His high tops today were white, and so was his backwards ball cap, which featured an embroidered biohazard symbol. A big tuft of his crazy-scientist hair had found its way out through the hole in the snapback, and the chestnut tips looked gold in the sunlight.
Just as NOVA had said, he was holding a tray with two to-go coffee cups and a small paper bag that smelled like cinnamon buns.
“Morning, Milo,” he hummed, and his soft copper eyes skated over my body as I rushed to finish doing up the buttons to my brain shirt.
My cheeks flushed as his gaze swept over my exposed chest, and I silently cursed myself for not finishing getting ready before answering the door.
So unprofessional.
“Uhm, hey… Is there a meeting or something I didn’t know about? I didn’t think I needed to be at NeuroWell until 9am?”
He didn’t wait for me to invite him inside. He just grinned at me and walked right into my cube, making his way into the kitchen/living room split like he owned the place.
“Nah. Just thought you might want breakfast before we head over. I got these from Grain Matter. It’s the best cafe on campus.”
I frowned and padded after him, feeling awkward and confused as he helped himself to a few plates from my cupboard.
“I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so I just got black this time, but if you tell me your order, I can bring something a little fancier tomorrow.”
“Uhm—”
“Are you okay with dairy? Their vanilla lattes are absolutelyamazing. But if you have an intolerance or something, I can get them to make it with almond milk or whatever.”
He popped the buns into my tiny microwave and set it to twenty seconds. The delicious smell of cinnamon intensified, and soon my entire cube smelled like tasty baked goods.
He frowned, tapping a chipped black nail against his lip.
“These are gluten-free, but I didn’t even think about wheat. Do you have a wheat intolerance?”
“Wh-what? N-no.”
What was happening right now? Why were we talking about food allergies?
His entire face lit up, and he looked relieved.
“Oh, good. I can’t wait for you to try these. They’re fucking amazing.”
“Mr. Reynolds?—”
“Jay.”
“Okay, uhm,Jay…Why… Why are youhere?”
He blinked at me as the microwave beeped, signaling that our buns were ready.
“For breakfast.”
NOVA chimed in. “That’s what I said.”
I rolled my eyes up to the speaker installed in my ceiling and scowled at my AI.
“Do you bring breakfast toallthe new hires?”
“Of course not.” Jay pulled out the buns and handed me a fork and knife, looking almost giddy with excitement as I dumbly took the cutlery from him.
“So why are you bringingmebreakfast?”
He leaned his elbows on the counter, grinning at me good-naturedly, and shrugged.
