Chapter 88
When I walked back to my desk I must have had the dirtiest look painted on my face because Brad arched his brows, coked his head and said, “You must have had some good fun behind the scenes”.
“Let’s go get something at the vending machines”, was my reply
“At the vending machines?”, Brad asked
“Why not?”, I asked
“Ok”, he said shrugging, confused at the caustic edge in my voice
“We can go to the cafeteria…but I feel like eating a junky chocolate bar first”, I said angrily
“Sure, go for it”, Brad said, twisting his mouth in a peculiar he did at times.
For the first time I realized this way he had of twisting his mouth was enticingly cute. For some reason I had never felt attracted to Brad, but I could see he was a very decent guy and I never understood why he was single for so many years, falling in and out of brief relationships all the time.
“Thank you”, I said, smiling warmly all of a sudden
At the vending machine I got myself a large-sized bar with a crispy layer of biscuit inside, drenched in caramel and soft chocolate, and covered with another layer of harder, crunchy chocolate. The ultimate junk snack of our century, for just a dollar fifty.
Brad looked at it and said, “Are you having your period or something?”
I laughed. “No, but my mental state is messed up more than if I was having it”
“Ok, let’s walk to the cafeteria so you can tell me what happened”, he suggested
The cafeteria was completely empty, and we sat at a table in the corner, Brad with a juice and I with my chocolate bar.
“They asked me to stay, with a 35% increase in my stipend”, I said
Brad stopped holding the bottle midair.
“They want me to shut up, you see. Gill must know something, although I cannot say for sure how much”, I begun
“Knows something?”
“He must know about the fact that I have been trying to see clear through what is happening”
“Why do you think he does?”
“He says he wants me to make the polymer safe. When I suggested to test it rather than assume the compound we have isn’t, his reply was that I had to be honest with him. Go figure that! Honest!”, I said, heating up as I described my encounter
“Ok and then what happened?”
“And then he said he wants the project to be confidential, he was so insistive…confidential, confidential, it will just be you and I. And I’ll pay you plenty, but you work with me and me only. A private whore essentially. Give up your freedom and your principles, I’ve got big bucks to buy them from you. Fuck the asshole”, I said, my tone rising
Brad looked around to make sure nobody was around to hear my outburst
“Ok, slow down. He says he wants you to make the polymer safe, why are you so angry?”
“But can’t you see? Does he wants to make the polymer safe or does he want to make me a nice quiet girl? Have they circulated the polymer already? Was he involved in this in any way? And what about his brother? He is with Avery now, risking jail and perhaps even more than just that. If he just wanted to improve the formulation why did he kick out you and Alice?”, I argued, pushing myself forward and tapping on the table as I spoke
“Yeah, I don’t know…”, Brad said doubtfully
“I don’t either as a matter of fact. After all you could be dangerous too, and even more so if you are angered”, I continued
“Sure, but you’re the one who came up with the formulation and you’re the one who has been doing everything, including going overseas, to get things straight. Alice and I have sort of been following along…”, Brad said
“But now you also know about the polymer and the skeletons in the closet, right?”, I insisted
“Sure, but if you are the only one left here probably Gill thinks you’ll be more pliable than if you were surrounded by a team you trust. He probably believes he has better chances to manipulate you”
“Right, I can see his logic. Too bad I’ll have to prove him wrong”, I said, biting into what was lefty of my chocolate bar
“So you haven’t accepted his offer?”, Brad asked
“Oh, of course I have. I will stay here, work on something or pretend to work on something, buy a couple of months during which I can observe what’s happening as an insider”, I said
“But he’ll be observing you too”, Brad objected
“True, but someone has been watching over me anyways and if I leave FoodTech it is not at all a given that the paparazzi will leave me alone”, I replied abrasively
“I see your point”, Brad conceded
“Ok, let’s go upstairs and try to save the appearances, show we’re working. Perhaps I’ll give Avery a call and ask her to come get me in an hour. I want to update her as soon as possible”
“Sure, I’ll leave with you whenever you will go”
“But she said she wants to drive me home herself”, I explained, feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt, as if I was abandoning Brad somehow
“I mean, I will drive my own car home and you will get your ride with Avery. They’ll fire me anyways, so there’s no point in hanging around here long hours, all alone on top of everything else”, he shrugged
I nodded and got up, pushing my chair under the table. I felt a strange heaviness and dizziness I hadn’t noticed while I was seated.
“Are you ok?”, asked Brad, noticing my physical discomfort
“Ehm sure…I must be just tired and stressed I suppose”, I said, uncertain about what was happening to me
“You’ll be all right”, he reassured me, tapping my shoulder
I didn’t know if I would, but I smiled, cleaned our garbage off the table and said “Let’s go”, trying to sound as cheerful as I could.