Bud Flud Announces Big Project covered the following day's front-page headline in big bold letters. Taunting her.

Great. Even the media was giving Bud all the credit and once again, Kimbra was overlooked. Maybe it was her fault for refusing to make that speech.

Serves me right for being such a fool. You're not cut out for this.

If she had, then she wouldn't have been humiliated in the first place. Now she would never be able to look anyone in the face ever again. How embarrassing .

Kimbra trashed the newspaper as she walked down the hall to her office. Her heels clicked against the white tile floor, signaling her presence. Most of the EcoTech staff avoided her today, fully aware that she would be in a terrible mood. They wanted to avoid getting yelled at. Or fired.

What a disappointment you turned out to be, Kimbra.

Leslie caught her right before she turned the handle of her office door. "Someone came by to see you today." Her face strained, trying not to smile.

Kimbra pulled her hand away from the door, and gave the feline a puzzled look. "Who?"

"Someone who doesn't mind getting on your nerves."

Better not be who I think it is.

"Well, that narrows it down to all the men I know…"

Leslie cracked a smile. "You weren't here, so he said he'd come back later."

"Again, who?" Kimbra asked, sounding more displeased than surprised.

"Bud."

She didn't know how to react to that. She didn't want to talk to him. Not after seeing how he took all the credit and was being praised by the media. Not after he made fun of her.

You hold a grudge too hard.

She dismissed that thought as irrational.

"Why did he come by?"

"To see you."

"I don't want to see him."

"Is this because of what happened the other day?"

"Yes."

"You're so petty."

"He embarrassed me in front of everyone!" She resented how much she cared. How much she wanted people to respect her and her work.

It was pathetic.

Leslie followed Kimbra into the office, watching as the canine muttered under her breath.

Kimbra rubbed the sides of her head, already feeling a tension headache building. She wanted the day to be over already.

A male voice called out from outside the door. "Kimbra!"

Her shoulders dropped, and she dragged a hand down her face. "God what now?"

"It's Neil." Leslie opened the door for the lion, who shuffled into the room, out of breath.

Kimbra raised her eyebrows at their co-worker, who held a large bouquet of sunflowers. "What's with the flowers?"

"Somebody just delivered them," Neil set the vase down onto the desk. "They're for you."

Attached to the vase was a pink envelope. It had her name scrawled on the front in Bud's handwriting.

Is this some sort of apology?

It didn't matter, she told herself firmly. She was still mad at him. She thought about how embarrassed she was the other day, and decided it was completely valid to hold a grudge.

A wide smile from Neil irritated her further. "Who's the guy?"

"Excuse me?"

"You clearly have a secret admirer." With a finger, he poked at a sunflower petal, prompting it to fall off and hit the floor. "They knew your favorite flower." He grimaced and gave Kimbra a small apologetic look.

"It's not like that."

He tilted his head, faint curiosity in his eyes. "No one randomly sends someone else flowers."

They might.

Kimbra paused, assessing his blank expression, realizing that Neil truly had no idea where the flowers came from. "They're from Bud."

There was only one Bud that they knew, and she had no desire to discuss him.

"Bud? Bud Flud?" Neil had never been a fan of Bud. He liked to remind Kimbra that. And he did—often.

"Yeah."

He and Leslie stole somewhat nervous side glances at one another. "Oh, I didn't know you two had something going on."

"We don't. I think he's trying to apologize for yesterday."

"They're having a rough patch," a smirk adorned Leslie's face as she snickered over at Neil.

"Shut up. Go do your jobs instead of pestering me."

"Oh my god, Kimbra, are you actually pouting?"

"Out!" Kimbra forced the pair out of the room and shut the door behind them.

Their giggles and taunts echoed throughout the hall. Kimbra waited until it faded, leaving her in silence. She paced the length of her office. She still hadn't opened that letter. She plucked it from the bouquet, only to toss it aside as if it burned.

Why had he done that for her? No one asked him to. He didn't have to. So, does this mean he actually cared? Was he truly sorry after all?

Well, not that it mattered.

