A Symptom of Love (GERI Labs #1)

13. Roommates

13

Roommates

“ I thought you knew,” Alannah says incredulously as they meet for dinner back at their apartment.

“Why would I want to make out with the professor I’m supposed to collaborate with?” Eleanor says, bewildered. “I know this may sound like someone’s fantasy but that was never on my list. At least now I know why you were looking at me funny when you walked in on us… But why didn’t you say anything?”

“Already told you. I go by live and let live, you do you, and I couldn’t have possibly known you guys had no idea you’d be working together.” She smiles awkwardly. “I mean, you knew he was a professor, with the last name of Kowalski, it’s just putting together a few simple facts.” She gives Eleanor an amused look. “Where did you say you got your PhD from? YouTube?”

“Hey, don’t hate on YouTube,” Eleanor laughs. “I didn’t know he was a professor, let alone my collaborating professor. I didn’t even know he was a scientist, I thought he was a drummer. And I never actually asked for his last name.” So many seemingly unrelated details leading up to one big mess.

“Wow girl, not gonna lie, getting naked with a guy before even asking for his last name, you’re quite the adventurous one,” Alannah smirks. “There’s probably not even a single girl on campus who doesn’t know who Professor Kowalski is, except for you, apparently.”

“Really?” Eleanor’s curiosity is officially piqued. “Tell me more.”

“I don’t think I need to explain that to you—I am sure you are very well aware of his handsome face and… very nicely built body.”

“Says the celibate member of his lab,” she chuckles.

“I may be celibate, but I’m not blind.”

“Oh, so he’s a player?”

“Definitely not. Never mixes his professional life with… pleasure. And anyway, he doesn’t seem to be into the women at GERI, and believe me—many have tried to flirt with him, come into the lab, walked up to him after class. He’s completely immune. Keeps his personal life very private and separate, like science is the only thing for him, as far as we lowly postdocs know. I had this theory that he might be asexual or something. Until I saw how he looked at you.”

“Oh, believe me, he’s very much not asexual,” Eleanor chuckles.

“It’s gonna take me a while to unsee your spicy scene,” Alannah blushes. “So, yeah, I believe you.”

Eleanor’s mind drifts off somewhere else. “That’s why his dad said these were Aiden’s papers ,” she mumbles, thinking back.

“What? You’ve met his dad? How serious are you guys?”

“No, not serious,” Eleanor tries. “I was planning on not seeing him again, ever. But that obviously didn’t work out very well for me.”

“Not seeing him again, why? You guys looked very much… into each other,” Alannah points her head to that wall Eleanor was pressed against just the other night.

“Yeah…” The annoying uninvited butterflies in her belly make their comeback. “I’m really not looking for a relationship right now. I came here to focus on my science.”

“Well, life sometimes has other plans for us, you know? Besides, no reason why you can’t focus on your science and be in a relationship. Lots of people do it.”

“I am not very good with multi-tasking. And even more terrible with juggling.”

Especially when hearts are involved.

“I still don’t get how you didn’t recognize him from the interview.” Alannah’s questions keep on coming.

“I never actually met him before coming here. Same with Professor Harrington,” Eleanor admits. It seemed reasonable at the time, but it does sound silly now when she says it out loud.

“You didn’t come for an in-person interview?” Alannah’s mouth forms into a big, wondering O. It appears to be the one technical detail that strikes her the most.

“No, at that time GERI had their no-visitor policy…”

“But there’s Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, you didn’t even have a video interview?”

“Professor Harrington is old-school. We exchanged some emails. Enough to know it was a good match—strictly scientifically speaking—so that was it, I didn’t need to see how he looks to know. And same with Professor Kowalski.”

“But face-to-face interaction is so important when choosing your collaborator. What if you didn’t have chemistry?” Alannah shoves Eleanor’s plate closer, reminding her to eat. “Well never mind, you two are clearly not lacking any chemistry.”

“Yes, maybe a bit too much chemistry…”

Mind-blowing, sparks flying everywhere, can’t-get-him-out-of-her-head kind of chemistry.

“So wait, you said a drummer. Why did you think he was a drummer?” Alannah asks, taking the first bite from her gluten-free, vegan, nutrient-rich, meat-deficient, home-cooked dinner. There’s an identical clone just like this waiting on Eleanor’s plate. But since finding out her GERI collaborator is the handsome hot guy who pinned her against the wall and kissed her senseless, she hasn’t been able to breathe long enough to manage with the mechanics of eating.

“Because he is a drummer. He invited me to watch him play and I came with the excuse of returning his hoodie. I really was only testing the hypothesis that—“

“Babe, you’re not making any sense, I’m missing some crucial details. How did you have his hoodie?” Alannah looks overwhelmed, and mostly just overwhelmingly confused.

“Okay, you might want to sit back for this story,” Eleanor chuckles.

