CHAPTER 413: BEING PRESENT

"Your mind seems occupied. And you have barely touched your food. Is the food not to your liking?" Antonio’s voice was able to coax Athena from her thoughts about the mission she wasn’t present in.

Were her people okay? Were any injured? Especially those that had gone to the gang’s hideout. Were they hurt?

She swallowed, her throat bobbing as she forced her focus back to the present, and picked up her cutlery with slightly trembling fingers.

Herbert would not be pleased if something happened to Zane, unhappier if he got to find out that they had gone on a mission to retrieve Ciara’s parents—she wasn’t sure if Zane would be able to keep the truth from his father if he came back injured.

She mumbled a prayer of protection mentally, her lips pressing together as she glanced at the time on her wristwatch. They should be rounding up the mission by now.

However, Athena looking at her watch passed the wrong message to Antonio. He frowned, his brows knitting together.

"Am I boring you? Do you want to go home?"

Athena frowned back, finally meeting his gaze. The cutlery, which had been dancing aimlessly on her plate, stilled in her hand.

"What do you mean, Antonio? I never said you were boring me."

Antonio sighed, leaning slightly away from the table and looking aside, his jaw tightening. "You act like I am. I have been the only one talking, and even then, your attention isn’t with me a hundred percent."

Athena rubbed the middle of her forehead with the tips of her fingers, wishing she could tell Antonio everything—because then he would understand. But the need not to burden him with problems, the need to obey her grandfather, triumphed over that wish.

So, she sucked on her lower lip and scooped food into her mouth thereafter, after a second of silence.

"I’m not bored, Antonio. I’m just occupied with solving the recent case ravaging the state, or will soon be. You should understand my place in the situation of things... I have to find the cure to the new virus..."

"It’s possible there isn’t any yet. It’s possible that you finding out the location had upended their plans. You should think about the positives only. Or did you find something else to prove that they already have a working drug with them to release mayhem?"

Athena shook her head slowly, her eyes lowering to her plate. "Just a hunch."

Antonio sighed again, softer this time, and reached across the table for her left hand, engulfing her soft hand with his warm, steady one. "Quit worrying too much, Athena. It’s not good for your health. You are a doctor, so you must know this. You should always be in the present."

"Yes, I should be." Easier said than done. "Thanks, Antonio."

She scooped another portion into her mouth, but even as she did so, even as she tried to focus on Antonio talking about his day at work, even as she tried to forcefully take spoonfuls of food so as not to trigger Antonio’s questions again, her mind kept derailing before she could help it—toward the mission, toward Ewan.

She hadn’t gotten an update from him since the last one where he had informed her they would be going into position in the next five minutes. She had wished him well before returning to her task. But now, she was wondering why she hadn’t called him. If things did go awry...

"So, tell me about yours? What did you do at the lab if you had nothing to work with?"

Athena licked her lower lip nervously, counting herself lucky that she had heard her boyfriend this time.

"Just working with my hunch... adding and subtracting chemicals to the Grey virus compound, should anything happen..."

Antonio didn’t look like he believed her. His brows arched slightly, his lips pressing in a thin line.

Athena bit her lips, then decided to bite the bullet. "Okay, we invaded a certain hideout of the Demon Vipers gang..."

"What!"

Antonio’s shout attracted the attention of the other diners, seventy percent of whom had just been to the cinema which was just close by moments ago, like the couple.

A few turned to look, whispers starting at nearby tables.

"Antonio, calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down? My girlfriend went into a gang’s hideout without letting me know!"

But his voice had gone considerably lower now, his hand leaving hers to clench into a fist against the tablecloth.

"I never said I did go..."

Antonio raised a brow sharply. "Then what do you mean by ’we’? Who went for the mission?"

Athena shrugged lightly. "Members of the state security. They received a tip-off."

She lied through her teeth, making the drastic decision to keep the matter too from Antonio after seeing his reaction. The last thing she needed tonight was to feel the need to defend her actions, or try to appease her boyfriend.

She just wanted to hear from Ewan, to know if everything had gone well, to know if he was okay. Her fingers itched to touch her phone, but she had kept from reaching for it because then Antonio would get curious if she turned away to make the call—if he knew it was Ewan.

"Oh..." Antonio exhaled, relief washing over his features. "When you said we... I thought that meant you..." A pause. "So continue your story..."

Athena drank water from a glass cup, taking deliberate, careful sips. She cleaned her mouth with a serviette, folding it neatly and placing it beside her plate before resting her hands on her lap.

Antonio watched this series of actions with a frown, not pleased with the half-eaten food on her plate.

"I would have ordered something else if I knew you didn’t like the food."

Athena shook her head lightly, strands of hair falling forward. "Being in the lab had sucked out my appetite without my knowledge... you know, a lot of chemicals..."

Antonio nodded slowly. "I see. So, continue your story."

Athena held back a sigh, forcing her tone to stay calm. "They reported scenting a certain chemical... I asked them to describe it..."

"They can scent chemicals now? Can even describe it?"

Athena cocked a brow, one that expressed her incoming irritation at being interrupted; her fuse was already running low.

"Sorry, please continue."

"They didn’t get the description like I would if I was there, but it was enough to tell me that the gang was plotting something else with the unknown sponsor of the Grey virus. And that’s what I am working with."

"The untrue description of a scent... don’t you think that’s far-fetched?"

When he saw her lips press into a grim line, he quickly threw his hands up in surrender.

"Just saying, darling. Just saying. Wouldn’t want you wasting your time over someone’s wrong description."

Athena leaned back into her chair, arms folding loosely across her chest, her expression taut.

"So, what do you think I should do?"