“Literally?”
She blinks. “Well, not literally.”
“Good. Because if he would literally kill you for letting someone into his sacred space, I would have to call the police. And probably get you a therapist or something. Because you shouldn’t be working for someone who would literally kill you for something as silly as this.”
She lets out a strangled laugh. Which is exactly the reaction I was hoping for.
“Okay. He would figuratively kill me. I would have to clean the room again. Scrub it. And he would be really mad.”
“The second rule for dealing with someone who specializes in communications is use the words you mean. You’re a PhD candidate, Gwen,” I tell her gently. “Say what you mean.”
“Okay, what I mean to say is that it is a real pain if anyone goes in there and contaminates the room. Even the foyer has to be cleaned regularly. The clean room has to be kept pristine, or we risk contaminating the soil samples.”
“He’s in there.”
“Yes. But he had to follow the procedure before going in.”
I just look at her and arch an eyebrow, because if there are procedures that need to be followed, I can do that.
She may be tall. She may be smart. But she has definitely met her match.
Chapter 5
Max
Few things in life annoy me more than a lack of focus. It annoys me when people around me can’t focus. It straight-up infuriates me when I’m the one who can’t focus.
It shows a lack of self-discipline I simply cannot abide.
Thankfully, it isn’t a problem I often suffer from.
Unfortunately, it is definitely a problem I am suffering from today. I know exactly who to blame: Holly Dolinsky.
She is the thorn I simply can’t get out of my paw.
In the four days since she first visited my lab, I’ve received a visit from Clive Thorndyke, three phone calls from him, an email from the president of the university, and no fewer than three phone calls from Ms. Dolinsky herself. Each requesting a meeting.
This is exactly the kind of shit I shouldn’t have to put up with. I had already come to that conclusion, even before Clarissa met me outside my lab yesterday morning and refused to let me enter until I agreed to schedule a meeting with Holly. I might be able to ignore the president of the university—not for long, but for a while—but I cannot ignore Clarissa. She is the woman who buzzes in the delivery people when they bring me lunch. And coffee. If I piss her off, I may never get delivery again.
So yesterday I relented and scheduled an appointment with Ms. Dolinsky. Thankfully, I have no plans to actually attend the appointment.
After all, what is the point of having three lab assistants, if I can’t assign them things like this? Since Gwen is always the first to volunteer for any job, I assigned the task to her. She will meet with Ms. Dolinsky and report back.
The matter should be simple. It should not be distracting me.
But all morning, as the clock ticked closer and closer to the meeting time, my ability to focus became more and more erratic. When I glanced up and saw that it was 10:02, I had to resist the urge to turn around and see if she was already in the lab.
The clean room is relatively silent, the way I like it, and with two layers of walls and glass between me and the rest of the lab, I haven’t heard her come in. I’ve heard no conversation. With any luck, Gwen followed my suggestion that they have the actual meeting in the staff room down the hall.
It’s only a few minutes past ten when I hear the series of beeps that indicates Gwen has used her badge and security code to open the foyer to the clean room.
I pause for a moment before returning to the task of isolating a single-cell protozoan from the soil sample. Since I’m still distracted, I’m aware that it seems to take longer than it should for Gwen to scrub up and change into her slippers and protective gear. Normally, that’s not the kind of thing I would even notice. Several minutes pass after the initial beeps of the door opening before the clean room opens.
Without looking up, I say, “These slides here are ready to be analyzed.”
But before I can return my attention to the work in front of me, I inhale and am hit with a whiff of lemon-scented shampoo.
Fuck.
