Chapter 32
As soon as I got into the car I told Brad about my conversation with Christine.
“It sounds a bit creepy, I give you that”, he started
“But deep down you think I am making it all up”, I replied
“But at the moment you really don’t have any proof that there are connections between what is happening in NY and what is happening here and we can’t even be sure if the words you overheard from the journalist are reliable”, he concluded
From a rational standpoint Brad was undeniably right, but I felt there was a connection and the fact that I couldn’t prove it yet was no matter. I shrugged.
“Changing topic, I wonder what they will tell us at the DNA research center this morning. By the way, I thought about the paper I found yesterday”.
“And?”. There was a pitch of irony in Brad’s voice now.
“And my view is that we should really dig into this matter further, maybe contact the authors and see what they think about our case”, I replied, ignoring Brad’s skepticism .
“We can’t really contact outsiders and give out details about what we are doing”, he pointed out.
“Of course we can’t. Why do you always assume I am naïve?”, I retorted, and realized I had snapped for no good reason as soon as I finished the sentence.
“Well, I never said you are naïve, but I thought you just told me you wanted to contact the authors of the paper. So what do you want to talk about if not what we are doing?”.
Now the irony in Brad’s tone was bluntly obvious.
I snorted. “Maybe I could tell them what we are up to without going into the details…and see if they believe that it is possible that some bacteria are changing on us. Ok, I see this doesn’t make too much sense. And yet I think the author of the paper could be so helpful... In any case, I am going to see if they have any other publications on the subject”.
“This sounds like a good approach”, Brad replied, completely chill, keeping his eyes on the road.
I glanced at him and said nothing, knowing he was right but being unreasonably unnerved about it. I averted my eyes and looked out the window, in silence, till we reached the parking lot at FoodTech labs.
“Do you want to wait for me here while I go upstairs grab the samples?”, I asked once we got there.
“Sure”, he said.
I went to the labs and organized the samples quickly, placing them in a nice cooler like the ones people use for camping. I liked the feeling of carrying around the lab cooler, as if I was fully organized for some fun. I knew the emotion I associated with the cooler was an echo from all the summers in the campgrounds with my family, when I still had one. The realization that those good times were irretrievably lost should have saddened me, and yet all I felt when I had the cooler in my hands was a surge of infantine joy, even when what was in there was a bunch of samples we could not sort out. I was heading for the door when I heard McMurrich’s voice on my back.
“Let me present you Iris, our scientist who is working on the polymer”.
Two guys in full suits nodded at me, a smile on their face. One of the two was chubby, he looked like a good dad who played basketball on the backyard with his kids on Sunday. The other one was thin, with trenchant eyes that cut right through me as he smiled, and made me uneasy as if I was lying. I felt I was, although I hadn’t said a single word yet.
I stuck out my hand. “Good to meet you”, I said.
“We are making great progress in perfecting the polymer for your needs, and probably we can have a meeting with Iris in the next future to discuss its potential further”, McMurrich continued, all professional smiles.
It was obvious that the guys were from some food company, but which one? I wish I could know, more out of personal curiosity than anything else. After all the polymer was my creature, perhaps a wicked one but nonetheless mine, and I cared to trace its destiny, wherever it landed. McMurrich’s courtesy only went as far as her interests did, so of course she couldn’t be bothered to inform me.
I managed to drown my negative vibes in a courteous and legitimate statement. “It’s great to hear that you are interested in working with our polymer”, I said.
“We are very keen on trying it out on our dairies, and then we could perhaps expand it on some other line of products”, the chubby guy told me.
“Which other line of products?”, I asked, deliberately looking at the thin guy. Now I am going to dig you out, I thought.
“That’s something we could perhaps discuss with you”, he replied, without flinching or attenuating the intensity of his gaze.
“It will be my pleasure”, I said, half as a courtesy and half as a challenge. Why I am taking this so personally?, I wondered, before remembering my cycle had started that morning and that my irritated mood had probably a lot to do with that. I excused myself and went to find Brad in the parking lot.
“Can you believe it?”, I burst out as soon as I got into Brad’s car, “McMurrich is still so much into commercializing the polymer even though we explicitly told her how odd are the bacteria it breeds!”.
“Relax, her job is to get people interested and commercialize the products we develop. It’s called creating job security. Now, let’s go to the DNA center and get the information we need. Can you pull out the map and help me find my way? I checked the street this morning but I could use a co-pilot”, Brad smiled.
“Sure”, I said, with a honeyed voice
I felt guilty that I had been so bitter with him earlier and glad I could have my small moment of redemption. If only I could be really help…Focus, I thought. I have always been terrible at reading maps, and although we had time we couldn’t afford losing our way if we wanted to reach the DNA center by 9.30.