by Grady, D. R.
She and Vlad stared at each other for a moment before she shrugged. “She’s a mother. None of us argue with her.”
“Not even Tia?”
“Of course not. We’re all happy someone makes the decisions.”
Vlad followed her across the room and he took one end of the heavy metal table while she and Maria grabbed the other. He directed them where to move it and made the process look easy. She and Maria were both puffing.
“It’s heavier today than it was yesterday.” She adjusted her grip, aware of Maria doing the same beside her.
“I think you’re right.”
Vlad ignored them to easily swing his end away from the door. After some puffing, they moved theirs, finally. He opened the door to the larger storage closet.
“This is huge.” He stepped inside and wandered around the space, checking things out. They only utilized maybe a quarter of the capacity.
“Yes, it’s a nice size,” Maria agreed. She stepped to the pipet section and selected three boxes. All of which she piled into Helena’s arms.
“Thanks.” Except she didn’t want pipets at the moment.
“I have an idea.” Vlad removed the boxes and stored them on the shelf again.
He tugged both of them from the closet and back to the smaller one. “What, love?”
“Why do you use this tiny space?” He waved at the storage closet they used.
“It’s a lot more convenient.”
“How? Wouldn’t it make more sense to store everything in the larger closet and use this smaller one as long term storage? You can park this table in front. With wheels, it would be easy to move.”
“That could work.” Maria sounded unsure.
Vlad’s eyebrows bounced. “You and Helena wouldn’t have to use a step stool all the time if you shifted everything to the larger closet.”
They were interrupted by Tia and Jorge’s return.
“What’s going on?” Tia inquired as she set her sample box on the nearest bench and trudged across the room. In order to be ready for her wedding day Maria had decreed that Tia wear high heels until the event, so of course the poor woman tripped.
One corner of Vlad’s mouth kicked up. “She’s the perfect woman for Aleski,” he murmured only to her.
She smiled. “They’re made for each other. And we love her.”
“Tia, Vlad suggested that we should use this closet and…” Maria explained Vlad’s ideas in the background as she got lost in the dark depths of his eyes.
It was a really nice place to get lost. The man was beyond dreamy.
Behind them, Tia surveyed the space. “I’ve been thinking about doing this too. It makes more sense to use the bigger closet.”
“You decided that yesterday when all those loops fell on your head.” Jorge sounded wise and very bratty.
“That’s not all she said,” she added, but Tia clapped a gentle hand over her mouth.
“I didn’t swear.” Tia narrowed her blue-green eyes.
“No, but what you said was funny. I’ve never heard the word fudge used in that particular manner before.” Her stomach growled.
“I learned words I didn’t know you could put together in the English language.” Jorge sounded musing. “Then I went home and asked for chocolate fudge.”
They laughed, and Vlad smiled at her, and she forgot all about her lab mates.
“I would be happy to help you move all these supplies.” Vlad turned toward Tia and his mother.
The little bubbles of excitement inside burst. While she’d grown all moony eyed, Vlad had been busy rearranging their storage closet in his head. And here he and Maria didn’t believe he fit into the family.
That right there was a strong Maria trait if she ever saw one.
At least she was better off than Tia, who looked horrified. She had the good sense to wear nice comfy sneakers. The dirty look Tia shot her made her smile. At least her feet were happy.
So far, so good, as his American friends would say.
Vlad watched the industrious activity in the two storage areas. He helped by planting himself on the step-stool in the small one and took everything off the upper shelves. Tia and his mother worked at placing lab items on the shelves in the larger storage area.
While he removed items from the various shelves and handed them to either Jorge or Helena, he reasoned out various means of showing the lab staff where the secret door was.
“Isn’t that the last box yet?” Jorge groused as he filled the lab cart with supplies.
“Not yet, but we’re close.” He handed him more items.
Helena pushed a clattering cart through the door. She exchanged a filled one for the empty. “I’m happy to report that although we’ve been at this for days now, the new storage area isn’t even halfway full yet.”
“We’ve been at this for just under an hour.” He smiled at her because he had to.
Jorge paused in stacking the latest boxes. “Not even halfway full?” He didn’t acknowledge Helena’s exaggeration of time, but instead homed in on the amount of storage.
“No. By the time we finish, Tia believes we’ll have at least a quarter of the storage area to add more stuff later on.”
“And you’ll still have this entire closet.” Why they hadn’t switched these closets long ago he didn’t understand…
“Yes. Tia doesn’t believe we’ll use this one much.”
“That’s the idea.” Jorge took several of the boxes and stacked them on some of the lower shelves.
“Shouldn’t those go on the cart?” He watched Jorge and Helena clear a few other things from the full cart.
“No, these stay here.”
“The things we use often will be stored in the other closet. This stuff we only use a few times a year.” Helena pointed out a few boxes. “Tia thought we should go through all the cabinets in the lab, take inventory, and then also move some of that stuff in here.”
