“Absolutely, I’m in this exactly what I want to do. I won’t disappoint you Dr. Peterson. When do we start?”
“Like I said in about five weeks. Some of the research projects are starting early, but I need to get somethings squared away before we start. I’ll email you and let you know. By the way Mike, I can call you Mike, can’t I. What do you do beside study?”
“Sure, I prefer Mike. Right now, I do a lot of studying. If I can find a pickup soccer game I try and get in. I run and go to the gym to keep in shape. Normally, over Christmas or Thanksgiving my Dad and I would go up to my Uncle Sol’s near Lake George and hunt whitetail. This year with 9/11 and my brother being deployed I don’t know what we’ll do.”
Dr Peterson looked at him. “Oh, what about 9/11 and your brother?”
“My dad was in the south tower that day. He and everybody in his office got out. We had friends who were in the north tower. We hope they died instantly. I had to go to the funeral, it was an empty casket. It was pretty tough on everybody. My brother is an FA-18 pilot in the Navy and is deployed to fly missions in Afghanistan.”
“That must have been hell on you, waiting to hear about your father. I was a shavetail in an Armored Calvary unit, before I became a professor. I understand about deployments. I hope your brother will be alright.”
“So, do I Dr. Peterson. But my brother is a good pilot I’m sure he’ll be OK.” Mike stood up and shook Dr. Peterson’s hand and left.
As he left, he saw Dave getting ready to enter. He stopped and let Dave know his impression. “He’s a good guy. I got it; I hope you do to.”
Mike was floating on top of the world. He got the research assistant job that he wanted. He hoped Dave would get it as well. When Dave got back to the apartment, he was beaming. They high fived and talked excitedly about the possibilities. They decided that they’d get some beer on the weekend and celebrate.
Classes went on and life seemed to return to normal after 9/11. But with every new threat, the thought that it could happen again was brought to the fore. Mike and Dave and some of the other students talked about it. One told about his father during the Cuban missile crisis. “Back then everyone was worried about nuclear war. My grandfather had built a bomb shelter in the backyard. My dad was in grade school and they used to do this ‘duck and cover’ thing where they hid under the desks. Of course, that would have been useless if the bomb fell anywhere near you. During the crisis, they actually slept in the bomb shelter. It was apparently pretty scary. This isn’t all peaches and cream, but it’s not near as bad as that.”
“Yeah unless they kill you.” One of the other guys said. They all got a grim laugh out of that.
Thanksgiving rolled around and Mike left school right after his last class on Wednesday. Dave rode with him as far as Hartford. Mike dropped him off at his house and went in for a cup of coffee and a bathroom break and then was on the road again. When he got home, both his parents were home as well as Sharon. Mike put his things away and they sat around and had pizza and beer. Even though he wasn’t ‘legal’ his parents let him have a couple of beers. They assumed he was drinking some at MIT anyway.
The next day a very pregnant Julie and a nervous Bill showed up. Julie’s pregnancy seemed to lighten the feeling around the house. Nobody mentioned 9/11 or any of the other threats and false alarms that had been going on since then. After dinner, Mike asked Bill about Ellen. Bill had a big smile, “You were right bro. There’s a guy whose wife was killed in a car crash, a really good guy, who’s been squiring her around. I think it’s pretty serious. I like him, Julie likes him, and all our friends like him. So that’s all good. Now for the really juicy news. Paul broke up with the blonde bimbo and moved in with somebody else down the village. Get this, it’s a guy.”
Mike took a couple of minutes to digest it. “So, Paul’s gay. No wonder. I guess he was hoping that a younger woman would prove he wasn’t. Well, I’m glad that he and Ellen didn’t have kids, that would have been messy. How’s Ellen taking it.”
“She’s pretty good. It was a shock when she heard about it, but she’s over it. She and Julie have talked about it and it all seems good.”
With that they went on talk about the Giants and the miserable Jets. Bill unfortunately was a Mets-Jets fan, which meant that he was having his hopes constantly dashed. Mike and his father who were both Giants-Yankees fans, rode him about his miserable teams. Bill would occasionally listen to Mike and the Mad Dog and hear his teams ripped apart.
