by Ali Parker
“Yes, Mr. Phillips?”
“Can I see you in my office?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be right there,” I said. As he walked out, I unbuttoned my lab coat and hung it back up. Taking a deep breath, I walked out into the hall and headed to his office. I grew more nervous with every single step. Holy crap, what if there were cameras in the lab? Of course there were, it was a college laboratory. I must have been caught. My face grew red as I thought about Mr. Phillips reviewing video with security guards of Tanner and I having sex. I would be the laughing stock of the entire town. I would be dropped from the school and no accredited place would ever take me. All of this started to compile in my head and my breathing grew rapid. I even started to sweat a little. I walked into his office.
“Please sit down,” he said, closing the door behind me. This was obviously very serious. He never closed the door unless it was serious.
“Tanner Dawson will not be coming into the lab with you any longer,” he said.
I sat there in silence. It was true. I’d been busted. I was so embarrassed, I could barely speak.
“I think the time of you two working together is over,” he said.
“All right,” I replied.
“It seems that the problem has been solved, hasn’t it? I got a call from his father and the crops are doing well. Whatever you guys did worked. I want a full report. Start on it as soon as possible. Then we will go from there with the next steps. I think this could be your thesis, you could even be published. You might have come up with a cure with the help of Mr. Dawson.”
My eyes grew wide. I was completely shocked. I thought he was going to tell me that he caught me having sex with Tanner, instead it was Tanner who was ending the work.
“Did you say you spoke to Tanner’s father? They want to end the research, I mean they decided Tanner’s through coming into the lab?” I asked.
“Yes, you’ve done a great job. Congratulations, Madison. Now get to work on that report, and thank you for keeping your work with the Dawson’s quiet. I know that probably wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. I want you to keep them out of the report as well. Just list them as a participating farm,” Mr. Philips said, standing up and reaching his hand out to shake mine.
“Wait, but it’s not solved. There is more research needed and experiments to be done. Just now when I walked into the lab it didn’t look like—”
“It’s all going to be fine, Madison. Just keep up with your results recording and reporting. I will talk to you at the end of the week on Friday to see where you are at. I need to go because I am heading toward another meeting with the board. Come on let’s go,” he said, rushing me out of his office. He all but pushed me out and closed the door.
This wasn’t right. The cleaning solution wasn’t the answer, or at least it wasn’t the entire answer. I needed to tell Tanner. I needed to tell him that the section of his crops that we’d sprayed were in danger and in a few days would be in bad shape.
I walked back to the lab and started to think. What if it was Tanner that told his father he didn’t want to come in to the lab anymore? What if he was the one that put a stop to seeing me? I did make it very clear that I didn’t want to be involved with him romantically. Would he do that? Would he do that out of spite, and just stop working? I guess he thought that the crops had been cured, so why would he need to come back to the lab.
Pacing back and forth, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go tell Tanner that the crops were sick this morning when I walked in, but what if he didn’t want to see me? I went to look at the corn, it had only been a few minutes since I’d put the water on, and they still looked the same.
I’ll give it until lunch time and then figure it out.
I sat down at the computer and went to work on reporting these new results. I sat there for hours working on different documents. But I kept getting distracted, I kept thinking about why Tanner wouldn’t come into the lab, at least to tell me himself that he wouldn’t be working anymore. It just didn’t make sense to me.
Hours went by and I was feeling very anxious. At lunch, I went to the cafeteria and grabbed a to-go sandwich. I ate it while walking back to the lab. Then I checked on the corn again.
It’s working, I think it’s working, I thought to myself. It looked to me like the leaves weren’t as wilted. It wasn’t 100% better, but it was getting there. This was a new result. I went to the computer and added it to the details. That was it, I had to go tell Tanner.
I locked up the lab and got in my car. I was nervous. I knew that I needed to tell him about these results, but what if he didn’t want to see me? What if he was the one that put a stop to him coming into the lab and not his father?
It didn’t matter. I had to put the crops before my own feelings.
“This is why you don’t get involved at work,” I said to myself, as I started my car and pulled out of the parking lot. I drove out to the Dawson Ranch feeling extremely nervous.
17
Tanner
I was working the crop line, though I should have been in the lab today with Madison. I felt like there were a lot of unsaid things between us. But over breakfast that morning my father told me that he had spoken with Mr. Phillips and that I wouldn’t be needed in the lab anymore. In that moment, I was confused. My father didn’t go into details, he simply said I needed to get back to my work here at the ranch anyway.
I wanted to ask questions, but my brothers and Abi were staring at me as though waiting for me to have a reaction. So I just shrugged my shoulders and agreed.
But I knew that all eyes were on me, especially Connor, who knew more than the rest of them about what was going on. I had made a mistake by looking at him over breakfast after the news. He had a big stupid grin on his face. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.
