The loud, persistent sound of someone knocking on his car window startled Robert awake. His eyes fluttered open, and he immediately winced as the blinding sunlight streamed through his car's windshield.

He groaned and straightened up in the driver's seat, feeling a sharp, stiff pain in his neck. "Ugh, great," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to ease the discomfort.

Turning to his window, Robert nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing just inches away was a man, looking concerned, still knocking on the glass. Robert blinked, disoriented for a moment, before rolling the window down. "What?" Robert grumbled, his voice thick with irritation.

The man peered down at him. "You okay, man? You've been sitting here for a while. Didn't know if you were, uh... you know, dead or something."

Robert frowned, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm fine," he said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He slammed his hand on the button, sending the window back up with a solid thud.noveldrama

The stranger shrugged, giving Robert a puzzled look before walking away, apparently satisfied that he wasn't dealing with a corpse. Robert leaned his head back against the seat and groaned. "Unbelievable," he muttered, feeling the throbbing in his neck intensify. He cursed under his breath. "Damn Eligos and his goons."

It hadn't been that long since they'd dumped him unceremoniously into his own car, leaving him to wake up in the most uncomfortable position possible. The stiffness in his muscles was a harsh reminder of that. If he ever saw Eligos again, he'd... well, he wasn't sure what he'd do, but it definitely wouldn't be pleasant.

Meanwhile, across town, Claire was not having the peaceful day she had hoped for either. After her brief escape to Cryptonic-where she thought she'd get some much-needed quiet-her stress levels had only skyrocketed.

Someone had managed to hack into her highly secure firewall, one of the toughest ones she'd ever created, and left behind a taunting message. She'd spent hours trying to trace the hacker but kept coming up empty-handed. The frustration gnawed at her. Claire rubbed her temples, feeling the beginning of a headache forming. "Great. Just great," she muttered, pushing away from her desk. Needing a change of scenery, she decided to head to the robotics room to check on the progress of their latest project. When she arrived, she found Stephen tinkering with the second robot, his hands moving deftly as he made some final adjustments. "How's it going?" Claire asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and exhaustion.

Stephen looked up, smiling. "It's going well! We're ahead of schedule, actually. The second robot should be finished before the month's over."

Claire's lips curled into a small smile of appreciation. "That's great news. Thanks, Stephen, and thank the team too for all the hard work."

"Will do," Stephen replied, nodding before turning his attention back to the robot.

Claire lingered for a few moments, watching the teamwork, before she finally made her way back to her office. There was paperwork waiting for her-tons of it but as soon as she sat down, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Adrian," she murmured softly as she answered the call. "Hey."

"Hey, sweetheart," Adrian greeted her, his voice warm and full of affection. "Have you eaten yet?"

Claire chuckled lightly, shaking her head even though he couldn't see her. "Not yet. I've been running around all day."

"You know you've got to eat," Adrian scolded playfully. "If you don't, you'll get sick."

As Claire was about to respond, the door to her office swung open, and Matthew strolled in, laptop under his arm. He caught sight of Claire on the phone and immediately made a ridiculously exaggerated kissy face, complete with loud smooching sounds. Claire rolled her eyes but couldn't help the grin that broke across her face. "Matthew," she hissed, picking up a pen from her desk and throwing it at him.

Matthew, ever quick on his feet, ducked, laughing as the pen sailed harmlessly past him. "Close, but not quite!" he teased.

On the other end of the line, Adrian had clearly heard the commotion. "What's going on over there?" he asked, his tone amused.

"It's just Matthew being annoying as

els

usual," Claire said, glaring half-heartedly at her friend, who was now lounging on her office couch, looking far too pleased with himself.

en

Adrian chuckled. "Tell him I said hi."

"Adrian says hi," Claire relayed, narrowing her eyes at Matthew, daring him to say something else.

Matthew grinned. "Tell him I say hey back. And also tell him you're blushing."

"I am not!" Claire protested though the flush on her cheeks told a different story.

"I bet you are," Adrian teased, his voice lowering slightly. "I miss you."

Claire's heart did a little flip at his words. "I miss you too," she admitted softly. "When are we going to spend some time together?"

"I was hoping this weekend if you're free," Adrian suggested. "We could do something fun-just the two of us."

"That sounds perfect," Claire said, smiling again. "I would love that."

"Me too." Matthew teased them with his childish voice and Claire threw another pen at him and Matthew laughed.

"Great. It's a date," Adrian said, his voice full of warmth. "Now, go eat something, okay? I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, okay, I will. Talk to you soon or else Matthew couldn't help but be jealous over our phone call." Claire said, hanging up the phone and placing it on her desk.

The second she ended the call, Matthew let out a dramatic sigh from the couch. "Oh, young love. So sweet, so pure. Makes me wanna puke."

Claire rolled her eyes again, though she was still smiling. "Jealous much?"

"Of course," Matthew said, placing a hand over his heart in mock sincerity. "You get all the fun phone calls while I'm over here working."

"Right," Claire said dryly, "because I'm sure you're working so hard lying there on the couch, making kissy faces."

Matthew smirked, sitting up. "Hey, someone's gotta keep you on your toes."

Claire shook her head, laughing despite herself. "You are impossible."

"And yet, you can't get rid of me," Matthew said with a grin, standing up and walking over to her desk. leaned against the edge, his expression shifting to something a bit more serious. "So... have you made any progress on tracking that hacker?"

Claire sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Nope. Whoever it is, they are good. Real good. I've tried every trick I know, but they keep slipping through my fingers." Matthew frowned, clearly not liking that answer. "That's not like you, Claire. If anyone can track them down, it's you."

"I know but for some reason, this

one will be such a hassle to track

down. Every time I feel like I'm getting doser, it slips out of my hand just like that." Claire said she imitated it with her hands and Matthew couldn't help but smile.

"I know we will catch him sooner or later," Matthew said with much confidence.