Forging Hephaestus by Drew Hayes

Author:Drew Hayes [Hayes, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thunder Pear Publishing
Published: 2017-02-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 46

Every ounce of residual annoyance Donald felt toward Barney and Jessica for making him dress nicely evaporated the moment he heard Tori’s voice say his name. Turning in his chair, he nearly fell over at the sight of her. She’d always been pretty—he’d noticed that on the first day she walked into the office—but there was also a bit of tension that seemed to constantly linger in her, as if she were too aware of her actions and speech. Whether it was the clothes, the makeup, or the company, something had lightened her mood, and with an aura of cheer around her, Tori was so beautiful it nearly took his breath away. It certainly stole his mind, as he gazed at her for several dumbfounded seconds until a very light kick on the shin from Ren reminded him that words were appropriate in this situation.

“Tori? Wow, I didn’t expect to see you until Monday.” Donald rose from his chair, oblivious to the people taking notice of his movements as they would note any recently debuted superhero. Before his brain could fully kick back into gear and nix the idea, he gave her a brief, friendly hug. After they parted, he finally got a good look at the five other women with her and began to wonder just how a meeting like this was possible.

“I thought you were in the hospital,” Donald said, noting the analytical stares Tori’s friends were giving him.

“Oh... yeah. I was. Got out today, decided to go celebrate. You know, seeing death makes you want to live life, that sort of thing. These are...” Tori’s brain raced, trying to think of a plausible reason she’d have to be hanging out with five distinctly gorgeous women in the VIP room of an exclusive club. She jumped on the first thought that popped into her head, which was part of the backstory Ivan had spun for her all those weeks ago.

“These are my friends from the program. The mandatory one. That I go to on weekends.”

Donald knitted his eyebrows together in confusion; then, all at once, comprehension set in. “Oh! Right. The, um, the… thing.”

“It’s okay, Donald, you can say drugs.” Without a moment of hesitation, Lynn stepped forward, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. “I’m Dr. Faye, but please call me Lynn. I’m the group’s supervisor. You must be one of Tori’s coworkers.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’re cubicle neighbors,” Donald confirmed.

“How lovely. Well, these are my other patients: Alexis, Beverly, Gretchen, and Stacey. Tonight, everyone is out for a night of proving to themselves that they don’t need drugs to have fun.”

The other women nodded, seemingly unbothered by having their business put on display. Tori, however, looked like she wanted to dig a hole and climb inside. While Donald searched for something to say, one of the other women—Alexis, he was fairly certain—clapped Lynn on the shoulder.

“No drugs, no doubt about that, but booze is still on the table, right, doc? I didn’t use my father’s connections to get us in here for nothing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.