'Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?' He was downright angry, now.
'Yes, and I’ll kiss your ass tomorrow, but today get off it, and get this taken care of! You’re messing with people’s lives, Dr. Johns. We may have finally had the right combination, but now we’re hard pressed to ever know.'
'Another one is bad, Andi,' I heard Samantha yell from the lab.
'Get on it... sir.'
I hung up the phone, and hurried back into the lab.
Within an hour, repair men had us halfway back up, and brand new units had been ordered.
As the day went on, Samantha and I started our project from scratch. We were both disheartened, saddened, almost as if a member of our family had died. We had lost all the samples when all was said and done.
She left for lunch, needing to get some space between her and the lab, so I sat in my office, the project on the computer screen before me, but I stared straight ahead, my mind nowhere near this hospital. Though I did worry somewhere in there if I’d have a job tomorrow.
Suddenly I felt as though I were being watching, and I looked up. Haley stood in the doorway, a brown bag in her hand. She had been looking at me. When she saw she had my attention, she smiled.
'Penny for your thoughts?' she said. I smiled.
'You’d be a poor woman.'
'May I come in?' She raised the bag. 'Lunch.'
'Please. Have a seat.' I indicated the chair that was on the other side of my desk for guests.
She entered the office, setting the bag on the desk, reaching in to grab a wrapped sandwich. She placed it in front of me.
'Thanks,' I said, my voice quiet. I was quite shocked to see her here, really. Though I had done nothing wrong, things hadn’t gone particularly well yesterday, either.
'Look, Andi, I just want you to know that regardless of what happens, whatever you decide, I still will always be here for you, and I truly want to be your friend.' I looked up to see Haley standing there, a napkin in her hand, looking right at me. I nodded.
'Thank you.'
'And, I’m not about to let you starve just because you can’t seem to make or buy yourself food.' I grinned, taking the sandwich into my hands.
'Speaking of decisions,' I said, glancing briefly at her. She sat, crossing her arms over her chest, but said nothing. 'Why? Why do you want me there?'
She sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at me, only to look at her lap.
'Well, that’s a question I’ve been struggling with for weeks now.' Her eyes met mine. 'I’ve never had a problem making friends, and I’ve generally always been surrounded by wonderful people, and for a long time that sufficed. You know?' She looked at me, searching my face for understanding. I nodded.
'I know what you mean.'
'Now it’s all changed, somehow. I think of my life back in California, my condo waiting for me, the friends that I have, my work, and though there’s a very large part of me that can barely wait to get back to all that, there’s another part, a deeper part, that can’t imagine any of it without you.' She cut herself off, and looked down at her hands.
She looked like she was in such despair, and then to my horror, I saw a single tear fall to her lap.
Quickly I was out of my chair, and hurried to the other side of the desk, sitting on the edge. I had no idea what to do once I was there, but I knew I needed to be closer to her, she needed that.
She swiped at her eye with an impatient hand, then looked up at me.
'No one gets to me like you do, Andi. I feel so safe with you, secure, like nothing can hurt me.' She sighed. 'I know what I ask is a lot, especially for such an unknown return, but I think about leaving here without you, and I feel sick. Every time you come over, I dread as it gets late, because I know you’re going to have to go home. I crave your presence, Andi. Does that make any sense?'
'More than you know. But what if this is another experiment for you, Haley? What if we try this, and you decide you don’t like it? What if it doesn’t work?'
'Well, first of all, you take the chance of it not working with anything you do. You should know that as a scientist. Second of all, I’m not a kid anymore, and I don’t experiment. Nor do I run. I’ve learned to face my fears, and face the unknown.' She looked at me. 'And I want that with you.' She shook her head. 'I’m sorry, Andi. I am so selfish.'
'Okay.' It just came out. She looked up, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
'What?' I took a deep breath, leaning forward slightly on the desk.
'Okay.' She cocked her head to the side, still looking wary.
'Okay... what?'
'What do you think? I told you I always wanted to see the Pacific.' Haley stared at me for a moment, then suddenly her eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she jumped up from the chair, damn near smacking my chin with her face, and grabbed me in a massive hug.
I smiled, relishing the feel of her arms around me, her body pressed to mine, her excitement contagious, yet somewhere deep inside warning bells were sounding, and a voice was screaming, ‘what are you doing?!!’
I shut it all out, just enjoying the feeling of making Haley happy.
I turned the music up loud in my Jeep as I headed toward Winston. I had called, and mom was home tonight. I was excited to tell her my news. Haley had Tae Kwon Do class tonight, so I took the opportunity to get the ball rolling.
I hadn’t said anything to anyone at work, yet. For some reason I just didn’t want it getting out there, yet. My mind sailed to California, thinking about the sunny days, the ocean just a short drive away. Especially as I looked outside the car, the snow piled high wherever you looked. Now we’d just have sand and surf to play in instead of beautiful snow drifts. I’d never made a sand castle before. Guess you’re never too old to start.
My smile grew wider as I imagined Kendall on the beach with us, her running around in a bathing suit, trying to catch the waves as they came in.
And then I thought about Haley, and my smile grew wider, and a bit deeper. Where would we live? Haley had talked about the Scripps Institute , which was a huge research lab in California, and a wonderful opportunity for me. I saw where one of their scientists had won the Nobel Prize just last year. Oh, how I’d love that to be my name that went in the history books.
I’m a believer in making your own destiny, but at the same time, I do think life can give you a bit of a nudge in the right direction. Is the failure of the equipment, and thus of our experiment, trying to tell me something? Is it time to move on?
I pulled into the drive of my old house, and turned the car off, hurrying to the door. It was a cold one tonight.
Mom and Clive were downstairs as I headed into the house. The big screen TV was on, and some drama of the week was on.
'Hey, guys,' I said, pulling my gloves off. Mom turned and looked up at me.
'Hi, honey.' She stood, wrapping her arms around me, and squeezing. I smiled and closed my eyes. I think no matter how old I get, a hug from my mother always took me back a few decades.
'Hey, cutie. How are you?' Clive asked from his spot on the couch. I smiled back at him.
'Not bad. How about you?'
'Eh, not so bad.'
'Come on, babe. I’ll make us some hot tea.' My mother took me by the hand, and dragged me upstairs. I was glad. Though I did like Clive, I really had no desire to talk about this with him around. Besides, I knew my mother would fill him in later, anyway.
'So what’s up?' mom asked as she took the tea kettle out from under the cabinet, and began to fill it with water. I hopped up on the cabinet next to the sink.
'Well,' I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as I prepared myself to tell her. 'Haley is heading back to California in May,' Mom looked at me.
