My brows knit as I try to piece together what unfolded.
Nate:What happened?
Vivienne:Arjun decided to use my fume hood because he had no space in his, but forgot to turn off the heatingon my stir plate. So when I set up my reaction and came back…the whole thing was burned.
Forgot my ass.
A part of me thinks he did this on purpose, but I’d like to believe people working in the same lab, for the same PI, wouldn’t pull something of the sort. Though I’m not one to comment on this when I’m continuously shown the impossible.
I respond with my most subdued answer, because telling her I’d walk into that lab and accidentally sethimon fire would make me a suspect in an alternate universe where I do follow through on my thoughts.
Nate:I’m sorry. That’s a bummer.
Vivienne:Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but…I didn’t cry!
Vivienne:A win is a win. Consider me emotionally stable.
I laugh at her response despite the residual anger I have for Arjun.
Vivienne mentioned on our road trip back home that she wanted to be more positive when it came to her chemistry. So, in some ways, this was a good start.
Nate:Congratulations on burning your flask and not crying. I could not be more proud <3
Vivienne:The sarcasm is not appreciated. I’m taping your mouth shut the next time I see you.
Nate:That’s one way to get me to behave…But I can think of better ones.
The bubbles appear and disappear before her texts finally come through.
Vivienne:What do you have in mind?
An eye emoji quickly follows, and as much as I’d like to respond, I know it’ll bring me further away from tackling the real problem at hand.
A call.
That’s all it would take to know if my former employer orchestrated my downfall.
I scroll through my contacts until I land on the name of the man I once considered a friend.
Sharp ringing echoes—one, two, three times—and when I’m convinced it’s going to voicemail, I’m greeted with that overly excited voice.
A decade down the drain, that’s what this would be if he turns out to be the culprit.
“Nate! What a pleasure to hear from you. My apologies for not checking on you sooner. Things have been busy around here at AeroLabs. How’s everything going? I’m sure you’ve got lots to update me on.”
My greeting back gets caught somewhere in my throat. Now that he mentions it, I realize he’s right—he hasn’t checked on me once since the spark incident, to be exact. Something that's strange since we usually talked more often.
I roll with it, nonetheless.
“As good as it can be. Just life, I guess—work, family, and whatnot,” I answer.
I’m in over my head with my response—is it natural? Too calculated? Nonchalant? I don’t have the time to question it when he carries on the same.
“Well, that’s good to hear. I hear congratulations are in order! Getting married soon?”
He’s keeping up with me, but most importantly, my personal life.
Is that something he did in the past? Or is it because he was involved in…
