The last few days had been going well for Hanna. She had a classic alien movie marathon with Kayla on Arrival Day, enjoyed the weekend, collected stacks of cash from a dead drop, tried and failed not to think about Ethan. All business as usual for her. Even today seemed like a normal Wednesday at the office. An almost normal Wednesday, to be precise.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDHRR9yQOG
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Hanna had always been perceptive, she had to be, so when Ethan started behaving strangely, she took notice. It was the little things. Things other people probably wouldn't have taken notice of unless they were watching him as closely as she was.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ40M72p6ij
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Ethan changed the times he came and went into the office. Coming in earlier in the morning and leaving earlier as well. He was drinking something every time she saw him. She estimated he had six cups of coffee yesterday. Not that drinking lots of coffee was unusual in this office, but it was odd for him.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkp7u9EGmI
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The strangest change was that he started making more trips to the supply room, but appeared never to be taking anything in or out. Nor was he in there at the same time as anyone else. The ruled out her usual guesses like secret love affair or planning a surprise birthday party. So the mystery continued and so did her surveillance.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcLJWKhO7g
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Hanna told herself she wasn't stalking him... she was just conveniently placed at the right moments to watch him out of the corner of her eye. Plus it was only at work, it wasn't like she was going to follow him home. During her 'not stalking' activities, she also noticed how her coworkers had been talking in hushed tones to each other all day.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqfQV4PbfO
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Filled with curiosity for a different mystery, Hanna went looking for Rachel, as she always knew all the latest gossip in the office. Hanna was beginning to believe that was all she ever did. Hanna headed back to their breakroom to see what information she could squeeze out of the gossip queen.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWYj5pqSBe
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As she expected, Rachel was in the breakroom. "Hi Rachel, how's your day going?" Hanna asked with a smile.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6fRLxQvhJ
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"Really feeling the hump day," Rachel complained, stirring her coffee lazily. "I hope you're not too swamped with all Sarah's attention."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotEtOJsbxX
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Hanna sensed Rachel fishing for information immediately. Rachel had nothing on Kayla's ability to worm secrets out of people. Hanna had grown up dealing with a master and knew the traps by heart. "I manage," Hanna answered automatically. "What's everyone talking about today?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Q5KuuR9WL
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"Ethan broke up with Alice. From what I hear, it was messy," Rachel answered in an unnecessarily hushed tone.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tZBWUtmBu
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"What? Alice from HR?" Hanna feigned surprise with a touch of disinterest, as if she hadn't been following their relationship the whole time. They'd actually broken up three days ago.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPHK82v0zy
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Before Rachel could respond, the classic click clack of heels filtered into the room. Hanna knew that sound well and she was also very familiar with the expression that suddenly appeared on Rachel's face. The expression of someone who knew they were going to get in trouble.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaSd3xmQeK
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"I should get going before Sarah catches me in here again, chat later." Rachel rushed out of the break room before Sarah walked by a minute later.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYROg5xX9jy
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Sarah nodded at Hanna through the window without breaking her brisk pace. Hanna returned the gesture politely, trying not to draw more attention to herself. Sarah walked on past without a second look at her.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMclJniOjc
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Hanna's mind circled back to the topic that had originally brought her here. Ethan and Alice... she had been trying not to think about it. The whole affair seemed a little mysterious to her. She thought they'd been happy together. Maybe she'd read the signs wrong.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsa4DHm1Dx
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Maybe this was her chance. Ethan was single now, again. She suddenly felt as if a giant weight had been thrust on her. She wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't asked him out six months ago and nothing about her life had really changed since then. The possibility of asking him out did excite her.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOARESCCxf
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She mentally chastised herself for getting her hopes up. There was no way he'd ever go out with her. Even if he said yes... work always got in the way. Real work that is. It got in the way of every relationship she'd ever had.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU8otSsBmw
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Even if they didn't question her sneaking off in the middle of the night at a moment's notice, then eventually something would happen to split them up. She'd have to move for an assignment, get an injury that couldn't be explained or simply get overly paranoid he’d find out her identity. At this point, she was just afraid of getting too attached.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaQZnf2Isw
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Kayla always had been more comfortable than her with switching out partners every few months, never keeping anyone long enough to get suspicious. Hanna could never get the hang of that. Kayla always acted like her breakups were just another part of life, something that was expected. It wasn't the same for Hanna. For her, breakups torn her apart and left her scrambling to pick up the emotional pieces.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvc1xHtw2F
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After she'd had to dump her last boyfriend to take this assignment, she'd basically sworn off any type of serious relationship. No relationships, no breakups. Keep it casual and simple. That was all she was doing now. Except Ethan was threatening to tear that all down.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJF8ADxXZTD
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Hanna ignored the sudden urge she had to throw her coffee mug at the window. Thinking about this again was doing nothing for her. Hanna headed back to her desk in a grumpy mood, despite getting her caffeine fix.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3AOkwY0cM
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Hanna looked over her list of tasks for the day. If she got through all Sarah's stuff, she'd look at the account Steve had given her again. She focused on the computer, trying her hardest to forget about the very handsome man from sales.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNHLW2Y7yd
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Hanna leaned back and stretched her arms out. She'd finally gotten through all the extra work. She looked up from her screen to check the clock, it was almost the end of the day, but she still had some time to nose around.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbWBsA2eB0
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She had just opened the program when she heard someone walking around the other side of her cubicle loudly. There were murmurs of indistinct conversation. Suddenly, Ethan peeked over her cubicle wall. "There you are."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3ueLqf2SV
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Hanna wrestled down her surprise. He wasn't literally the last person in the world she expected to see right now, maybe only the fourth or fifth on the list. She composed herself as he walked around to the other side of the cubicle.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9DybwqUYJ
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"Hi," Hanna answered uncertainly. "Were you looking for me?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTqjD5osR8
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"Yeah, I didn't know where your desk was," Ethan explained. "Steve said you should screen one of our potential clients before we meet them."
