Page 14 of The Scientist
Stuart scoffed. “I doubt that. I’ve never even heard of him. What’s Bruce’s last name?”
I had to bite my lip to keep the laughter from escaping. “Banner,” I said, waiting for the joke to set in. When the realization finally hit, Stuart threw his hands in the air, and Lex actually smiled the first true smile I’d ever seen him wear. It changed his face completely. There was a crinkle at the edges of his eyes that made him seem warm and almost approachable.
“Okay… you’re an asshole,” Stuart said dryly, and I laughed even harder. “Are you really even from New York?”
My chin lifted in mock indignation. “I would never joke about that.”
“Let me check to see if your pants are on fire.”
I chuckled before turning to them. “What about you guys? Where are you both from?”
“I’m from Portland,” Stuart answered. “City of Roses.”
“Chicago,” Lex stated. I wondered if he’d entered some kind of a contest to say as few words as possible around me.
“The talk of the town is Stanford gave you a heaping pile of money to do your research here.”
“It’s true,” Stuart confirmed. “They offeredDoctorStrovinskia deal we couldn’t refuse. We were working at NIH, but they wanted too much of a say in what we were doing, so we started shopping around and found Stanford. The only requirement they had was that we teach a course each semester.”
I tilted my head. “So, is it just you and Lex then?”
“No, the whole team moved here. There are eight of us who have been together since the beginning. But we’ve acquired a few more team members since we got here.”
“That’s pretty amazing that you’ve stuck together all these years.”
“What can I say? Opens more doors when you’ve got the doc on your team.” He said it mockingly, but it was clear he wasn’t resentful.
“And have the two of youalwayslived together?” I asked, eyeing him meaningfully.
Stuart paused before shouting, “It’s not what you think!”
I laughed even more and realized how good it felt. Even if it was just for this short drive, I was grateful for the brief escape from the heavy reality that had brought me here in the first place.
As we drove along, I took the time to admire the campus.It was absolutely stunning, but I was a little overwhelmed by the size of it. The defining characteristics of the university’s architecture were thesandstone buildings withcovered colonnades and half-circle arches stretching out in long corridors, giving it that historical Romanesque feel. I noticed a large portion of the campus was canopied by coastal live oak trees interspersed with different variants of eucalyptus trees. I knew if I stared at it for too long, I might start to think that living here wasn’t so bad after all.
I told Lex what building I was supposed to be in, which he somehow found without having to look for any directions.
“Thanks again, you guys. I really appreciate it,” I said when he stopped in front of the building.
“Don’t be a stranger, Betty,” Stuart said as I got out of the car.
I had to think about it for a moment, then it finally hit me. Bruce Banner’s wife—Betty Ross.
I laughed and waved goodbye to them. Stuart returned the smile while Lex simply drove off without another word. He was definitely going to win that taciturn contest.
Chapter 5
Ifound the small office that was going to be mine for the semester and dropped off my things before heading to the classroom, where a few students were already waiting. It was a fairly large classroom with auditorium-type seating. In the corner of the room sat a parlor grand piano, while a large whiteboard and an extended desk stretched across the front.
I had mapped out my lesson plans for the semester with a little bit of help from Sarah, who had given me some pointers. I started writing a few highlights from the syllabus on the board and waited for everyone to get seated. The nerves and self-doubt started setting in, wondering if I really could do this, but I pushed them away. The worst that could happen was that I lose this job, which paled in comparison to the realities of what I was facing with my mom.
“Hello, everyone,” I said, walking up to the front of the room to face them. “I’m Hadley Olivier, and this is Music Composition 101.”
“Mommy!” one of the guys in the back of the room shouted, sinking lower into his seat as his friends beside him burst into laughter.
“Oh, I’m sorry, you must be in the wrong room. This is music composition, not psychotherapy for out-of-control oedipal complexes,” I retorted and the whole room erupted in laughter.
“What’s your name?” I asked as he sat up a little straighter, knowing he was busted.