“I’m really excited to be here, Dr. Amherst. I’ve read all your work.” She holds out a small, delicate hand. Her middle finger, slightly longer than the rest, houses a small ring with a pearl mounted in silver or platinum. My eyes shift left, and there’s a weird sense of relief that floods me when I clock that her ring finger is empty.
I nod my own greeting and move out of the way, knocking over a big pile of research. “Fuck,” I curse. I bend down. She bends down at the same time. Our heads strike each other.
She lets out a yelp of surprise or maybe it’s shock. Shit. I grab her head between my hands and steady her before she can topple backward onto her ass and knock down more papers. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She rubs the back of her head. A small smile spreads across her face. “I told my mom this morning I was going to make an impression on you. I should’ve specified that I wanted it to be a good impression. I’m really not this clumsy.”
“You’ve succeeded.” I cup the back of her head and feel for a knot.
“In what way?”
There’s no sign of injury, but I’m reluctant to let her go, reluctant to stand. What I want is to draw her into my lap, kiss her senseless, and then make love on the floor amidst all my research. Somehow, though, I think that falls under things I shouldn’t do because it might end up in a lawsuit. Rachel tried to warn me.
With a sigh, I force myself to let go and stand up. “You’ve made an impression all right.” I force myself to flee to the window. As I gaze across the short distance between her desk and mine, I realize how fucked I am. Maybe I should just write her a check now and get it over with because by the end of this term, she’s going to own everything I have in my bank account as well as my heart.TwoKaylaDr. Amherst is definitely living up to some of the rumors I’ve heard about him. I wouldn’t classify the one claiming he is antisocial as a rumor anymore. It’s definitely true. Or at least that’s how it seems, anyway. He’s not rude as some of them have said.
Anytime I ask him a question, he doesn't get irritated, but he also doesn’t make an effort to add to the conversation. He makes sure to answer quickly for me, though. It’s me doing most of the talking. His answers are straight to the point. He hasn't even asked me my name yet. I’m not sure if I should bring that up or not.
I actually worried over this before I got here today. I’m a talker. I can’t help myself. I even talk to myself as I work. People often get annoyed by it. I knew it would be something I’d have to get under control if I were going to be working directly in his office. I don’t think Amherst would appreciate me rambling on all day. I don’t want to annoy him or have him fire me.
Rachel told me if he did fire me to ignore him and keep working. That made me even more nervous. I repeated the words in my head as I made my way to his office this morning. Over and over again. You will not be a chatterbox. It clearly hasn't worked.
I move a giant stack of now organized papers over so that I can start cleaning up something else. This place was a mess. I’ve gotten some of it looking presentable. I was more than happy to clean it up a bit. I am already learning a ton. Some of the papers have little handwritten notes on them from Amherst. I guess in a way he talks to himself too. Instead of saying the words out loud, he simply jots down his thoughts. Maybe we’re not so different after all.
Anytime I see his handwriting I stop to read the note he put on the page. I can’t help myself. I would probably have more done by now if I wasn't stopping to read so much. Not that it takes me long. I have always been able to read quickly and still maintain the information.
“Do you always do that?” I look up from the paper in my hand to Amherst. His dark hair is now a mess from his own fingers. The man looks nothing like one would think a scientist would. He’s built with broad shoulders, and he has at least a foot on me. His jaw looks like it could’ve been chiseled out of granite. My mom said he looked a little like a younger, annoyed John Wick. The picture they had online of him only showed his face, as if someone had forced him to take it. I’m guessing it was probably Rachel.