But as I quietly ate my bacon and eggs, I wondered. What happened? Was this Madison? Did she request that I not come into the lab anymore? Did she tell Mr. Phillips and then he called my father? The thoughts were raging in my head. I didn’t know what was going on. I wanted to call her and I planned to, but not with all these listening ears around me.
After breakfast I walked out to the crop line where I could get some privacy, and to check on the plants. I looked at my phone, ready to call her. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t do it. What if she was annoyed with me? What if she didn’t want to hear from me? She was probably the one that told Mr. Phillips to keep me out of the lab. She was very adamant about not dating me, and now she didn’t want to see me at all. I put my phone back in my pocket.
I went to work hoeing a line, hitting the hoe into the dirt hard. I was taking out all of my frustration on the earth. I wanted to call her and give her a piece of my mind. Just because she couldn’t handle romance with me didn’t mean she had to kick me out of the lab. I thought that there was still work to be done. This thing was only half finished as far as I was concerned. I was growing so heated that I took my shirt off and threw it on the ground. It was a hot and humid Texas day and I was already sweating like crazy.
Hearing the familiar sound of a horse coming down the road. I looked up to see Abi on Thunder.
“You alright? You seemed a little distracted at breakfast,” she asked.
“I’m fine. Just have a lot of work to catch up on, that’s all.”
“Really? It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re not going into the lab today and maybe you thought you were? You changed clothes after breakfast to come work in the field.”
“I had to. I couldn’t exactly work in the field in what I was wearing.”
“So it’s nothing to do with the fact that you’re not going to see your girlfriend today when you thought you were?”
I stopped hoeing and looked at her.
“Abi, she’s not my girlfriend. Never was.”
“So she was just a friend?”
“Yes, just my lab partner,”
“So you don’t care if you don’t see her ag
ain?”
“Well, she is a friend. I hope I would see her again, but I don’t need to see her every day, no.”
I went back to my work, just so I could lower my eyes. I didn’t want her to see that I wasn’t telling the truth.
“Besides, Father really wants me to get back on this work here, it’s been too long.”
“You don’t sound too happy about that?”
“No, I am. I like the work. This is everything to me, to us.”
“I just want you to be happy, you know,” Abi said.
“I’m not sure if Madison would be what would make me happy,” I said.
“So you wouldn’t care to see Madison again so soon?”
“No, I don’t care when I see her.”
“Really? Because she is coming down the road right now,”
The hoe fell out of my hands, causing Abi to laugh. “Seems like maybe she is the thing that can make you happy. Look at you, grinning from ear to ear.” Abi chuckled as she waved the car down.
The car pulled over to the side and Madison got out.
“Hey Madison,” Abi said. I was shocked that Abi was the picture of politeness all of a sudden.
“Hello,” Madison said, looking confused.
“I was just taking Thunder here for a run. Tanner was just talking about you. Well gotta go,” Abi said, giving me a wink and then trotting off on Thunder.
Madison walked over to me. “You were just talking about me?”
“Abi exaggerates,” I said, lying.
“Oh I see…” she said.
“So, what brings you out to the ranch?” I asked.
“We need to talk.”
“All right, I’m listening.”
This was it. She was going to tell me why she asked Mr. Phillips to arrange for me not to come into the lab anymore. I was ready to listen. Whatever she was going to say I would have to understand and respect her boundaries. That was what a gentleman would do.
“It’s about the crops,” she said.
“The problem is resolved. The cleaner works for whatever reason. So that’s that, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. It’s not resolved. The plants in the lab are dying. The ones that we sprayed the cleaner on that seemed to be doing so well. When I came in this morning they were not in a good way.”
“Seriously? Shit. That’s not good. These still seem to be alright,” I said, walking over to the line we had sprayed.
“Yes, but we did spray the ones in the lab earlier than these. I sprayed a little water on the plants this morning and after a while it seemed to help. I think that maybe the cleaner is just too strong. It might be about finding the right amount. Or maybe it is a step process. First spray, wait, and then water the plant to wash it off. I don’t know. The point is that just using the cleaner by itself is not the solution.”
“I see your point. We do need to work on this then. What should we do?” I asked her. I didn’t want to invite myself back into the lab, not after she made a point to get me removed. But I wanted to see what she wanted to do about this. I stood there waiting for an answer. She looked around at the crops, taking them in her hands. Studying them, I really liked it when she was in the process of analyzing. It was damn sexy.
“Well, you could come back to the lab. I mean just for today if you want. That way we can figure this out in a controlled environment, the way science should be,” she finally said.
“You want me in the lab? With you?”
“I never didn’t want you in the lab,” she said with an awkward tone. I could see her face turning pink.
Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Could this be true? Maybe it was possible that she didn’t kick me out of the lab after all. I held my breath thinking about it. I wanted to ask her straight out, but I felt awkward. But my need to know was stronger than the awkwardness.
“You didn’t? So you didn’t tell Mr. Phillips to call my father and tell him that I wouldn’t be needed in the lab anymore?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t. I thought you did. That you told your father to call Mr. Phillips I mean.” She spoke timidly.
