“It’s due today, Dad wanted me to call to remind you.” Ethan chuckled.
Julian pulled up his documents and found the one he was looking for. “It’s all done, the computer does most of it for me. Give me five to finish it up and I’ll send it.” He slipped the joint between his lips, lit it, and inhaled the smoke into his lungs, before exhaling through his nose.
“Before you go, they’re running clinical trials on the pill you and Dad worked your magic to create. You interested in seeing some results?”
“Tell me when.” Julian laughed at Ethan’s comment. When it came to the science end of thing, Ethan was clueless. All he knew was where the money went. “And where?” Julian added the electronic signature to the bottom of the document and opened his e-mail. One more hit and he snubbed the joint out with his fingers, placing it in the ashtray.
“The Yarrow Center’s Residential Treatment Facility in Madison.”
Julian smiled. “Of course I want to go. When are you leaving?”
“Dad said in about half an hour. I’m assuming you’re taking your own car?”
“Unless you two want to stop by and see Liza with me.”
Ethan laughed. “Yeah no, we’ll see you over there.”
“I’m sending the report now. See you in a bit.”
*****
Julian stepped out of his car as Ethan and Vince arrived at the facility. He shook Vince’s hand. “Did you get the report?”
Vince nodded.“Thank you.”
“Pink shirt?” Ethan smirked.
Julian shrugged. “It looked nice with the rest of the suit.”
Vince handed Julian a name badge on a lanyard. “They’re tough on security here, you’re not carrying are you?”
“Gun or other weapon? No. Pot? It’s in the glove compartment.”
“I want to talk to you about your private stash,” Vince said as they headed toward the building.
“What about it?”
“Let’s get upstairs, we’ll talk about it then.” Vince opened the front door and moved to the reception desk. “Dr. Vince Steele, Steele Pharmaceuticals. We’re here to check in on the Astrodex trials.”
“And the others?” The receptionist smiled at Vince.
“This is Ethan, he’s my CFO, and this is Dr. Julian Vitalli, he’s one of our researchers.”
“Dr. Muller will be down to lead you up.” The receptionist gestured to the waiting area.
The three of them sat in the waiting area. “What would it take me to get into some of personal stash?” Vince asked.
Julian shrugged. “Depends on what you want it for? If you want it for yourself, I’ll give you some. If you’re interested for some other reason, well, we’ll have to talk.”
“Elizabeth Thomas.”
Julian’s head turned at the mention of Liza’s name.
She stood at the reception desk in a black knee high skirt and a light blue button up shirt.
He’d missed her come in. Vince was still talking, but Julian didn’t hear what he said as he walked over to where she was standing. He touched her shoulder and she jumped.
She threw her arms around him. “What are you doing here?”
“I had a business meeting.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Elizabeth,” he whispered her name in her ear.
She smiled. “What? Did you think my parents named me Liza?”
“It’s pretty, is there a middle name to go with that?”
“Vanessa.” She stepped out of Julian’s arms.
“Elizabeth Vanessa Thomas, I like it.”
“So what business meeting? I didn’t think you’d have one here?” Liza glanced around the lobby.
Julian rested his hand on her waist and led her over to where Ethan and Vince sat. “You remember, Ethan, right?”
She nodded.
He motioned to Vince.
Vince held out his hand and Liza shook it.
“This is Vince Steele, he’s the CEO of Steele Pharmaceuticals. They’re running clinical trials of one of the drugs I’ve created today. Vince this is my girlfriend, Liza.”
“Nice to meet you.” Vince smiled at Liza.
“Nice to meet you, too.” She turned to Julian and looked up at him. “Really?” Her eyes sparkled. “That’s so exciting. I’m proud of you.”
Julian’s chest puffed a little as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. A simple reaction and a few words, but they made his day much more manageable. “Do you have a few minutes to spare later?”
“This is going to take me about an hour and then after I have like twenty minutes to spare.” She reached up and adjusted his collar. “I like the shirt. I never thought I’d say I like pink on a man, but damn, you can pull it off.”
“Why thank you.” Julian chuckled and looked over at Ethan. “See?”
Ethan laughed. “She’s your girlfriend, she has to say that.”
“No, no I don’t.” Liza smiled. “So can I see you for those twenty minutes I have?”
“You bet.”
“Elizabeth Thomas, they’re ready for you,” the receptionist said.
“Duty calls.” She rested her hand on Julian’s chest.
“I’ll meet you right here, in an hour.” He gave her a quick kiss, before she headed for the door.
“So the girlfriend wins out over me.” Vince gave Julian a wink as he came rejoined them.
Julian shrugged. “Did you see her, Vince? Sorry, she’s better looking than you are.”
“Vince, Ethan,” a tall blond man with a bit of a German accent joined them. His white lab coat was pressed and spotless. “Nice to see you. We have the trials started. They’ve been on the medication for about forty-eight hours and we’re getting pretty good results.”
Vince nodded as he stood up. He motioned to Julian. “Petur, this is Dr. Julian Vitalli, he’s the creator of the medication. Julian, Dr. Petur Muller.”
“Ah, good. I have been wanting to meet you Dr. Vitalli.” Dr. Muller shook Julian’s hand and his blue eyes shone with excitement.