He seems off, Hanna thought, something's different. "Why me?" Hanna asked, slightly surprised. She wasn't their usual person for this type of work.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnXhzEiwd0
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Ethan raised an eyebrow, as if the answer should be obvious. "You've somehow gotten yourself on Sarah's favourites list. We need her sign off by the end of tomorrow."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1grZKCrU6i
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"Don't say that like it's a good thing," Hanna muttered under her breath. The stress was starting to get to her. Being on Sarah's good side was almost as bad as being on her bad side. Lately, Sarah had been assigning her a lot more work.
It may be stressful for her but it had been a good thing for her family. She'd gotten to look at the accounts of several important people already, on top of finding three new major money laundering operations. Kayla had been pumped but the exciting finds hadn't improved Hanna's mood whatsoever. The cause of said bad mood was standing in front of her, waiting for a response.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhg8XCWH2w
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"So?" Ethan prompted.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNuGjM16OL
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Hanna knew this was what Steve had given her the account for. He wouldn't have given something like that out without an expectation of a favour in return. Hanna had no problem accepting that deal, this would only take an hour and that account had been a treasure trove. It was a fair deal.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneNuTaqgfP
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"Give me the details." Hanna held out her hand.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNORrmJRqyq
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As Ethan passed her the folder, she didn't miss the slight tremor in his hand. Nor did she miss the sweat glistening on his skin. She looked up and noticed the darker circles under his eyes. He's exhausted, she concluded.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINdyIHtOXQ
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"Great. Let me know by tomorrow?" Ethan asked, shifting uncomfortably.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvMJzaUskb
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He looks eager to get away from me, Hanna thought. "Sure," she agreed, setting the folder on her desk.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6c27Nf1zkY
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She turned back to her computer as he walked away, resisting the urge to stare at his butt. She finished up the spreadsheet she had open and was about to open the folder when a thought burst into her head. Those seem like the symptoms Charax men get in heat. Her hands froze as she lost her previous train of thought.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcPYGM3p9l
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The sweating and tremors could be caused by the heat. The cycles usually started in their twenties. Hanna didn't actually know much more about it than that. It wasn't that there wasn't a lot of information out there on Charax heats, but that nearly all of it was wrong or intentional misinformation spread by anti-Charax groups. It was impossible to sort out the truth from the lies.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGtmAosaQ9
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She more she thought about it, the more probable it seemed. He could be Charax. He was twenty nine, but this might not be his first heat. Maybe that's why he decided to work through it.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqcuiRKZzQ
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Her heart dropped. Just when she thought her feelings couldn't get any more complicated, this comes up. She bit her lower lip hard. This was a problem in so many ways.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AraJ97s5G
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Her Uncle Jay would want to know this. A Charax, any Charax, was incredibly rare and valuable. They could be ransomed back to the government or sold on the black market for a fortune, even if they didn't have any useful information. Her uncle would never do that, but he would certainly sell the information to someone who would. She knew off the top of her head a handful of groups that would pay very well for this information.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjakJ7cmYWE
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If she could notice the signs, someone who did this for a living certainly would. Ethan might end up caught even if she didn't tell her uncle. If Ethan knew his identity had been discovered, then he'd vanish. The government would help him disappear in an instant and it wouldn't be easy to find him again, even with her resources. She had no good options.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkXInxwmCi
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There was still a terrible option left. She could confess, get rejected, then he disappears forever and she wallows in her own misery for all eternity. This sucks, she thought. She slowly bent her head until it rested on her desk.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirZH5uFxGp
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Then, she remembered Alice. Oddly, her spirits lifted at the thought of the woman she'd spent months being jealous of. Ethan and Alice had only broken up three days ago. He couldn't be Charax.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxTwJ4waiT
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There's no way a Charax in heat would break up with their partner. They'd feel compelled to stick to them like glue. Or if they'd split right before, he’d have rushed back to her at light speed. There's no way Hanna or the office gossip squad would have missed that.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvMel5aPwf
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Hanna mentally went over the evidence again. He could have some kind of medical condition that caused those symptoms. He could also be fatigued for an entirely unrelated reason. It was... theoretical possible that it was all a coincidence and he was completely Terran.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9bHEfHApg
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She was probably overreacting, jumping to conclusions too quickly again. He didn't seem consumed with lust, or anything of that sort. He wasn't trying to find another partner or jumping on anyone. He wasn’t acting like a Charax in heat should, even if he had the symptoms.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzTbpOlrEe
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Hanna gave up on making up her mind and sighed in frustration. None of this changed the fact that her crush had not gone away. She was tired, it was the end of the day, this could be tomorrow’s problem. She set the details aside for now, trying not to think of the folder in front of her, and resolving to sleep on the whole matter.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwWsSRUTzB
