John's POV I sat down on the bar stool next to Bryan and looked at him with an arched eyebrow, wondering about the mood between him and Helena. I knew him well enough and had witnessed scenes of him and his childish pranks directed at her, which I did not like. My friend stared back at me and returned the dubious expression, laughing disdainfully when he noticed my serious expression. "What? Are you going to fight me for being around your protégé?" He asked sarcastically and I didn't change my expression. "That depends. Have you done something to make me take such action?" I retorted with a cutting tone of voice and he frowned. "Careful, Carter. With that reaction yo

Helena's POVDistantly, I stared at the door of the store that John had recently left."That was almost like a scene from one of those boring fucking romantic comedies. "Vicenzo said suddenly, making me wake up and look at him in doubt. "What exactly are you talking about? "About you and the fancy playboy. "He replied boredly, and I blinked several times, lost in his recent realization. "Who is it? You look at him like he's going to install world peace." What? NO!" I said exasperated, receiving a wry look from my colleague. I pulled myself together, totally unfazed. "He's just the son of my mom's bosses and we talk sometimes. No big deal.""No big deal. Come on, Helena! You're a terrible disguise." Vicenzo laughed as if I were the funniest joke in the universe, and I continued to stand there staring at him, arms crossed and bewildered. "I knew there was something very strange going on in that little heart of yours that you haven't fallen in love with me yet. My classmate noted and

Two hours walking.Three hours walking. Time went by and my voice was already hoarse from shouting Bento's name together with John, but to no avail. A heavy drizzle began to fall and the temperature must have dropped five degrees, because the coat I was wearing was no longer enough to soften the contact of the icy breeze with my body. Near me, a distraught John rubbed his face, muttering a "damn", venting some of his frustration. I wanted to calm him down, however, I found myself not much different. My hands were shaking and I knew very well that it wasn't due to the cold, but to the fear that something had happened to my everyday companion. Suddenly, I felt my eyes burning. I couldn't cry, after all, that would only make John even more desperate, but I couldn't help it. A tear ran down my icy face and I wiped it away quickly, a move that will not go unnoticed by Carter , who glared at me. I hugged my body in an attempt to warm myself and kept walking, taking a small step the instant

John nodded and started driving again when the lights came on. Silence settled over the vehicle and I let out the air that until then I didn't even know I was holding in, as I felt my heart grow faint. Finally we arrived at the vet's, the large two-story clinic had a neon sign that read "Open 24 hours" with a drawing of several animals around it. John took Bento from the back seat and I got out right behind him, entering the extremely organized place. The friendly attendant welcomed us with a huge smile on her face, looking away from us to the German Shepherd wrapped in the blanket, her expression changing to a worried one in seconds."Good evening. Is Doctor Vermont on call today?", John asked. "Yes, she is, come with me, please. What happened to him?", She inquired as we followed her toward the office. "He ran off and hurt his paw, we're not sure.", The man replied, carrying the dog and standing in front of the room as the nice woman knocked on a door filled with drawings of dog

The next morning I was somewhere between fucked up and exhausted. I hadn't felt this tired since I decided to pursue a doctorate immediately after graduating from college, which required many sleepless nights. I had clearly lost that ability, as I found myself finished. As if I wasn't bad enough already, the stress had caught up with me as absolutely nothing was going right that day at the office. I had not been able to talk to Sandro Averbuck and I could not waste any more time, after all, the days were ticking by and my client's trial would not be long in coming. I leaned my elbows on the table and ran my hands over my face, totally exhausted and worried. Everyone at the party had already been called to testify and it was obvious that someone was lying, not knowing how to get to this someone made me anxious and only made it seem that I was not doing my job properly. Mason Zummack's killer had been