Absolute Zero
Page 35
*****
“Pre-clinicals were already done when Ron was here, so we’re on an escalated schedule. I filed for Phase 1today,” she said as she continued to flip through the papers in her folder. “I made you a copy of my submission,” she added before finding the document and sliding it across the desk to Rand.
“I can’t believe this is really happening,” he breathed out as he grabbed the papers.
“Well, Ron’s results and my results are identical, at least from a treatment standpoint. Aggression is almost immediately diminished, but the side effects are different and I’m trying to work through that. I really wish…” she trailed off, knowing that her next sentence would be met with the same answer she always received.
“What?” Rand asked.
“Nothing,” she stated instead. “At any rate, the side effects aren’t severe enough to warrant an overhaul. The drug does what it’s supposed to do. Hopefully that translates to humans. I worry a bit about depression, but I think that occurs because of where the point of administration lies.”
If I could only talk to Ron… She kept that to herself. She stared at Rand, noting the drawn look that still resided on his otherwise handsome features.
“So, any word on selling the facility?”
“Nothing,” Rand answered. “That could be a good thing or a bad thing, it’s hard to tell with Ian,” he admitted.
*****
“Any luck with…what was her name?”
“Lara?” Caleb supplied as he relaxed back in the chair in front of her desk later that night.
“Yeah,” Anne answered.
“I’ve been permanently classified to the friend zone,” he stated dejectedly.
“That’s too bad,” she answered. A shrill blip and a box appeared on her computer monitor causing her eyes to flit away from Caleb.
Ian McClellan’s message to you:
You’re still at work?
A small smile formed on her face before she typed quickly.
Your message to Ian McClellan:
Yes. You?
“We’ve gone out a couple of times, but always with other people. We’re meeting for drinks Thursday night. Why don’t you come? You can ask her about Ron. You said you wanted to…” Caleb prompted, causing her eyes to shift from her monitor to his face. Another blip sounded.
Ian McClellan’s message to you:
No. Sitting on my couch watching FOOTBALL
Highlights on Sportscene, wishing I had someone
to canoodle with.
“Umm…sure. Maybe?” She answered Caleb but stared at her screen, formulating a response in her head.
“You Ok? You have this goofy look on your face,” Caleb’s words caused her to look at him as she felt her cheeks grow warm. Her hands immediately covered them.
“Ha! Sorry. So…sure, Thursday. What time?” Anne asked, trying to keep the smirk from her face.
“I get off at seven. We’ll be at the Brass Tap,” the rustling of the garbage bag heralded the fact that he was standing up. “Hey! Maybe she’ll get jealous and think we’re together,” he stated with a suddenly bright face.
“Hey! Maybe she’ll feel sorry for you for hanging out with old ladies,” Anne retorted with a tilt of her head.
“Nah. You look really young. If I thought you were into it, I would totally hit on you…” he smirked then added a rather cheesy wink.
“Yes. Your mother would be so thrilled.” Anne stated blandly.
“See ya later,” she could hear him laugh out as he wandered from the office. Her hands immediately settled on the keyboard.
Your message to Ian McClellan:
Canoodle?
*****
“Rand…I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, then,” he stated as he twirled a pen between his two fingers, watching it closely.
“Does anyone else know? I mean, am I the only person that knows what you’re planning?” Anne asked as she too stared at the pen.
“Yes. But,” he stopped twirling the pen and focused on her, “I was hoping to get further along in the process before I said anything. It’s all speculation at this point. I’ve been meeting with them on a daily basis now. They are very interested in the facility and they seem especially interested in your project. They’ve also indicated that they would keep the staff on. That’s the biggest thing for me.”
“But…it’s not your company to sell, Rand,” she stated quietly. If Ian knew, he would literally combust.
“I know that. If they decide to go forward, they would offer directly to him,” he responded confidently. “I’m just trying to help the process along. I have to look out for our best interests here. I have an awful lot of people depending on me for their livelihoods. I don’t take this lightly, Anne.”
Anne sat back in her chair, closely regarding the man in front of her.
How do I get myself in these situations? She thought as she let out a quiet breath.
Her mouth worked, but no sound was forthcoming. She just nodded dumbly instead.
“Lachlan called, by the way. Says he wants you back in Scotland. I told him the timing was bad right now,” Rand leveled a serious look in her direction.
Actually, Ian was pressuring her through texts and instant messages for the very same thing, but she wouldn’t tell Rand that.
“Ian seems to think they can use you as a selling point. It’s not often a pharmaceutical company employs someone with your background, you know.”
“Use me?” she asked before she could stop herself. It was the only thing she focused on in his previous sentence and for some reason, it made her feel…cold.
“Ian’s words, not mine. I get what he means, though,” Rand stated, apparently unaware of her inner turmoil at his words.
“Being too smart is your biggest liability, Anne. You’ll see.” Sam had said.
Right before the back of his head literally exploded on the wall behind him.
She blinked twice to bury the memory as she tried to focus on the man in front of her.