He was still an insufferable jerk. He deserved to take the blame for something.

Bitterness. That's what this was. Pure bitterness.

Because I'm not going to be treated like a doormat.

I can't lose another person.

Bud roamed the halls of EcoTech with his head down low. Hopefully, without being noticed. He couldn't for the life of him concentrate on anything else besides the tension between him and Kimbra.

This time things would be different. He kept telling himself that. This time he'd be more considerate of her feelings. Be better at trying to get along with her. Oftentimes it felt overwhelming. Especially as things never turned out the way Bud wanted. It wasn't easy.

Someday I'm gonna get this right.

He stood in front of the office door that had a small plaque with the name Kimbra D. Wulfe on the wall beside the door.

Bud gave the door two sharp knocks, and slowly opened it. "Hi."

The light creeping in through the windows outlined Kimbra in a soft glow. Writing away on papers and shuffling them into folders kept her occupied. She didn't even look up.

"Bud," she replied calmly, unfazed by his disruption.

"Sunflowers, uh, they're your favorite… right?" He vaguely gestured to the vase on her desk.

She still didn't look up from her paperwork. "You mean you actually listened to me for once?"

Bud didn't answer, instead he made yet another attempt to apologize. "Listen Kimbra, about yesterday…"

"Please don't," she looked at him and held up her hand to stop him. "I just want to forget about it."

"Can't we talk about it?" He said, quietly acknowledging that she was done talking about it. That didn't mean he'd stop trying.

A sigh escaped her mouth. "I just thought we were friends and that you actually cared about me." She closed her work folder and frowned.

I don't know if you've ever felt that way back.

For a moment, neither of them would meet each other's eyes. He let her words hang in the air for a few seconds before responding.

"I do care about you." The hound's tone sounded sincere enough.

She must have misheard him. Bud Flud doesn't care about anyone but himself.

"You mean yourself." She corrected him, crossing her arms.

"No, I mean you ."

"Yeah, right," she muttered out bitterly and stood up, tucking the folder under her arm. "I need to go down to the labs."

She didn't actually need to. She just wanted to get away from the man.

"Kimbra," he began, but was cut off.

"All right, look, just forget about it." Kimbra turned sharply on her heel and marched off before Bud could say anything.

This wasn't going to work. Not at all. She didn't want to talk to him about what happened. Kimbra thought that she'd made that clear.

But he followed her. All the way to the elevator. "I really want to apologize." he continued to press into the matter.

The two canines walked down the hallway, their footstep sounds echoing off the walls.

"I told you to just forget about it." She waited for the elevator as it opened and a group of scientists, chattering among themselves, stepped out.

Kimbra immediately stepped into the elevator, pressing the close door button frantically.

"No, I would rather not." Bud pushed himself past the group, and stood beside her. Too close. Way, way too close. "It was wrong of me to have made fun of you."

She said nothing. Refused to look at him. Wishing she had gotten to the elevator faster and closed the door on him.

He tried again. "If I could take it all back, I would."

But the damage was done. It was too late to take it back. Kimbra knew this. She stayed quiet.

"I had a few failed attempts at starting up businesses or selling products before my water bottling company." Bud now looked away, his expression turning somewhat somber. "People used to crack jokes and call me the laughingstock of the business world."

Was that a hint of sadness she heard in that last sentence?

For a small period of time, Bud was a door-to-door salesman. It's how he started his adventure into creating his own business.

"I was…. also a used car salesman for a bit." He could've been the world's greatest used car salesman—but he thrived for something more. Something of his own.

"That's why I wanted to apologize because I understand, and I shouldn't have treated you that way. I'm sorry, it was wrong of me." He said, trying to make the both of them feel better.

The apology that came from the CEO's mouth touched Kimbra. It felt sincere. Perhaps there was a small glimmer of good down in that crooked heart of his. That, at least, she could accept. He certainly had his own share of losses.

We're not that different, you and I.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

Bud perked up, surprised she didn't throw the flowers at him earlier. He knew this could have gone badly. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know."

"Pay for my dinner, and maybe I'll forgive and forget."

