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CHAPTER 10.
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In Lab and War CHAPTER 11.
Officially Autumn. That's what I thought when a few leaves danced and whirlwinded by the widnow. Two weeks have passed since my last interaction with Liam. That day of the missing file ended soon after the file successfully left his outbox. He asked if I intended to go back to the party and offered to take me in case I wanted to, which I gracefully turned down since I started feeling extremely tired. I blamed it on the dancing. With a hint of a smile, he vanished through the door, carefully closing it behind him, and I let myself drop onto my bed. It turned out that Val's party was actually over shortly after, according to Susie, due to the rain which transformed itself into one of the heaviest ones of the year. I felt sorry for Val. Susie wouldn't believe me when I told her what happened that day, and that Liam actually offered himself to take me home, to then quickly vanish into a mist of yummy perfume. Yeah, I didn't mention the perfume part. I managed to skip telling her that his
In Lab and War CHAPTER 12.
It was 7:50 in the morning. I had arrived earlier than Susie had explicitly decreed. Maybe to buy some time and order a coffee to prepare myself for a certain inquisitive interrogation. Maybe because I hadn't been able to close an eye ever since I laid down last night. Maybe both. Because having dinner with Liam, the mere act by itself, had been something totally unexpected. Too much to take in, to say the least. I closed my eyes while the aroma of freshly ground coffee traveled, against all proven laws of physics, at something fairly close to the speed of light, making its way through my nostrils like a true elixir of the gods. And I couldn't help but revive the previous night. The chill that ran through my skin when I saw Liam get out of his car and fix his eyes on me for what I felt was an eternity. A pleasant eternity, by the way. The closeness at my apartment, the tingle I could not ignore when he looked down at the hem of my dress, and how I wished for the bit of a second that h
In Lab and War PROLOGUE
I ran down the corridor at full speed. I felt how my blood boiled as my temples throbbed, as if my head was about to explode. Damn it, I thought. I had never felt this much rage before. Well, probably I did. It was eleventh grade when Jessica, my bestie and later ex-bestie (yes, teenagers can be very dramatic about it), spilled a whole cup of blue, raspberry slushee onto my favorite Back-to-the-Future white t-shirt. According to her, accidentally. According to me, totally on purpose. I hated her because she knew it was the day Isaac had invited me to play Mario Bros on his newly purchased vintage video game console after school. I never forgave her for that. Isaac asked her out the next week. Mind back at the corridor, I rushed my pace and then quickly turned into the lab area. My destination was just a few feet ahead, I knew because I had already come here a couple of times. Or maybe just one. A nauseous feeling washed over me and suddenly the corridor seemed to narrow and lengthen
In Lab and War CHAPTER 1.
I left the lab, almost bumping a few shoulders on my way. I had to get out of there, I had to get some air. All the air on the planet maybe. Liam Anderson was my biggest nightmare. My biggest headache. The thought of having to spend the next six months of my life looking at his face every single day, or well, almost every single day, made me nauseous in ways I couldn't describe. His arrogance was unbearable. Ok, he was the best in robotics, but that didn't give him the right to stick his nose into other people's projects and…my phone bipped. Message. I came to a halt. It was from an unknown number. “Be on time, Pinky. This is my number. Save it.” What the...? How? Where did he get my…? Is he already bossing me around?“Who is this?” Yeah, I could play him. I don’t owe him any kindness and definitely not making his life any easier, he didn’t deserve any of it."Is there anyone else calling you Pinky and I didn’t know? My feelings are hurt here.”“Spare me… next time, e-mail me. No text
In Lab and War CHAPTER 2.
It was three in the afternoon, and I was waiting for Jeremy at the coffee shop. I needed to talk to him about the not-so-pleasant news. The truth was that when I developed the project idea, I had thought of him to help me with the robotics part of it. That’s why I asked him to submit his application, and he happily said he would. I saw him as he arrived with his usual, wide-open smile. Jeremy had dark brown hair and rather kind blue eyes, full of thick, thick lashes. I remember that we became friends in sophomore year, when we shared a class together. Since then, we had become great friends. Jeremy was every girl's dream. Intelligent, great sense of humor, very polite and handsome. We confided to each other all our adventures and tragedies in love. Just like Susie, he was also my confidant. They were both my best friends, and I suspected that they secretly liked each other, but they didn't want to admit it openly. - Hello, handsome. - Hi, Jules! - I hope you don’t mind… here. – I s
In Lab and War CHAPTER 3.
It was Wednesday evening, and my head was just fully engaged in the project. It had been five days since the first meeting with Liam and the draft that we created that day had already guaranteed at least a couple of super busy weeks on my schedule. No complaints. Please don’t get me wrong. I actually enjoyed it. A lot. Fact is I just couldn't deny that working in the peace and quiet of my apartment was sort of a godsend to me. The last three days had been rainy and even though this could have been distressful for someone who commuted using a bicycle or her own pair of feet, the corny side of me always appreciated the water pouring down the windows. Those little drumming droplets brought calmness and ease of spirit, and at the same time all sorts of inner inspiration. If all this was supplemented by a decent amount of caffeine and short breaks every once in a while, they helped me reach acceptable-to-good levels of brain performance. I looked at my desktop clock and realized that it w
In Lab and War CHAPTER 4.
