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A look of understanding crosses his face. “So, the timing on having me show up couldn’t be worse.”
“Pretty much.”
“Gotcha. Well, the last thing I want to do is hold you up. Why don’t you stick me in a corner somewhere with some videos to watch or something? Or maybe I can just quietly observe you, you know, like Jane Goodall and the chimps,” he says, quickly adding, “I don’t mean to compare you to a chimpanzee. Sorry.”
“I’m actually not as insulted as you’d think.”
“Really?”
“No, Jane Goodall does good science,” I answer. “Look, it would be extremely helpful if I can get you set up doing some independent learning, at least for a few days. Then, when I’m past this big hump, I can bring you in and let you in on what I’m doing, and hopefully it’ll help you.”
“Sounds good.”
A chime from my computer tells me Frank is finally finished. I glance at the screen, feeling torn between excitement to see what Frank did and disappointed that our conversation has to end just when it was getting fun.
Hudson nods. “That sounded important. Why don’t I go get us each a coffee and let you get back to it?”
“That would be amazing,” I tell him. “Thank you.”
Standing, he says, “How do you take yours?”
“Now you’re going to know all my bad habits,” I answer, feeling a little embarrassed to tell a man who probably hasn’t touched a grain of sugar since he was a child how I take my coffee. “There’s a disgustingly sweet french vanilla creamer in the fridge that has my name on it. Just keep pouring it in until the coffee’s lukewarm.”
He bursts out laughing. “Okay, one disgustingly sweet coffee coming up.”
“Thanks,” I say as he walks out into the hall. “Oh, and you can have some too if you like.”
He won’t because sugar is for mortals, but I felt like I had to offer.
Okay, he’s gone. Now I can concentrate for a few minutes. As soon as he gets back, I’ll set him up with the SETI Guys podcast. But for now, I need to see what Frank was able to do.
I start reading the report he spit out, but honestly I can’t even concentrate.
Okay, calm down, Allie. Just calm down and focus. You need to forget about Mr. Handsome because time is ticking. So, just … don’t think about how warm and delicious it felt when he laughed at your coffee order.
Focus.
I chew my lip for a second, then pick up my phone and text Gwen, who I still can’t believe isn’t sitting next to me.
Me
You in yet?
Gwen
Yup! Just caught a peek of Hudson walking to the lunchroom. He said hi to Virgil and me. He’s like every Disney prince rolled together into one human man.
I put in my ear buds and dial her number. As soon as she picks up, I say, “I’m just calling to see if you can come here and slap me across the face because I really need to focus but my brain is completely scrambled at the moment.”
She laughs, then says, “Good luck with that. I have a feeling everyone in the building is going to be struggling to think straight until he leaves. Is he, like, ridiculously charming or is it just me?”
“Nope, he’s charming,” I answer. “Oh, and guess what? He brought me the biggest basket of fruit I’ve ever seen to thank me for helping him.”
“Seriously?” she asks, her voice going all high and squeaky.
“Yup.”
“You’ll be able to lay off your Activia for a while.”
