Influx (Book Four)

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

"Hadley!" Click screams startling me from my room. Quickly stepping out of the room, I see my little sister beaming from ear to ear. Pulling my scarf down, my face twitches for a moment but I try to return her smile.

"You called me by my real name," I say as I lean against the island in the kitchen.

"I like your real name, it's unique," she says, and I chuckle.

"Well you wanted my attention, out with whatever has you so happy," I muse, and she beams.

"I made Dean's list! Straight A's!" She screams excitedly and she shows me on her phone her grades. Pride bursts from my heart and I pull her into a massive hug. She laughs joyfully in my ear as I rock us back and forth.

"I'm so proud of you!" I say happily and when she pulls back there are tears in her eyes.

"I wouldn't be here without you Hadley, thank you so much for everything," she says, and the tears spillover. Pulling her close again, a small smile graces my lips.

"I would do it a thousand times over Click; I've never regretted for a moment intervening that day," I say genuinely, and she squeezes me so hard it hurts.

"I want to send a letter to my father with a photo of my grades from the last few years. You have the phone number for the psychiatric ward he is in, can you give it to me when you have a moment?" She asks me and I nod.

"We will have to go out and celebrate once I get back from my meeting," I say, and I grab my workbag from the counter and my phone.

"Okay, why are you home again?" She questions confused.

"I had my meeting with Macie about the court case this morning, I am heading into work now," I say, and I ruffle her hair before all but running out the door.

Bustling into work, I am joined by Alexander and Aviva and I don't even question where they just came from. Pulling my scarf down in the elevator, my face twitches some more, and the burning kicks in again. We get off on a different floor and walk into an unfamiliar conference room. I am greeted eagerly by a breathtakingly beautiful Hispanic woman.

"This is Camila Hernandez, she is an electrical engineer and the lead on the team for the three-dimensional modeling software you've been working with," Alexander introduces happily.

"It's nice to meet you, Camila, I am Hadley Winters," I introduce, and Aviva beams when I use my real name.

"Any relationship to Cathleen Winters?" She asks curiously as we all take a seat around the table. I plug in my laptop quickly and pull up the things I have been noting before handing the packet of notes I've made around the table.

"What gave it away?" I muse and Camila grins at me.

Launching headfirst into the notes I have been taking, Alexander speedily types everything going on in the meeting and I am impressed with how hands-on he stays with the employees. I guess that's the advantage of having two CEO's, he can take the time to sit in on meetings like this. I present the bugs I have found, and then I follow up with the research I have been doing and where I really think the project could push further to make it more applicable.

"Can I ask what you went to school for?" Camila asks as we wrap up the meeting.

"Of course, I did my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering. I then perused my graduate degree in Electronics Engineering," I say, and everything clicks in her head.