This had to be the worst timing.

I dialed Cleo, looking for help.

"That's... troublesome." Cleo said.

"Do you think you can find some way to silence everyone? If they know why we're doing this, they might have sympathy."

Cleo shook her head. "The Sheldons clearly don't want Nick's condition to be revealed. I think our best bet is just letting it be."

"There's a picture of me on the notice boards. He might be confused by it."

"And what's wrong with that? He would think he mistook someone for Zara because of his condition. I highly doubt he'll connect it to the fact that the person on the boards is you, and you're not actually Zara."

I let out a breath. "Fine. In that case, I shouldn't appear at the lab for the next week. I'll go retrieve all my data so I can work on it at home for the time being."

And I did just that. I spent the afternoon scrutinizing my samples and using the equipment so I had enough to keep me busy for the next week.

As that happened, my mind went to Nick's condition. I tried to pull out as many neurological files I could find about it, but as Prof warned, it was much too vague.

Maybe it would help a lot if I helped Nick study his condition.

Wait. I halted. Is thinking about a person so often... normal? It wasn't like me to care this much, usually. Why was I so concerned with his business, as if it were mine?

In my distracted state, I stepped back and bumped into someone. Even though it was my fault, I was in a bad mood out of confusion of my own emotions.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" I scowled. But when I turned around, that mannerism fell away as everything went into slow motion.

The person I bumped into was someone I knew. All too well, as of late.

Right in front of me was Nicholas Sheldon. Again.

My heart stopped beating. I swear I forgot how to breathe in that instant. I saw his eyebrows knit together as he gave me a once-over. I could see him being unsettled, and maybe he found the girl in front of him familiar.

Why would Zara Abigail be here? Oh, that's because you actually mistook her for someone of a completely different identity...

"Excuse me? You were the one in my way." He retorted.

I tried to read his expression. That confusion vanished from his face. And then I realized, he didn't recognize me.

I analyzed my demeanor for the day. I was wearing a baggy lab coat, because the smallest size they had was still way too big for me. I even had safety goggles on, because I was always careful when I was in the lab. And I mean, he wouldn't have expected Zara to be here. Naturally, he must have thought I was someone other than the girl he had been hanging around with these days.

Nick was evidently struggling to perceive my face. He didn't recognize me, but now he was trying to identify the features of this new stranger. I could tell it from his face that it wasn't working out.

He must have sensed me analyzing him. In a bid to hide his condition from the person he thought was a stranger, he coughed.

"Do you know who I am?" He would usually say this in a egoistic manner, but it lacked the usual snarky attitude that was characteristic of him.

I tried to calm myself down. "I haven't you seen you around before. You can't just intrude if you aren't a student —"

"I'm attached here for the next week." Nick said, decisively avoiding eye contact with my face. He sat in my chair so my unidentifiable face wouldn't be near his eye level.

He was back to normal. It was so much like him to swivel around, acting confidently as if he owned the place.

I crossed my arms. "Key word: next week. You shouldn't be here—"

"I'm Nicholas Sheldon. Does that ring a bell?" After a silence, he continued. "Nevermind, I realized that I shouldn't assume everyone knows me. Cleo — my secretary — told me that even the new receptionist didn't know who her boss was."

The new receptionist —

That was me.

Why would Cleo bring me up? She only found out that I had no clue who Nick was, on the day that I met Nick was the first time. That would mean that she told him this, after we made a deal for me to act as Zara Abigail. So why would she risk the mission by mentioning my real identity? It would be dangerous if Nick got curious about who this new receptionist was.

If she and I were on the same side, why did it seem as if she wanted to jeopardize this?

"What's your name?"

"Emma."

"You're a real feisty one, Emma. I like it."

I rolled my eyes, trying to stop overthinking that last part. It probably meant nothing.

"What? Just because I'm not swooning over the fact that you're —"

Charismatic, rich and hot? Like Cleo had said when she overheard me talking about him on the first day I was thrown into their world...

I cringed the second I thought of that. I'm disagreeing severely with this, right?

He laughed. In one swift motion, he leaned forward. Everything played out slowly, it was the perfect angle to look from and he made that move seem charismatic. Was that what he did to girls often?

"I was thinking, do you want to grab lunch together?"

"I'm not hungry." I replied quickly.

Right on cue, my stomach growled. We both stared, and I felt a grin creep up Nick's face.

"That's not me." I insisted.

"Sure, it isn't. It was me." Nick replied, amused. "Let's go, then."

As he ushered me out, I couldn't help but wonder, should I be staying away from him? And by any small chance...

If I wasn't Zara, would he have asked me out?

Maybe Emma was enough. Maybe I didn't have to be Zara at all.