*****
It really came as no surprise when she opened the front door and found Shay standing on the porch later that night.
“I need to talk,” she stated. “I’m sorry if I’m burdening you with this shit, but I can’t talk to my other friends about this. This town gossips like crazy and you…well, I trust you, Anne.”
She looked at Shay’s sad eyes and immediately opened the door wider for her to enter.
“What’s…so what’s wrong?” She knew the answer, but asked anyway.
“Rand,” Shay stated before wandering over to the couch and flopping down on it.
“I have proof now. He has an EZ pass. He gets a bill, right? Every time he drives on the Turnpike it registers where he exits and how much the fare was. I saw it. He threw it in the garbage in the garage. He’s been going to Downingtown, Anne. What the fuck is in Downingtown?” she grated out as tears began to gather in her eyes.
The company your husband is trying to sell to, most likely…Anne thought, but kept her mouth shut.
Could life be any more complicated? She thought as she tried desperately to come up with something, anything to placate the woman in front of her. Of course, Rand should just tell her. In fact, when she talked to him next, she would tell him that. He was worried Shay would slip up and tell someone and he was right. But then again, to see her break down was pulling at Anne’s heart. It seemed so unfair to put her through this.
“I’m sure it’s business related,” Anne stated softly. “Did you ask him?”
“NO! I just…maybe I don’t want to know, right? I love him. I thought he loved me. I don’t have a job, Anne. I have no income. I just wanted to be a wife and a mother and…what would I do?” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed causing Anne to lift up from her chair and go in search of tissues.
She would definitely talk to Rand tomorrow, Anne thought as she handed two tissues from the pack and watched Shay. H
er hand twitched as if unsure what to do to comfort her. She gently patted her back twice and stepped away awkwardly.
*****
“There’s something wrong.”
“There’s nothing wrong,” she lied through the phone.
“I’ve texted you three times, Annie. No response. There’s something wrong.”
He was right. There was something wrong. It was killing her not to ask him about his comment to Rand. It was unsettling. Maybe it was made innocently. Maybe not. Maybe she was being ridiculous.
“Where are you?” Ian asked.
She looked around the empty waiting room. “At home,” she blurted.
A long silence seemed to ensue before he finally spoke.
“Really? I was thinking about sending something over, maybe have a date?”
“Sorry. I already ate dinner,” she stated simply.
“Hmm. That’s too bad. You know we could still…” The door opened and a nurse appeared.
“I need to go. Someone’s here,” she stated quickly. “I’ll call you later,” she added in a softer tone before pressing the end call button on her screen.
*****
She lied.
He stared at the phone in his hand. He had just spoken to Irene minutes before he called her.
Irene said she wasn’t at the house.
Why would she lie?
His finger scrolled through his contacts. The decision was made. He debated back and forth for the last couple of days and every time he stopped himself.
He clicked the call button after the number he sought popped up.
“Hello?” a male voice answered on the third ring.
“Daniel, it’s Ian. Sorry to call so late,” he started.
“No problem. I was up anyway. What can I do for you?”
“I want you to…check on something for me. Or rather…someone,” he stated.
*****
“Hey! Anne! You showed up!” Caleb exclaimed as she walked toward the table later that night.
She let her gaze pass over the four twenty-somethings seated in the corner of the small bar feeling a bit…old and completely out of place.
“Here, have a seat.” Caleb pulled out a chair.
She walked forward slowly, suddenly uneasy with four sets of eyes riveted on her.
“This is Anne,” Caleb started as she hooked her purse over the chair back and sat down. “She’s like super smart. She works at Dunmed. She just moved here, what? Like a month ago? Two?” he questioned.
“Something like that,” she breathed out nervously.
“This is Carrie,” he indicated a pretty brunette with a bob haircut similar to her own. “And, Hayden,” he indicated the man seated next to Carrie. He was taller and skinnier than Caleb. “And this is Lara,” he seemed to emphasize. She was beautiful, really; at least in Anne’s estimation with her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled revealing perfectly white teeth.
“Hi Anne,” she greeted her.
“Hi.”
“Anne’s a scientist,” Caleb supplied before Lara’s eyes seemed to widen with interest.
“My uncle used to work there,” she stated without hesitation or any form of awkwardness, it seemed. “You’ve probably heard about him, huh? Ron?”
Anne immediately nodded. This was going to be so much easier than she anticipated if Lara’s open face indicated anything.
“I heard. That’s a shame. Do you…see him often?” she asked.
“Nah. My folks moved him to a place in Wernersville. It’s a little farther from us, so we don’t get there as often,” she stated.
“Well, hopefully he’s getting better care there, then,” Anne added.
Conversation seemed to swirl around the table from the other inhabitants but it seemed that Lara was more interested in their conversation, much to Anne’s relief.
“Well, he has good days and bad days. I think he’s doing better, though. They had to move him because his coworkers would visit and he would go ballistic,” she stated in a lower tone as she leaned in.
“I’m sure they didn’t realize…” Anne started, thinking back to any and all conversations she had with anyone regarding Ron. They were few and far between, unfortunately.