Jorge nodded slowly. “It makes sense. If we clear out some of those cabinets, we’ll have room for the supplies we actually use.”
“That was her thought. Who knew she was so organized?” Helena’s face caught the light and he caught his breath. The most breathtaking woman on the planet, right here with him in a laboratory storage closet.
“Doing all this will really help our work flow.” His mother breezed in behind Jorge.
“What are you doing here?” Helena asked, completely unaware of the fact that he was still having trouble breathing because of her. Fortunately, he was adept at hiding his feelings. Sometimes he wondered if he even had feelings.
It was reassuring to know he did.
“Tia sent these things to be stored here.” His mom indicated a full cart.
While they figured out where to place the supplies, he quickly removed everything else from the shelves within his reach and handed them off to Jorge. Then he stepped lightly to the floor. His mom immediately piled the step-stool onto her newly empty cart and whisked it away.
He turned to Jorge and Helena. “Did my mom just steal my stool?”
“Yes,” they both said at the same time and in the same tone.
“So I shouldn’t fight her for it?”
“You’ll lose.” Jorge patted his arm.
“Dad says she fights dirty.”
His companions both nodded. “You don’t know the half of it,” Helena murmured as she peered out the doorway. “Okay, the coast is clear, I’m moving out.”
Jorge moved to the side so he could help him clear another shelf.
Without complaint, even though he really wanted to since Helena left them, he did as indicated. He wasn’t in any hurry to finish this job. Working in the lab wasn’t his life’s ambition, but he did enjoy these people and their constant teasing.
He and Jorge had nearly finished clearing the area by the time Helena returned.
Jorge glowered at her. “Where have you been?”
“What?” He noticed she was staring at him rather than Jorge and he sen
t her a very personal, rather warm smile.
She stared for a long moment before Jorge bumped her and repeated his question. Her cheeks suffused with color and she hastily looked away before seeming to break free of him.
Jorge patiently repeated his question again.
“Oh, Tia finally broke and changed out of those heels and into sneakers.”
He whistled. “How did my mom take that?”
“Not very well.” Helena grinned. “I had to referee.”
“Who won?” Jorge’s smile looked knowing.
“Tia and me.”
With a sad shake of his head, Jorge returned to tugging items off the shelves. “So it’s going to be a scary place to work for the next few days.”
“Don’t worry. I threatened to snap her heels off if she pushed too hard. Maria backed down. It helps that both Tia and I are taller than her.”
His eyebrows soared into his hairline. “You took on my mother and won?” Really? He had doubted that was possible.
“Of course we won. There were two of us, and even in her four inch heels, we’re still taller than her.”
Jorge snorted. “Tia is still taller than her. You’re not.”
Helena sniffed and he paused to stare at her. She looked like a disgruntled kitten. His lips curled up.
“I am taller than Maria.”
“Not when she wears those ridiculous shoes.” Jorge finished piling the cart and then steered it across the lab.
Helena turned to him and since they had a minute, he grabbed her and hugged her tight. One hand dove into her long ponytail while the other curled around her, anchoring her against him. He fused their lips, she melted, and he followed her milliseconds later.
When she moaned into his mouth, he released her. Only because he was afraid of losing his head, and he heard the familiar clatter of an empty lab cart. He fixed Helena’s hair and turned her toward a shelf before he hauled a few things off the one beside him. She worked, although her movements were jerky and she was breathing hard.
His lips curled into a satisfied male grin.
A moment later Jorge joined them and they finished in their closet. He followed them into the other storage area, or at least he loitered in the doorway and watched as the four lab personnel finished storing their precious supplies. He couldn’t help but notice how well they interacted.
The nicest part of the entire experience for him was that he didn’t feel like an outsider. That was a first here at home.
Chapter 6
“There, that’s the last item.” Tia set the remaining box in place. Helena enjoyed the satisfaction oozing from all four of them at a job well done.
“This is going to work a lot better.” Maria straightened a few bottles and they all stepped back to survey their good work.
The large storage closet was now neatly organized and held all of their supplies with room to spare.
Vlad wasn’t sharing in their triumph because he was out locating someone to add wheels to their table. That solution was going to be a handy one when they did need access to the smaller storage area. No longer would it take three of them to move the table.
At least after Vlad found the wheels. He said he could handle the installation but they hadn’t located said wheels, so he went off in search of some.
“Okay, before we lose this wonderful feeling of accomplishment, lets tackle the cabinets and drawers,” Tia decided.
No one groaned because they all realized now was the best possible time to accomplish this. An organized lab where everyone knew where everything was should up efficiency. Years ago this had been a chemistry lab that eventually transitioned into a molecular lab. Now they used it for microbiology, so they needed to sort through the heaps of equipment.
“How should we go about this?” She opened the cabinet nearest her.
“Remove everything and pile it on the bench. The things you’ve never used, pile onto a lab cart,” Tia answered.
