Earth, Omaha, Nebraska

  Katharine Miller, Medical Microbiologist

  Kat hated sitting alone in public, and Claire had abandoned her at the coffee shop to wait for Aubrey. What if some rando came over to talk to her?

  She fished out her phone and pulled up LinkedIn.

  Aubrey Hope had an MBA from Creighton University, which explained how she knew Claire. She was the Director of PR Strategy. Was Aubrey any good, or did Daddy just give her a pretty title to go with that dazzling smile?

  She shook her head, chastising herself. That was uncalled for—for all she knew, Aubrey Hope was brilliant. Plus, hadn’t Claire said they were close friends?

  The bell on the door of the coffee shop jingled as it swung open, bringing in a chill and a loud man.

  “—can’t do it, bro. Wish I could, but tonight’s hosed.” His white button-up was wrinkled, skinny red tie loosened around the collar. Salesman, most likely. Or some sort of middle manager.

  He rushed over to the counter in the manner people do when they want to look important. “One sec, dude, gotta order.” He jerked his head at the barista. “Triple espresso with cream, to go.”

  Kat hated guys like this. His voice carried through the entire shop, grating on her brain. Fucking douchebags and their Bluetooth headsets. She reached for her purse, ready to pull out her headphones—

  “No, swear to god—half my fuckin’ team called in sick today, lazy fuckers.” He had backed away from the counter and was leaning against the wall, blabbing away.

  Kat froze, her hand still in her purse. Had she heard that right?

  Wait, sick? That’s weird. She pulled out her phone again so it wouldn’t be obvious she was eavesdropping. Not that it should be considered eavesdropping, with the way his voice carried.

  “Damn right, they’re lying. But I can’t—” Dude-bro cut off and nodded to himself. “—no, that’s what I’m saying, dude—it’s an HR nightmare.”

  It hadn’t occurred to Kat that people would fake Syndrome Q to get out of work, but it made sense. She clenched her jaw. Why did people pull crap like that? All those times when people ignored Beth or insinuated she was faking ...

  “Nah, man—it’s real. Suzie’s sick, it’s fuckin’ obvious, man.”

  Well, that was something. Maybe this guy wasn’t all bad. It sounded like he was standing up for—

  “I know, right? She used to be so hot.”

  Or not.

  The front door jingled again, prompting Kat to glance in that direction.

  A woman in a sleek skirt and blazer strode inside, filling the room with an unmistakable aura of power. Even the woman’s ridiculously high heels struck the ground with authority.

  Aubrey Hope was possibly the most intimidating woman Kat had ever seen, and she hadn’t even looked over yet. Kat suddenly wished she were anywhere but here. She didn’t want to meet a woman like Aubrey while wearing a ball cap and an unwashed hoodie.

  Maybe she could duck out and apologize later? She glanced towards the bathroom. Maybe there was a back exit? Then Aubrey’s eyes locked on her, recognition clear.

  Kat froze.

  Aubrey smiled and started towards the booth. Crap, this was happening.

  As Aubrey approached, Kat hurried to her feet and extended a hand in greeting.

  “Katherine Miller?”

  Aubrey raised her sharp eyebrows, then darted her eyes to Kat’s outstretched hand. “Nothing personal, I don’t shake.”

  Lowering her hand, Kat tried to put it in her pocket, then remembered she was wearing yoga pants. Real slick, Kat. “Of course.” Her cheeks heated, but Aubrey didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did, she didn’t let on.

  “I’m gonna get a coffee. What can I get you?”

  Kat snagged her coffee from the table and held it out awkwardly. “All set, thanks.”

  Aubrey grinned. “Well, I need another coffee—be right back.” Geez, even her smile exuded confidence.

  Scrambling back into the booth to wait, Kat cradled her coffee between her hands. It wasn’t hot anymore. She should have taken Aubrey up on her offer.

  She could go meet her in line, say she changed her mind. Nah, this one would be fine. She wasn’t thirsty, anyway.

  As she waited, she watched Aubrey out of the corner of her eye. She was the living embodiment of that one Cake song. Or maybe ‘Boys Wanna Be Her.’ Kat had always been envious of women who could command a room. Even dude-bro was starting at Aubrey, slack-jawed.

  There was no way this was going to end in a job offer. It’s not like she wanted to work at a place like Hope Pharma. Besides, how could she take a full-time job when she was this sick? She could barely stand the noise in the coffee shop. And as poorly as she’d been sleeping, she could never manage an eight to five.

  She looked over at Aubrey, commanding even as she stood there, waiting for her coffee. Someone like Aubrey probably worked twelve hours daily and expected the same from everyone around her.

  Yeah, this wasn’t going to work.

  As she watched Aubrey pay and collect her coffee, Kat tried to devise a polite way to get out of this meeting. She had yet to come up with anything that didn’t sound rude by the time Aubrey returned.

  Aubrey slid gracefully into the booth and settled her purse next to her before taking a sip of coffee. “Ah—that’s better. So, I checked out your LinkedIn—you’ve got quite the resume there. I especially enjoyed your latest paper on CFS, fibro, and migraines. Good stuff.”