I felt my body collapse. Vital signs such as breathing, blinking, thinking, froze for what I assumed were a few milliseconds. My lungs released all the air stocked in them, and they only recovered after my oxygen supplies dropped to precarious levels. Immediately after, I felt my heart pumping blood again, slowly yet determinedly. I could feel it moving through my veins and arteries, leaving tickling traces all the way through, and making all its way up to my face until it reached my cheeks. Oh yeah. My cheeks, ladies and gentlemen, were giving themselves quite a feast up there.- Look who I found on my way here... – Susie's eyes were still holding that look, brows lifting carefully, shy smile popping out. It was the kind of look she gave me last year after she unintendedly ate the entire box of Ferrero’s Jeremy had given me for Christmas.- Hey Julie, how are you doing? – Said Roger with a huge smile spread on his lips. He was a gentle guy and I never quite really understood why he wa
In Lab and War CHAPTER 5.
My phone rang, and I thanked to whichever laws of probability were favoring me at that precise moment.I took my phone from my purse and I saw Jeremy's name flashing on the screen. With all eyes on me, I excused myself and kindly asked Susie to let me pass through so I could take the call.- Jer…- Jules, please tell me you still have Swanson's book with you. The one you borrowed from the library, remember? – I could hear him typing on the keyboard.- Yes, I still have it. You need it? - I told him as I entered a vestibule with huge mirrors on the wall, a colorful four seats sofa and two doors on opposite sides, indicating the entrance to the toilets.- No, I just need... to know what it says, verbatim, one paragraph at page... forty-nine. I need to confirm something that I had written here. I'm not sure I took the correct notes.- Oh… I'm not at home now.- Oh.- Can I call you when I’m back home? A couple of hours maybe? - It’s alright. I’ll find my way, or we can check it later or
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In Lab and War CHAPTER 12.
It was 7:50 in the morning. I had arrived earlier than Susie had explicitly decreed. Maybe to buy some time and order a coffee to prepare myself for a certain inquisitive interrogation. Maybe because I hadn't been able to close an eye ever since I laid down last night. Maybe both. Because having dinner with Liam, the mere act by itself, had been something totally unexpected. Too much to take in, to say the least. I closed my eyes while the aroma of freshly ground coffee traveled, against all proven laws of physics, at something fairly close to the speed of light, making its way through my nostrils like a true elixir of the gods. And I couldn't help but revive the previous night. The chill that ran through my skin when I saw Liam get out of his car and fix his eyes on me for what I felt was an eternity. A pleasant eternity, by the way. The closeness at my apartment, the tingle I could not ignore when he looked down at the hem of my dress, and how I wished for the bit of a second that h
In Lab and War CHAPTER 11.
Officially Autumn. That's what I thought when a few leaves danced and whirlwinded by the widnow. Two weeks have passed since my last interaction with Liam. That day of the missing file ended soon after the file successfully left his outbox. He asked if I intended to go back to the party and offered to take me in case I wanted to, which I gracefully turned down since I started feeling extremely tired. I blamed it on the dancing. With a hint of a smile, he vanished through the door, carefully closing it behind him, and I let myself drop onto my bed. It turned out that Val's party was actually over shortly after, according to Susie, due to the rain which transformed itself into one of the heaviest ones of the year. I felt sorry for Val. Susie wouldn't believe me when I told her what happened that day, and that Liam actually offered himself to take me home, to then quickly vanish into a mist of yummy perfume. Yeah, I didn't mention the perfume part. I managed to skip telling her that his
In Lab and War CHAPTER 10.
He kept his eyes on the road and I did the same. Ever since I have learnt about the missing file, I had been feeling a rush of adrenaline running through my veins. The lights passing as we moved were helping me soothe the feeling. Rain droplets pouring down the window. - Thanks. And sorry. For all this… – I said. – I don't know how I could have missed it. – I muttered in awe for those words were intended for my very own consideration. Liam's eyes were still stuck on the road ahead of us as we slowed down, waiting for the next car to take a left turn at the cross road. - Not a problem. We are on it. - He said with no hint of a smile whatsoever. I nodded and smiled as shyly as I could. To myself. Five minutes later we were driving through my neighborhood’s main street, and I could see Café Orly’s awning and its charming french windows in the distance. A couple of turns later we were parking at an empty spot in front of my building, right across the street. We both hopped off of the ca
In Lab and War CHAPTER 9.