When Julie and Bill had left, his father said to Mike. “Your uncle is going hunting on Saturday. If you want to you can drive up there and join him and then drive back to school from there. Your mom and I wouldn’t mind. We’re going to stay here. Your mother is nervous about Julie. But she’s a doctor I don’t think that she’s going to have the baby that early.”
Mike didn’t see how being a doctor had anything to do with when Julie would deliver the baby. He assumed that his father was nervous too. “Sounds, good let me call Uncle Sol and then I’ll pack up and head out mid-morning.”
He called his uncle on the phone and found that he would welcome the company. Issac couldn’t make it because he had some sort of surgery he needed perform the next day down in Philly. Rebecca was there with her husband, but neither of them hunted. The next day Mike put his hunting gear and his deer rifle in the trunk and drove up to his uncle’s.
That evening he caught up with them and got to meet Rebecca’s husband, Joel. Joel seemed like a nice guy and they got to talking sports and a little about his schooling. Joel was inching towards starting to hunt. Mike figured that by next year he’d start. He showed him his Remington 700 and explained how he got started. His uncle added comments and Mike could see Joel get interested. A quick look at Rebecca showed that she didn’t seem to care one way or the other.
The next morning, they got up well before dawn and headed out. Sol, with the help of Joel had already set up a deer stand near a good spot. They divided up the hunting area and waited. Just after dawn a small group of deer, mostly does and a couple of very young bucks came out to graze. Sol and Mike stayed very still and when they got in range, they shot. Two does went down and the rest scattered. Mike checked to make sure that they both were dead while his uncle went for the deer cart.
The deer were loaded on to the truck and they took the stand down and loaded it as well. A trip to drop off one deer to the family that Sol always gave a deer to, then on to the butchers to have this one cut up. Half the meat went to the food bank and they took the rest home. That evening they had a venison roast. During the dinner, Joel asked lots of questions, which Mike and his uncle were glad to answer.
The next morning Mike packed up, ate breakfast with the family and headed off to MIT. When he got there, he decided to not tell anybody that there was a deer rife and hunting clothes in the trunk of his car. There weren’t that many hunters at MIT and he suspected that some of the people would object to his killing ‘Bambi'.
After Thanksgiving, Mike’s life fell into a predictable routine of a graduate student. He was super smart, but everybody in the science graduate courses were as well. He may be smarter than most, but not enough to really matter. What would make the difference was hard work and dedication. While school had been relatively easy, he appreciated that his parents had exposed him to things like soccer and the martial arts. Things that he enjoyed and had to work hard at to be any good. He was able to transfer that ethos to his studies. One thing he did notice is that his athletic activities had left him a bit less of geek than many of his peers. He actually had muscles and he enjoyed exercise.
This level of non-geekiness seemed to confuse some of his fellow graduate students. His roommate, David didn’t have a problem, since he was into tennis. Both watching and playing the game. Also, some of the girls seemed to notice. But in spite of Maryanne, and Eileen, Mike was oblivious to any hints that he got. Aside from girls, he pressed on. Putting in the hours needed to ace his courses. He also made sure
he had time to go to the gym and lift three times a week and run five days a week. He did find a sort of intramural soccer club which he joined. It was mostly under grads, but what the heck they were around his age and played soccer. What more could he want?
Graduate school was always a grind. Mike used few strategies to cope. First, study and be prepared so that he didn’t have to cram. Second, use meditation daily to keep calm and centered. Finally, physical activity let out any excess jitters and nerves. So, he went through the grind without a great deal of stress. But what stress he did have was channeled into determination to do well. His roommate was not quite as calm as Mike, but he got through without major jitters. It was the evening after a Materials Science exam that he was coming back from eating when he ran into Sue. Sue Korn, she was sort of cute, slim, brown hair with glasses. As his older brother Jack told him, always be nice to girls, you never know when it will pay off. So, Mike had made sure always to talk with Sue when he saw her and establish some sort of rapport. They were better than acquittances but not really friends. Plus, they’d been mildly flirting for some time. Mike was hopeful that it would eventually pay off.
