Alessia's alarm went off at the exact same moment her phone began ringing. The combined noise shattered the silence of her apartment and dragged her unwillingly out of sleep.
She groaned and buried her face deeper into her pillow. For a second, she considered ignoring both. Then the phone kept ringing. And ringing. And ringing.
With a frustrated sigh, she reached blindly across her nightstand until her fingers found the vibrating device. One eye barely open, she looked at the screen.
Tessa.
Operations Manager.
Alessia immediately knew this wasn't a social call. Nobody from work called repeatedly unless something was wrong. She swiped to answer and pressed the phone against her ear.
"Tessa," she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. "Is it really important enough to call me this early?
