Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

After all, he had a backup, so no biggie. Plus, he was curious to see just how good Flora really was.

"I've got some stuff to handle, so I'm heading out," Shawn said, and quickly left the lab.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

Flora, with her chin resting on one hand and the other on the mouse, scrolled through the thesis. Shawn's work was solid, with clear and tight logic, but some of the data was too vague, making the overall argument feel flimsy. The last section, in particular, lacked depth.

Flora knew this because she had seen a similar thesis by Jules on robotic surgery, and she had a photographic memory, so all the data was still fresh in her mind. She recalled Shawn mentioning that if Dr. Ray saw the report Alexa wrote, he'd be furious. Dr. Ray did seem a bit harsh.

With a slight frown, Flora decided to help Shawn out since he had been pretty nice to her. She quickly made the revisions, finishing in just twenty minutes. She didn't alter the document directly-didn't want to be rude—so she added comments instead, making it easy for Shawn to change things back if he didn't like her suggestions.

By the time Shawn returned, Flora had already finished and moved on to something else.

"Shawn, is your thesis ready? Dr. Ray's been asking for it; he wants to see it before lunch," Darcy said, poking her head in.

"It's ready!" Shawn replied hurriedly. He plugged in his USB drive, opened the thesis, gave it a quick once-over, and then copied it to the drive to take to Dr. Ray's office.

At noon, as they were getting ready for lunch, Dr. Ray came out and announced, "Everyone, we have a surgery this afternoon that you can observe up close. The chief surgeon will be the head of the city hospital. It's a rare opportunity, so meet in the lab at one o'clock and we'll head over together."

"Yes, sir!" everyone responded excitedly.

Dr. Ray glanced at Flora, standing at the back with her ponytail and face mask. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, then he turned and left.

Shawn was thrilled. "Flora, Dr. Ray is letting you observe the surgery! That means he's starting to acknowledge you!"

Flora just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Alright, let's grab some lunch. Come with me, and we'll head back together," Shawn suggested.

"Okay," Flora nodded.

Shawn was even more delighted when she agreed. He led Flora to the cafeteria and confidently pulled out his meal card.

"Flora, get whatever you want; it's on me!"

Flora didn't hesitate, choosing a main dish, a side, and a soup.

"Flora, let's sit over there," Shawn pointed to a crowded table filled with lab folks.

Flora had been in the lab for a week but hadn't mingled much. Many were already displeased with her, thinking she got in through connections and her aloof demeanor didn't help.

Shawn thought this wasn't good and decided to create a chance for Flora to interact more with everyone. He believed that if they got to know her, they'd like her just as much as he did. To those who didn't know her well, Flora might seem cold, but those who spent time with her would see she was actually very kind-hearted, always returning kindness twofold.

"Shawn! Hurry, come sit!" The lab folks greeted Shawn warmly as he approached.

Shawn led Flora to their seats. Although most of them didn't care much for Flora, they could see that Shawn was protective of her. For his sake, they didn't give her a hard time; they just subtly ignored her.