“Oh. Wow,” Alannah says after sitting quietly, holding off chewing her dinner, for over twenty minutes. Learning about accidental meetings at airports, nosebleeds, airplane seat buddies to snuggle on, selfies, mom texting, drummers, coat shopping, family introductions, soup improving, making out, interruptions and lab meetings. A full memoir.

But now she’s speechless.

“I hope I didn’t break you,” is Eleanor’s story wrap up.

“No, just a little surprised is all. It takes much more to break me,” Alannah says, her face flushed.

“Good, because I like you.”

“I like you too. But Ellie, you need to drop the idea of having him as a mentor. Give Cupid a chance.”

“Professor Harrington is my official mentor. Aiden is not really my mentor, he’s my collaborator, and I was hoping he could also mentor me, unofficially. This—" she gestures to that same wall— “makes it a bit more challenging. But hey—I’m not one to shy away from a good challenge. And I wasn’t looking for a relationship anyway. Besides, Cupid is deceitful and was not invited to this party.”

“Okay, the fact that Professor Harrington is over eighty years old tells me he might not be the safest long-term bet, but for now—can you just drop the collaboration so you can go back to dating Professor Kowalski?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Are you for real? You know, I’ve been working at the Kowalski lab for over three years now. Never seen this guy smile once. That is, until I saw him with you. You should have seen how he walked in this morning! Or how his eyes beamed when he said your name at the introduction. I know my math. And the way you two look at each other… Man! You shouldn’t dismiss that, it might be your once-in-a-lifetime forever opportunity.” Alannah speaks with so much passion it’s almost contagious.

“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong,” Eleanor insists. “This thing here—this amazing collaborator I’ve picked for myself—is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get my science to places I’d never be able to achieve alone.”

“Okay, but science is science. True love is not something you just throw away.”

“Yes, science is science, only the most important thing in my life. And true love—what are you even talking about? Love is a distraction. And I wouldn’t even know true love if it landed in my dinner right now. It’s just not on my list of capabilities, and I’d like to keep it this way.” Eleanor gives her a determined look, topping it off with a smile. “Where did you even get this hideous L word from? You’ve seen us interact for no more than a few minutes, and most of it was against this wall.”

“You are funny. One glance at you together is all I needed. You two are so infatuated with each other. Yet it might require an entire peer-review process for you to understand.” Alannah picks up Eleanor’s fork that’s now resting next to her plate and shoves it into her hands. “You have to eat. Starving is not compatible with thinking,” she says.

“Not infatuated,” Eleanor says, finally taking a bite. “It’s called lust. And how do you tell the difference, you might ask? By the very apparent fact that I shouldn’t be left alone with him because,” she says, mouth full, “well, the because part is X-rated… But that’s all it is. Anyway, please don’t tell anyone,” Eleanor pleads. “This could kill his career.”

“Don’t worry babe, your secret is safe with me,” Alannah gives her a cute wink. “Incidentally, his sweater looked good on you,” she chuckles.

“Oh, that’s because I had a nosebleed and he insisted I change my shirt. By the way—your cooking is superb.”

“Thanks. And no need to explain.” Alannah makes a heart with her fingers. “So how are you planning to handle it?”

“Still struggling with that part.”

“The way I see it, you have three options,” Alannah offers. “The first option you obviously didn’t like—switch the collaboration so you guys can ride hand-in-hand into the sunset.”

“No way I’m switching a collaborator. I told you, I specifically chose him for his provocative hypotheses. I came all the way here for—"

“Yeah yeah, heard you the first time, I was just listing the options. So fast forward to option two—you dial it back to a strictly professional relationship. Each of you go back to your boring pre-love state of mind, where getting your clean PCR results or the right band size on your gel is the highlight of your day.”

“Hey, those are the highlights of my day!” Eleanor jumps in defensively. “And it’s not boring, science is life!” Then takes another bite. “Mmm! This is good.” She helplessly tries to divert the conversation.

“Thanks babe. And I agree, science is life, but there’s more to life than science.”

“Not for me.”

“Good luck with that.” Alannah pats her arm emphatically, then continues. “It wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention option three—you guys can embark on a secret undercover love affair. Strict mentor-student relationship during the day, lovers during the night.”

“Sounds like the perfect script for a Netflix series, if you ask me,” Eleanor chuckles.

“I know, right?”

“And a major distraction… and ethically wrong, if not illegal?”

“Well, if you drop the unofficial mentor idea, there’s nothing unethical or illegal here. I don’t think there’s any written rule regarding what GERI employees do with other GERI employees in their spare time, outside of GERI. Except for students. But luckily postdocs are not considered students, so you’re probably exempt.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“So which option did you like the most?” Alannah bats her eyelashes at her.

“None of them stood out. I think I’ll just have to mix and match. And improvise.”