The intercom scared me, as I recall. Usually neat and businesslike, my assistant added, "Mrs. Blackwood is here to see you."
I hardly had time to straighten myself before Olivia got to my office. She was like a calm, in control soft breeze that one cannot ignore. Her shoes hardly could be heard when she fell on the polished floor. Her eyes met with mine as she advanced; I could see the great dread engraved profoundly on her face.
Her voice quivering, I had not heard before, she softly said, "Ethan, darling." She had just left Dr. Patel's office; her comments hovered like a hefty cloud.
My heart rate picked up speed. It was a known sensation during the past few years, a mix of hope and anxiety, that had been a regular friend. Every doctor's visit had been a new risk, a little thread of hope among many letdowns. Olivia's attitude now matched the finality I had been cautioned about.
"Your sperm count is rather low, Dr. Patel reports," she said. She began to dab at tears. We do not start pregnant and ready. Her comments seemed to weigh nothing on my scale. Against hope, I had expected some amazing things to happen there. But the reality was now rather obviously simple.
I pressed ahead to give her a hard hug. Her familiar and consoling scent surrounded my senses, but it did not enable me to quiet the storm inside. I buried my face in hers as I battled the tears that sought freedom. Her shaking against me accentuated even more my feelings.
I said, sounding annoyed and suspicious, "We'll find a way." The words emerged hollow even while I was speaking. More for my fading will help than for hers; they were only a tiny endeavor. I wanted to believe that we might cross this obstacle and that the route ahead was still open. But the reality of our situation felt to be acting out my hope.
Olivia turned slightly, her eyes locking with mine a mix of will and despair. Ethan, I can see you want this fixed. I behave just as precisely. Still, we have tried in every field. Dr. Patel told us to consider several options. Her voice stammered on the last sentence, our weight dragging her down.
I tried hard swallowing to stop the terror flood from mounting. Finding innovative solutions to problems has always made me rather happy. Still, here I was presented with an insurmountable obstacle threatening to wash away all I loved. Decisions whirled in my head, each more tough than the next.
Olivia gently held my palm to earth me in the here-after. She inquired, what are we going to do? Her voice nearly raised above a whisper. Her lecture revealed her frailty.
I ground myself in long ago breathing. "We will figure it out," I said, though my voice's confidence was withering. The same awful thought kept returning: what if no response? What then would happen if we were expected to negotiate this agony without a route forward?
The silence that followed virtually suffocated me. Olivia asked the questions, and I could see her panic flickering back from them. We were both debating the degree of the conditions as we walked over the blackness.
I wanted much only to look at her. I had always been a busy man, one who welcomed challenges without a second thought. Still, among other things, this was quite exceptional. Not only a deeply personal but also a scientific one threatening what we had produced together.
Olivia started a faint, hesitant smile as her eyes relaxed. "Ethan, we have always cooperatively addressed problems. We shall also cover this. Guess so.
Her words were like a salve for my conflicted feelings, yet they did not much reduce my mounting uneasiness. Clutching to one other, we stood there and I couldn't get rid of the notion our lives would change in ways we could yet see. The future seemed suddenly foggy, a great span of inaccessible land.
Unspoken but particular, the question hung in the air: Could we negotiate this new reality, or were we going to face a catastrophe that would try us in hitherto unimaginable ways?
The minutes went by and I came to see there would not be a simple road forward. Though our vacation was just getting started, the responses we sought felt as far as ever.
We were shocked out of our hug by a quick knock on the door. The boom sliced brutally and unexpectedly right through the lovely silence we had produced. I looked at Olivia; her face had gone pale and her eyes showed much concern. The door creaking open matched the knock, and my assistant's head came polished yet curious.
She added, tensely "Mr. Blackwood," "someone is here to see you." They say that is vital.
For a single second, my heart stopped. It felt so far away outside this chamber, but it was now angrily returning to our haven. "Send them in," I murmured, sounding more afraid than I intended.
Olivia grabbed my hand and then turned aside, her composure returning as she seemed ready to regulate whatever lay ahead. I went with her to try to grasp her points of view. Our battle was clearly like a tightrope walking across a gulf.
Marcus Holloway turned up at the door, his face austere, and pushed back. He nodded rapidly to me and then turned to Olivia, who grudgingly smiled.
Marcus went on like this. "Ethan, Olivia," his voice was businesslike but with a little tremble. "I hope I'm not stopping anything."
Though it tasted more like a frown, I pushed a smile. Not simply Marcus. Here you are exactly for what?
Marcus paused to look at Olivia and then at me. "It talks of the ongoing modern project under development. You should be right now aware of a development that has happened."
Olivia wrinkled her eyebrows with anxiety, but I shivered a little too. More issues were the last thing we needed. "What type of progress?" I asked, trying to project calm.
Marcus breathed long breaths, then looked at Olivia just momentarily before turning back to face me. "I know something that might replace all we have been getting ready for. Ethan, this is quite important. It affects the results of the research data.
The emptiness closed in all directions. Looking for connections, my head turned to the Source of research. Contextual reading is seen in Heart Shot. "Who, Marcus? Are you worried? For what reason is this happening?
Marcus followed slowly; his expression confused. "An alert from nowhere showed up for me. Blackwood Tech has made public private material leaked from within by someone. They spoke about a future conflict defining mankind. It is above our expectations, hence I'm worried.
Cold slithered my rear. Marcus's approach revealed that this was rather serious, even if my initial response was to write it off as ludicrous. Olivia's face turned white; she grasped her tummy automatically as if she could sense the turbulence in the air.
"What kind of scams?" I was trying to hide the horror in my voice: "What kind of scandal?"
Marcus turned around as if looking for someone else to listen. "They think the material that has come to light relates to our personal lives, more especially, specifics on your fertility problems and our behavior. One could contend that reveals a serious ethical failure."
Marcus's comments hit me like a gut check. We would be honest about our differences; hence the outcome could be horrible. Head whirled to grasp the ramifications. Apart from damaging Blackwood Tech's reputation should the public know of our own decisions and the questionable tactics we investigated? Blackwood Tech's future would be unstable.
"What came here?" My voice when I asked was little more than a whisper.
Marcus responded, clearly disturbed, "I'm still piecing it together." Clearly within our ranks is still the leak. To stop greater damage, we have to act fast.
My thinking whirled between doubt and hopelessness. I turned to Olivia, whose expression blended with horror. We were ready to welcome the disaster our creation threatened. Now Blackwood Tech's head was under attack; the personal betrayal wounded harder than I could have ever anticipated.
"What should our direction of travel be?" Olivia asked in a shaky voice. Her eye followed my unease. She carried a great emotional and professional weight on her shoulders; this was more than just business.
"I have to deal with this right away," I responded, ideas going in various directions. "We have to start ahead of things spiraling out of control." Marcus, compile everything you know and see me twenty minutes at my office.
Marcus nodded, resolving swiftly across his face. Right now, I am right here.
Maybe drawing attention to the quiet that followed—the door closed softly behind him as he went.
Feeling the weight of the events land on us, Olivia and I stood in the middle of the room.
We are in a storm; I muttered gently, attempting to settle my racing heart. One also gets the idea of no escape.
Olivia turned to face me, hope mixed with uncertainty. "We have to face this, Ethan, right now with each other. We will manage whatever is next.
A bleak, depressing emptiness with unresolved issues lay ahead of us. One thing was clear as we were ready to face the developing crisis: our choices now would define our fate in ways we could not yet see, hence our life would be permanently changed. Our path seemed to be pretty darkly cloudless.
Turning now to face the barred door, the sense of the worst still to come stayed. A few riddles lurking in the darkness simply waiting for discovery.