So, he stopped and struck up a conversation. “Hey, Sue how are things going?”
“OK, I’ve got a big organic chemistry test tomorrow late in the morning and it’s got me up tight. I know the material, but I’m still jump and jittery.”
“Us Male Chauvinist Pigs called it Orgasmic Chemistry.” Mike was hoping for a little humor to help her jitters. “is there anything I can do for you? You know quiz you on key issues, anything at all?”
Sue looked at him and started to chew on her lower lip and look at him intensely.
“Orgasmic Chemistry huh. Speaking orgasms, a couple of nice orgasms would really help right now. You doing anything important right now? Interested in getting naked and screwing?” asked Sue
Mike’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Here was a girl propositioning him. This didn’t happen to people like him. Movie stars, super stud athletes, but a geek like him, no way. He did quickly manage to get his cool back together or whatever cool he had. He was able to get out. “God, of course I would, who wouldn’t?”
Sue grabbed his hand smiled and said “Your room is closer, is that OK? I’m not a screamer, but I do make some noise and I’m so tense I’m pretty sure I will.”
Mike and Sue went into Mike’s suite and went directly into Mike’s bedroom. He was relieved it wasn’t a mess and that the bed was fairly clean. They quickly got undressed. That’s when Sue looked at him. “My boobs aren’t that big; I hope you like them.”
He looked. ‘They look more than fine. However, I’m going to have to give them a through manual examination and then a taste test. So, I’ll let you know in thirty minutes or so.”
Sue laughed “That sounds great, take your time. They are sensitive and love attention. You’ve got a couple of things that I’m going to have examine closely”
After that there wasn’t a lot of conversation. There were Oh’s and Ah’s from both parties and some quick instructions – just more, slower and so forth. When they were both satisfied, they lay basking the afterglow Mike looked at Sue. “This was totally unexpected, but God it was great.”
“Oh, I agree Mike, this just hit the spot. There will be a lot of vibrators having their batteries worn out tonight. This was much better. If you want to do it again, I’m certainly for it. I could use the occasional ‘oil change’. Then she started to giggle.
Mike then asked the obvious “I certainly don’t want to complain about such really great time. But you could have knocked me over with a feather when you suggested this. Exactly why did you pick me?”
“Well it wasn’t exactly spur of the moment. I’ve been thinking of sleeping with you and this seemed like a good time to start. I think your cute and not entirely like a lot of your classmates. Some of them are arrogant assholes, to say the least. Some of the others are the oh so typical geek. You and Dave seem a bit more normal. Really smart and all that, but still a little different. You guys still do geeky things. But you also do more normal athletic things. Dave plays tennis and you play soccer and exercise. You both have some muscle. Not like a weightlifter or anything like that. While you’re young, you seem to handle yourself around girls alright. You might have had a couple of girlfriends. And I owe a least one of them a thank you for teaching you to take your time. Also, you wouldn’t get hung up on this. You should think of this as fellow student with benefits.”
Mike was a little bit embarrassed by all this, but he did manage to get out “Well with someone like you taking your time is a pleasure. Plus, the benefits can’t be beat.”
Sue laughed and gently hit him one the chest. They then both got dressed. When they finally exited Mike’s room, his roommate Dave, was sitting in one of the suite’s easy chairs. He looked up totally shocked. “UH Hi Mike, Sue” he stammered.
“Hi Dave” Sue replied. She turned around and gave Mike a smoldering kiss. “Thanks again. I’m now relaxed for my orgasmic chemistry test tomorrow. See you later” Sue left giggling slightly.
“Uh, Mike do you want to fill me in on what just went on?” asked Dave.
“No’ Mike answered simply. “Excuse me I don’t mean to be rude, but my bed is a mess and I’ve got to get it straightened out so I can sleep.” With that Mike turned and went into his room to try and get his bed in some sort of shape so that he could get some sleep. He left a mildly shocked Dave just sitting there.
