by W.J. May
Chapter 6: There’s No Denying
Natalie felt the vibration of her phone against her leg. Her heart skipped a beat, hoping it was Ryan sending her a text. She pulled the phone out of her lab coat and kept it under the table. She looked around for the professor and spotted him helping several other students a few tables in front of hers. She saw that Ryan sent her a message.
Wish me luck. I’m headed to Kronberg for day one of my internship.
She texted back:
Good luck. I know you’ll do a great job and impress them.
She waited a few minutes and received his next text:
Hope so. I’ll call you when I get off. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat. I miss seeing your smile and looking into your beautiful blue eyes ;)
She couldn’t help but smile. He made her feel so giddy inside. She texted:
I miss you too. I can’t wait to see you.
“Natalie. Natalie. Which one do you want?” Sean nudged her while waving a piece of paper in front of her face.
“Huh?” Natalie shoved her phone back into the pocket of her lab coat. She took the paper from his hand.
“Which project do you want us to work on? We need to make a decision quickly before the good ones are gone.” His arm fidgeted against the lab table and his hand inched upward, ready to rise the moment they decided.
“Oh, ummm… let me see.” She felt completely lost. She hadn’t heard a word the professor said.
“I think we should go with—”
“How about the aptamers one? Sounds interesting.” She pointed to one of the selections.
He adjusted his thick black frame glasses. “I guess.”
“You don’t like that one?”
“Honestly, I thought the one with biofuels because of the global warming sounded more interesting. It says more than one team can choose that one.” He showed her where it said that on the paper.
Global warming. It caught her attention and she thought about Ryan’s ranch and the problems with produce around the state. “Yes, let’s do that one.”
“Great.” Sean took the paper from her and raised his hand. He waved it in the air until the professor acknowledged him. Even though Sean seemed a little persistent, she knew choosing him as her lab partner made sense. She met him during the spring semester in a biology class they both took. When it came to schoolwork, he proved to be reliable and dedicated to his studies.
He nudged her arm. “Are you coming or what?”
Natalie rubbed her forehead and brushed her hair back away from her face. Why did she feel completely distracted today? “Yeah. Sorry.” She took off her lab coat and shoved it into her backpack along with her textbook.
“Are you okay? You seem a little out of it.”
“I’m fine. I guess I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.”
He held the door open for her. “How many classes are you taking this summer?”
“Just two and the lab class.” She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders.
“That’s a full load for summer. Plus the internship, right?” He reached over and zipped up her backpack. Apparently, she had forgotten to zip it closed.
She shook her head. “Thanks. Yeah, I’ll be working on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in the afternoon. By the way, thank you for putting in a good word for me. I know they typically want juniors.”
“No problem. Besides, your grades spoke for themselves. You’re going to really like working at Kronberg. It’s cool and Dr. Kronberg takes the time to work with us and answer questions.”
“That’s so awesome. I can’t wait for tomorrow. What days do you work?”
Sean held up his hand, shielding his eyes from the sun. It shined brightly but for some reason it didn’t bother her, even though the rays peered right into her eyes. “The same as you. I’ll be there to show you around tomorrow. I need to warn you about Franz. He’s a little, eccentric.”
“I’ve met him. He interviewed me for the job. Red frizzy hair, brown eyes and freckles all over his face?”
Sean nodded. “That’s him alright.”
“He’s kind of freaky and weird.” She shuddered. Thinking about him gave her the hebegeebees.
He arched his eyebrow and gave her one of those looks. “That’s an understatement. He’s a freakin’ schitzo if you ask me. Most people call him the ‘Mad Scientist’ behind his back. I think he likes it. Don’t worry, he keeps to himself most of the time. Even though he’s supposed to supervise us, he doesn’t.”
“So, who does?”
“You’re talking to him. Since I’ve been there for a year, they offered me a part-time job as a lab assistant. I work closely with all the interns, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Wow! You didn’t tell me that.” Natalie gave him a friendly slap on his forearm.
“Owww.” He rubbed his arm. “What do you have in that hand of yours? Lead?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” She felt bad, wondering if she had actually hurt him. Poor Sean, he was so tall and skinny. He didn’t have an ounce of fat on his body or much muscle either. Why didn’t he take the workout supplements from Kronberg Laboratories? She refrained from asking or suggesting it to him, even though she wanted to.
“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.” He shook his arm, like he was trying to ease the pain. When he noticed Natalie staring at his arm, he quickly ran his fingers through his dark black wavy hair. “I didn’t tell you because I just got the job two weeks ago.”
“Good for you.” She tried to keep her eyes off the blaring red handprint she left behind on his fair skin.
“Yeah, thanks. Do you want to go get something to eat? We can get started on our project afterwards, if you like.”
She checked the time. It was ten minutes after two o’clock and her stomach grumbled with hunger. Since Ryan and Lise were both at their internships she agreed. “Sure, that’s fine. We both have to work tomorrow and the project’s due in a few weeks. Do you want to eat at the union?”
“Yeah, there’s plenty to select from there.” Sean said.
They walked down the stairs and crossed the street to the main campus area. The union buzzed with chatter and Natalie had to dodge the steady stream of students passing in and out of the building.
“I’m thinking we should make this a set time. You know, work on our projects after lab class. What do you think?” Sean pushed his way through the crowd.
“Sure. I’d like to find a quiet place if we can.” Natalie said, making her way to one of the restaurants.
“Leave it to me. I’ll find us something.” Sean smiled and gave her a quick wink.