by Sloan Storm
“Nothing is happening between us, okay? Don’t worry.”
“I always worry about you, Fiona. It’s my job sweetheart. You’re my entire world.”
A hard lump formed in my throat as I reached down and took her plate. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before turning to take our dishes back to the kitchen.
“I know I am and you’re mine too. But you have to trust me, all right?”
“I do trust you, Fiona. It’s him I’m concerned about.”
I wouldn’t go so far as to say things were great between my grandmother and me over the next few days. I sensed her suspicions about Gabe remained, but she made no further mention. Yet, knowing her, it wouldn’t stay that way, and that was especially true if I went on to win the competition. If we started working with each other on a regular basis, her curiosity would grow. I was certain of it.
As for Gabe, I hadn’t seen or heard from him since the end of the meeting in the conference room. I didn’t know if he was in the office or halfway around the world. He didn’t see fit to keep me informed of his whereabouts, and that was fine by me. I took his encouragement to heart though and intended to do the best I could to come out on top in the competition.
And speaking of the competition… Things around the lab were different in the days since he’d announced it. Everyone seemed tense, edgy. On the one hand, that’s understandable since there was a lot at stake, but on the other, we were all still supposed to be focused on achieving a common goal. If I had to guess, I’d say Gabe would probably be disappointed. The team seemed to be fracturing a bit.
Of everyone, I noticed the greatest change in Amanda and Melissa.
If anything, their behavior regarding me and Gabe grew stranger by the day. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn they were acting jealous. I didn’t know if it was of each other or me or what, but something was off. In any case, I was focused on my work and couldn’t understand why they weren’t as well. They seemed more preoccupied with who got Gabe’s attention than anything else.
In fact, that morning they made their way to my workstation after I arrived for work. I’d only just begun to get started for the day when I saw them headed in my direction. It wasn’t long after we greeted one another before they started in with questions. The first was the most telling of them all. Placing her palms flat on the surface of my workstation, Amanda leaned across it.
“Fiona,” she began with a probing tone. “What did Gabe say to you the other day? After the meeting?”
“Hmm?” I replied with a casual shrug. “Oh it was nothing, really. He just encouraged me. I think he was probably a bit concerned about me after my incident.”
I deliberately left out the part where he said he expected me to win.
They looked at one another for a moment. After they’d traded glances, Amanda whined, “I wish he’d notice me like that.”
I frowned at her bizarre statement.
“Why do you care if he notices you at all?” I asked. “We’re here to do a job, not flirt with the boss.”
“What’s the matter with you, Fiona?” Melissa said without hesitation. Her voice carried a hint of frustration, even anger. “Don’t you have the tiniest bit of sex drive?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I…”
Just then, I hesitated. I didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed. Thinking fast, I tried to shift the discussion as I reached for my planner.
“So how are you guys doing? Is everything going well for you?”
“What difference does it make?” Melissa replied. Clearly still miffed at me for some reason as she continued, “Gabe is going to pick you anyway. This whole competition thing is a sham.”
Amanda didn’t say anything, but she did nod in apparent agreement.
This was literally some of the craziest, cattiest behavior I’d ever seen. Admittedly, I didn’t have much, if any, experience with men, but something told me this wasn’t normal. The whole situation was bizarre, and as the seconds ticked by, I grew more and more uneasy.
I felt trapped. It was as if no matter what I tried to say in my defense, they wouldn’t believe me. Or even worse, they would accuse me of cheating to win, which is what they were already doing in so many words.
Never mind the fact that since the competition started, I’d worked late every single day. No one else put in the hours I did, despite the difficult situation I had at home with my grandmother. I couldn’t believe how shallow they were acting. Even so, I swallowed hard and tried to diffuse the situation.
“I’m sorry.” I mumbled at last. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I promise I’m not doing anything sneaky. I haven’t even talked to Gabe since that day. Why are you guys acting like this?”
As I finished speaking, they both looked at me in silence for a moment before glancing at each other and… bursting out in laughter.
I frowned.
Thinning my lips in disgust, I said, “That was really mean. Why did you do that?”
“Oh relax, Fiona.” Amanda chided. “We were just having fun with you.”
“Yeah,” Melissa added. “Don’t take everything so seriously. We don’t care if you sleep with Gabe.”
“I am not sleeping with Gabe!” I exclaimed, slamming my palms flat on my workstation.
No sooner had I done that, than a couple of the other lab workers looked up at me from across the room. Horrified, heat flushed to my neck and chest as Amanda and Melissa cackled like hens.
They did their best to offer me a half-hearted apology, but as far as I was concerned, nothing about their teasing was funny. Not one bit. A few moments later, they walked back towards their respective workstations.
Glancing up between strands of my hair, I kept my eyes trained on them. They may have said they were joking but something about the innuendo seemed anything but light-hearted.
I took an uneasy seat at my workstation and tried to get on with my day. And it was a big day. I had a number of experiments running. The most important of those would wrap up later that day. In any case, I kept my head down and got to work.
