As I was walking back to my apartment from the gym, I couldn't help but replay the scene that had transpired in the shower over and over again. His behavior made no sense. Hadn't he been cold and threatening to me just the week before? Did it matter? I had a hard time convincing myself that it did, but the way my body responded towards his touches totally betrayed everything I was thinking.
Finally back at my apartment, I forced myself to shove those thoughts out of mind. I had more important things to occupy my brain space. I actually lucked out in finding such a great apartment in such a short amount of time. There was a giant main living room that had a very modern look to it. Too bad it was filled with my old college furniture...The kitchen though, was my baby. The floors were hardwood in a deep mahogany color. The counters were a great tan granite color and all the appliances were stainless steel and all top of the line. I had allotted most of my money to the kitchen. Here is where I felt at home. Maybe it's the way cooking makes me feel. Everything in the lab is so controlled and precise. No room for error or improvising. Here, I can tweak things to my exact liking and make rash decisions about what to throw in the mix. As a result, I turned out to be a really good cook.
There were two bedrooms, one I had turned into an office, and the other was mine, of course. I had a giant king size bed (another thing I spent a lot of money on). The bed was covered in Egyptian cotton white sheets and a huge warm, but light as a cloud, white duvet. I had always wanted an all white bed growing up, and now I finally had it. The walls I had painted a chocolate brown color and had touches of sea foam and gold accents throughout the room. Other than the kitchen, this room was my escape.
I decided to take another shower. Considering how the last one ended up, I needed to just cleanse myself. I stood under the hot water for God knows how long when my peace was interrupted by my phone. I ignored it, but it just started to ring again.
I cursed silently to myself as I stepped out from the warmth of the hot water and steam into the colder air of my room.
"What?" I said into my phone a little more harshly than I intended to.
"Geez, SOMEONE is in a mood. Anyway I just wanted to call and tell you that I have to push dinner back an hour....I am stuck in the lab waiting for these plates to finish up." Ellen replied.
"That's fine. I've been there before. See you soon."
"Bye dear!"
Looking at the clock I was thankful she called, because if not, I would not have made it on time. How long had I been in the shower? At least now I had time to get ready. I decided on a pair of dark wash jeans that were a bit on the skinny side, but not too tight, and a cobalt blue button up shirt and black shoes. After spending way too much time on my hair trying to get it to look less like I had just gotten out of bed, I gave up. I mumbled angrily to myself about just cutting it short as I put in into a small ponytail.
As I reached the restaurant, I saw Ellen waving at me like a teenage girl. I chuckled to myself and thought how in the world was she so happy and peppy all the time.
Having never eaten at this café before, I wasn't too sure what to order, but as it turned out, I don't think it would have mattered. Everything was delicious.
The waitress we had was probably around my age or so and was quite pretty. She had strawberry blonde hair and sky blue eyes. She was a little on the taller end for most girls but she had very distinct curves. Any one, male or female, could clearly see how pretty she was.
"And what can I get for a handsome gentlemen such as yourself tonight?" she said in a tone that almost implied something other than taking my food order.
"I'll have the Herb Crusted Salmon with the marinated vegetables. And a sweet tea."
She giggled a little and said "Obviously you are from the south judging by that accent, but I am so sorry, we don't have sweet tea. I can bring you unsweet and there is some sugar on the table if you wish."
Mentally crying on the inside about not being able to have my sweet tea fix, I mumbled "Water is fine."
She took Ellen's order, winked at me, then left.
Still depressed about the sweet tea it took me a few seconds to see Ellen smirking at me.
"What?"
"She likeeeedddd you." She sang.
"Huh."
"Huh? Huh? She was gorgeous. Could you not tell? How out of it are....oh!"
I mentally cringed at what was about to come. Now I have never been one to be embarrassed about being gay or anything, but I didn't announce it to the world. If I was asked, I would answer honestly. And a few times in the past, it has led to some issues.
"Or maybe you didn't notice because she doesn't have the right equipment."
I nearly choked on my drink.
"Oh sweetie that's wonderful! Don't worry about anything. I won't tell anyone of you don't wish me too, Ben. And I will still love you all the same."
I managed to mumble out a small "Thanks".
After that, dinner went by with no consequence. Ellen pretty much took hold of all the conversation telling me about what exactly she did in her lab and how she came to work for the University and the classes she teaches.
I told her a little about my undergrad and graduate school programs and what exactly I was doing in my research.
Soon the evening was over and the waitress brought us our check. Ellen insisted on paying, despite my arguing, but giggled as she looked at it; in the top corner, our waitress had put her name and number with a little heart next to it. I just laughed along with Ellen.
