I kept working.
Because what else could I do?
Even though I knew it was useless — Phase II without Phase I was like building a house without a foundation. Every financial model, every feasibility projection would eventually circle back to Phase I. And right now, that phase was gone. Missing. Vanished.
Still, I kept at it, staring at my screens, trying to make sense of incomplete data. Because if I stopped, I'd start thinking again. And that was worse.
By the time I finally stepped out of my office, it was close to six. My eyes burned, my back ached, and I felt like I'd been breathing recycled air all day.
When I got back to the room, Val was still asleep. The curtains were half drawn, letting a stripe of warm, golden light cut across her face.
She must've really been exhausted. Figures, she hadn't slept at all the previous night, and that conference had drained her in more ways than one.
I stood there for a long time, just watching her.