We stayed for a while in the patio sitting on the armchair, talking about this and that. The sun had already been fully set and we remained still and quiet while the lights from the party flickered upon our skin. The music was filling the air and I closed my eyes for a moment to appreciate the last wafts of the summer nights that would soon be replaced by the cold autumn breeze. Fall was my favorite season, especially in Boston. Terracotta-bricked buildings framed by trees full of warm-colored foliage would adorn the streets of the city, while the nights would be guarded by an incredibly starry sky. Still leaned back on my seat, I slowly opened my eyes, and I could see that the thousands of stars were already there, dazzling in all their greatness. A few or almost no clouds were wrapping the sky since the rain had subsided for the past couple of days.When I was 12 years old, my parents took my sister and I for a short trip here to Boston. It was the city where my father was born and w
In Lab and War CHAPTER 8.
It had almost been two weeks after the Margarita's episode. Since then, I had been unwaveringly working, day after day, in Peter’s project, reading materials and book chapters specialized in the subject. I had also met with Hilda twice and made some progress on the computing project as well. I had attended a few classes at the university, done sporadic visits to the library to check out or take a few books home, and made some space as well to have ridiculously brief yet invigorating coffee sessions with Susie or Jeremy, separately of course, to catch up on our lives. And I had dedicated the rest of the time to writing project reports, watching fifteen minutes of rom-coms or sit-coms at night, tidying my apartment up, and well yes, basic and necessary survival endeavours such as sleeping, bathing and eating froot loops. Susie still couldn't get over Jeremy seeing her totally plastered in tequila, and even though I swore to her that he would never dare to judge her (or anyone, but actua
In Lab and War CHAPTER 7.
A small ray of sunlight made its way through the window and landed on my face. The warmth caused by it made me open my eyes, which I immediately closed again when it felt like the strike of a thousand knives. Argh. My head. It was throbbing. One stab, followed by a second one, and then a stronger one that lasted for a couple of seconds. Momentarily paralyzed by the hammering pain, I took my fingertips to my temples and massaged them in an attempt to relieve them. When I was finally done, my hand flew to the nightstand looking for my cell phone. I had a meeting with my counselor in the morning, so I needed to check what time it was. My fingers touched nothing but an empty surface, so I gave up and brought them back to my face, where they began massaging my eyes this time, encouraging them to wake up. Determined to find a clock or something, I raised my trunk and propped my elbows on the bed with my eyes narrowed yet wide enough to give me a reliable glimpse of the clock in the kitchen
In Lab and War CHAPTER 6.
I left the vestibule with my mind totally adrift. Ignoring the remains of the tingling in my fingers, I continued walking through the tables. My eyes flew back to the large windows facing the street and I saw some people running, opening their umbrellas, or finding some shelter under the restaurant’s awning. The rain had ceased for a couple of hours but there it was again, unpredictable, just the way the whole evening had been. As I got closer to our table, I realized that Roger had moved to our couch and was sitting next to Susie, laughing at something on his cellphone. I hesitated for a second but then turned myself towards the empty couch.- Oh, sorry, Julie... – He said, standing up.- Hey, no. Please, stay there. I’ll sit here. – I said while sliding through the empty couch.- Are you sure?- Yes, of course.He nodded and sat back. - Liam just went to the… you know. – Roger pointed his index finger in the direction of the toilets to explain why his friend wasn't sitting at the ta
In Lab and War CHAPTER 5.
My phone rang, and I thanked to whichever laws of probability were favoring me at that precise moment.I took my phone from my purse and I saw Jeremy's name flashing on the screen. With all eyes on me, I excused myself and kindly asked Susie to let me pass through so I could take the call.- Jer…- Jules, please tell me you still have Swanson's book with you. The one you borrowed from the library, remember? – I could hear him typing on the keyboard.- Yes, I still have it. You need it? - I told him as I entered a vestibule with huge mirrors on the wall, a colorful four seats sofa and two doors on opposite sides, indicating the entrance to the toilets.- No, I just need... to know what it says, verbatim, one paragraph at page... forty-nine. I need to confirm something that I had written here. I'm not sure I took the correct notes.- Oh… I'm not at home now.- Oh.- Can I call you when I’m back home? A couple of hours maybe? - It’s alright. I’ll find my way, or we can check it later or
In Lab and War CHAPTER 4.
I felt my body collapse. Vital signs such as breathing, blinking, thinking, froze for what I assumed were a few milliseconds. My lungs released all the air stocked in them, and they only recovered after my oxygen supplies dropped to precarious levels. Immediately after, I felt my heart pumping blood again, slowly yet determinedly. I could feel it moving through my veins and arteries, leaving tickling traces all the way through, and making all its way up to my face until it reached my cheeks. Oh yeah. My cheeks, ladies and gentlemen, were giving themselves quite a feast up there.- Look who I found on my way here... – Susie's eyes were still holding that look, brows lifting carefully, shy smile popping out. It was the kind of look she gave me last year after she unintendedly ate the entire box of Ferrero’s Jeremy had given me for Christmas.- Hey Julie, how are you doing? – Said Roger with a huge smile spread on his lips. He was a gentle guy and I never quite really understood why he wa