“Call me, Julian. Can we begin?”
“He’s in a hurry to see his girlfriend.” Ethan smirked as they followed Dr. Muller out of the lobby.
“You can stay as long as you would like. We have all the participants quarantined.”
“Julian has a medication able to control manic and depressive symptoms,” Vince said.
“We don’t know that for sure, Vince.” Julian stepped into the elevator. “It controls some of my symptoms.”
“Really? Then you have tested this drug on yourself?” Dr. Muller’s pen hung in midair. “Interesting.”
Julian nodded.
Dr. Muller’s shock faded and he continued. “Very interesting. Can you tell me more about your results please?”
“It’s not perfect, I still have symptoms. But, it controls my violent rages. I have comorbid conditions of bipolar, ADHD, and PTSD. It tends calm the ADHD enough to bring some of the bipolar symptoms under control.” Julian shot a glare at Vince. “Not to mention, I still have to smoke it.”
“The delivery method is unorthodox and perhaps inefficient. But to control bipolar rage — that alone is a miraculous breakthrough, Doctor. I believe this warrants further study.” Dr. Muller scribbled in his notebook as his excitement about the possibilities grew.
“See? If the stuff works let us test it out.” Vince flipped his hands over.
“It works on me. It helps take the edge off both sets of symptoms. But Donovan’s tried it and doesn’t get the same reaction. I may have only tried it on two people. I don’t like the odds.”
“But we could try it on others and you may have better results.” Vince shrugged. “Come on, Julian.”
“Only two test subjects? And those genetically related? That does not make for inclusive results.” Dr. Muller shook his head, his pen resting against his chin.
“It works for me, Vince. This is formulated for what I need it for. I’m still working the bugs out. I won’t release it unti
l I feel better about it.”
“A clinical trial at a facility such as this could provide us the data necessary to insure the medication is sage and effective.”
“And what if half of them flip out? I’ll be responsible for that. I won’t release something this early in its infancy. I refuse to let anything not up to quality leave the lab. It’s not going to happen.” Julian shook his head and drew a line with his hands.
“At least for a drug dealer we know he has ethics.” Ethan teased.
Dr. Muller blinked and looked first at Ethan and then at Julian. “I beg your pardon?”
“Excuse him,” Julian said to Dr. Muller. He shot Ethan a glare, but had a hard time keeping a straight face. “You’re an ass.”
“I’m your best friend.”
Julian laughed and he turned to look through the two way mirror to observe the clients in the room. “The only way I’d consider it would be on a very small group at first. And it’s going to take a lot of convincing.”
Petur mumbled something to Vince he couldn’t hear.
Julian shook his head. Nope, not releasing it. “How’s this trial going?”
Petur flipped through his notes. “So far our results have been solid. We have had no adverse reactions. Some neutral reactions have been reported, but that’s to be expected.”
“Good.” Julian nodded as he watched the participants interact with each other. “Can I see the notes?”
“I will provide you with a complete report at the end of these trials, Dr. Vitalli, but I cannot show you my notes due to doctor/patient confidentiality concerns. I am sorry,” Petur informed him.
“Dr. Muller?”
Julian stiffened at the sound of Trina’s voice. He continued to look through the two-way mirror, as he decided how he wanted to deal with her.
“Have you met the representatives from Steele Pharmaceuticals?” Petur said.
“I haven’t had the pleasure.” Trina kept her voice calm and professional. “I’m Trina Harding, Clinical Director of our Counseling Center.”
“This,” he gestured toward Vince with his clipboard. “Is Dr. Vincent Steele, the company CEO and his son Ethan Steele, CFO.” Petur moved over to stand beside Julian. “And this man—” the excitement in his voice returned. “— is the creator of the drug we are testing today. May I present, Dr. Julian Vitalli.”
Julian turned at his name and smirked as he saw the surprise on Trina’s face. “I believe we’ve met.”
Trina’s eyes narrowed. “Dr. Vitalli.”
“Guess I may have more to do with this company than just being a donor.” Julian folded his arms over his chest. “How’s Liza’s schedule these days?”
“It’s pretty hectic at the moment, we had a case manager quit last week and she’s been picking up the slack.”
“Quit?” Julian chuckled. “I wonder why? You treat your employees so pleasant. I couldn’t imagine the long hours, low pay, or constant threats of write-up being a reason to quit.”
Vince looked over at Julian and raised his eyebrow.
Julian smiled at Trina, before directing his attention to Vince. “When I went to the Counseling Center to pick Liza up the other day, she was about to get punched by one of the clients?”
“Dr. Vitalli, I think Liza’s schedule may have opened up this afternoon.” Trina sent him a glare, before addressing Petur. “I have a client you need to see.”
“Trina, is this true?” Petur followed Trina from the room.
Julian smirked. Take that, bitch.
“What was that about?” Vince cocked his head in Julian’s direction.
“Liza works from nine in the morning to nine at night most days and eats on the fly. I thought I’d get her time to sit down and eat.” Julian shrugged.
Ethan chuckled. “She’s going to kill you if she finds out.”
