"Not watching where you''re going?"n narrowed his eyes at her, but there wasn''t a trace of anger in his voice.


    Eleanor took a step back, unwilling to acknowledge him. She brushed past and headed into the conference room.


    The two entered one after the other, drawing curious nces from everyone already seated. Eleanor slipped into her usual spot, whilen pulled out the chair next to Simone and sat down.


    "Alright, since everyone''s here, let''s go over the results of the new drug trials," Simone began, her tone brisk.


    Halfway through the meeting, Simone turned to Eleanor. "Eleanor, how''s the data verificationing along for Group Three?"


    Lost in her own thoughts, Eleanor didn''t react.


    "Ellie?" Simone called again, and Gwenda, seated beside Eleanor, discreetly tapped her under the table.


    Eleanor snapped back to reality, realizing everyone was watching her. She looked at Simone. "Professor Langley, sorry-what did you say?"


    Simone sighed. "Ellie, what''s been going on with you the past couple of weeks? You seem distracted. Is something wrong?"


    Eleanor''s fingers fidgeted with the papers in front of her. "Professor Langley, I— I''m fine. Really."


    A hush fell over the table.


    He hadn''t called anyone out by name, but everyone knew his words were aimed squarely at Eleanor.


    n, Eleanor''s worktely has actually-" Simone tried to defend her.


    "I don''t want excuses."n''s gaze locked on Eleanor. Ever since Gavin mentioned seeing her and Mansfield Ellington acting cozy together,n had been convinced her current distracted state was all down to some messy rtionship drama. Eleanor met his stare and forced herself to stayposed. "Understood."


    Gwenda leaned over and whispered a reminder about Simone''s earlier question. Eleanor quickly found the relevant page in her notes and delivered a concise, clear analysis.


    Simone cleared her throat, moving on. "Next, I''ll go over what we can expect from the patients in theing days."


    Just then, Eleanor''s phone chimed with a message-everyone else had set their phones to silent, but she''d forgotten. The phone, sitting on the table, immediately caught her attention. She snatched it up, her movements tense, as if she''d been waiting for something important.


    Disappointment flickered in her eyes as she read the message. With a quiet sigh, she set her phone back down and switched it to silent.


    Across the table, a pair of cool, unreadable eyes never left her. Ian knew exactly whom she was waiting to hear from.


    A momentter, though her phone stayed silent, the screen lit up with another notification. Eleanor''s subtle nce at her phone was enough to maken''s brow furrow in displeasure.


    As she scrolled through her messages,n tapped his long fingers against the table in warning. "No phones during the meeting."


    "Eleanor, is it something urgent?" Simone asked tactfully.


    Eleanor gave a quick nod. "Professor Langley, if you''ll excuse me, I need to step out."


    She got up to leave, and almost immediately,n pushed back his chair and followed her out.


    She''d barely made it a few steps down the hallway whenn''s voice sounded behind her. "If you''re too busy with your love life, maybe Evelyn shoulde stay with me for a while."