Bud just let out a snort in response.

And for the moment, it was forgotten.

Only for the moment.

It felt like lately, there had been fewer smiles between them. Less friendly chats and playful banter. Mostly Bud trying to talk to her but managing to make things awkward and her making up an excuse to escape from the conversation.

They stopped putting the effort in to see each other. Sure, he had apologized. They both thought they had moved on from the situation, yet things didn't return to how they were. Something still felt unresolved.

Things are fine.

Maybe if she said it enough times it would be true.

It also wasn't unusual for her to be up at this hour. Mostly due to her workload or insomnia. Or just worrying over problems in her life. Like Bud Flud for example.

She fell back onto the pile of pillows, letting her hair pool around her head in long purple waves. Which wasn't a surprising sight in itself. She often laid like this for hours, pondering life and thinking about work.

The night hours were much more peaceful. Things would quiet down for a while. Except for the minor late night traffic. Every so often, someone with road rage would blare their horn and scream like a dramatic teenager who didn't get their way.

But tonight, there was peace.

Until the phone by her bed rang. With a groan and a mutter about 'who the hell is calling at this hour' , Kimbra blindly grabbed the phone and looked at it.

The caller ID: Ross Spector.

Kimbra heard the breathlessness in her voice as she answered, "hello?"

"Hey, it's Ross," Spector said in that slow, warm, tone of his.

"Now, why is the magnificent Dr. Spector calling me at this hour?"

"Sorry," he chuckled. "Couldn't sleep and wanted to see if you were up."

It made perfect sense to her.

"You caught me red-handed, I couldn't sleep either."

The other end went silent.

She sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed. "Hello?"

"Sorry again, I was just thinking."

"About?"

"If I should ask if you want to go to Max's Diner with me right now."

She could practically hear his smile.

Kimbra was silent for a second before responding. "Is he even still open at this time?"

"Yeah, I usually drop by for coffee and pie at this time when insomnia is keeping me up."

He's literally just like you.

The biggest smile formed on Kimbra's face. "Yeah, sure, let me get ready."

Their eyes met, and she forgot to breathe. Ross Spector always did that to her. Made her forget to think. Forget how to function. He had an alluring charm, and she fell hard for it.

Kimbra met him near the diner, which wasn't far from her apartment complex. She almost wrapped her arms around him in a massive hug when they met. She needed one after everything she's had to deal with.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "it's refreshing to see you again."

She looped her arm through his as they walked down the sidewalk, to Max's Diner. "Has work been that terrible?"

"Yes, I'm tired of having to look at my employees all day."

The temperature had dropped significantly overnight. Kimbra enjoyed it. And for good reason, too. Having fur that's double-coated would make anyone prefer the chilly air.

I can't wait to get back to Alaska.

A red neon sign, proclaiming Max's Diner, flickered nearby with a loud buzz buzz. Spector opened the door and held it for Kimbra, letting her walk through first. They took a seat at a booth in the back. The diner was almost empty, except for three men scattered about at separate tables.

A plump duck with sandy feathers and green eyes, named Max, owned the diner. He looked gentle and easy to talk to. The city block knew him to be caring and considerate. He often stayed open past business hours for those who worked late. He also took care of the cooking and cleaning, being the only worker.

Kimbra wasn't sure why he didn't bother hiring some help. Perhaps he enjoyed working alone.

After he took their orders, Spector reached over and took Kimbra's hand. "I heard about what happened the other day."

Great. That again.

"Oh god, you heard about that too?"

"The whole city did."

Fantastic. Now everyone knows how pathetic she really is.

"Do you think Bud was right about all that stuff he said about me?"

The rodent reassuringly thumbed circles on her hand. "No, I think you're gorgeous and brilliant. That crooked water salesman is just an idiot."

A valid point, but nonetheless wrong.

"Well… I wouldn't go that far…"

"And doesn't seem like the type to be a very good friend."

Yeah, well, I can see why you think that.

"Yeah… but I mean, it's never too late to change," she stiffened at what he said about Bud. "Right?"

