Chapter 16
Tuesday 7:42 p.m.
When we enter Bo-Bo Bar, it is loud and warm, and it smells of beer. We automatically start talking louder.
“Why don’t you find us a place? I’ll get something to drink,” says Frank and walks to the bar.
Miyako and I look around. It’s pretty full, as usual, even though it’s the middle of the workweek, but we manage to find an empty table next to the window all the way at the back in the corner.
We walk around the other tables, as if we’re wandering through a maze, until we reach our spot. I take off my jacket and hang it on a chair, then sit down. It is not so loud at the very back of the bar, and I’m happy I don’t need to strain my voice to be heard properly.
“I told Chris too,” Miyako says. “He had prior arrangements, but he said he might come later. Florence will come around eight, and, um, Kevin will be here too.”
“Big party,” I say.
“And it should be. You made such a great discovery!”
“Well, we’ll only know it’s great once it’s been accepted by a journal.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “No! It’s an awesome result. Where it will be accepted is another question. But the result is great and you know it. And—we need to baptize it with some beer!”
I smile at her, then look up to see Frank just coming to our table. He bangs three, large, heavy mugs on the dark wooden surface, foam spilling out and running down the edges, then he pushes them along the table toward me and Miyako. I wonder if they’re going to catch on an uneven surface of the table and tip over, but the glasses are so heavy that the cracks flatten under their weight, and they don’t tip.
Frank grabs the handle of his own glass and brings it up to the center of the table.
“To science!” he says. “And to the great result Jane got.” He looks at me and smiles.
I smile back and we all clink glasses and take a few mouthfuls.
I put the glass down in front of me, watching the bubbles drifting upward in the sparkly yellow-golden liquid.
“So where do you think you’ll send it?” asks Frank, licking the foam off his three-day-old beard.
“Well, first I need to make sure it’s—”
“Yes, yes, we know that. Make sure you can reliably repeat the results,” interrupts Miyako. “I mean after that.”
I sigh. “Okay, after that . . . well, it depends a lot on David, but I guess he’ll want it in PLOS or Nature Cell Biology, perhaps.”
“That would be so awesome! You might even apply for a lab head position somewhere afterwards,” Frank says and takes another gulp.
“Yes, true—you might get a lab of your own! You could go anywhere!” says Miyako.
But instead of feeling happy, all of a sudden, I feel . . . unsure.
I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay where Sam is.
But, of course, the thought is completely illogical. First of all, we are nothing to each other. Why would I tie myself to a person I barely know? And second, Sam will be gone after his project is done, and I don’t know where he will be going next. I can’t possibly choose my working location based on—
Why am I even thinking about this, for crying out loud? Get a grip, Jane!
“Where are you?” says Miyako, leaning forward and waving a hand in front of my eyes.
I smile back. “Somewhere else.”
“Must be some top-notch conference you’ll get invited to once the paper is out,” says Frank.
I guess that is something I should be thinking about. But I don’t. I think of Sam. And his lips. And his perfect teeth when he smiles. And his amazing blue eyes. And his deep but soft baritone voice. And him looking so confused, but so endearing, when I invited him to the Bruins match. And leaning on the doorframe in the most attractive way. And having this gorgeous bod—
“Do you?” asks Miyako.
I look back at her. “Sorry?”
She laughs. “You really are somewhere else! Do you have any plans for Christmas?”
“Oh, um—well, we have a family dinner planned at my parents’ place on Saturday. Very traditional. And it’s great that you guys are spending Christmas together.”
“I hope they like me,” Frank says and takes another deep gulp of beer.
“Francesco,” Miyako says, putting her arm around his shoulders. “They’ve been hearing about you for months. They already like you.”
Frank doesn’t look convinced at all, but he decides not to argue anymore.
Miyako looks behind me and then waves to someone. I turn around. Florence and Kevin are pushing their way toward us.
Just behind them, I catch a man at the bar looking in my direction. He says something to the guy sitting next to him and he turns to look as well. Then he twists his lips in a sly grin and nods. He turns back to the first guy and says something else, and they both laugh.
Something in the way they were looking at me gives me the creeps.
I turn back to Miyako. Just ignore them, Jane. That’s the best way to deal with testosterone-driven primates.
“How’s it going, everyone?” asks Kevin. “Flo, I’ll get the drinks. What do you want?”
Florence points to our glasses as she’s sitting down. “Thanks!”
Kevin lifts up a thumb. “Anything else? Do you guys want something to eat?”
“That’s an idea,” says Frank, looking at each of us, then up at Kevin. “Why don’t you get us nachos with cheese, a large portion we can all share?”
“Got it!” He turns around and finds his way to the bar.
Frank turns back to the table. “Flo, did you talk to David about genotyping?”
Florence glances at Kevin standing at the bar and says, “No. I tried to call his cell phone, but I couldn’t reach him.”
“It must be a mistake,” says Miyako, putting her glass down.
“Well, mistake or not, we need to do the sequencing again,” I say. “I can do it tomorrow morning, if there are no other volunteers? I need a sequence myself. I need to see what sensor protein this strain has so that I’m able to design a blocker.”
“That would be great, Jane, if you don’t mind picking this up,” Frank says. “I still want to finish up my other experiments.”
“Same here,” says Florence.
I nod. “Sure, no worries!” Then I see Kevin coming back, so I say in quieter voice, though it’s not necessary with all this noise around us, “Pity our normal cells don’t grow that fast, otherwise we’d all have results within minutes.”
“Are you serious?” Frank arches his eyebrows. “I don’t want my Streptococcus to grow that fast, thank you very much!”
“Your strain is harmless, Frank. It’s designed for controlled laboratory use only. It can’t survive outside the lab, you know that,” I say.
“Still. It’s Streptococcus.”
Kevin puts two glasses of beer on the table. “They’ll bring the nachos in a few minutes. I ordered the jumbo version! So,” Kevin continues, turning toward me, “tell me about your amazing science project.”
I look up. Did he overhear us?
“Which project?” Florence asks, looking sideways at him.
Kevin shrugs. “Aren’t we here to celebrate Jane’s new results?”
I flop back into my chair and breathe out. He didn’t overhear us. Phew! I hate that we need to keep this a secret from him, but David was quite clear about it.
Just then, the waiter comes and places a large portion of nachos in the center of our table. Kevin takes one, a few thin cheese threads stretching between the plate and his hand. “So, Jane, let me hear it?”
But just before I manage to say anything, Miyako jumps in. “Kevin, please, let’s move away from the science, shall we? We do this all day. In the evenings I want to talk about something else.”
“Fine. What do you want to talk about? Christmas bonuses?”
“Well, that’s a topic I find interesting.” Frank leans in. “So, Kevin, did you top us up this year?”
Kevin laughs. “You guys! You know I can’t tell you that. It’s confidential.”
I look up at him. Ditto back to you, Kevin. I feel a tiny bit better now, knowing we all have something we need to keep a secret.