“Do you remember Bridget? She worked in the lab with us last year.”
He glanced at me. “Yes, I remember. Good morning, Ms. Crawford.”
“Dr. Manalo,” I said, matching his clinical demeanor. Two could play this game of “who’s the most professional.” And I’d win.
“Bridget,” Lisbeth chided. “First names, remember?”
I swallowed my sigh. “Nice to see you, Nathan.” His name felt awkward in my mouth, and he must have heard my minute hesitation because his expression became even more distant.
The breathless arrival of a South Asian woman, with thick dark hair pulled into a bun and stylish curtain bangs I’d never be able to pull off, saved us from any further painful small talk. She was a bit younger than me, and her outfit — slacks and a green sweater — looked as new as my own clothes. “Oh my gosh, guys, I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said, barreling up to us. She latched onto my arm and panted. Her Beta scent was sweet and fruity, like a ripe mango. “The train broke down, and I had to run like ten blocks.”
Lisbeth smiled indulgently. “You aren’t even late, Anvi. Nathan, Bridget, this is Anvi Lakhani. She’s an undergraduate student at Fairview University and will be our research assistant. She comes highly recommended by Dr. Finch.”
“Nice to meet you guys,” Anvi said, releasing my arm to grip my hand and Nathan’s in turn. “And you’re Bridget Crawford, right?”
I furrowed my brow. “Yes, why?”
“Dr. Finch is always raving about you. The Omega, right?” Anvi’s eyes grew wider. “I’m supposed to learn everything I canfrom you during this internship. He made it seem like I should spy on you or something.”
I turned to Lisbeth, alarmed.
“He’s always been jealous that you were my protégé,” Lisbeth said with a roll of her eyes. “But yes. Bridget was integral to the HLA compatibility study, which made this possible. Her unique perspective as an Omega helped lead the research in the right direction. And to be honest, her involvement looks favorable to the IRB.”
My face burned. I hated the thought of strangers from the Internal Review Board discussing me, especially as the token Omega on the team. It’s not like I’d discovered the existence of human leukocyte antigen. Rose Payne had begun documenting the tags that mark a cell as friend or foe, and help control immune response, in the fifties. She had studied another population that many scientists ignored at the time: pregnant women. We had just widened our view to include Omegas.
“I’m not sure aboutthat.” I looked at Nathan. Surely he’d confirm that the study’s success was because of his leadership or something.
“We’re lucky to have you,” he said instead, not meeting my eyes.
Ah, so it was like that. He’d be nicer to me now that Dr. Nielsen thought I was a “rising star.”
“Thanks,” I replied with barely concealed sarcasm.
“Enough chitchat,” Lisbeth said and led us to the desk that ran along the back wall, manned by three bored-looking security guards. “Picture time!”
Each of us stood in front of a black box with a camera for our ID picture. The camera washed me out so much that my face looked like it was floating on the white background of the card. I hung the attached lanyard around my neck and tucked it away as fast as possible.
“These will give you access to the lab, even on weekends,” Lisbeth said as we walked towards the elevators. “We’re on floor thirteen.”
As the elevator whisked us upward, I controlled my breathing. Enclosed spaces were one of my many issues with daily life.
The doors opened onto a vestibule made of white-paneled walls with inset LEDs that bathed the space in white light. Double doors, the glass etched with Davis Orthopedic Clinic, led into a futuristic-looking patient waiting room. Lisbeth beckoned us to an unmarked side door instead and pressed her ID card against a scanner. It flashed green, and she opened the door with the air of Willy Wonka about to show us the inner workings of his chocolate factory. Instead, there was a clean, bright hallway. It looked like every medical facility, albeit a little newer.
“The exam rooms are on the other side of the floor, and the surgical center is upstairs. But this is our domain,” Lisbeth said, scanning her card at another door off the left side of the hallway marked “Research.”
Inside was a small corridor, a bit darker than the hallway outside. To our right, the corridor continued to admin space, but directly before us were double glass doors that led into the lab proper. Even from the corridor, I could see it was massive, comparatively speaking. I was used to working in the University lab, which had plenty of space, but was separated into boltholes that left everyone isolated. Here, we would work together with nowhere to hide. Black benches with glass storage above lined the left side of the room. The centrifuges, microscopes, and flow cytometer were arranged on a large central island with the same black countertops as the workbenches. Everything looked so fresh and new, completely at odds with the battered equipment of the university.
The right side was the sterile area, safe behind another wall inset with large windows. Behind the wall were two biosafety cabinets, freezers, and incubators. A small anteroom with PPE and biohazard bins sat between the sections.
“Before we go explore the lab, I’ll show you the office,” Lisbeth said, leading us down the corridor. Anvi looked longingly through the lab door for another moment before following Nathan’s perfect posture. I brought up the rear.
The office was also clearly new and smelled of fresh paint, robin’s egg blue, and it had warmer lighting I’d appreciate after a long day of work straining my eyes in the lab.
There was a clump of four white cubicles in the center, but they were the fanciest-looking cubicles I’d ever seen, like work pods from the distant future. A coffee and kitchen area lined the wall shared with the lab, with an expensive-looking espresso machine, while two doors led off the back of the room. One was marked “Dr. Nielsen, Principal Investigator” and the other “Dr. Manalo, Senior Research Associate”.
Do not be jealous of his office, I told myself. But I couldn’t help looking at him quickly to see if I could catch him gloating. He looked as impassive as always.
“This is so nice,” Anvi gushed, slipping into one of the plush white leather chairs at a cubicle. “Can this one be mine?”
