At Peggy's apartment.
Linda stepped out of the bedroom, her face dark as a storm cloud after grilling Peggy about some "safety stuff."
But Peggy was way too cool about it—like, suspiciously calm.
So Linda couldn't really push it. She just stormed out and threw Adam some serious side-eye.
"Ms. Watson, I had Lisa book us dinner. Wanna join us later?" Adam asked with a friendly grin.
"Nah, not hungry," Linda shot back, wrinkling her nose. "David, let's get outta here!"
"Actually, I'm kinda starving," David piped up, trying to play peacemaker. He and Adam were hitting it off, and he thought Adam and Peggy were a match made in heaven. No point in letting Linda and Adam stay at odds—it'd just make life awkward for him and Peggy. "Why don't we all eat? Hate to waste good food, you know?"
Linda was steaming, but one look from David softened her up, and she stayed, grumbling. Middle-aged love's not like those wild teenage flings—you figure out how to roll with it.
Especially with Peggy around, Linda didn't want to embarrass David in front of the "kids."
"So, Lisa's that assistant you got for Peggy? Invite her to dinner too," Linda said, half-resigned, half-curious about this girl who was sorta stepping into her shoes.
"Sure," Adam nodded, no fuss, and rang up Lisa.
Then it got quiet again. Peggy didn't even glance at them—she was back at her desk, deep in her own world.
Linda, still brooding over her chat with Peggy, clammed up, her face all business.
"Adam, I hear you're a writer?" David jumped in to break the silence.
"Part-time," Adam said, appreciating the vibe. "Started writing after high school to stack some cash. But my real dream's always been to save lives as a doctor. Right now, I'm interning at New York Medical Center."
"New York Medical Center?" David's eyes widened. "That's where they took all the victims from that train wreck today, right? It's all over the news."
"Yeah," Adam nodded. "We'd already been on for, like, ten-plus hours. I was driving over to Peggy's at dawn when…"
"You come over every night?" Linda cut in, jaw dropping. "Peggy's still young—how could you?!"
Clearly, she'd gotten some spicy details from Peggy during their "safety talk" and was freaking out about Adam's late-night visits.
"No, no, hold up!" Adam scrambled to explain. "Interns are slammed—I can't swing by every day. Just Sundays, usually. But these past few days, Peggy and I have been teaming up on a research paper, so I've been pulling all-nighters to make it work."
"A research paper?" Linda's frown eased a little.
Adam laid out the whole deal with the Duncan-Adler formula.
"Oh, got it," Linda said, her mood lifting. So Peggy was holding her own—made things feel more even.
"So, you were headed here at dawn, then got the train derailment call?" David grinned, steering things back.
"Yup," Adam confirmed. "Hospital rang us all back in, pronto. We were swamped with crash victims 'til 9 a.m., no chance to eat or anything."
"Man, being a doctor sounds rough," David said, shaking his head.
"For real," Adam agreed. "I've got stamina, so I'm good. But my coworkers? After forty hours straight, they're wiped—crashing in the break room, blood and grime still on 'em. Some just flop on stretchers in the hall and pass out."
"Then why do it?" Linda asked, puzzled. "You're rolling in cash, your books are killer—why not just kick back as a big-shot writer?"
Adam's lip twitched. She was painting him like some loaded playboy.
"Doctors save people," he said, dead serious. "Today, I pulled nine critical cases and six tough ones through. That rush beats making my first billion, hands down. It's what drives me—like Peggy's obsessed with math."
(System pinged later: +0.019 + 0.0056 = 0.12 years (43.8 days) added, only 0.8 days used—net gain of 43 days! Total win! )
David: "…"
Linda: "…"
David was starting to think Adam was flexing a bit, even if he liked the guy. Linda, though, was torn—impressed by how Adam and Peggy were so alike in their passions, but floored by that "first billion" line.
"Your first billion? How much money do you even have?" she blurted.
"Heh," Adam chuckled, playing it humble. "After a while, it's just digits. Doesn't mean much. I don't even keep count."
David's mouth twitched. Oh yeah, total flex. But fair enough—guy's trying to impress Peggy's mom.
"Writing pays that well?" Linda asked, still stunned.
"It's alright," Adam shrugged. "The first billion was mostly books, yeah, but after that, it's just money making money—investments, you know, playing the long game."
Linda hesitated, glancing at David. He was launching his own business and could use some cash to get it off the ground. But she'd just warned Peggy to keep money out of her thing with Adam…
David caught her look and gave a small shake of his head, firm. He was doing this solo—no handouts. He loved the grind and didn't want strings. Plus, he adored Linda and cared about Peggy too much to muddy things with cash.
Adam clocked their little exchange but played it off like he didn't.
"I'm into books too," David said, switching gears with a smile. "Big Jane Austen fan."
"Pride and Prejudice lady, right?" Adam nodded. "Her stuff's legendary—over a hundred years strong, huge influence."
"Yep," David grinned. "But honestly, I like Emma more than Pride and Prejudice."
"Emma…" Adam paused, glancing at Linda Watson with a weird look on his face.