. We study various organisms' genes—how they behave, how they interact with each other—in order to better understand them and figure out ways to apply their information for useful purposes."

The possibilities seem endless, both terrifyingly amazing and endlessly fascinating.

Just as we finish the tour, I glance around to find that Caleb has made himself scarce. With a slight gesture of my head, I catch Charlie's eye and pull her aside.

"Listen," I begin softly, looking earnestly into her eyes. "I just want to apologize again for what I said in the meeting...I was out of line and shouldn't have spoken up like that."

Charlie puts up one slim hand before lowering it slowly down onto mine still wrapped around her arm as if trying to comfort me without words first. “It’s over now." She says. "Let's get on with the tour."

Her face transforms from annoyance to something softer; an emotion more akin to acceptance than anger or resentment now lighting up her features elegantly. And suddenly it feels like all is forgiven between us. I glance down at her lips, watching as her tongue darts out to wet them.

My thoughts start miles away, my attention has been shifted to Charlie's features as I finally get a chance to take a good look at her; the way the light plays off of her and how beautiful each feature seems in its own unique way. Her eyes are captivating, her skin is a creamy caramel, while dark wisps of hair frame her face as they escape her hair tie.

My gaze darts back up to meet hers, and I swear I could feel the air in between us crackle with electricity. It's like all my thoughts have vanished leaving me frozen even as my heart starts racing faster than ever. There is something infinitely beautiful about her in that moment, something so breathtakingly sublime that it captures every bit of attention from me.

"Mr. Thompson?"

Snapping out of my reverie, I clear my throat. "Right. Let's continue."

We approach the farest part of the lab with the door shut and guarded by two armored guards. "This is my most prized section of the facility—the genetics lab," I explain, gesturing to the large space behind us.

We walk into a bright room filled with various pieces of sophisticated equipment: electron microscopes, centrifuges, particle accelerators, wet labs for genetic engineering experiments… The far wall has been divided into several sections each containing cold cases full of small vials labeled in nanometer font - samples from our ongoing studies on different species’ genetics.

The untrained eye can tell without expertise that this place must have cost great fortune to build and maintain its high-tech features are quite awe inspiring themselves – enough so that even Charlie looks at it in admiration before her gaze shifting towards me inquisitively now waiting for thoughts which must have formed within her mind during mere minutes spent around here.

"Gnostic manipulation and recombinant DNA," I tell her, gesturing to the equipment. "My team of scientists has used these tools to make groundbreaking discoveries in genetic engineering, including bringing hybrid organisms into existence."

I move around the lab, introducing Charlie to Nobuji Tanaka—our lead scientist specializing in plant genetics; Yuta Sugimoto—a researcher enthusiastic about molecular biology; Alexander Wilkins —the AI specialist responsible for developing our advanced robotic arms…The list goes on - each individual here contributing something unique and irreplaceable towards progress made within this lab every day.

It’s an ambitious mission – but one I plan on seeing through. So much can be done when science is put into action; yet it will take collaboration from all sides to achieve success – both public policy makers and scientists must understand each other’s goals – if we are able to bridge that gap then there's no telling how we can change the world.

"This is... impressive." Charlie admits, nodding her head. "It seems like your work ties in closely with Mr. Carter's."

I smile, nodding. "That it does. Stem cell research fields have a lot of overlap," I explain with enthusiasm. "Caleb, Jackson and I have always been interested in these areas, and they just happen to be similar."

Charlie's expression changes from admiration to surprise as her gaze shifts back up towards me; something akin awe flashing within them now - that spark slowly vanquished by the return of her neutral composure shortly afterwards.

"Well, that's all for me," I sigh, opening a door for her to walk through. "Any thoughts?"

She shrugs nonchalantly. "Plenty. What does your security clearance look like for your researchers? Who all is allowed in and out of these doors? Why aren't there security guards posted at the entrances?"

I laugh and shake my head. "You take your job very seriously, don't you?"

She looks at me and deadpans, "If I wanted to make jokes, I would have become a comedian."

8

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