Bonds of love

Chapter Four

The mood was light at the company that morning. Elena was finishing organizing and cleaning some products on a shelf, she was accompanied by two other co-workers who were helping her to clean everything, and thus finish faster.

Suddenly, a loud noise cuts through the air. They looked at each other, scared. Elena smells a strong and strange smell. She frowns and tries to pull away, but it's too late. The leak of one of the chemicals just hit her hard.

Elena starts to cough violently, having trouble breathing. She tries to leave that room running, but faints before reaching the door, the two women who were with her managed to get out, they didn't want to go back and risk inhaling that strong smell.

Meanwhile, Luke notices the commotion and the noise of desperate voices. His instincts tell him something is wrong. He approaches the panicked employees, who are paralyzed with fear.

— What's going on here? — Luke asks the first employee he sees.

— It's a chemical leak! I hear there's a woman trapped inside. — says a man, pointing to one of the doors farthest from where they were.

Luke immediately realizes that he needs to help, even if it means taking risks. He takes off his shirt and ties it tightly around his face, shielding himself, so he doesn't inhale the chemical's scent.

— I'm going in there! — says Luke before walking quickly towards the living room.

Colleagues try to stop him, but he won't listen. Determined, he enters the room and is greeted by a very strong smell. He stifles a cough and looks around, searching for the woman inside.

As he walks through the shelves amidst the chaos, he spots the woman lying on the floor, unconscious. His heart races when he realizes that she's the same unknown woman he's been enchanted with since the day he saw her at the nursery.

Luke approaches her carefully and takes her in his arms, soon he begins to carry her out of the room.

When Luke finally made it out of the room with the woman still in his arms. He carefully places her on the ground and watches as paramedics arrive to administer first aid.

As the paramedics tend to her, Luke notices that she is gradually waking up. Her eyes meet, revealing a mixture of relief and surprise.

Luke asked that the woman be taken to his office, where she would be more comfortable. So it was done, he was taken to Luke's room and laid on the large and super soft sofa.

— Is she all right? — Luke asked one of the doctors.

— Yes, luckily she didn't inhale so much of that chemical, however, I'll ask her to do some tests, just to know if she's really okay. — says the man.

— Okay, I'll take you to get all the necessary tests done. — says Luke.

— Okay, I ask that she rest for the rest of the day. — he says to Luke, who nods.

So, after doing all the necessary care for Elena, the paramedics leave, leaving her alone with Luke.

— I'm Luke. — he says, sitting down next to Elena, who looks him in the eye, he was so handsome.

— I'm Elena. — she says. — you saved me?

— Yes, but I did no more than my duty. — he says.

— A lot of people there had a chance to save me even faster, and they didn't. — says Elena approaching him and quickly hugging him, Luke was caught by surprise. — thank you for saving my life.

— Your welcome. I am glad that you are fine. — says Luke when she walks away.

— Thanks to you. — she says. — what can I do to thank you?

Luke was thoughtful.

— Would you like to have dinner with me? — he asks directly.

Elena was taken by surprise by the invitation.

Luke was asking her out on a date?

Elena has never gone out with another man, or she thought if she wants another man since he was abandoned by Louis, her ex-husband. Her only priority was her son.

Was it time for her to put her past aside and try something new.

— A date? — she asks. Luke smirks.

— Yes, will you have dinner with me tonight? — Says Luke holding Elena's hand, she felt a shock when her skins touched.

— First of all, I have a son. — says Elena, she knew that she would only be with someone, if her son was included in the package, they were a complete package. — secondly, I have to check with my friend whether she can stay with Peter.

— OK, no problem. — says Luke, he saw no problem with Elena being a mother. — if your friend can't stay with Peter, I can hire a nanny to stay with him.

— I don't like leaving my son with strangers, and I don't want to bother you, you saved me, asked me out and still want to pay a nanny for my son... I can't accept all of this. — says Elena.

— All good. If your friend can't stay with him today, you see which day she can stay and that way we can go out together, is that cool? — Luke asks.

— Perfect. — she says. — Now I have to get back to work.

— None of that. — says Luke. — you'll be resting, besides, I'll schedule some exams for you to do, just in case.

— There's no need... — Elena tries to talk, but she's stopped by Luke.

— Of course you have to, you had an accident at the company where I am vice-president, I need to do this for you, it was an accident at work, the company will pay all the costs of the exams. — says Luke.

Elena thought about denying it, but he was right, her accident was at the company with products produced by it, it was their duty to do that.

— Okay. — she says.

— I'm going to sign some documents, I want you to lie down and rest on that couch, when I'm done, I can drop you off at your house. — says Luke.

— I accept, and sorry to bother you. — says Elena, smiling shyly.

— Doesn't get in the way. — says Luke. — It will be wonderful to work while I keep my eyes on you.

Luke mutters the last part and gets up walking to his chair to work, while Elena settles down on the sofa and tries to rest, but it was difficult because all the time she was looking at that beautiful man not far from where she was, and little did she know she that for Luke it was also difficult to maintain concentration on his work.