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“As part of the research phase, we will be looking specifically at monitoring those with family history who cannot pay for conventional medical care.”
A ripple went through the crowd. “We will be sourcing participants from around the world. That way we can see the effectiveness on people who come from a variety of backgrounds. It is important to our research that we spread the information as broadly as we possibly can. We must collect all the data that we can. This is the beginning to what we truly all hope for. A cure. And this proves that we are not defeated by answers that have eluded us for all this time. There are still discoveries to make. And we will make them. This is the beginning of a very exciting summit. We will pool knowledge, and together we will find the answers to the most pressing medical concerns we face in society.”
The applause when he got off the stage was deafening.
He ignored it. He didn’t do this for accolades.
They were immaterial.
He did not do this for glory.
He felt Polly’s gaze on him, he knew it was her without having to look.
But he did look, and he saw that her eyes were glistening.
She was emotional. He wondered why.
It was not, after all, a personal thing to her, at least not as far as he knew. He had done a background check on her when he had made her his assistant, and nothing in her files suggested she had experience with losing a family member to disease.
He went to his table, one occupied by the chief investors, and sat by Polly. He ignored the investors and leaned toward her. “Are you upset?”
She shook her head. “I’m not upset. I’m simply moved. I understand more now why this matters to you.”
She cared about that? She was angry with him. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have quit.
It made no sense that she would be moved to tears by his experience in that case.
She changed the conversation, shifted it, included the investors. She was good at that. She maneuvered it so that he had only to answer questions about the research. And peppered things with delightful, humorous anecdotes and personal remarks. The kind of conversation that left everyone feeling as if they had had a good interaction with him, even though Polly had done most of the conversing.
He did not know what he would do without her.
Anger began to build inside of him, and it only got worse in the following days. As she continued to prove utterly indispensable, and ravishingly beautiful every night for the formal events.
What had been contained by the rules of society, of professionalism, now felt less clear. He’d banked his need for her all this time because it was the right thing to do. But she was leaving now, which meant every word, every interaction, felt like it had a different meaning to it. Different rules.
Or worse: no rules at all.
He was a man who often relied on rules.
And now she was Polly, without the fence of appropriate boss/employee relations surrounding her.
So when she did something for him, he couldn’t simply dismiss it as her doing her job.
When he earned a smile it no longer felt like it was strictly her duty.
When her fingertips brushed his he wasn’t obliged to pretend he didn’t feel sparks of electricity winding through him, that his gut wasn’t tight with need. That his body wasn’t on high alert.
It built, over the course of all these days. It was nearly physical pain.
The hotel itself was one of the most storied venues in all of Singapore, and yet Polly made it look pale in comparison.
It was such an odd thing. Her beauty had always been undeniable. And yet, she had never been the type to actively court attention. Her beauty had never been sensual.
It was as if it was a costume that she put on, and yet once he had seen the inherent sensuality in her he could not unsee it.
He felt utterly entranced by it. By her.
On the last night, she wore gold. She was utterly resplendent, and he was meant to focus on the conclusions of the week. All upcoming research projects from universities and smaller medical tech companies. He was choosing investments himself, that he might help further broader medical research.