Samuel balanced the tray of therapeutic bath solution against his shoulder as he nudged the treatment room door open with careful precision.
"Sir, I have brought the.."
He stopped speaking at once, the words dying in his throat. His hands almost let go of the tray.
Alan Blake, his famously distant employer who treated physical contact like a contagious disease, was sitting close beside Amelia Gray. Even worse, he was gently pressing a handkerchief against her forehead with such careful tenderness that Samuel questioned reality itself. Amelia Gray, renowned for her composed posture and flawless professionalism, looked momentarily soft. Vulnerable. Human.
Oh no. No no no.
Samuel's mind panicked. Do not react. Do not think about it. That is how you lose a bonus. That is how you get reassigned to laundry duty.
