He stepped inside and stood at his desk, setting down his satchel.
The place was a fucking pigsty. There was shit everywhere. I mean, literally. Stacks of papers were here and there. His desk was so messy, you couldn’t even see the wood underneath. There was a couch up against one wall, but it looked old and dusty. A coffee machine sat on the cabinet against the wall, but that was covered with dirty mugs and trash.
How did he work like this?
I didn’t say a word and just watched.
One of the other guys came in. “Derek, I did the variation again, but it was unsuccessful. I’m not sure why it worked yesterday, but today it’s just not happening.” He glanced at me and didn’t hide the way he looked me over.
Derek must have noticed the way the man looked at me because he said, “Emerson. She’s my assistant.”
The guy stepped toward me with his hand extended. “Pierre. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
He stared at me for a few more seconds, like it was the first time a woman had been in this building since it was a boy’s club. He looked at Derek again. “Anyway, I’m not sure what we did right yesterday and wrong today.”
“Or maybe it was neither.” Derek held his papers under his arm and walked out with Pierre. “Let’s do the math…” The door shut behind him, and he walked to a big whiteboard that had a bunch of equations all over it. He used his wrist to erase parts of it before he started to redo it. Pierre watched him and nodded along like he agreed with the changes.
I’d never seen anything like it.
Geez…he really was a super brain.
I turned back to his office and surveyed the crime scene. It didn’t look like a billionaire’s office. It didn’t look like a brainiac’s office either. It looked as if an apocalypse had struck and all that had survived was garbage—everywhere.
I glanced out the windows occasionally to watch what Derek was doing.
Most of the time, he wore clear protective glasses because another guy was running simulations and there were occasional flames. Derek would go back and forth between his computer and working on pieces with his hands, before going back to the whiteboard to make changes to whatever he had written there.
I had no idea what he was doing.
Lunchtime came and went, and Derek still didn’t take a break. Neither did the other guys. I caved and ate some of the snacks I’d packed because I wasn’t immune like those guys. I got some work done in his office, but the place was so disorganized, I barely made a dent.
Derek returned to the office, his papers in hand. He went straight to his satchel and put everything away. “Let’s go.”
“Lunch?”
“No. I have to get to my class.”
“Oh.”
We left the office and walked back to the cart. He drove back to the main building, and no one came up to him to give him something to eat. He barely drank any water. When we made it outside, Ronnie was waiting.
“Do you not take lunch?” I asked as we got into the car.
“Sometimes.”
Sometimes?
Ronnie pulled away.
I’d already eaten, so I pulled out a couple extra things I had, including a banana. “Here.”
He eyed the banana for a bit before he took it. “Thanks.”
It was one more thing I needed to do—keep him fed.
“Your lab was not what I pictured.”
“Why?” He took another bite and chewed.
I handed him a bottle of water.
He took it as he chewed, gratitude in his eyes.
“It’s just… There’s a lot going on. And your office…needs some work.”
“Your problem. Not mine.” He continued to eat.
“It’ll be a lot nicer by the time I’m done.”
He looked out the window as he continued to eat. He peeled the banana lower and lower until he’d eaten the entire thing. I had an empty plastic bag that had had some fruit in it earlier, so I held it out to him so he could dispose of his banana peel.
He dropped it inside.
I pulled out a few other things I had. “I have some cheese and crackers.”
He eyed it before he looked at me. “I don’t want to eat all your lunch.”
“I ate in your office. I brought extra because I wasn’t sure how long this day would be. Go ahead.” I set it on the center console.
He gave a nod before he took it. “Thanks.”
I grabbed my notebook and jotted down my notes, the things I needed to add to make that place better…and not a shitshow. It was like being in the garage at an auto shop…dirty with oil spots everywhere. And I needed to make sure he was fed throughout the day. Just like everything else, eating wasn’t a priority to him. There was only so much time in the day, and planning his meals didn’t make the cut.