Margaret responds with a smile, her previous grumpy mood nowhere to be found.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you where the magic happens,” Sophia whispers to me, waggling her eyebrows.
She seems genuinely nice, and having a friendly face around here is more than I could have hoped for, even if she seems overly outgoing.
We navigate the building, and I’m certain I’ll get lost when navigating on my own during the first few months. When we finally reach her lab, Sophia opens the door, and my eyes widen at the sight before me.
“There, in the back, is the office area with our desks. Yours is right next to mine. We’ll use them for analytics or regular computer work,” she explains. Pointing to the left side of the lab, she continues, “Over there, we have all our equipment and chemicals. If you need something and can’t find it, please let me know.”
I take in the surroundings, and I get all giddy inside.
This is amazing!
She gestures toward the lab tables in front of us and says, “And here we have my babies. Our laboratory equipment. You’ll be working with specialized tools to perform various analyses on biological samples. We have gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectrophotometry systems, and other analytical instruments specific to toxicology, some so new you may not have heard about them yet.” As she talks, I can’t stop my mouth from dropping open in awe.
“This is—” I begin.
Sophia interrupts me with a smile. “So cool, right?”
I nod in response. “Really cool,” I manage to say.
“Susanne mentioned that you’re a bit of a geek like me and maybe a bit socially awkward too. So, it looks like we’ll get along well.”
A huff escapes me.Well, it seems Professor Summer isn’t afraid to speak her mind.
“I can’t wait to try everything,” I say.
Sophia’s face lights up.
As the day wears on, I realize Sophia is truly a gem. She’s incredibly kind and full of quirks. Maintaining my professional distance and reserved demeanor becomes increasingly difficult as I catch myself relaxing and enjoying her company more and more.
I genuinely want to be friends with her, to have a level of comfort at work. However, I remind myself that she is still my boss, and it’s important to maintain appropriate boundaries.
After a while of working in comfortable silence, Sophia breaks it by asking, “You’re in your last year, right?”
I glance up from what I am doing, answering, “Yes, that’s correct.”
She nods. Then, with a curious expression, she asks, “And can you see yourself working here?”
“Absolutely. More than just that, it has been my dream to work here. It’s the reason I chose to study this subject in the first place.”
A smile crosses her face. “That’s good to hear. You know, I just got promoted to the youngest team leader in this department. I can assemble my own team now. I’m aware that you and your classmates will soon be searching for jobs after graduation, and I don’t want you to consider other options. I want you to be part of my team.”
My eyes widen in disbelief. “Me? But we’ve only been working together for a few hours.”
Sophia smiles. “I have a good sense of people, and I see potential in you. I believe in your abilities and what you can bring to the team. You have a lot to offer.” I’m taken aback by her confidence in me. “You don’t know how many incompetent people I’ve worked with so far,” she says with a chuckle. “I can see that you know what you’re doing. You handle the equipment with care, you clean up after yourself, and Susanne spoke highly of you. She’s a good friend of mine, and I trust her judgment.”
I’m about to open my mouth to thank her when the door opens and two officers enter without knocking. I mend my face into my usual bored expression and stand straight. The taller of them, he’s maybe six foot one, is an attractive guy with short brown hair, longer on top, some dark stubble, full lips, and brown eyes. He crosses his muscular arms over his chest and grins at me.
I steel myself. It’s almost always the too-hot-to-be-true guys that are the meanest.
He looks me up and down, commenting, “Oh, look, another one with way too many brain cells.”
My hackles rise, but I keep my face and tone bored when I answer, “Why, you need some?”
He looks at me with comically wide eyes before he starts to chuckle.
The guy beside him laughs out loud, and I turn to him. He is a bit shorter but still tall at maybe six feet and appears Korean, like Sophia. His black hair is tousled, making me want to push it out of his dark eyes. He smiles a beautiful smile at me, dimples showing, and handsome as hell.