Before long, there wasn’t a surface in the lab that wasn’t covered with stuff. Tia flitted from bench to bench and helped sort the items.
“I have never used half of this stuff.” Maria held up an item she had never seen either.
“I know what most of this equipment does, but it won’t much help us.” Tia picked up the phone and quickly started talking. From Tia’s end of the conversation she gathered their boss spoke with Graham. “No, I think you should send some of your molecular research scientists over here. We’ve got equipment we aren’t going to use. They should come and see this stuff. If they can use it, it’s theirs.
“What?” Tia tilted her head. “Oh absolutely, if they have stuff they don’t use and think we can, tell them to bring it by all means.”
She glanced at the stuff still piled on the benches. “Tell them to bring a truck.”
Then lost track of any other pertinent thoughts because Vlad chose that moment to return. One of the maintenance men from the palace followed him, carrying a hefty toolbox. Vlad’s arms were full of what looked like various sized wheels.
Hurrying forward she caught the ones that slipped, and then followed him to the table. There, the two men, soon joined by Jorge, held a conference as to which size wheel would be most suited to the table. Losing interest, she drifted back to Tia and Maria. They were busy sorting through the contents of the main lab bench.
“I suggest we move these into the small storage closet.” Tia gestured toward a nearby pile. Maria wheeled over a cart they stacked haphazardly and set off.
After they reached the closet, they sorted through the items inside and selected additional items to give away. “We won’t use this, or this, or this…” As she spoke Tia loaded up the now empty cart until it groaned. She and Maria helped and soon they had browsed everything that came out of the cupboards.
By the time the men added wheels to the table, and the maintenance man shook Vlad’s hand and exited, the first wave of hospital research staff surged into the room.
“We’re not going to get anything done today, are we?” She stepped out of their way.
“No.” Maria remained in step with her, edging closer and closer to the wall as more lab coats shopped.
It didn’t take long before there were more white coats in the lab than fire officials would permit. Soon she and Jorge and Maria were packed into the larger storage area. Vlad joined them.
“How did it get so crowded in here?” he asked.
She leaned against a shelving unit as she explained.
“He must have called everyone in the entire principality.” Maria crossed her arms, expression disgruntled.
Jorge patted her consolingly. “Don’t worry, they won’t stay long.” Both she and Maria shot glares at him. “I hope we don’t miss lunch.” He didn’t sound hopeful.
Vlad, leaning against the shelves lining the wall containing the secret panel, was amused by their conversation. And busy plotting how to best show them the door without giving himself away.
“We need to relax. Scientists don’t get much time to interact with each other. Give Tia the time she needs.” Helena fidgeted a bit, like she was having trouble believing herself.
His eyes strayed to the gap between the metal shelving. The secret panel was accessible through that scant space. Pretending to narrow his eyes, he stared at the gap.
“Why doesn’t the shelving span the entire length of this wall?”
He hoped his question would take their minds off the boredom.
“I’ve always wondered why that was there.” Helena stepped closer to him and stared at the gap. “It doesn’t make sense.”
His mom stood on his other side. “I can fit in there.” She wiggled between the two shelves and showed that she did, indeed, fit quite nicely.
“Is there another shelf behind this one?” Vlad asked.
All three stared at him, mouths agape for a moment before they turned excitedly to each other. “Go check, Maria,” Helena commanded in an enthused tone.
Jorge added hi
s encouragement as she did so. His mother turned to the side and squeezed through the small space, Helena right behind her. Both women faced the wall and then turned again so they could see behind it. “There’s a whole new shelf back here.” His mother’s voice burbled from the other side.
“Really, more shelving?” Jorge sucked in his small belly and turned between the shelves. It was a tight squeeze but he ended up exclaiming with the women over this new discovery.
Despite his much larger frame, he was going to have to join them. He could do this. There were plenty of times when he had squeezed his bulk into small spaces. He didn’t like it, but he did it. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the side and worked his chest through the tight space. Helena and his mother had shifted so Jorge could fit. Now they all surged forward for Vlad.
Then, in a stroke of fate, his mom’s extra high heel caught in a small hole near the base of the wall. It threw her off balance and she stumbled, right into the secret panel. The newly oiled door gave way under her weight and with a yelp, she plummeted through it.
He leapt to grab her. He had to knock Jorge, who stood between them, out of the way, but he managed to snag his mother, and still keep Jorge upright.
His mom’s hands latched onto him and clung until her world righted itself again. “Thank you for saving me, love.” She sounded dazed.
“What is that?” Jorge pointed, his brow furrowed.
Helena’s eyes widened. “It’s a secret passage.”
They all turned to the door that still swung from the momentum. With another look at each other, Jorge straightened. “We need to inspect this.”
Since this was his goal he said, “I’ll go first.”
He didn’t want any of them stumbling into his control room. It would be difficult to locate, but since they now knew about the passage ways, it wasn’t improbable for them. They were all scientists. That meant they had more than their fair share of curiosity.
