Page 37 of The Scientist
“Thanks, Lex,” I said, my voice cracking a bit. Why was it that every time I talked to him, I was on the verge of tears?
“What about your mom? What’s she like?” he asked, probably sensing how emotional I was getting talking about my dad.
“She’s the absolute best,” I told him, smiling. “She never has a bad word to say about anyone. If someone stole her purse, she’d probably say they needed the money more than she did.”
Talking about her was likely to bring on the waterworks as well.
“Maybe you could meet her one day if you’re not too busy answering fan mail,” I said with a wink. “She’d probably have a million questions about your work and your life and then would badger you about why a handsome guy like you is still single.”
Just picturing Lex sitting at my mom’s dining room table while she pestered him about his love life was enough to make me smile.
“I’d be happy to meet her,” he said. “And if the questioning gets to be too much, I’ll just have my assistant rescue me again.”
I laughed. “If that’s the case, your assistant might start asking for a raise.”
I never got to hear what he was about to say next, because I spotted his fan club walking through the door. “Crap! Hide!” I said, pushing him down by the shoulders and ducking behind the projectors.
“Let’s go this way,” I whispered, crouching down and crab-walking toward the door like we were on a military operation.
We burst into the hallway, laughing together at our narrow escape. The sound of his laughter echoed all around me, and I stopped to listen. It was a deep, rumbling sound that already felt familiar even though he rarely used it.
“Close one.” I wiped fake sweat off my brow. “Does that happen to you often? People giving you the celebrity treatment?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted. “Mostly it’s people just wanting to give a kind word to say they admire my work.”
I looked at him, wishing he was always this way with me, preferring this to his usual guarded demeanor. As he stared back at me, I watched his eyes rove over every inch of my face. I wanted so badly to know what he was thinking. The silence wasn’t overpowering or awkward as it had been in the past. This time it felt like there was subtle contentment moving between us in the stillness of the moment as we stood there taking each other in.
Loud voices carried down the hallway, sounding like they were coming closer.
I cleared my throat. “Should we go find Stuart?”
He gave a slow nod in agreement, his eyes flicking across my face in a way that had my insides squirming. My breathing felt a little tighter as we walked the short distance back to the robot exhibit where we found Stuart still arguing with the young kid.
“You ready to go, buddy?” Lex asked him.
“Not yet. I’m trying to explain to young Billy Pham here why the conductor belongs on this side of the switchboard.”
“Okay, but didn’t you say you wanted to take Hadley to that ice cream shop on Frontage Road?”
That seemed to pique Stuart’s interest. “Blake’s?”
“That’s the one. You know they close at three.”
“Fine,” Stuart said, putting down a robot part and getting up to join us. “This isn’t over, Pham.”
The little boy stuck his tongue out at Stuart as we walked away.
We finally made it to the ice cream shop after listening to Stuart tell us the whole way there why Billy Pham was completely incompetent, and that they probably shouldn’t even let kids in there.
I got my usual cookies and cream and was surprised to see Lex ordering rocky road. I would have thought he was a vanilla guy through and through. I was not at all surprised to see Stuartorder the cotton candy flavor. It felt like it suited him since no one over the age of eight probably ever ordered that particular one.
We strolled along the boardwalk, eating our ice creams, and I caught myself reveling in the beautiful weather. California was really doing a number on me.
“So, what did you think of The Tech Interactive, Hadley?” Stuart asked as we walked down an alleyway toward a spot that had great views of the bay.
“It was great,” I said. “Actually, I was thinking everything about today was great. Thank you both for this. I didn’t know how it would be moving to a new city and not knowing anyone, but you guys have really made me feel welcome.”
I inevitably started tearing up.