Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

No sooner had she said it than she was out the door in a rush.

Roseanne felt numb all over.

Oh well, as long as they're happy...

In the lab-

Owen was poring over two sets of data from last week, spotting a discrepancy in the fourth column of the second set, just about to call Sammy over when his phone rang.

He answered it without looking-

"Hello?"

"Mr. Reynolds, it's Roseanne."

Owen paused, his gaze slowly drifting away from the screen, his voice softening, "What's up? Everything okay?"

"My dad, he... he wants to invite you over for dinner. He's cooking himself... If you're too busy, it's okay, I'll just let him know..."

"I'm free."

Roseanne stopped dead for a few seconds: "...Isn't the lab swamped?"

"It's manageable."

"So..."

And thank your dad for

it's no trouble

hanging up, Roseanne

Wait a minute...

they all were with work,

him teasingly, "Who was that? Little Roseanne,

workload. Only you, Mr. Reynolds, can speak of it so lightly. Truly, a man

Owen was pushing himself

Vel

he made

and cheerful.

everyone else just pretending to do experiments, fabricating reports, writing

then glanced at his watch, "If I'm not mistaken, it's been over nine hours since you received the preliminary data yesterday. How much have you verified? Is the accuracy up to standard? Have

The deadly quadruple inquiry.

disturbed

his workstation with a grimace, facing the mountain of

Stoddard found himself

she could whip up a program in

transitioning from simplicity to luxury is

Roseanne could

...