The Empath's Mate novel Chapter 7

"Good Morning everyone" Peter Chapman said walking into the conference room followed by Nikola. He had a smile on his face, but something was different about his aura. "Apologies for my outburst. It seems my shipment from England has been delayed. Let's get started, shall we?"

He spent the first part of the meeting going over the structural changes that are taking place. Explaining that Nikola and I would be running specialized teams, working jointly. I was shocked at the news but kept my expression neutral. Bella started as an assistant and worked up to a research analyst. I made a mental note to review her file and see if she would be the right person as Peter had suggested.

After 30 minutes he finally nodded to Janette who brought us each a spiral bound packet. I looked at the portrait on the front cover and noticed it from one of the German research papers I had in my files. It was a painting of a man with half human face half wolf. It was commissioned in the 1800s, the attention to detail was to extensive to be made up. At least that was my opinion on it. Many other researchers felt the same way. I absently traced my fingers over the wolf staring at the beautiful colors.

"Roni?" Peter said to me.

I blushed hard; I had no idea what he was just saying. "I'm sorry, this is one of my favorites." I admitted shyly. He smiled before repeating himself, I was so glad he didn't seem angry with my attention span.

"I mentioned you did extensive research on the portrait. We have a book that was recovered by the same family, it seems to be a diary from the 1800's. It will be arriving with my delayed packages. I would like you and Nikola to get started investigating it when it arrives."

"Of course!" I squealed louder than I wanted to. A few giggles and chuckles were heard around the room. I realized there was no reason to be ashamed for being excited about our work. That is the only reason to go into this profession.

"Wonderful, everything we have so far has been put into this reference." He held up the spiral binder. "At minimum I want weekly updates every Friday. I assume anything worth excitement will be brought to my attention right away." His tone suggested he was stating what we already knew.

"Tuesday evening, I will be having a dinner at my house. I expect you all to be present, you may bring your spouse if you have one. I look forward to a long happy relationship with us all as a team. Nikola, if you wouldn't mind giving everyone an overview." He leaned back motioning his hand across the table.

I barley heard the words while he spoke. He flipped through a few slides of pictures he had taken of the book upon receiving it. I was thankful to be interested in the pictures. I kept my eyes locked on the screen enjoying his voice.

The group clapped their hands pulling me out of my trance. I was immediately flustered having not payed attention to the words. I turned my attention back to Nikola who had his eyes locked on me. I looked around quickly and was thankful no one else noticed. It was like a strange hunger was there. He shook his head and sat back down.

"If there is nothing else at this time, we can disburse." Peter said from the head of the table glancing over at Nikola.

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