“You don’t even know her.” Julian tugged at his tie. He hated wearing them.
“She won’t like you throwing your weight around.” Ethan stood and smoothed his pants. He glanced at his watch. “I have an appointment in an hour, you ready to go, Dad?”
“I guess it is getting to be that time.” He faced Julian. “Let me know when you decide to release your stash.”
“If I do.” Julian patted Vince on the back as he headed out of the room and to the lobby.
*****
Liza ground her teeth as she fumbled with the keys in the lock. After she managed to get the door open, she marched into the kitchen. He wasn’t there. “Julian?” She headed into the living room and saw him coming down the stairs.
“Hey, sexy.” He met her at the bottom of the steps and leaned in for a kiss.
She sidestepped away from. “Exactly why did my clients cancel today?”
“How would I know?” He tweaked his eyebrow.
“Oh so you have nothing to do with the reason my clients cancelled?”
He reached for her again, but she shook her finger at him and moved toward the couch. “What’s wrong?”
She paced the living room. “I called my clients tonight to find out if they wanted to reschedule and they told me they were meeting with my boss tomorrow. Kate called them to ask if they’d reschedule.”
“How does that have anything to do with me?”
“Come off it, Julian. Don’t lie to me. When Trina told me they cancelled, I knew something was up. But it didn’t hit me until I called my clients. What did you say to Trina to convince her to give me time off?”
“Liza, I—”
She cut him off. “Stop right there. Kate reamed me a new one for your interference. I was trying to get you to admit it yourself.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “So if you lie to me, so help me—”
He held up his hands. “I asked about your schedule. I may have brought up your client trying to punch you, in front of Dr. Muller, Vince, and Ethan. She was the one who said your schedule opened up.”
“You used your influence to get me out of something that had nothing to do with you. I appreciate you trying to help, but damn it, Julian, I could lose my job over this.”
“You’re not going to lose your job.”
“I’m not even mad about the job. I’m mad because you think you can walk all over everyone else to get what you want. Life doesn’t always work that way.” She continued her pacing. Why couldn’t he see what he was doing? “You’re being a bully and I won’t stand for that.”
“Liza.”
“Don’t Liza me. I can’t be with someone who bullies other people.”
“But I have to stand by and watch her bully you?” Julian held his hands out to the side. “You work sixty hours a week, you barely have time for lunch. I know you’re making your numbers, you’ve told me that. There’s no reason for you to be forced to work those hours if you’re doing more than your share of the work.”
“Just because my boss bullies me, doesn’t mean you get to bully her on my behalf. Do you want to be on the same plane as she is? I despise the bitch . . . is that how you want me to feel about you, too? All you’re doing is employing the same tactics to get what you want. I may not be a Doctor, but it’s my job, not yours. People are counting on me.” Liza rubbed her forehead. She hated fighting. She didn’t want to do it.
Julian rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I thought you needed a little time off.”
She looked into his eyes. “No, you did it for you. Yeah, my job sucks, but I need it.”
“Why?”
“Because in my world, money doesn’t grow on trees. I still have bills to pay and expenses. I need my job.”
“What about us?”
“What about us?”
“I can help you out.”
“And what if it gets to the point where there is no ‘us’ then what? I’m screwed.” Liza dropped her hands and turned away.
Julian wrapped his arms around her waist. “Is that what you want? For there to be no us?”
Her heart beat faster and despite being mad at him, s
he held onto his arms. “No . . . but my job is not your decision.”
He turned her to face him. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to lose you, Liza. I’ve grown rather fond of you in the short time we’ve known each other.”
“I feel the same way.” She wrapped his hands in her own. “I think it’d be best if you avoid Trina.”
“I can do that. No reason for me to see her anyway.”
“Good.” Liza nodded. “I guess I should find something to eat, before we go to bed.”
“There’s food out there. I made you something.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to.” Julian rested his hand on the small of her back and led her to the kitchen.
Chapter Eight
April 4th
Julian’s eyes snapped open. His head pounded and his whole body ached. A sharp shooting pain pulsed from the front of his head to his neck. He pressed his fingers against his temples, but it intensified the pain. Light bothered his eyes and had for the last day – noise bothered him as well.
“Shit,” he whispered. He was already in a depressive state and to add the extra anxiety of the mania would push him over the edge. It began the night before.
When Liza made it to his place from work, he was in bed. She woke him up, but he was too far out of it to do much more than grunt in response.
Pushing off the covers, Julian rose from the bed. It had been a long time since his headaches got this bad. He groaned as he made his way down the stairs, trying to remember if he took his pills the day before. He was bad at remembering them, even with the alarm set on his phone, but half the time he would shut it off forgetting what the alarm was for. Damn, his pills were in the basement. He’d have to search the medicine cabinet to see if he could find extras.
He sat in the living room, all the lights off, curtains drawn . . . as little light in the room as possible.
Liza flipped the lights on.
He clamped his eyes closed. “Turn that off.” His came out more abrupt than he meant it. “Sorry.”
The room darkened and he felt her sink on the couch next to him.
She ran her hand over his back in a circular pattern. “Are you okay?”
If You Only Knew (And Then Came Love Book 1) Page 13