“Agreed,” I say immediately. “Without hesitation.”
“And I maintain complete autonomy in the field,” she continues. “If I say move, we move. If I say stay, we stay. No debates while a funnel cloud is forming.”
“Of course,” I nod, trying not to sound too eager. “I will defer to you on all safety concerns.”
Lucas looks between us suspiciously. “Wow. You folded fast.”
Lila makes a quiet sound beside me. Something between a scoff and a laugh. My pulse quickens, followed by my body doing something inadvisable. The rest of me follows suit–given the current square footage and Lucas’s new hobby of cataloging my every reaction. This is a very deeply inconvenient development. My only hope is that she doesn’t notice.
“And,” she adds, voice quieter now, “if we do this…I’m not becoming some side note in your research.”
I turn toward her fully before I can stop myself. “You wouldn’t be.” There’s a part of me that wants to ask the names of the researchers she’s worked with in the past because it’s clear that she’s been burned by them. If they’d used her data, and didn’t fully credit her, they should be reported to their respective ethics board. Using another member of our community to gain notoriety is theft, plain and simple.
Lucas’s head swivels between us with slow deliberation of a man watching something catch fire after dousing it with gasoline.
“Oh my God,” he breathes. “Did the temperature just go up in here or is it just me?”
I glare at him, and he grins back at me, unrepentant for his remark.
Lila keeps her face forward. “Just so we’re clear. If this is anything other than research for you, the door is right there.” She nods towards the passenger side door. “Feel free to see your way out and take Weather Boy with you.” It’s not lost on me that she has no intention of stopping the vehicle should that be the direction I would take.
“I am here for the data. That’s it.”
Lucas snorts so hard he fogs up the passenger window. “You know what they say about denial,” he stage-whispers to me.
I drive my elbow directly into his ribs. He wheezes dramatically. Lila shakes her head, trying to ignore the both of us.
“I’ll need to see your algorithms in detail before I fully commit.”
“I can show you the simulations as soon as we get back to civilization,” I offer, trying not to sound as desperate as I suddenly feel. “My laptop’s in my bag. Assuming it survived the downpour.”
She steers around another fallen branch, headlights cutting across flooded ditches and twisted debris.
“I work on my own schedule. Sometimes that means getting up at three in the morning and driving across state lines on no sleep.” She glances at me briefly. “Do you think you can handle that?”
“I can be flexible,” I assure her. Which sounds much more convincing in my head than it does out loud.
Beside me, Lucas makes a strangled noise that suspiciously resembles laughter. “He can’t even handle irregular lunch hours.”
I close my eyes briefly. “Lucas,” I say calmly, “there are moments when I genuinely question why we’ve remained friends this long.”
“Remember when they changed the cafeteria layout last semester?” he continues gleefully. “This man nearly had a fit because the salad bar moved locations.”
“They moved it without warning,” I mutter defensively. “Who in their right mind puts salad next to the meat station? It’s offensive to those who eat plant-based diets.”
Lila actually laughs this time. Not the quiet little breath of amusement from before. A real laugh. I glance toward her before I can stop myself, and the lightning flash outside catches the curve of her smile for half a second. Beautiful.
“Look,” I say, attempting to reclaim what remains of my dignity while pressed thigh-to-thigh against her in this absurdly cramped truck, “I understand field research requires flexibility. I’m prepared for that.”
“Are you?” she asks skeptically.
“I can handle it.”
“He really can’t,” Lucas cuts in immediately. “This man packs his lunch in a temperature-controlled container with separate compartments for each food group. It’s color-coded.”
Lila is visibly fighting another smile now. God, maybe Lucas has been right. I really do need to get out of the lab more if a smile is enough to unnerve me.
“Why are you trying so hard to convince her I can’t do this?” I ask Lucas. “This entire partnership was your idea.”
