It took Alexa more than half an hour to convince Lance that she would be fine on her own. Another half-hour was spent getting him to leave her side, and then a full hour passed before she finally forced herself to walk towards Knight's office.

"I'm sorry," she thought. "There, so easy, right?"

Alexa tried to practice her apology, but whenever she did it in her mind, she grimaced. When she reached the office, she stared at the wooden door for a long moment.

She was so deep ...