It was early afternoon when I went to check on a culture experiment that was nearing the end of its five day incubation period. Reaching the lab oven, I opened the door and was shocked at what happened next.
“Oh shit!” I exclaimed, as I reached for the culture trays, which were too hot to even touch.
Hearing me, Andrew approached in a hurry from across the lab.
“Hey Fiona,” he said as he walked over. “Everything all right?”
“Hardly!” I groaned, as I let my palms slap against the outsides of my thighs in disgust. I gestured back towards the trays. “Somehow the heat malfunctioned and ruined my experiment. Shit, this will put me so far behind now. Oh why does stuff like this always happen?”
Andrew frowned in confusion.
“Excuse me,” he said as he passed by to have a look at the oven.
For several moments he inspected the work area, and while he did, I racked my brain trying to remember what I’d done. I plopped down in a chair and checked my log book. As I suspected, I wrote the correct temperature down more than five days earlier.
When Andrew finished his inspection, he walked back over to where I sat. I didn’t bother to lift my head to look at him. I was so screwed. Instead, I dropped my pen on the table and my head into my hands.
“What temperature was it when you found it, Fiona?”
I dragged my fingers down the front of my face as the scale of my setback began to register in my mind.
“Almost four hundred degrees,” I grumbled.
“Wow, hmm. That is unusual. And you’re one hundred percent sure you didn’t do it?”
“Yes.”
“When is the last time you checked on it?”
“This morning. When I got here.”
“Were you in the lab the entire time?”
I barely listened to Andrew any longer as he rattled off his questions.
How could I be such an idiot? Suddenly the scope of trying to play catch up started to sink in. I’d never finish in time. Winning the competition was out now. Hell, I’d have to think fast not to get fired at this point, considering how integral my work was to the project. What a nightmare. Moisture dissipated from my mouth as the awareness of my failure hit me with full force.
“Fiona?” Andrew said, as I sat there in my stupor. “I asked you a question.”
“What?” I said, as I snapped my head in his direction. Frustration peppered my tone.
He stepped back, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “Hey don’t bite my head off. I’m trying to help. I’ve got plenty of my own work to keep me busy.”
I closed my eyes for a moment and exhaled. “I know. I’m sorry Andrew. What was your question again?”
“Were you here? In the lab? The entire time?”
“Um, I think so. I stepped out for a few minutes to use the restroom and for lunch, of course, but otherwise, I’ve been here.”
“Well, okay then. I’ll leave you so you can get back to it. There’s no time to waste now.”
I dropped my head into my hands once more.
“Mmm, hmm.” I grumbled, as he began to walk away.
As he did, I retraced my steps in my mind. I would have never been so careless. Glancing up for a moment, I noticed Amanda and Melissa looking at me. However, as soon as I made eye contact with them, they looked away.
What the hell was that?
I looked at them for a few more moments. No, it couldn’t be. There’s no way they would do something like that.
Right?
Picking up my pen, I squeezed the hard plastic between my fingers until the tips began to whiten. Biting my lip, I glanced back down at my planner as I tried to not jump to conclusions.
Calm down, Fiona.
I took a deep breath and considered all the possible outcomes. If I confronted them, they could simply deny it and blame it on me. After all, there was no proof I hadn’t done it. There weren’t any surveillance cameras or anything to help me prove my side of the story.
And what if I was just being paranoid and they hadn’t done anything?
Was it realistic to suspect that a couple of married women would be so jealous of me and their perception of my relationship with Gabe that they’d go to such lengths? Even though I was the only single girl in the lab, the notion just seemed too outlandish to consider.
But as sure as I was that I knew my own name, I was doubly sure I hadn’t fucked up my cultures. Someone or something caused it. Yet, without any proof, it didn’t matter. I was behind in the competition, plain and simple.
Worse yet, soon Gabe would get wind of it and want to know it happened.
What the hell was I going to tell him?
10
Unintended Consequences (Gabe)
“Thanks Holly. What time did they say they wanted to schedule that call?”
“Three,” Holly replied, as she stood near the entrance to my office.
Flicking my arm at the wrist, I glanced down at my watch as it slid out from beneath my sleeve.
“Hmm, that’s not gonna work. Tell you what… Call them back and see if you can push it back to four. If they can’t do it, let’s try for tomorrow.”
“All right. I’ll take care of it.”
I smiled at her. “Thank you my dear.”
“My pleasure. Is there anything else?”
“No. Not right now. But Andrew should be here any minute. Send him in when he gets here will you?”
“Speak of the devil,” Holly began, as she glanced through the doorway. She gestured with her chin in the direction of the open door. “Andrew’s here.”
“Terrific.” I said with a nod. “Send him in.”
Since I’d made the decision to create the competition in the lab, things had been quiet. Fiona had managed to stay upright and out of the infirmary and according to Colin, everyone was on track with their experiments.
