Then, slowly, she turned on her heels. She walked back into the cool marble space. She felt her teeth grind under the pressure of hard jaw muscles. Bu... she kept walking — watched curiously by the reception boy.The elevator chimed its optimistic chime. The doors opened before her. She stepped in. She touched the top button yet again and pushed herself in a corner."Going up!" sang the sickening female robot's voice in both languages. She felt the slight pull at her calves.She prayed. She murmured. Allie breathed in a deep sigh. She was growing tired of the daily corporate rat race, even though she’d only been doing it for three years. After graduating with her MBA from NYU, she found employment at her agency through the University’s job placement office. Though her initial position was entry level, she had worked hard, and little by little, proved she had what it took to run a major campaign. When Tom told her she would be heading up the new Nature Spring ad campaign, she was shocked and. He stopped while she put the soap and powdered bleach in the washer, then piled the clothes in. He distributed them around the washer so that they wouldn’t clump and put a strain on the spinning tub. The guy knew about laundry -- he was full of surprises.“Want to see if there’s more whites?” he asked. “Seems a waste to run a load for only these.”“This time, we’re going to.” She started the washer and led him up to the main floor again. “I love you, Andy.”“I love you, too.”“But now it’s time for. Many wondered what this brutal training was for. Again, perhaps it had to do with the Sultana’s mysterious and unknown past. Whatever it was, it was clear that the Sultana wasn’t going to trust her children’s safety to anyone but themselves. It stayed within the family. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— Rawer knew he was being tailed. He had too much battle training to ever completely drop his guard, and this constant alertness made him constantly aware of threats, potential.