Note: Ok, this didn't actually happen. But the idea popped into my head and completely distracted me from the speech I had been so looking forward to hearing. Thought I would share it anyway.
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To put it mildly, I'm a science nerd. Specifically about chemistry. I spend just about every day in a lab working on pharmaceuticals. Unless I'm in meetings. Then I just try to stay awake. Anyway, I've spent the last several years working on protein degradation. In nature, protein degradation is what happens in digestion. But in some of our research, we are looking for ways to enhance protein degradation as a way to fight several diseases. It also has potential to lead to dietary enhancement and weight loss.
But that's beside the point. What was really exciting was that a Nobel Prize winner for chemistry was set to be the keynote speaker at a conference in Florida. I pulled in all the favors my boss owed me and got approved to fly to Florida to attend the conference. Man, I was bouncing off the walls when that got approved. I was actually going to get to see my hero speak about something I do every day. I might even get to meet him. I got my airline tickets and hotel and got everything set.
Living in Kansas City, I don't get to the beach very often. So, that was a great perk about the conference, being right on the water in Miami. Key West would have been better, but beggars can't be choosers. I bought a couple of new bikinis that had come out this spring (couldn't use them yet in the Midwest). One was reasonably conservative, the other a bit more showy since I was going to be in Florida and not know anyone there. Even though I'm pale, and a science nerd, I still think I fill a bikini pretty well. My boobs didn't come in until late in college, which may or may not have been a good thing. I wasn't really pursued in college until senior year when they came in. And by then I had focused on school and was doing pretty well.
Well, the calendar finally cooperated and I headed down to Miami for three days of science nerdiness. My hero guy was scheduled to speak first thing in the morning to welcome everyone to the conference, so I came in the night before to make sure I was ready. Got in about 9 p.m. and just headed to the room to clear out the email that had come in during the day and get ready for the conference. Getting unpacked I had second thoughts about the smaller bikini I brought for the beach but reminded myself that nobody here knew me and I would be just like everyone else in Miami. I also brought some of my sexier outfits in case I ended up going out in the evening or snuck off to do some shopping. I rarely wore any of those outfits in Kansas, but when in Rome...
Morning finally arrived. Well, it arrived a little early, what with the one hour difference. But I got up in time and got showered and ready to go when I realized I had one slight problem. I had packed a suit with a nice dark grey skirt and matching jacket. But in all the packing I managed to forget to pack the white button up shirt to go under the jacket. My heart sank and my stomach lurched. Here I was, thirty minutes from the conference starting, too early in the morning to try to find a new shirt, and I'm stuck. None of my shirts matched at all. They would look really stupid under the suit jacket.
My few options ran through my head. Not go to the conference until I could get a shirt and end up missing the keynote speaker that was the whole reason for me to be there. Wear something really stupid under the jacket. Or wear the jacket with it fully buttoned and hope not to stand out too bad.
I tried it on and it didn't seem too bad. With the jacket buttoned it just looked like a somewhat low cut outfit. Like I said, my boobs had come in, so I had to be extra careful. But that was my outfit for the morning and I bustled down to the conference center, checked in and got a seat as close as possible to the front (there were about 300 people in the room). I put down my pad folio to save my spot and went to get a cup of coffee. As I was getting my coffee the conference organizer began the day, making the various welcomes and announcements. By the time I doctored the coffee and grabbed a muffin they were starting to do the introduction to Dr. Schnorr, my Nobel Prize winner. I walked from the back of the room to the front, zig zagging between the round tables to get back to my seat and finally sat down just as the Dr. was stepping to the podium.
While I had read many of the good doctor's papers, I realized I had never seen a picture of him before. I was expecting one of those old university professor types. You know, gray hair and beard. Spare tire and all that. What I saw though made me gasp a little. Wow! Tall, cut, with a full head of nearly black hair. Chiseled features and really well dressed. And there I was, about 15 feet away.
Ok. All that I've written above is what actually happened. What happens below, sadly, only happened in my head. I have no idea what he spoke about after the first 5 minutes because I couldn't concentrate on anything else.
Dr. Schnorr started his presentation. "Thank you for the gracious comments and introduction Dr. Petersen. I wish my mom were here to hear you say those nice things. She wanted me to be a baseball player, so she's always been disappointed in me." This got some chuckles from the audience, many of whom probably couldn't tell the difference between a football and a baseball. The doctor continued, "You may think I'm here to talk about chemistry and proteins and the future of diagnostics. But I'm not. And I hope that doesn't disappoint you. I'm here to talk about leadership in science. You see, you can't be just a scientist. You need to go beyond that. Some of you already have. You can be a leader; you can be a teacher, or even a mentor. But you can't just live your life in the lab and not communicate with the world around you. You need to take things further."
"For example, here we are in this room with what, 200, 250, maybe 300 people. And I bet that if you didn't already know them, you probably haven't spoken to anyone else at your table." Many in the crowd laughed, although a bit nervously. "Please take the next minute to introduce yourselves to the people at your table." There was actually a collective gasp at this point, as the social introverts sucked in all the air in their fear of having to actually talk to someone.
"On second thought, hold that. Don't introduce yourself just yet. Let me try something." Dr. Schnorr walked away from the podium and reached behind him to apparently turn on the lapel microphone. "Is this mike working? Good. Let's try something different today." He walked off the stage and headed straight for my table. My table. My heart started racing. I mean, really racing. Here's this surprisingly attractive Nobel Prize winner, the reason I came to this conference, walking to my table! The tables were round, with 6 chairs at each, with a gap at the end closest to the lectern, so that people didn't have to turn their backs from the table. I was on the far right and the doctor walked up to the person on the far left.
"Please, stand up," he told the man. "What's your name?" He held up the regular microphone to the man.
"B-bob. Er Dr. Hastings" the man bumbled.
"Great to meet you!"
"How about you? Stand up and tell everyone your name." He did this for the other four men at the table, all fitting the mold of the university science teacher or researcher who lived in his lab. They all mumbled through basic introductions. My heart was popping out of my chest in fear. Here I am, about to be stood up to meet my hero, right here in front of everyone.
And then I remembered how I was dressed, with just a push-up bra under my suit jacket. Amazingly, my heart rate actually increased.
My turn! He put his left hand on my shoulder and grabbed my right hand as he asked me to stand. I gazed into his eyes. I'm only 5'4" and he was at least 6'. So I had some room to look up and realized his eyes were this remarkably clear sky blue. Wow. "And you, what is your name?"
"S-S- Sarah," I finally got out.
"Nice to meet you Sarah." I started to sit down, but he had other plans. "Sarah, please turn around to the crowd and tell everyone what you work on. I could tell that my face was flushing a deep scarlet as I turned. Dr. Schnorr's left hand pushed a little on my shoulder as he held the mike to me from behind. The pressure on that part of the jacket caused it to gape open a lot. From his vantage over my right shoulder he would have a perfect view into my jacket at my left boob. Fortunately, in my bra, even though it was a push up. My brain reeled at the idea that my hero had a virtually unimpeded view of my tit.