“No, I didn’t. I thought for sure you’d kicked my ass out,” I said.
“No, I did not.” A smile started to form on her face. I realized that she had been confused about the whole thing as well.
I felt sweet relief wash over me as this became very clear. It wasn’t Madison that pushed me away from her in the lab. It was all just a mix-up. I was so damn relieved.
“You know what. I bet it was my father. Mr. Phillips probably told him the progress that we were having and my father decided he needed me here more than I needed to be in the lab. But he doesn’t understand how science works. That nothing is magic and absolute, it takes time.”
“It takes progress,” she said, finishing my sentence.
“Yes, exactly,” I said, smiling broadly now. I could feel the chemistry rising between us once more. I wanted to take her in my arms right then and kiss her. But I knew that I couldn’t. She just looked so damn good with her hair in a braid, and wearing her jeans and t-shirt. She was in her lab clothes and I liked that, just as much as I liked her bikini.
“Well, what now?” she asked.
“I guess I will get in my truck and follow you back to the lab so we can figure out the situation together,”
“All right, I’ll give you a lift to your truck,” she said.
I put the hoe in her trunk and together we rode up to the ranch.
“Madison, I have to thank you for coming out here to tell me about this. I know you didn’t have to do that. You don’t owe the Dawson ranch anything. It was very kind of you, especially since you thought I may have bailed on you.”
“Hey, we’re in this together still. I’m not going to suddenly decide that this experiment is over,” she said.
I looked at her and wondered if she was talking about the experiment in the lab, or this social experiment between the two of us.
I ran into the house and grabbed my keys. I wasn’t going to tell anyone because they would be too nosey about it, especially Connor.
Waving at Madison, I jumped in my truck. She turned around and pulled out of the driveway and I followed her. I knew that I had been wrong about what I told Abi. It was quite possible, and even highly likely, that Madison was the very thing that was making me happy lately. When I thought I wasn’t going to see her again I felt awful, even depressed. Now I felt happy again, I was in the clouds. Even though she brought bad news, just seeing her made me feel good. I was suddenly happy that she was back in my life and that I would be back in the lab with her.
18
Madison
Being near Tanner for the first time after we’d had sex in the lab was very hard to do. I had a rush of feelings come over me. When I was driving up to the ranch and saw Abi waving me down, I grew nervous. At first I thought she was going to tell me off or something. Like I should never come around the ranch anymore. But to my surprise she was nice instead.
But it was seeing Tanner with his shirt off, sweating and working in the field that really took me by surprise. My body immediately responded to him. I was confused at just how easy it was to get aroused when I saw him. It was like making a hungry person smell a hot meal and not be able to have it. His muscular form was wet, his six pack abs toned and ripped. His skin was a nice bronze from working in the sun. I could hardly take my eyes off of him.
And when he told me that he wasn’t the one that called off working in the lab, I felt complete relief. I had been so worried, and it was all for nothing. It was all just a mix-up. That made me feel good, really good, however, it also made me feel exposed. I had to show him that it bothered me when I thought he had called off working in the lab, and that was a hard thing for me to do. I wasn’t the vulnerable type. I was strong, even Jenna said I never showed my true feelings. That’s because it was hard for me.
Now, he was following me back to the lab and I felt really good about it. Not just be
cause I was going to get his point of view on the sick plants, but because I was going to be in his company. I had only been away from him for a day and a half and I’d already missed him badly. This was bad. This was really bad.
Ring. Ring.
I looked over at my phone on the passenger seat. It was Tanner calling me. That was strange. I looked in my rearview mirror to see his truck behind me. I picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, would you mind if we stopped at the diner so I can grab a quick bite. I am absolutely starving, I was working that field for several hours.”
“All right, sure. I’ll pull in.”
“Thank you.”
I hung up the phone. We pulled into the diner and I got out of the car. Tanner gave me a smile and opened the door to the diner for me. I walked in. “Thank you.”
“Two?” The hostess said.
“Yes, a booth if possible.” Tanner said.
“Right this way,” she said.
We sat in the booth and ordered. I just got an order of fries, considering that I’d eaten a sandwich not too long ago. Tanner got a burger, fries, and a shake. He was obviously very hungry and I didn’t doubt it after the hard work he has been doing out in the field. An image of him sweating with his shirt off flashed through my mind.
“Thank you for stopping. I don’t think I could concentrate properly in the lab with a growling stomach. You know, being too hungry.”
“Yes, I know all about being hungry.”
“You do?”
“Yes, of course.” I didn’t know if we were still talking about food, or something else. The way he was looking at me with a sideways grin made me think that we were definitely talking about sex.
“So Madison, what do you do when you’re not in the lab?”
I smiled. “You want to know about me?”
“Yes, of course. I already know that you’re the most intelligent woman I have ever met. I know you work in the lab doing your research and finishing your master’s. But I don’t know much else, and I would like to.”
