"Can I go back to the library after lunch?"
A small smile appeared on V's face as he chewed on his Veggie Wrap.
"I always assumed you would," he said, taking another bite.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to show how thrilled I was at the thought of more time in the most amazing place I had ever been in. This morning had barely been enough to skim through even a fraction of the content I wanted to explore.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" V asked, his stare still avoidant as he took his water to his lips.
"Yes and no," I answered, pushing around some pesto pasta around my plate, too excited to be eating much of it right now. "I read a lot, but there was so much information... I feel like I have even more questions now than when I started this morning."
"That's usually what happens when you do things right."
I looked up at him, wanting to see if he truly meant it, but he was still looking down at his tray, seeming quite absorbed with his lunch.
Why did it feel so good to be complimented by someone like him, a high-level scientist?
Only a short walk from the library to the cafeteria had been enough for me to get some insights into V's professional life. As soon as he messaged that he was waiting for me outside the library doors, I found him in conversation with a colleague, who was asking for his opinion on an experimental study her team was working on.
"Could you please transfer the data to me? I'll try to take a look later today," V cut her off as soon as I arrived, already turning to walk away.
His colleague looked at me with wide eyes, as if she were hallucinating, watching me trot behind V to keep up.
"You still owe me a lecture!" another colleague called after him when we walked down the hall. "My students keep asking about you!"
"I hate to admit it," another one groaned during the elevator ride we shared, "but you were right. We would've wasted months without your model."
V nodded curtly, barely reacting, as if he was used to these interactions. All of them glanced at me curiously, probably trying to figure out who I was.
"It's an honor to meet you," someone else said as we neared the cafeteria, offering V a handshake. "I'm here for the Homo Fortis project. Your work on it has been—"
But V had already excused himself, cutting the interaction short as he stepped past.e
"Archaic customs... touching hands, for what...?" I heard him grumble, rubbing his hands vigorously with cleaning gel as we joined the cafeteria line.
Now that I looked around, I realized just how many eyes were on us in the large hall. A few people quickly dropped their gaze when I met them, but some of them kept on looking at me, as if trying to guess who I could be.
It wasn't so much me they were looking at... I was sure of that. When I'd wandered around the Agora, no one had paid me any attention.
No, the attention was because of him.
Because I was with V.
That was surely why it felt so good to have his approval.
When we still had lessons at the clinic, educators rarely praised me. In their defense, I had started at a disadvantage because I had been in the system since infancy. Many of the other workers had joined later. They had the chance to attend school outside or learned things from their parents before ending up in clinical trial work. I was usually quiet during lessons, never the one to ask questions, but always listening, my ears wide open, eager to absorb anything new.
"How do you organize your findings?"
My attention returned to V, drawn in by the sudden interest in his tone.
"Organize...?" I frowned, not sure I understood.
"Yes. Do you follow a plan?"
Reading the confusion on my face, V understood I didn't.
"No plans... No lists..." he muttered for himself, tapping his napkin over his mouth after finishing the last bite of his wrap. "Do you take notes?"
All I had done this morning was to open random books, mostly dictionaries, and read whatever sparked my attention.
"I'm not... taking notes."
"Do you remember everything? Do you manage to organize all the new information in your... brain?"
Again, he seemed to know the answer based only on my facial expression. Maybe I was becoming too easy to read for him. I had to be careful.
"Here," he said, getting a square-shaped item out of his bag and handing it to me. "A notebook for you."
I opened it between my hands, flipping through its blank pages lined with thin beige strikes. I had not seen one of these in years. The closest thing we had to notebooks at the lab were the coloring books from the Information Center.
"You can write down the information you want to remember. Or any new questions that you can think of, or jot down some ideas to help you process them... I write in mine every day. Let's pass by my office after lunch for me to get you a pen," he grumbled with a big sigh for himself again. "Probably the only place with pens and paper in this building..."
When we finished our lunch, V piled our trays together to give them to the cleaning robot passing by the aisles. Again, most people had their eyes on us as we exited the cafeteria. V seemed quite oblivious about it, and I noticed he was already busy reading something behind his glasses.
We were heading in the direction of his office when a voice called his name behind us.
"Chandra...?" I watched him recognize the voice as he turned around to greet her.
