Chapter 2

The next day, my head was still spinning. Julian had agreed. Agreed.

The Navigator was unhelpful. Continue pursuing rejection objective. Adapt strategy.

Easy for an AI to say.

Ben Carter, my friend and fellow ER nurse, found me staring into a cup of lukewarm coffee in the breakroom. He was the only one who knew, vaguely, about my "mission."

"Rough night?" he asked, slumping into the chair opposite me.

"You have no idea," I muttered. "He said yes."

Ben choked on his own coffee. "Yes? To what? The 'I've secretly loved you from afar for seven years, please put me out of my misery' speech?"

"Worse. The 'if I survive a near-suicide mission, will you marry me' speech."

"And he said yes?" Ben looked horrified on my behalf. "The Julian Vance? Mr. Emotionally Unavailable Philanthropist?"

"The one and only."

"Wow. That' s... unexpected."

"Tell me about it," I groaned, rubbing my temples. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Before Ben could offer any advice, my phone buzzed. Chloe Sinclair. Julian' s on-again, off-again ex-fiancée. Gallery owner, socialite, and general thorn in my side.

I answered, bracing myself.

"Ava, darling," Chloe' s voice was like sugar-coated condescension. "I heard about your little chat with Julian last night."

Of course, she had. She probably had him bugged.

"Chloe," I said, keeping my voice flat.

"A medical mission? How terribly dramatic. And marriage? Really, Ava, you do try so hard. It' s almost... pathetic."

Her words were meant to sting, and they usually did, a dull ache of humiliation. But today, they sparked an idea. A risky one.

Julian was due for a meeting about hospital funding. I knew he was in the conference room down the hall.

"Actually, Chloe," I said, my voice suddenly louder, brighter, "Julian and I were just discussing it. In fact..."

I stood up, walked to the breakroom door, and peeked out. Julian was just exiting the conference room, talking to a hospital administrator. Perfect.

"Julian, honey!" I called out, making sure my voice carried.

He looked up, surprised.

"Chloe' s on the phone," I said, loud enough for her to hear everything. "She was asking about our plans. I was just telling her, are we still on for looking at engagement rings this weekend?"

Chloe went silent on the other end of the line.

Julian looked from me to his phone, then back to me. A flicker of something – annoyance? amusement? – crossed his face.

To my absolute horror, he said, "Of course, Ava. This weekend sounds fine." He then spoke into his phone, "Chloe, I' ll have to call you back."

He hung up on her.

He actually hung up on Chloe Sinclair for me.

And agreed to look at engagement rings.

The Navigator pinged again. Warning: Target behavior deviating significantly from established patterns. Risk of mission failure increasing.

I wanted to scream.