Utilizing Andrew in the way I had might have been overkill. But this was his first update since I’d requested he do it, so until he sat across from me and gave me some details, I wouldn’t know for sure. Just then, Andrew poked his head through the door and with a snap of his hand at the wrist, he waved in my direction.
“Gabe? You ready?”
I nodded and leaned back in my chair. “Yep. Come talk to me.”
He gestured towards the door. “Close it?”
I nodded and within a few seconds Andrew sat across from me.
“Well, what do you have for me? Anything unusual to report?”
Andrew thinned his lips as he began to answer. “Hmm, well, things have been pretty normal. Most everyone is hard at work. You really lit a fire under the team’s collective butt with that idea of yours. So, no. Nothing at all. That is, until the last day or so…”
I frowned as he finished his thought. “What’s happened?”
Andrew propped his elbows up on the arms of his chair. Bringing his hands together, he tented his fingers in front of his face.
“Well, I happened to be passing by the break room and…” he paused as his voice trailed off and looked at me in silence for a moment.
“What?”
Andrew shook his head and started to speak once more. “Look, not that it’s any of my business or anything but…”
As before, he stopped speaking. I was under a bit of a time crunch if I had to get on the call I’d spoken to Holly about a few minutes earlier.
“But what? Just get on with it, Andrew.”
“Okay, um… Well, is there something going on between you and Fiona?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Why do you ask? Did she lead you to believe there was?”
“She didn’t, no.”
“I’m not following Andrew. What happened in the break room?”
Andrew spent the next several minutes relaying the details of the conversation he’d overheard between Amanda and Melissa. The gist of it was they suspected I was playing favorites in the competition and that it was a forgone conclusion Fiona would win because of a supposed dalliance with me.
This created an annoying problem for me, to say the least. First of all, the purpose behind the contest was legitimate. I wouldn’t, and didn’t, need any form of trickery or manipulation to get Fiona in bed. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, there was still more…
“Well this has gotten off track hasn’t it?” I said with an exhale. “Are they at least on schedule to complete their work?”
“Yes, as far as I know. All them except for Fiona.”
I cocked my head in disbelief. Fiona? Behind? It couldn’t be. Dumbfounded, I pressed him for more information.
“Why is she behind? What’s happened?”
“She had a mishap, lost a large culture sample. By my estimation, it’ll put her behind by a week, if not more.”
“Hmm, well, that’s unfortunate.”
“Strange thing though, about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I happened to be in the lab when she lost them. I talked to her about it, and I’m positive it wasn’t her fault.”
As he finished his thought, I leaned forward, interlocking my fingers and resting my joined hands together in the middle of my desk.
“Are you suggesting someone tampered with her work, Andrew?”
He leaned back in his chair and dropped his hands, covering his kneecaps.
“I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest Fiona would make a mistake like this. She’s exceptional in the lab. Especially when you consider how young she is.”
What little I’d seen from her work, I’d have to agree with him. It would be out of character for her to do something like this.
“So if I may… The likely culprits are Amanda or Melissa or both?”
“I’m not going to make any accusations, Gabe. You asked me to report strange goings on in the lab and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Mmm, hmm. Oka
y, fair enough.”
“I would say this though. Whatever is causing this issue is having the exact opposite effect of what you’d hoped to achieve, I think. If all this jealousy is real, well, Amanda and Melissa are distracted by it. I can’t think you’re pleased about that.”
I scoffed. “Maybe I should dispense the raise and promotions altogether and just offer to sleep with the winner instead.”
Andrew chuckled. “Well, there’s a few men in the competition don’t forget. I’m not so sure they’d be as thrilled.”
I laughed at his wisecrack, unusual for him.
“In all seriousness, Gabe. You’ve got to find a way to deal with this situation before it escalates much further. Work on the Link Protocol is at risk, in my judgment.”
“I will Andrew. I will.”
11
Summoned (Fiona)
I’d spent the better part of the next day trying to play catch up after the disaster with my experiment. I didn’t have the time, not to mention the evidence, needed to prove someone other than myself was responsible for what happened.
And even if I did, it still wouldn’t change the fact the work had to be finished. Even if I had to sleep at the lab and drag my grandmother’s bed here, I would. If I worked non-stop, there was chance I could catch up and maybe, just maybe, still win. But no sooner had I figured out how I might be able to get back on track than I received an email from Gabe while sitting at my workstation.
Fiona,
We need to discuss an urgent matter regarding the competition and the Link Protocol. Please report to my office as soon as you receive this. If you’re not here in thirty minutes, I’ll send Holly to get you.
Gabe
I swallowed as I clicked the email message closed after I read it.
Glancing up from my computer screen, I looked around the lab at some of the others. Had anyone else gotten something similar from him? From the looks of things, the answer was ‘no’. In fact, no one seemed to be reacting or doing anything other than working.
If it was true, then why was I being singled out? Had he heard about what happened? Was he about to kick me out of the competition or worse, fire me?