  Huh. That was unexpected. “You read that?”

  Aubrey quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. “I can muddle my way through an abstract. Besides, it was very well written. Not too jargon-y. What made you decide to use Python?”

  They spent the next several minutes discussing her research. Aubrey’s questions were surprisingly insightful. Although this wasn’t her area of expertise, she was honest about what she didn’t know.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Kat liked that. People who tried to fake their way through science drove her crazy. Aubrey was curious and unintimidated by Kat’s knowledge. To her surprise, Kat found herself warming to the other woman.

  Sure, Aubrey was curt and never apologized for herself in the ways women were socialized to do, but Kat kinda admired her for it. Why should Aubrey be meek just because she was a woman?

  Aubrey jumped in as Kat finished a lengthy explanation of the data models she used in her experiment.

  “—and that’s why we need you at Hope Pharm, Kat. We need someone to serve as our data modeler and the liaison between the lab and data teams. I can’t go into the details until you sign an NDA, but we’re about to launch a project that needs your expertise.”

  Kat took a deep breath. “Aubrey ...”

  “—before you talk yourself out of this, at least give me a chance to convince you.” Aubrey’s eye contact was piercing, and Kat struggled not to look away.

  “Okay ...”

  “We’re going to find a cure for Syndrome Q.”

  Kat couldn’t keep the incredulity off her face. “A cure? I don’t mean to be rude, but I find that hard to believe.”

  “What? Since we’re a pharmaceutical company, you assume we’d rather develop treatments than cures?”

  “Well, wouldn’t you? That’s always been your company’s business model. And it means you have a vested interest in keeping people sick.”

  To her surprise, Aubrey laughed. “I like that.”

  “What?” Kat furrowed her brows.

  Aubrey’s voice took on a mischievous tone. “You’re all quiet and meek, but get you talking about medicine, and you turn into this total ball-buster.”

  She leaned forward, voice serious. “Look, I won’t apologize for Hope’s role in improving people’s quality of life, but that’s not important here. Think about it—human disease is all but eradicated. Whoever cures Syndrome Q will go down in history.”

  “We want that to be our legacy, Kat. Our last contribution to the world. One sec.” She held up a finger for Kat to wait, then fished a pen out of her purse. Aubrey scribbled something on a napkin and slid it over face down. “Don’t say this out loud.”

  Hayley Jo is on board.

  Kat’s eyes widened. If Hayley Jo had agreed to this, it had to be legit. After the controversy with her old manager, she couldn’t imagine Hayley allowing anyone to exploit her beliefs again.

  If Aubrey was telling the truth, this project might be ... perfect.

  Kat looked Aubrey square in the eyes, searching for signs of deception. Aubrey held her gaze, waiting.

  An unexpected image flashed into Kat’s mind, vivid and enticing—Aubrey, Hayley Jo, and Kat stood with their team, popping champagne and cheering.

  She blinked, then looked away. Her heart rate quickened, and she felt a rush of exhilaration she hadn’t felt in months. The thrill of discovery, of contributing to something that mattered. She could almost taste it.

  Meanwhile, Aubrey scribbled something on another napkin.

  Aubrey slid it over. Kat’s heart leaped into her throat when she saw the number Aubrey had written there. “Is this a joke?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “Absolutely not. You have the skills we need, you’re local, and I like you. The project is slated to start in less than two weeks, and we need a data modeler to ensure we get it right. Our tech manager already agreed—that’s our offer, if you’re willing to start on short notice.”

  The number written on that napkin was six times her postdoc salary.

  Astronomical student debt balances popped into Kat’s head. Medical school, the PhD program—none of it had been cheap.

  She thought of Beth, worried about her own college tuition bills. If she took the job at Hope, Kat could afford to help Beth, too. Her sister had always dreamed of being a teacher. Beth had just started her first semester of college, now that she wasn’t sick anymore.

  Kat’s daydreaming came to a screeching halt as she remembered her Syndrome Q. She couldn’t take this job, no matter how much she wanted to. There was no way she could keep up with the workload or the hours.

  Her heart sank, and she slouched back against the seat. “I ... can’t. I actually want to, but I can’t.”

  Aubrey frowned and leaned back, fixing her gaze on Kat.

  Silence hung between them, begging to be filled.

  “It’s just ...” Kat sighed, leaned forward, and mouthed, “I’m sick.”

  Aubrey’s eyes flashed, and her face held an odd expression for a microsecond before settling back into calm professionalism. What was that all about?

  She grinned at Kat, shaking her head. “You can’t even see it, can you?”

  “See what?”

  “How perfect you are for this job.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “We need people who are invested in making this a reality, Kat. We can work with you on hours or remote work—whatever accommodations you need. I’m 100% confident you won’t drop the ball on this.”

  Remote work might actually make this doable. Hope bloomed through her—was she actually going to do this?

  Yes. “I’ll do it.”