When I got home I was completely exhausted and stripped down out of all my clothes. I slept naked most of the time because I loved the feel of my sheets against my skin. I was out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. But the thought that I completely forgot to ask Ellen about Gabriel quickly passed into my head.
****
I woke up early the morning wanting to get started in the lab as soon as possible because I knew I had a long process ahead of me. Phase 2 consisted of growing the microbes in the Kaolin, then identifying the exact species of organisms in the clay. In Phase 1, it had taken me forever to determine that there were indeed things growing in the clay and then identify the two distinct classes of microbes. First there were the methanogens. These microbes produce methane as a metabolic byproduct. These are classified as Archaea , which is more primitive than Bacteria. These guys are most commonly found in marshes and animal remnants (most commonly known for in cows). The other group of microorganisms is the Sulfur Acetogens. These are far more advanced than the methanogens as the rely on sulfur for metabolic purposes.
Anyway, I needed to get started on making the plates and growing the microbes because I needed a decent number of cultures to provide enough DNA for all the tests I need to do. So I popped in my ear buds and got to work. I decided to make about 150 plates up. After I made the mix, I had to autoclave the batch in order to kill anything that was possibly growing in the flasks or anything that may have fallen in the solution as I prepped. This would take about two hours. In the mean time I figured I would go ahead and prep the Kaolin solution. I measured out enough clay to match the plate counts and put in into the centrifuge. I paused my music to listen to one of most favorite sounds in the world. Call me a nerd but I love the soft purring sound the machine makes as it rotates the mix at an impossibly fast speed. Once that was down and I had filtered out the supernatant and did the proper dilutions, I had about an hour and a half left before the autoclave went off.
Deciding there was not much I could do until my batch was done baking I decided to walk around the science building. I had been here almost two weeks and I still had yet to take in the beauty of the place I practically lived in. There were three floors to the old brick building; each level having its own "major" and held rooms for classes and multitudes of student and private labs/offices. The basement was where the Physics and Geology departments were. Something about their machines needing firm grounding or whatever caused them to claim that floor. It had been nicknamed "The Dungeon". I clearly understood why. It was dark down there because of the lack of windows due to the fact it was underground. There was no cell service and it was cold. Not my cup of tea. The second, and main, floor is obviously the best floor because it is the biology floor. The third floor is the Chemistry floor and it brings up feelings or angst, depression, frustration, and pure hatred. I quickly walked around that floor before I had to leave.
Finally there is a small staircase in the corner of the biology hall that is almost hidden. It leads up to the old closed down observatory. After walking up the spiral staircase, I entered the most peaceful place I have ever been in. It was dark save the small light let in by the single window in the roof of the dome. There was no furniture of any sort in the room except for empty bookshelves and an old desk. There was a small nook where you could sit and not be seen by anyone, I immediately decided this was going to become my new spot. I loved it here and it gave me plenty of time to think and get away from the chaos of my job.
My alarm went off all too soon telling me my agar mix was complete. With a sigh I slowly made my way back to my lab. It was only noon and I still had so much to do...
****
Once back in the lab, I had to quickly pour the mix into the plates before it thickened up. Once done I just had to wait a few minutes for the agar to harden then I could incubate them just to double check nothing was growing on them yet. I took these few minutes to wash the equipment I used. There is nothing more I hate in the world than a dirty lab. I was so involved in washing the equipment and dancing to the music being pumped into my ears that I hadn't seen the person in the doorway to my lab.
Gabriel was leaning casually on the door frame of the lab enjoying the sight in front of him. Bentley hadn't noticed he was there and was dancing to the beat of whatever he was listening to. Gabriel took this opportunity to look over Bentley. He was shorter and smaller then Gabriel but not feminine. He had a toned body and was wearing jeans that hugged his hips and ass in just the right way. His shirt was snug with the sleeves pushed up showing off arms. His dark black hair was pulled back up off his face and neck with a stray piece hanging in his eyes. Gabriel wanted so much to see it down and run his fingers through it and tug on it. The way he was moving his hips wasn't especially sexy but he had such a cute ass that it took a surprising amount of will power to stop Gabriel from going over there and bending him over the counter and taking him hard and fast right there. Gabriel told himself Bentley was more than a quick fuck. He was worth the wait. He knew he was very dominant in his ways liked to get what he wanted without question, but he didn't want to scare Bentley. He needed to take this slow. Well slow according to Gabriel.
All of a sudden I felt a tingle run down my spine as I scrubbed the flask. It was a very familiar tingle. One that made me uneasy yet turned on at the same time. When I turned around to look at the source of this feeling, no one was there.
