just for a bloody contract | Roman Godfrey au

ch. 23 • bittersweet announcement

I had to go to PA school again today. Thankfully, it was starting an hour late, giving me some extra time in the morning. Shelley was a late sleeper, so I wouldn't be seeing her. I decided to check up on Roman instead.

I went into his room and saw him still asleep. Unusual for him, but oh well. "Roman? It's 8. You probably should wake up now," I said. That didn't work.

I went closer to his bed and decided to tug his blanket a little. "Roman? Wake up."

He jerked but just flipped his body to the other side. "Roman! Wake up," I said louder.

"What?" he said, yawning. He flipped over and saw me. "Ugh, leave me alone." He put his pillow on his head to shut out the noise.

"I just wanted to make sure you actually woke up and weren't dead. There's chicken in the fridge if you want more meat. And cookies your sister made if you're in the mood for something sweet. Are you feeling better?"

Roman got up and tossed the pillow to his side. He looked cute with a bedhead. It was the first time I saw his hair not tamed down with gel or combed. Also, I was confused at how anyone could look that good as soon as they woke up.

"I'm fine," he groaned. "Now leave me alone." He said as his head hit his mattress again. Guess he wasn't going to work today. I, however, needed to.

I only had one lecture and two small-class discussions before lunch that day, so I wasn't exhausted. Daniel came and sat next to me as always.

"How's everything going?" Daniel asked.

"Great, I guess. Nothing too weird has happened," I replied.

"That's nice. I'm glad things are going well. I have some news," Daniel said.

I looked at him with concerned eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Not necessarily wrong. I'm graduating early. So this is my last month here."

I gasped. "You mean, you're not going to be my lunch buddy anymore?"

"I guess not. Sorry, Liana," Daniel frowned. "But hey, you'll see me."

"How? Where?" I asked.

"At the Godfrey Institute. I got the job!" Daniel excitedly announced.

'Congratulations! I know that was your dream place. I hope it's even better than you think," I wished him. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Liana," Daniel gave me a hug. "Uh, I hope that was okay."

"Completely," I assured him. Oh, how I wanted to tell Daniel to stay 1500 miles away from Pryce. I really really hoped Pryce would not even recognize Daniel's existence and instead just go about working with other scientists. Daniel was a great guy whose shadow shouldn't even be stepped on by Pryce.

After the bittersweet announcement and lunch, I went back to two more lectures and one more class before school was done. I went to the library, studied some, then headed to the lab to do work. I would work with the researchers but take my own notes. They didn't exactly know my goal was to help with Roman's bloodthirst for very obvious reasons. And whenever the researchers would leave me alone, I'd go to my drawer and pull out my collection of graduated cylinders containing samples of the medicine I was working on. It was nearly done and ready to be used on an actual subject. I can't believe I was giving this away to Pryce. You get some, you lose some, I guess.

Roman had gotten better, and I made sure he ate when he needed to. He kept doing his thing. Pryce stopped talking to Roman about that deal. Thank goodness. Letha came for brunch one brisky day. I cherished every moment of lunch time I got with Daniel. I would miss him so much when he's gone. I worked on my project as well as helped with the researchers' one. Both were seeming to do what they were supposed to. And with that, another two weeks had passed. Right in a blink of an eye.

►▸note: short chapter but I'm updating tomorrow. until then, stay safe and at home (if you can)!