AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“These aren’t even full. I think we got ripped off!”
two
Two Weeks Later…
"I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers."—Stephen Hawking
Grace knew she tempted gravity by balancing a triple-stacked tray of coffees which resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but she didn't give a whit. Time was of the essence, with cold hard physics and steaming cups of caffeine on the line.
Gravity be damned.
There were sleepy physicists to caffeinate. Shifting the coffees and the bag full of bagels in her other hand, she kicked the door to the lab open and swept in with all the gravitas of a returning hero.
Chaos had erupted during her quick jaunt to get breakfast for her science tribe. Sighing, Grace took in the scene before she sprang into action, executing the fine art of science-wrangling. Caring for cosmos-obsessed geniuses was her art form of choice.
That, and overthinking.
Grace began to dole out coffee and bagels to caffeine-starved hands when she heard a shout from her favorite astrophysics genius.
Her boss. Her best friend.
“Gracie?”
Lou shoved her way out from behind a lab table and made a beeline for Grace.
“Morning, boss lady,” Grace chirped, offering a cup of coffee to the smaller woman.
“Please tell me that’s coffee.”
“Verily.” Grace gave the cup a little wiggle. An excited moan escaped Lou’s mouth before she took the cup.
“You’re my favorite lab assistant,” she said, looking at the bagel Grace thrust into her free hand.
“I’m your only lab assistant.”
“No, you aren’t. Not anymore.” Lou took a quick bite of the bagel and gestured around the lab with it. “Look at this. We’re in the big-time now, baby.”
“All because of your big science brain, Lou,” Grace said, still only half-believing that her job was to hang out with her best friend and tag-team the mysteries of the universe. She hustled to complete her morning march through the lab space, handing out breakfast as she went. The sooner she fed her science tribe, the better the odds that nothing exploded, or ended up launched at top speeds, or got taken apart that should have been left alone.
She really hated when they did that.
“Okay, true. But we all know who runs this show," Lou said, taking a healthy bite of her bagel as she trailed after Grace. “Which reminds me, I have someone to introduce you to.” She threaded her arm through Grace’s and yanked her forward.
“Whoa.” Grace dug her heels in to keep upright as her tiny friend marched forward. Lou was no couch potato, but the determined set to her small shoulders and the firm grip on Grace’s arm set off alarm bells in her head. She hoped Lou wasn’t trying to set her up again—a hobby that the astrophysicist managed to indulge in despite a full schedule of exploding, launching, and cosmos-searching.
“Who are we meeting? I swear to god, Lou, if this is another set-up I’ll run straight out of here so fast,” Grace hissed in her friend's ear, but Lou rolled her eyes.
“As much as I love meddling in your love life, this isn’t that,” Lou said, giving Grace another yank. “Anton Kovalev is here. Isn’t that exciting? You finally get to meet him.” Her friend bounced along, but Grace bit her lip.
Anton. Her brain immediately conjured the memory of him asking her out, and she cleared her throat.
“Umm...he’s coming this week?” Her voice came out about three pitches too high, and Lou raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. What’s with you?”
A nervous laugh trilled out of her. “Nothing, nothing. Why would anything bewithme? And, like, what’s wrong with you? And if we’re going to go around questioning things, I just want to know what’s wrong with this economy, you know?” She threw out her arms and then put her hands on her hips in as casual a pose as she could think of. Lou didn’t say anything, so she must have nailed it.Obviously.
“Grace, stop it. You’re going to scare Anton.”