It bothered her a bit hearing Spector talk badly of the water bottle salesman.

People change all the time. She surely has. Not in a good way, but it was a change. Then why couldn't Bud Flud? He could change for the better.

Right?

"People don't change for other people. They pretend to change." Spector's voice was barely a whisper by the end of the statement. Like he didn't want the other diner patrons to hear him.

She wondered if he had a point.

Kimbra continued to ponder the conversation even after they left the diner. Was Bud capable of changing for the better? Can people truly change? Do they just pretend to change to match whatever mold they're trying to fit into?

She didn't have the answer for that— yet .

Spector walked Kimbra to her car, holding her hand, swinging it slightly like they were two lovesick teenagers. "Thanks for joining me at such a late time."

"No, thank you for inviting me. I really enjoyed it."

He gently squeezed her hand, but only for a brief second. "I did too."

They stopped in front of her car. The departure felt bittersweet, as Kimbra wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet.

Her hand cupped his cheek as she kissed his lips softly. "You're wonderful, you know that, right?"

He gave her a slow, wide grin. "I'm aware."

He kissed her hand and helped her into the vehicle. She watched as he walked away, back to his own car.

Was it too late to distance herself? Was Ross right about Bud? If he really was a hopeless cause, then Kimbra didn't want him in her life. But goddammit, she felt something for him ever since they went to that baseball game. Pity? Fondness? Something platonic? Whatever it was, it gnawed at her mind constantly. She didn't know what the hell it was or if it even had a name.

Whatever had developed between them after the baseball game, terrified her.

The following morning, Kimbra gave a gentle smile at the sight of a bouquet of red roses on her desk. She didn't care much for roses, (as they're cliché and overused) but the gesture was sweet. A small note hung off the red ribbon that wrapped around the vase.

Clearing her throat, she began to read it out loud.

My Dearest Kimbra,

Thank you for joining me late last night at the diner. I enjoy your company tremendously and hope to do it again sometime soon. I'll talk to you soon.

Yours Truly,

Ross Spector

Oh god, he was in love with her. He might not have said it, but she could feel it. Of course, she hadn't said it, either. It felt too early in the relationship to be dropping the l-bomb. Perhaps she was just imagining things. Imagining something she wanted to see. That had to be what was happening. No one in their right mind would ever love her.

But Ross Spector, he made her feel loved.

She closed her eyes and tried to stop the butterflies that formed in her chest.

"What. Is. That."

Kimbra opened her eyes to see Leslie standing there, wide-eyed and pointing at the roses. "Flowers?"

"From who?"

"Dr. Spector…" Kimbra dropped her head, which allowed her long hair to cover her blush.

"You better not let Dr. Ainsley see this."

" Relax , he isn't going to find out."

Hopefully. Or else I'd be out of a job.

"Traitor."

"I'm not a traitor."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes. You are."

"No. I'm not."

The office phone ringing saved the two from further argument.

"Dr. Wulfe's office, how may I help you?" Kimbra spoke as she attempted to usher her friend out of the room. She shut the door after shoving the feline out into the corridor.

"Did you get the flowers I sent?" The sound of his voice sent a tingle through her body. That made her nervous.

Kimbra glanced over at the roses upon her desk. "Why hello Dr. Spector, and yes, I did. They're lovely, thank you."

"I just wanted to make sure they got there safely," a small chuckle. "I can never tell which florist to trust these days."

They only chatted for a moment before Spector had to go back to work. Something about a meeting and firing a few morons.

Kimbra had almost let a 'I love you' slip out when she said goodbye. Too soon. Much too soon.

She had hoped that it could and would eventually lead to that.

Eventually.

Near the end of the day, after filing paperwork, approving projects, and avoiding Bud Flud, Dr. Ainsley called for an emergency meeting. He never called meetings near the end of the day. Kimbra stressed that someone snitched to him about her relationship with Spector.

Bud. Bud would do that.

Luckily, that wasn't the case here.