“You’re right. I know that. My folks know that, but I still think they made the right decision. He seems…calmer now. At least the last time I was there. He still can’t talk right, though,” she added.
“It was sudden? I mean…he never…” Anne stopped, unsure of how prying she might sound to the younger woman.
“No. I mean he was always quiet. I think because he was so brilliant. He really was smart, but he was completely antisocial. Not with family, of course,” she answered quietly. “You know what? Let’s not talk about this. It’s kind of depressing, huh?”
“No. Not at all. You know, I was a neurosurgeon in another life, maybe I could look into…” she led before clamping her mouth shut. It was probably the first time in recent years she actually offered up that information freely. Of course it was with a purpose this time. “I guess I just find his condition intriguing, that’s all,” she finished vaguely.
“Really? Maybe that would be helpful, who knows? I mean, Caleb said you’re new, right? Maybe he wouldn’t freak out if you talked to him.”
*****
“So, what did you do tonight?” she could hear his soft brogue through the phone later that night.
“What are you doing up so late?” she answered instead, settling her head on her pillow.
“Couldn’t sleep. What did you do?” he asked again and for some strange reason, it really felt as if the question was leading instead of merely inquiring.
She stared at the moonlight slashed ceiling and let out a rather loud sigh.
“I lied,” she admitted softly.
Silence seemed to stretch between them before he finally spoke.
“About what?”
“I wasn’t home tonight. I went to the bar,” she purposely left out the doctor’s appointment.
His feeling of relief at her sudden honesty was completely overtaken by some other darker and much less complimentary emotion.
“You…went to the bar,” he seemed to be talking to himself rather than her. “With who?”
“Irene’s son? Caleb? And some of his friends.”
“Caleb is what? Twenty?! What the hell, Anne!?”
“He’s twenty-three,” she responded simply as evidence of his exasperation was clearly evidenced by the huff of breath on his end. It made her smile.
“Ooo. I’m sorry. That makes all the difference. Why on earth are ya going to the bar with twenty year olds?” he seemed to grate out.
“I don’t know. I met someone interesting, though,” she started.
His body bristled immediately as his grip tightened on the phone. “What? Who? Annie…” he stated through clenched teeth.
“It’s not like that. What’s the matter with you? You sound like you’re ready to rip into me. Calm down,” she laughed out.
“I swear you do this to rile me,” he breathed out.
“Nah. I would just say ‘potluck’ if I wanted to do that,” she returned softly, waiting for the usual reaction.
“Who did you meet?” he asked without a trace of humor. Apparently he hadn’t taken the bait or he was too intent on something else to care.
“Ron’s niece.”
“Who’s Ron?” she heard through the phone.
“Ron Flemming? Your old Lab Manager?” she stated.
“Oh, right. I didn’t really know him all that well,” he admitted in a much calmer voice and immediately her apprehension seemed to rise up.
“Who’s lying now?” she asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I have to admit when Rand told me I was requested to help out in Scotland, I had a sneaking suspicion that you commandeered that request – and not for professional reasons, I might add. I asked Rand if it was normal for people to trave
l there and he told me Ron visited there frequently,” she stated, waiting impatiently for his response.
“That’s because he always worked with Lach. I didn’t see him much.”
“So…you didn’t put him up in your home?” she asked slyly.
“No. He wasn’t sexy enough for me,” he returned in a serious voice causing a giggle to burst from her throat before she clamped her lips shut.
“So, tell me why you went to the bar,” he ordered.
“Maybe I’m trying to change my antisocial ways,” she answered before changing back to the subject she really wanted to talk about. “You know, I find it hard to believe that you didn’t know Ron that well.”
“I didn’t,” he answered before blowing a soft breath into the phone. “I hate to admit it, but Ron is a big reason we don’t do injected medicines, at least not in the States. His research was just…well, let’s just say he was brilliant but maybe a little too outside of the box for my taste. He couldn’t get past pre-clinicals and there was no way his projects were suitable for human testing. I mean, the ideas were sound, but…they just didn’t pan out, let’s put it that way,” he responded before an almost aggravated intake of breath occurred. “So, let’s stop talking about Ron? Please? Can we talk about when you’re coming to see me again? Lach wants to schedule a meeting with the team from Oxford. You know they responded favorably to the proposal we sent.”
“You didn’t tell me that!” she gasped.
“I just found out tonight. Besides, you’ve been too busy blathering about the bar, otherwise I would’ve told you.”
“Wow. So, that’s great. That is great, right?”
“Aye. Now, when can we get you back here? I really want you in that meeting. It’s advantageous for us to have someone with your background there.”
Rand’s words came back to haunt her as a feeling of unease swept through her.
“Are you using me for my background?” she asked softly.
“No. I’m using you for hot sex. But your background is helpful too,” he stated in obvious amusement. “Just joking, love,” he added after a moment of silence on her end.
“Right,” she finally uttered.
“Annie…” his voice was practically a whisper. “It’s so much more than that,” he added. “You have to know that.”