Chapter 229

Evelyn slept like the dead. Not because her day at Phoenix Labs had been particularly exhausting, but because...

She'd been conducting personal experiments in a rather intimate field of study. Her findings confirmed what she'd suspected - men and women had fundamentally different endurance thresholds in certain activities. Case in point: Alexander had risen at dawn, fresh as morning dew, to attend some corporate meeting at DR Holdings.

She wasn't even certain what ungodly hour he'd slipped away. The last hazy memory was of his lips brushing her forehead in a featherlight goodbye kiss. Everything before that existed in a delicious, sleep-addled blur.

Her fingers fumbled across the nightstand until they closed around her buzzing phone. She dragged it to her ear. "Mmm?"

"Evelyn! It's me." Isabella's voice chirped through the receiver, annoyingly alert.

"Christ, it's too early for this energy," Evelyn groaned, rolling onto her stomach. Every muscle protested the movement. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"Early?" A disbelieving laugh. "Sweetheart, it's nearly six. In the evening."

"Six isn't..." Evelyn's sleep-fogged brain short-circuited. Her thumb hovered over the end call button.

"Evelyn Carter, tell me you don't actually think it's six AM right now."

"Six PM isn't... Wait, what?!" Awareness crashed over her like icy water. "Six PM?!"

She yanked the phone away to stare at the screen. The numbers 5:47 PM glared back mockingly.

Two heartbeats of stunned silence. Then she launched from bed, bare feet slapping against cold hardwood as she sprinted to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The curtains flew open to reveal a sky painted in sunset hues, the dying light laughing at her lost day.

"Holy shit. Did I really sleep around the clock?"

"Let me guess - you've been unconscious since last night?" Isabella's question was rhetorical. The evidence spoke for itself.

Evelyn collapsed into the window seat, fingers tangling in her wild bedhead. Despite the late hour, exhaustion still clung to her bones. The crimson horizon blurred as she exhaled slowly. "Does it matter? It's not like we're punching timecards today."

"That's not the point. You promised Victoria you'd meet for celebratory drinks yesterday. Or have you forgotten?" Isabella's tone carried a gentle warning.

The memory surfaced through the mental fog. "We can reschedule. I'll check her calendar." While Phoenix Labs was on hiatus, allowing Evelyn and Isabella some downtime, Victoria bore the weight of an entire department. Their plans would have to accommodate her.

"Perfect. Just let me know when. My schedule's wide open." The excitement in Isabella's voice was palpable. This would mark their first proper celebration since her career transition - a milestone worth commemorating.

"I'm hanging up now." Evelyn moved to end the call when Isabella's hurried "Wait-" stopped her.

"What now?" Evelyn pressed the phone back to her ear with a sigh.

"So... about that company retreat Dominic mentioned..." Hesitation colored Isabella's words, but beneath it thrummed barely-contained anticipation. "Did Alexander happen to mention where we're going?"

"Not a clue."

Evelyn pushed upright, padding toward the ensuite bathroom with the phone wedged between shoulder and ear. She grabbed her toothbrush, squeezing a generous ribbon of toothpaste onto the bristles. The minty foam filled her mouth just as Isabella's shocked voice came through:

"What? You mean you two didn't discuss it last night after you got home? I assumed..."