Scarred

Chapter 6: These Dreams

Hey guys - huge thank you out to all of my readers! Your votes and comments have been pushing Scarred up in the rankings amazingly fast! Thank you all so much you guys are awesome!

Also, a head's up that I will be traveling next week. I will try to get Chapter 7 up before I leave, but it all depends since I'm in the midst of a large project for work and have already encountered some unexpected problems. The rest of September is going to be a bit overwhelming, so updates may come slower. I will do my best, though. 

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Lucienne rose the next morning, taking a shower to clear her head after her night of crying. I don't know why him leaving hurt so much. It's not like I knew him or had any kind of relationship with the man, she thought with a sigh, while stepping under the shower spray. It's completely ridiculous.

The hot water served to relax her shoulders and neck, and last night's pain seemed to just flow down the drain. It's probably just because I'm lonely and I was hoping to find someone other than Maria that knows and isn't afraid of me. Maybe I should just be content with what I have. I mean if a man that is clearly outside the ordinary can't accept me, what hope do I really have?

She almost started crying again with that thought, and mentally smacked herself out of that line of reasoning. Get a freaking grip! You are not some poor pathetic waif, and you know damn well you're luckier than most. So let's put an end to the pity party, shall we? she berated herself.

So what if the hottest man you've ever seen is afraid of you? That reaction is certainly nothing new. Besides, if he's having dreams the way he said, then he might come back. Do you want to look like some sniveling, whiny brat if he does?

Her resolve and pride kicked back in with that thought, and when she stepped out of the shower she was walking tall again. Eh, I've been through much worse than this, and who has time to wallow in misery anyway? Not me!

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"Care to explain why the Coconut Grove proposal is still incomplete?" Michael's hard edged voice cut Allen's presentation dead. Elijah tensed, knowing his sire was still on edge.

"S-S-Sorry sir," the young architect pushed out. "We encountered unexpected delays with..."

"Why wasn't I informed of any delays?"

"Sir, that is my fault," Cathy, the midnight haired woman said from across the table. A moment later she rose and stood next to Allen while her dark eyes met his gaze unflinchingly. "I thought we'd be able to keep the delay minimal and make up the time to stay on schedule. Unfortunately there was an unexpected reallocation of resources which I did not account for in my original estimates," she told him.

Forwarding the presentation to the slides reflecting the relevant data, she continued speaking which allowed Allen to move off to the side and out of the line of fire. "If you'll take a look at page seven of the report, you'll see the numbers there along with the adjustments I've made to the schedule that will enable us to deliver on time..."

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Michael paced his office, angry with himself. I am behaving like an unstable youngling. I should never have been so harsh on Allen, and it was only Cathy's intervention that prevented me from doing something I would have regretted. I will need to apologize to both as I was the one who shifted resource priority to Hayes. That means I am the reason for the Coconut Grove project delay.

His thoughts were interrupted by Elijah entering his office. "I sure hope you plan to give Cathy a raise," he stated without preamble. "She put herself on the line in there, did a damn good job too."