Page 13 of The Scientist
“Aren’t there a lot of other tiny organisms there too?”
I turned to see Stuart staring at me deadpan, and I laughed out loud.Technically, he stood about the same height as me, around five-foot-five, but I still had to tease him a bit.
“I’ll have you know dynamite comes in small packages,” he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Are you saying you should come with a warning label?” I asked. “Because I completely agree.”
I spotted the barest flicker of a smile on Strovinski’s lips before he started up the engine, which, unlike mine, was working perfectly.
Stuart fixed me with another blank stare before he turned to Lex. “Where did you say you found this one?”
As soon as Lex started the car, a loud blast of music came through the speakers blaring Cher’s“If I Could Turn Back Time.”
We all jumped as he hurried to shut the music off. There were ten seconds of complete silence before I couldn’t take it anymore. I burst out laughing.
“Smooth, man,” Stuart muttered under his breath.
“My aunt was visiting over the weekend,” he explained. “I let her borrow my car yesterday to go pick up dinner.”
I tried covering my smile when I saw how mortified he looked. “Whatever you say.”
“Stuart can tell you. She stayed with us all weekend.”
“It’s okay to love Cher. She’s an icon. No need to be embarrassed,” I told him.
“Stuart?” he asked, looking for reinforcement.
Stuart clamped a hand on his shoulder. “We all have our passions, Lex. It’s no use hiding them from the world.”
He sighed, giving up the argument with the two of us ganging up on him, and pulled out of the parking lot.
“So Hadley, you’re new to California, right?” Stuart asked, giving Lex a break.
“Yes. I just moved here from New York.”
“Well, we’ve been here for a few months now. We’d love to show you around the city sometime, just so you can get the lay of the land. I mean, unless your boyfriend’s already doing that.”
I smiled, knowing what he was getting at. “Well, with his job, he really doesn’t have time.”
I glanced over to Lex, whose face remained expressionless.
“So you do have a boyfriend… figures,” Stuart said with a hint of bitterness.
“Yes. His name’s Bruce.”
“Bruce?” he said as if the name were offensive. “What kind of a name isBruce? Sounds like some meathead football player.”
“He’s actually a scientist too.”
“What?” they asked simultaneously, both turning their heads to look at me. Their tone was incredulous. I had to work hard to hide my smile.
“Yeah, he’s incredibly smart and a really nice guy. Well… most of the time, anyway.”
Stuart’s brows pinched together. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. “I can’t explain it. He just has this dark side. Sometimes it scares me how angry he can get.”
I could tell I had them eating out the palm of my hand. “Anyway, he’s absolutely brilliant. The smartest guy there is.”