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As I run my fingers through his hair, I listen to the soft waves hitting the boat, the frogs singing their evening mating songs along the water’s edge. The sheets are soaked, soreness returns to my body.
But it’s the ache in my chest that is inconsolable.
He’s leaving.
Two
Present - Six Years Later - Cambridge, UK
Emily
The sun is beaming down rare warmth in a cloudless sky above the University of Cambridge. If I were the typical college student in the States, I’d be outside taking advantage of the uncharacteristic summer weather.
Most likely, I’d be on summer break by now, drinking cheap tequila on a beach. I’d be creating regrets, making bad decisions that would make for fun party stories for years to come.
I’m a little envious but will never admit it.
Instead, I’m at a century-old cafe outside the university, eying a flat white that was just set before me. The barista really outdid herself this time with the leaf design of the microfoam floating on the surface.
“Kudos, Klara,” I tell my favorite barista, who is also my roommate. “I can really see a leaf on this one.”
“Leaf?” She throws her hands up in frustration and huffs a breath of air to get her blond bangs away from her eyes, “That’s a cat!”
I smile and blow on the hot coffee before taking a sip as Klara collapses in a chair beside me at our table. There are perks to having a roommate who works at the cafe, mainly free coffee, even if the foam designs will never be museum-worthy. “Delicious, either way,” I take a gulp. “At least this one doesn’t look like a dick again?”
“I get good tips on the dick ones. Any leads yet?” Klara nods to my open laptop set in front of me.
Part of the university’s program is pairing international students up for housing. Klara is from Sweden and has a gorgeous, thick accent. She tells me I have a thick American accent.
We taught each other all the fun four-letter words in our languages, though Klara has me beat, by far, since she speaks fluent English, like most young Europeans, and I only remember what I learned in high school Spanish.
“I’m meeting Professor Tillman soon,” I say as I check my watch. “He said he has exciting news, so I’m hoping it’s a job opportunity. Otherwise, no, I’m just answering emails.”
“More on the paper?” Klara asks as she rests her tired head on her elbows on the table.
Klara is working part-time at the cafe plus trying to wrap up her Master’s degree in Energy Technologies. She is exhausted more often than not. I was able to finish my degree on schedule, whereas she’s running behind and into overtime now.
/> The Master’s programs at Cambridge are no joke, even compared to what I was used to as a mechanical engineering undergrad at MIT. But it’s a nine-month program, versus two years in the States, so after weighing all the pros and cons, I took the plunge.
If I didn’t have Mom and Dad footing the bill, I’d have been in the same boat as Klara, having to take a job to support myself and struggling through the coursework. I’m grateful to them that I was able to focus on my studies, and with my shiny new degree in hand, it’s time to get my head down now and find gainful employment.
Except, I’m distracted.
“Yes, more people emailing about my paper,” I smile and glance at my inbox where emails from another researcher and a tire manufacturer await me today.
My individual research project to graduate with a Masters of Materials Science in Engineering was chosen by the academic staff. At first, I was skeptical of the concept: Chemical Advances in the Compounds of Tire Manufacturing.
But it turned out to be fascinating because, as we say in the MSE program, everything is made of something.
What the world considers simple hunks of rubber have a fascinating inner private life, to me, anyway. Hundreds of seemingly insignificant raw materials come together, bond at a molecular level, and create something unprecedented, secure, and durable.
Better than the individual components alone.
My research project went big, diving into hydrocarbon chains within antizonants, oxidative reaction mechanisms, and solubility of rubber compounds. It went so well that Professor Tillman and I published a paper in the Journal of Materials Science theorizing a possible new stable hydrocarbon bond that has the potential to drastically reduce tire degradation.
Longer lasting tires, fewer tires sent to landfills, safer tires on every car on the road—it could be massive.
Nerd. At least I own it these days.
