ire review the three designs she chose and took a picture of it before sending them to Alex. After all, Alex is her business partner in which she needs his approval. "Which one of these is the best?" she typed quickly, attaching the three designs. ire wasn''t expecting a reply right away, but before she could even put her phone down, it buzzed in her hand. Iing call from Alex.


    "Oh, great," ire muttered, her thumb hovering over the green button. Did she really want to do this? After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and answered the call. "Hello?" "ire, why didn''t you call me to choose the best design?" Alex''s deep voice rumbled through the speaker, sounding way too serious for something as trivial as design choices. ire frowned, leaning back in her chair. "I didn''t know if you were avable," she replied, trying to keep her tone neutral. "And we''re on a tight schedule. I decided to do it myself." Alex was silent for a moment, and ire could practically hear him frowning on the other end of the line. "But you didn''t even try to contact me. How was I supposed to know?"


    ire rolled her eyes, tapping her foot impatiently. This was exactly why she avoided phone calls with Alex. They always ended up in some pointless argument. "Alex, we don''t have time for this," she said, cutting him off before he couldunch into a full-blown debate. "I sent you the designs. Just tell me which one you like best."


    There was a brief pause as Alex checked his messages. "Okay, give me a minute," he muttered.


    ire waited, ncing at the clock on her desk. She knew Alex liked to take his time with things, and she was about to remind him of their deadline when he finally spoke up.


    "The second one is the winner," Alex dered, sounding a little too pleased with himself. "The first one can be the runner-up."


    ire nodded, even though Alex couldn''t see her. "Got it. I''ll contact the winner and let you know when we can meet with them."


    "Don''t leave me out of this," Alex said in his best business tone, which always made ire roll her eyes. "This is for my hotel, after all."


    "Understood," ire replied, keeping her voice clipped and professional. She was done with this conversation. "I''ll keep you in the loop."


    "Good," Alex said, his tone softening slightly before the call ended.


    ire stared at her phone for a moment, her thoughts a mix of annoyance and relief. She didn''t know why she always ended up feeling so frustrated after talking to Alex. They could argue about the color of the sky if given the chance.


    "Why is she so difficult?" Alex muttered to himself as he stared at his phone screen, shaking his head.


    Meanwhile, ire was already moving on. She called Sandra, her trusted assistant, and summoned her to the office. A minuteter, Sandra appeared in the doorway, looking curious. "You needed something, Ms. Peterson?"


    ire slipped back into business mode, her tone crisp and efficient. "I''ve chosen the three winners of thepetition. Here." She walked behind her desk and handed Sandra a piece of paper with the names of the winners. "First, second, and third ce. I need you to contact the winner and let them know they''ve won. Tell them we can''t wait to hear from them soon."


    Sandra took the paper, nodding as she scanned the names. "Got it. I''ll get started right away."


    "Thanks, Sandra," ire said, already mentally moving on to the next task on her list. She watched as Sandra headed out the door, her efficient assistant already on the job.


    Sandra, being the pro she was, didn''t waste any time. She informed the creative marketing team of the three winners, instructing them to whip up a shiny new poster to be sshed all over social media. Then, she dove into the details for the first-ce winner. Meanwhile, Abigail was blissfully unaware of the flurry of activity her design had caused. She was curled up in her room, nose-deep in a book,pletely lost in another world. That is until her phone buzzed with a new notification.


    "What''s this?" Abigail muttered, reaching for her phone. She saw an email sitting in her inbox, her curiosity was piqued as she opened it. Her eyes widened as she read the subject line, "Congrattions, You''re the Winner!"


    She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she read through the email. It was the winner announcement for the robot designpetition, and she had won! "Oh my God, I won!"


    Abigail sat at her desk, tapping her fingers on the keyboard as she replied to the email from Metacortex.


    At Metacortex HQ, ire was strutting down the hallway like she owned the ce, which, to be fair, she practically did. Dressed in her signature ck business suit and a sleek skirt, she looked like a total boss. Her heels clicked sharply on the floor as she made her way to the meeting room to meet the winner of the robot designpetition.


    As she pushed the door open, she was in for a bit of a surprise. Sitting at the table, looking as if she''d just stepped out of a pastel-colored fashion magazine, was a woman in a baby pink dress. ire blinked, slightly taken aback. This wasn''t the image she had conjured up of the winner.


    For a split second, ire''s


    professional mask almost slipped,


    ???


    but she quicklyposed herself and marched forward. She was ire, after all, unppable in the face of the unexpected. "Hello, I''m ire Peterson. The CEO of O Metacortex. Thank you foring here and congrattions on the win," she said, extending her hand with a smile


    The woman in pink stood up gracefully and took ire''s hand in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Peterson. I''m Abigail Hastings. Thank you for choosing me. I did not expect to win at all." she replied, her voice as sweet as her dress.


    ire couldn''t help but let a bit of her curiosity slip into her tone. "I have to admit, Abigail, you don''t look like the typical winner I was expecting. It''s not every day we see a woman designing robots, let alone one who looks as... well,dy-like as you."


    Abigail chuckled, a light, melodic


    sound. "I get that a lot. You''re not the first one who''s been a bit confused about my appearance," she admitted with a grin. "But I


    promise, I''m more than just the


    dress. I graduated inputer science and was part of a robotics team back in high school? It''s kind of been my thing ever since."


    ire raised her eyebrows, impressed despite herself. "Really? That''s fantastic! I have to say, your robot sketch was beautiful. It''s not often you see something so technical and yet... aesthetically pleasing."Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    Abigail''s smile widened, and she blushed just a little. "Thank you, Ms. Peterson. That means a loting from you."


    Meanwhile, in the midst of traffic, Alex nced at his watch, frustration building. The traffic was worse than usual, and he hadn''t anticipated it. His phone vibrated, and he quickly checked it to see a text from ire asking where he was. Stuck in traffic. Should be there soon, Alex replied, hoping the gridlock would clear up quickly.


    After what felt like an eternity, it took him about an hour to finally arrive at Metacortex. Not wanting to waste any more time, he hurried inside and made his way to the meeting room ire had mentioned.


    As he pushed the door open, he immediately apologized, "Sorry for beingte, ire, and I apologize to the guest as well—"


    But before he could finish, the guest turned around, and Alex froze in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise.


    "Abigail?" Alex said, his voice tinged with disbelief.