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“Well, I’m not a lawyer, Hank, but Austin is. And I’m sure he’d agree that ‘practically’ isn’t a term that would hold up in court.”
“Be serious, Olivia.” Hank shakes his head in disapproval. “You can’t date a client.”
“I already told you, I’m not dating Austin.” The charming lawyer texted me last weekend to ask me out again. I haven’t officially turned him down, but now that Derek and I are together, I will.
Part of me feels bad about it. Austin and I had a nice date, but there’s nothing to be done. I didn’t know my childhood love would come back into town and confess his feelings for me. Now that he has, there’s no question he’s the one I want to be with.
“The partners at his firm believe you are,” he replies, “and they’re threatening to no longer use our lab’s services.”
“What!” My jaw drops. “Why?”
“They fear others will question the validity of our results when they learn of your connection to Austin.” Hank shrugs. “And I can’t say I blame them.”
I see red. “You aren’t seriously insinuating I would alter the results of our testing to align with Austin’s arguments in his cases?”
“I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.”
“Well, what you’ve heard is bullshit,” I snap. “I can’t believe you’re even entertaining the thought.”
“I’m not, but they are,” he counters. “If you date Austin, we could lose business, and the lab can’t afford to lose business.”
“I already told you, we’re not dating,” I mutter through gritted teeth.
The last I checked, the lab’s finances were fine, but both Hank and I know how much funding Austin’s firm provides for our lab’s bonus research. To lose it would be devastating.
Hank’s expression shutters. “Fine, but I’m still going to have to speak with our HR department about this situation. Just so we’re clear on what is, and isn’t, considered an appropriate relationship between lab employees and clients.”
My nostrils flare. “Fine.”
He excuses himself to go to his own office, leaving me seething as I plop back down into my office chair.
I can’t believe Hank. I’m a top-notch employee. I’ve never so much as toed the line of professionalism. He’s the one who passes off his work to me. How could he think I’d ever do something to discredit the lab? To discreditmyself?
After everything I’ve done for him and the lab, the truth of how little he thinks of me is a low blow.
One of our mid-level scientists, Joe, knocks on the door frame, interrupting my internal spiral. “Excuse me, Olivia? I need your help ordering some reagents. Our usual supplier is saying they’re out of stock.”
I inhale a steadying breath.
I’m a trained scientist, but I’m nothing but a paper pusher who gets lectured by her boss and accused of being capable of unethical behavior.
Derek’s right… this job isn’t fulfilling.
“Sure, Joe,” I force myself to hold it together despite my inner turmoil. “I’ll help you.”
The rest of the day, my mood continues to plummet as I complete meaningless task after meaningless task until I walk out of the lab feeling completely disheartened about my future. There are so many things I’m unsure of, and I’m not just talking about my career.
While I’m excited about the change in my relationship with Derek, I can’t allow myself to forget what happened at St. Kitts. Honestly, Derek’s reaction when I brought up our past last night almost made me question my memory of what happened, but I know I’m not imagining sleeping together.
Or what came of it afterward.
No, for some reason, Derek didn’t acknowledge our night together. I plan to bring it up eventually. But for now… I don’tknow. I guess I don’t want to risk talking about it and ruining what we have going on.
Pathetic, I know.
The admission makes my mood dive even further. I debate calling Derek to tell him I don’t want to go to Comedy Fest tonight, but the moment I see his deep blue eyes light up when I pull into my apartment’s parking lot, I change my mind.
I don’t know how long Derek and I have together, but I owe it to my teenage self to enjoy every minute.