The next morning over breakfast, Mike gave an abbreviated version of the night to a totally amazed Dave. “Dude, I had no idea you were such a stud. Or that you could offer relaxation services to uptight females facing tough exams.” At that Dave couldn’t hold it any longer and broke up laughing. At first Mike was pissed and then he started to laugh as well.
“Oh, I’m no stud. I just find it amazing. I don’t understand woman. My Dad told me he doesn’t, and my brother Jack says he doesn’t either. So, what the hell happened is a total mystery to me. Sue is attractive and smart. I don’t see it going anywhere. But whatever, happens I’m not complaining. I do hope she does well on her exam. Maybe that will give her an incentive to come see me again. Anyway, eat your breakfast and let’s get moving to class.
After classes were done, Dave observed. “Now that ‘We’ve’ discovered that women find sex a good relaxation prior to a stressful event, like a big test, I’ve got to get in on that. There some cute Chinese chicks around. They’d probably would be more comfortable with a Chinese guy than a laowai.” Seeing Mike’s confusion, he clarified it. “Laowai is Mandarin for foreigner, sort of like gringo. We don’t consider it offensive. And don’t ask me to speak Mandarin, I don’t know that much; I just have what I learned from my grandparents and that’s pretty bad.”
“You know” said Mike “some of these cute Chinese chicks may want to try an exotic Irishman from New Jersey.” Both of them laughed and headed to the library to study. After the library they ate dinner and headed back to their ‘suite’. On the way the ran into Sue Korn and few of her friends.
“Hey Sue, how’d the test go? I’m sure you did great.” Asked Mike
“I think I aced it and thanks to you I was pretty relaxed, which was probably worth a couple of extra points. I’d give you your ‘reward’ tonight, but Sandy just got a great chick flick from Netflix and we’re all going to get together break out some Chablis and watch it. But keep room for me on your calendar.” The other girls laughed and shared knowing looks.
Two of the girls were Asian. Mike assumed they were Chinese, but their English, while accented, was very good. They giggled and looked at Dave speculatively. They then conversed in what Mike took to be Chinese. He could tell Dave caught a couple of words.
Sue said “Hey guys no fair saying things we can’t understand”
One, Mike was pretty sure her name was Mai replied, “We’ll let you in on the secret after a glass of wine. Plus, you have to tell us about these vibrators and w
here you can get them.” With that they all waved at Mike and Dave and headed off for the chick flick and Chablis.
“Dude you might be right about the foreigner thing. I think you might be going to get laid before the next big test. Girls attitude about sex are really different. When I was younger, I overheard my sister and her friends talking about it. God, guys would never talk like that. Anyway, I was around ten or so and thought it was gross and I wasn’t interested. Also, it’s great for our egos to know that we are mildly better than a vibrator. Maybe I can get a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Fuck me, I’m marginally better than your vibrator’.”
“Yeah, well as embarrassing as it is, if somebody wants to fuck me rather than use a vibrator, I’m ready and willing to help. As to those two Asian cuties, I hope your right” replied Dave. “I didn’t pick up most of it, but since most of the Mandarin I do know concerns basic things like body parts and other things that my grandparent didn’t want me to pick up, I got the idea that they were speculating about my equipment.”
“God, I hope they don’t get their hopes up too much about that.” Mike said, barely holding in the laughter,
Dave glared at him for a minute and then they both went into their apartment and prepared to do some more studying.
Class went well. Both Mike and Dave had excellent memories, but they also took good notes. Mike found that taking notes helped burn the subject into his brain. But in graduate school some of the classes were like college only more advanced. Others were more of the seminar type. These involved not only theory but practical things as well. Although some of the professors were of the throw them into the deep end of the pool and see how they do type. People like Mike and Dave were both prime candidates for that treatment. They were both very smart and had the personalities that could take that kind of treatment. They viewed it as a challenge. Mike especially lived to solve problems and that kind of situation was one he just ate up. Right now, all their classes were of the classic lecture, read the book and give back what you were taught on the tests. They had one seminar type class. In Mike’s opinion that was just to get them used to the idea as well as to gauge how they took to things. Dr. Peterson was more of a throw them into the deep end type of person.
Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1 Page 17