  Aubrey pumped her arm. “Damn straight! You won’t regret it, Kat.” She leaned forward again. “Don’t worry—I won’t tell anyone. But you know there are treatments, right?”

  “I don’t like taking medicine—”

  “—fair, I’m not a drug pusher. But if you ever change your mind, I know a doctor treating people off-label. No reason to suffer through it if you don’t have to, right?”

  “Thanks, but no. I’ll be fine.”

  On the walk home, Kat rocked out to the new Hayley Jo album with more hope than she had felt in months.

  Imagining herself back at work, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Her chest felt tight, but with excitement rather than the guilt and anxiety that had been plaguing her.

  It was time to get her shit together. Once she returned to Danny’s place, she needed to pack her stuff and head home. She’d talk to Beth, and—

  Kat’s eyes caught on the sight of naked flesh. She halted, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

  Wait. Beth?

  Why was Beth standing naked in the middle of the sidewalk?

  She pulled off her hoodie, then ran to Beth’s side, yanking it down to cover her body. Good thing it was oversized, but it was still obscene. Glancing around, she spotted an alley and grabbed Beth’s hand to drag her into it.

  Once they were tucked away in the alley, she whirled on her.

  “Beth! What in the world? I know you’re the life of the party now, but this is—why are you streaking?”

  Beth gave her a strange look, then turned back towards the alley entrance.

  “Beth!”

  “Oh, hi, Kat.” Her twin said, giving Kat a forced smile.

  “That’s all you have to say for yourself?” Why was Beth acting so weird?

  Beth shrugged.

  “Fine. I’m calling an Uber.” Kat pulled out her phone.

  Then Beth took off in the direction of the street.

  Kat started after her, dropping her phone. “Shit!” She reached down to grab it before running out into the street. She searched the area, trying to find her sister.

  Beth was nowhere to be found.

  That was when Kat noticed her hoodie crumpled on the ground. She snagged it and brushed it off before putting it back on. Was Beth running around naked again?

  What just happened? Was Beth on something? She thought about calling the police or her parents, but she didn’t want to get her sister in trouble if she could help it. Narcing went against the twin code.

  Besides, their family had been through enough. She didn’t want to add to it.

  She pulled out her own phone and cursed. The screen was cracked—it must have happened when she dropped it.

  She cautiously scrolled to Beth’s contact, pricking her finger with a shard of glass. Dialing, she assumed it would go straight to voicemail because—well, where in the world would her sister have stashed a phone, running around town buck naked?

  The call was answered on the first ring.

  “Oh, hi, Kat—I’m so glad you called!”

  Her sister sounded ... well, she sounded artificially chipper, but otherwise normal. Not winded, not crazy, and definitely not high.

  Kat’s worry faded, and anger reared up in its place. This was not funny.

  “Beth, I don’t know what you’re on, or what sort of prank you’re pulling, but this is getting out of hand. I know you’re excited to go out and try new things, but doing drugs and,” she lowered her voice and hissed, “streaking is just—what would Mom and Dad say if they found out?”

  “Um ... Kat? I ... what?” Beth sounded utterly confused.

  Kat was right there with her.

  She could hear her own voice falter. “I just—I just saw you downtown. You were—you came up to me and told me—” She was rambling, needed to stop talking. None of this made sense.

  Beth sounded worried. “Kitty-Kat ... I’ve been home all morning working on my English paper. You’re kinda freaking me out.”

  How? What was going on? Beth was the world’s worst liar, so Kat knew she wasn’t lying.

  Kat needed to get off the phone, needed to figure out what was happening.

  She latched onto the first lame excuse that came to mind and blurted, “Uh, never mind. Bad joke. Hey, I gotta go—good luck with the English paper.”

  “Yeah ... okay?” Beth’s voice was familiar and soothing, like when they were kids. “You sure you’re okay, Kitty Kat?”

  “Sure thing, Bethy—we’ll talk soon, gotta run.” She hung up and shoved her phone in her purse.

  That thing with Beth—it happened, right? She looked around, trying to find some proof that she wasn’t going crazy. Her sweatshirt had a smudge of dirt on it, but that didn’t prove anything, not really.

  She spun around and spotted a man sitting at the bus stop, scrolling on his phone. Feeling ten shades of stupid, she walked over to him.

  “Hey, this may sound strange, but did you see a woman run by, um, naked a couple of minutes ago?”

  He looked up and gave her a lop-sided grin. “Um, no. Pretty sure I would have noticed that. But I just got here—guess I missed all the fun, huh?”

  “Um, yeah, it was pretty crazy. Thanks, anyway.” Kat backed away, almost tripping over a trash bin as she high-tailed it out of there. She stuck her headphones and sunglasses back on, retreating from sensory overload.

  She made the trek back to her brother’s place on legs that felt like lead. Fire coursed through her veins, a potent mix of fear and exhaustion.

  What the actual fuck? Was she losing her mind?

  Were hallucinations a symptom of Syndrome Q?

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  Remember to rate and follow, as I will be posting new chapters every Wed and Sun. Thank you so much for reading--stay awesome! - Poppy