The department directors sat at the large meeting table. Ainsley had already briefed the administration earlier, and a few other employees stood around the room, some spilling out into the hall, to hear what the boss had to say. No one knew what it would be about. The lab boys kept spreading lies that some people were getting transferred to work at the sewage plant. They found it amusing to stir up the scientists' anxiety.

They're definitely getting scolded and having their laser privileges suspended.

To Kimbra's right, sat Bud. They were like strangers to one another again. That's what it felt like. That they no longer knew one another. She didn't know why he had to be here, but Ainsley insisted on it.

The reptile began speaking to the room, standing at the front. "I called this meeting to inform you all that tomorrow night we will be attending the SciNet banquet."

She hated the idea already. A banquet. A banquet.

Great, does this mean I have to attend?

Kimbra raised her hand. "Do I have to go?"

Ainsley nodded, aware of how stubborn she was. "Yes."

She dropped her hand. Dammit.

I could handle that. I had to handle that. It's just a formal event. You can go, let everyone see you bothered coming, and then immediately leave. Fairly simple.

Ainsley went over the location and time. That it was a formal event and how they should act. It was to raise money for a very important charity. Kimbra wanted to ditch it. She wasn't a sociable person. It felt awkward, just standing around with numerous people who she didn't know or didn't want to speak to. If Ainsley wanted her to support the charity, she'd happily make a donation instead.

But that was out of the question.

Once the meeting ended, Kimbra attempted to get out of there before Bud tried to talk to her again, but she wasn't fast enough. She wanted to retreat to her office and hide out there until everyone, including Bud, left for the day.

However, he caught up to her right as she stepped through the doorway. "Can I talk to you about something?"

He had a hand on her arm, pleading.

She turned to him. "About what?"

"Your boyfriend."

Unsurprisingly, Bud seemed to approve of her relationship with Dr. Spector. She knew how he felt about the scientist. This was the conversation she'd expected ever since he became aware of the relationship. It was just a matter of time before he either interrogated her or scolded her like a child over it.

"Who I date is none of your business." Kimbra said, making a scornful face at him.

He tried hard to keep the snark out of his voice. "As your friend, I just care about your well-being."

It's hardly endearing given the context.

"No. We aren't doing this," she protested haughtily, stamping her food like a child.

"Kimbra—"

"You're not my father. You're not my boyfriend. Hell, I don't even think you're my friend . You have no right to have any sort of opinion, who I see. We have nothing to discuss on the matter, and we sure as hell aren't doing this." Kimbra said, all in one rambling breath. "So Mr. Flud, I'll do as I damn well please."

"We're not done talking about this." The hound managed to keep his tone fairly level.

"I am." Kimbra just looked away, wanting him to leave.

She moved to shut the door, only to be stopped by his foot.

"We aren't done talking about this," he repeated, looking her dead in the eye to show how serious he was being.

"Goodbye Bud," Kimbra kicked his foot out of the way and closed the door.

On the other side of the door, Bud couldn't help but notice the lovesick expression Kimbra emitted while talking about Dr. Spector. He hadn't felt an ounce of peace since he found out she was dating the bastard.

He wasn't jealous. Truly he wasn't. Why would he be? He didn't even like Kimbra. Not in that way.

But he knew how men like Spector were. They liked to use other people for their own greedy desires, not caring who they hurt in the process. He figured that the scientist only bothered with Kimbra since she was the person closest to Dr. Ainsley. Probably wanting to steal EcoTech secrets or find a way to sabotage the company.

And a part of Bud couldn't help but think that Ross didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve Kimbra.

That's the only reason why he was concerned about the relationship.

Not because he liked Kimbra.

Kimbra pressed her back against the office door, running her hands through her hair. Truthfully, she still didn't get what the big deal was. So, what if she was dating Ross? He's a decent enough guy. At least she thought he was.

He cared about her. Asked her about her day. Listened to her. Made her laugh. He understood her. That's all that mattered to her. Who he was a person to her . Not what anyone else thought or said about him.

Happy. Kimbra was happy. She hadn't felt this way in such a long, long time. It's been so long that she can't recall the last time she felt this way.