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Anton sniffed. “You know what? That doesn’t have a bad ring to it. At least not the king part.”
“Oh god. That’s it. I’m leaving. I didn’t even get lunch. You know what? You can sort the rest of this mess out.” Mindy stuck her tongue out at him and turned on her heel.
“Get back here, or I’ll get two cats.”
“Ta.” Mindy wiggled her fingers over her shoulder as she breezed through the doors.
“Half tempted to set it on fire and take the loss,” he muttered, turning to survey the aftereffects of Lou’s reign of science terror. He sighed, toeing at an empty cup of coffee before he brightened and stood up taller. There was always the option of taking his leave the same way Mindy had escaped.
He took a quick step toward the door. If he vanished into the night with the rest of them, then they would all just have to deal with the mess in the morning and- He almost groaned as a thought came to him with all the force of a freight train.
They wouldn’t deal with it. Grace would. And Grace was sick.
He couldn’t leave the labs the way they were for her to deal with. It wasn’t right. The door opened and Anton’s head shot up. It was the janitor.
“Thank god it’s you. Look.” He pointed around him with a few jabs of his fingers. “There’s been a situation, but if-”
“I told them I wouldn’t clean up another science mess.” The janitor jerked back from the door like they had been burned and waved an arm. “Not after last time.”
“Last time?” Anton croaked.
The janitor nodded and swallowed hard. “Last time there was a fire.”
“There’s not a fire this time…”
“Consider yourself lucky, but this isn’t on me.”
“But I can pay you. Whatever you’re making, I’ll triple it,” Anton said, rushing toward the door, but the janitor would have none of it.
“Not enough. Here’s a broom.” The janitor launched a broom at him and Anton jumped back, managing to catch it before it smacked him in the face.
“You didn't need to throw it like a javelin. What do you think this is, Sparta?”
The door snapped shut behind the janitor, and Anton sucked his lips against his teeth with a wince. He tossed his coat on a table and looked at the broom. He’d swept before, so he could do this. How hard could it be, right?
Lou was the size of a mouse. She couldn't have made that much of a mess.
thirteen
“In nature nothing exists alone.”—Rachel Carson
“So, you’re feeling better?” Lou asked.
Grace unwrapped her scarf from around her neck. “Right as rain, boss lady.”
Lou balanced the three-tier stack of coffees she carried and nodded. “That’s good, that’s good, I-well, I’m just happy you’re better.” The smaller woman kept nodding to herself as they walked down the hallway toward the labs.
“You didn’t have to get coffee. I could have done that,” Grace said, giving side-eye to the herbal tea Lou had thrust at her when she’d entered the building a few minutes ago.
“You’re just saying that because I gave you tea,” Lou replied.
Grace pulled a face as she took a sip. “But why tea? I’m not Bridget Jones, okay? I need coffee, and lots of it, to function properly.”
“I said no.”
“You know what? I don’t like it when you’re being the responsible caretaker one out of us.” Grace pouted and took another sip of her tea before she made a face.
“Stop being so dramatic. That is a very nice chamomile tea.”