Chandra! Finally, I was going to meet the one who messaged V so much.
Two people in business attire walked in our direction with big smiles on their faces. I obviously couldn't help but look at the woman. Her brown skin was glowing, her thick, glossy hair falling on her shoulder in an elegant braid. We were both about the same height, but her body seemed much more voluptuous than mine.
Chandra was beautiful.
I felt a small pinch in my chest at this realization. I had to remind myself she was a married woman. Married to another extremely attractive woman, Dionne, if I remembered well. V had called both of them his friends.
Next to me, this one had completely frozen. His facial expression had turned from approachable to extremely irritated.
"A rare sight," the man in a dark grey suit greeted V with a small nod, a twinkle in his eyes. "Who would have thought that I'd ever find you outside of your office? Certainly never at the Steering Committee Meeting," he added with a sneer.
"I don't believe my presence is required," V answered with a small gulp. "I don't have much to contribute."
The man in the suit snickered, and V seemed even more uncomfortable.
I then realized I wasn't as good at reading his expressions.
V wasn't irritated.
He was scared.
"V, are you not going to introduce us to...?" Chandra smiled, her eyes going from him to me. It seemed like she was trying to diffuse the tension between the two men.
"Oh," V turned even paler than usual as he opened a trembling palm on me. "This is...," his voice broke, "Sade-"
"I'm Sade. Nice to meet you."
Out of nowhere, I extended a hand towards them like I had seen a colleague of V do earlier.
"I'm a Botanical Agronomist," I said with a confident smile.
Botanical Agronomist were the first words I had looked up in The Green Lexicon I had found in the library this morning. I had searched all the words I had not understood so far.
V had trusted me enough to bring me to his workplace. I wanted to make sure I was deserving of that trust.
"I'm here to help V with his research," I explained as Chandra shook my hand.
"And coming from the West, I assume?" the man smiled, eyeing our hands together as he shook it too.
My blood froze in my veins as I realized I had just taken up a tradition from a place I had no idea of.
"Y-Yes," I quickly pretended to follow along.
"Sade is an expert in her field in the West." V somehow came to my rescue, his recomposed expression impassive again. "And this is Chandra, Psychobiological Engineer, and Malik, Director of the Research Center," he presented them to me in turn.
I understood V's anxiety. This man was his superior.
"What do you specialize in?" Chandra smiled at me with interest.
"Nutrient Delivery Systems," I replied too fast.
Earlier this morning, I had also picked up a book titled Applied Genetics in Crop Improvement, only because I had recognized the word Genetics in it. I had been curious to learn more about V's work, but I quickly realized the content was too complex for me.
My mind had somehow made this connection, and the two newcomers looked satisfied by my answer. Even slightly intrigued, it seemed?
I impressed myself. Maybe I had been chosen for the right reasons for this mission after all.
"Nutrient Delivery...?" Chandra repeated, her eyes narrowing on V with a smile.
"Yes, but remember," V also spoke too fast. "This is all of the highest-"
"-level of confidentiality," they all chimed in together, as if rehearsed.
Chandra and Malik gave each other a knowing smile as if they had heard V mention that point countless times already.
"We have to go back to work, so-" V already had his hand on my elbow, trying to get us out of this unfortunate encounter.
"Wait, now that I have you in front of me," the director began, taking his tablet out of his suit's pocket.
Next to him, Chandra's eyes got on V's hand, still placed behind my elbow.
The next second, she looked up at me.
And smiled.
"You have to come to my annual dinner party with the committee," Malik began, and V was already about to protest when the director added with a meaningful glance, "My wife makes the most amazing homemade lasagna," which quieted V, and he looked momentarily conflicted. "I just sent you the invitation. I would love to have you both there," he said, slipping his tablet back into his pocket. "Chandra, let's continue our conversation in your office, shall we?"
And just like that, they both walked away, leaving us alone.
"Sorry about that," V murmured with a long sigh of relief. I thought he was referring to the precarious situation of us meeting the man we were fooling with research funds.
Turned out, V had something else in mind.
"I mean... You would love to try homemade lasagna," he confessed with a defeated shrug.
🗓️ Next chapters: this Thursday, August 21st 🗓️
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