Chapter 26
I opened my eyes around 5 am the next morning, feeling Jack silently glide out of the bed.
When he saw I was awake he brushed my brow with a kiss, “Keep sleeping, I have to go set up the bakery for the day. I’ll call you later”.
I moaned yes, and perhaps said something else I soon forgot, before closing my eyes again. When I reopened them it was almost 8, and I was terribly late for work. It was my turn to go pick up Brad that day, and I gave him a call that I couldn’t be there before 8.30.
“Everything all right?”, he asked.
I assured him it was and hang up. I was quite reluctant at the idea of going to work that day, I had no interest in seeing McMurrich’s icy expression and talking with her, and I didn’t have any more interest in the polymer either. McMurrich had made it clear that Brad and I would have to do the science on the side, since the priority was to answer what the boss needed to know to sell a product that had unknown effects. A product I had created and that I did not want to sell. I was dipping cookies in my coffee plunged in these feelings, when I suddenly found myself wishing that I could walk in the labs that morning and have someone announce that McMurrich was dead. For the fraction of a second I felt relieved, as if the fact had really happened, and I was astonished that relief was all I felt. I washed the coffee cup, showered quickly and drove to Brad’s place, wondering now and then if the life I was leading was changing me in dark ways I could only catch glimpses of.
When I reached Brad’s house I honked the horn and he came out few moments later, wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
“What’s up?”, I said when I saw him, pulling up one eyebrow and tilting my head.
Brad was usually pretty sober, his esthetic sense was as daring as the average engineer’s, that is to say not very. I had buddied up with him for long enough to be fond of him and feel cozy when he was around, without ever considering him gifted with neither a classy or flamboyant taste.
“Why?”, he said, trying to hide his smile and blushing lightly.
“I don’t know, you tell me”, I said, tugging the bottom of his shirt.
“What’s wrong with the shirt?”, he asked innocently.
I started the car, shaking my head and laughing.
“Ok, it was a birthday present”, he said after a few moments.
“Aha”, I said, “and from whom?”.
“You could start by saying happy birthday Brad, no?”, he retorted.
“Was it yesterday?”, I asked.
“Yes, it was”, he replied drily.
“Oh, I am sorry…well, happy birthday Brad!”, I said turning around with a broad smile, “You know it was mine too, and I had forgotten all about it”.
He looked at me perplexed. “Are you joking?”, he asked.
“No, not at all…and you forgot about my birthday too, so we are even”, I concluded, satisfied that I had stunned him.
“But you never told me about your birthday…”, he told me after a moment.
“Ah well, twin, I forgive you. So, who have you the shirt?”, I insisted.
“Why are you so pushy?”, he snapped, and then, after a pause, “A girl”.
“I thought boys were supposed to show off this type of thing, why are you shy about it?”, I winked.
“I wouldn’t have thought you could be so stereotypical”, Brad complained, “and in any case I am not shy, a friend gave me a shirt and I see no reason to either advertise it or hide it”.
“Uhm uh”, I nodded teasingly.
“So we should go see Alice this morning”, I said, shifting the conversation.
And that’s what we did as soon as we reached FoodTech labs. We found her in the culture room, already busy with our milk sample. She was in an excited state and gestured us to have look at what happened under the microscope.
“You were right”, I said, “the bacteria hardly move now”.
“Bingo!”, she exclaimed, “What is strange is that there is still some food around for them, so I don’t understand why their metabolism seems slowed down”.
“We could call Sandeep again”, Brad suggested, “maybe he can run some more analyses on this sample as he had offered to”.
“Sure”, I agreed, “in the meanwhile, do you guys want to go talk with McMurrich?”.
“Well, ‘want’ is an overstatement”, Brad said, “but I suppose we can”.
When mcMurrich opened the door of her office and saw the three of us she raised her brows and said, “What can I do for you?” in a way that hinted a bitter mood.
We explained how the bacteria behaved, how they would multiply rapidly and then stop moving.
“Well, which bacteria are we talking about?”, she asked frowning.
“That’s the issue”, said Alice, “I cannot pin them down”.
“You cannot pin them down?”, McMurrich asked with genuine surprise, which surprised me in turn.
She thought in silence for a moment. “I have some contacts at the DNA Research Center, they might be able to help us find some answers”.
We were about to leave McMurrich’s office when she picked up the phone and gestured us to wait, raising the index finger.
“Hello Mark, this is Janet”, she said, “I would need somebody to run some analyses and I was wondering if you could help”.
The guy named Mark said something on the other hand of the line
“I have people in the office now”, McMurrich replied curtly, before explaining what we needed.
McMurrich’s expression was pleased as Mark spoke on the other end, although she smiled just the time required to thank Mark and hang up.
“Someone will help you tomorrow morning”, she said, “Bring your samples, all the ones you have, and the pure polymer too. They’ll need it to interpret clearly what is in your samples”.
She seemed ready to dismiss us when she added, “Ask for Mark Gill at the reception when you get to the center”.
When we left McMurrich’s office we looked at each other.
“I didn’t know McMurrich had friends at the DNA center”, I said.
Brad shrugged and Alice replied, “I didn’t know McMurrich had any friends. Jeez, that woman is sourer than yoghurt after its best before date”.
“You bet”, I said laughing.
Brad shook his head and said, “Ok misses, McMurrich is a bitch but should we try to call Sandeep and see if he can help us again or do we want to continue discussing our boss?”.
Alice and I looked at each other shrugging, and we went to our office to give Sandeep a call.