Page 50 of The Scientist

“I accepted a teaching position at Stanford as an adjunct music composition professor. Mostly introductory courses.”

“Music, huh?” Merrick asked, accepting my vague answer. “That sounds interesting. Not sure I’d be able to concentrate if you were my teacher though,” he said with that lazy smile. He definitely had flirting down pat.

“What is it that you do for a living?” I asked, trying to be polite.

“I work for a shipping company. Loading and unloading containers from overseas,” he said. “It’s a lot of physical labor. Never really had the brains like my friend here to do much else.” He shoved Lex’s shoulder playfully. “He was always the smartest guy in our school. The smartest guy in every room, really.”

Well, that seemed kind and actually quite genuine. Hopefully, Stuart was reading him wrong.

“How long have you two known each other?” I asked.

“Since the fifthgrade,” Merrick answered. “He was just this scrawny kid from Russia. Barely spoke English. I had to fight off a couple of jackasses who bloodied his nose one day. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“That’s nice that you looked out for him.” I looked to Lex, who seemed happy to let Merrick tell the story.

“I remember this one time freshman year of high school, Lex was tutoring this gorgeous blonde a few years older than us. Herboyfriend was a senior and captain of the football team, and he didn’t appreciate all the after-school hours his girlfriend was spending with her new tutor. He cornered Lex in the locker room one day and warned him to stay away from his girlfriend. Well, Lex flat-out refuses… I think he had a thing for Ms. Stephanie Akers.” He looked over at Lex. Lex didn’t look up from his food, but I noticed his shoulders had tensed. He remained silent, chewing with deliberate care. “So, the meathead boyfriend decides to get a couple of his football cronies together and planned to jump Lex in front of her in the parking lot after one of their tutoring sessions to teach them both a lesson.”

“Where did you guys go to school… Rikers?” Stuart chimed in, which Merrick ignored.

“I caught wind of the whole thing and got a couple buddies of my own from our old neighborhood to join me after school that day. The look on these guys’ faces when these kids from the south side of Chicago walked out with Lex, carrying bats and crowbars, was priceless,” he said, laughing heartily. “They tucked tail and never messed with him again. Can’t say the same for the girlfriend though. I think he roughed her up a bit.”

Lex had gone completely still, staring down at his plate. I could tell how much this memory still bothered him even though he hadn’t said a word.

“That’s horrible,” I said.

Merrick slapped a hand on Lex’s shoulder. “Tell the truth man. Did you ever have anything going with that girl?”

“No,” Lex replied bluntly. “She was a nice girl in a bad situation.”

Merrick let go of his shoulder and continued eating. “You were always such a chicken with the ladies,” he said through a mouth full of potatoes. “Remember Mindy Davies?”

Lex’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “What about her?”

“She was practically in love with you, and you still never made a move.”

“Mindy and I had nothing to talk about. When I told her I moved here from Russia, she said she would love to take a road trip there someday.”

“Who said anything about talking to her?” Merrick said, smirking.

And with that, I was pretty much convinced Stuart was right about Merrick.

“Now that you mention it, Mindy did tell me you tried hooking up with her on multiple occasions,” Lex said, staring directly at Merrick.

Stuart and I froze, looking between the two of them, feeling the tension turn up a few notches.

Merrick seemed to be fumbling for a few seconds before he recovered his cocky grin. “Yeah, well, you said it yourself—you didn’t think she was smart enough for you,” he said before turning toward me. “Careful, Hadley. If you don’t know the capital of Florida, Lex may never speak to you again.”

Lex ignored that last comment. “Mindy turned you down though, right?”

“Yeah, so?” Merrick said, his irritation breaking through that confident façade.

“So maybe she's smarter than I thought.”

I was biting my lip, trying not to laugh, but Stuart gave no such effort as he howled with laughter.

“No, I think you were right about her,” Merrick said, trying to save face. “The few times I talked to her, I was thinking there must be a village somewhere missing an idiot.”

“I don’t know. I think we should give her more credit. After all, she was able to see straight through your bullshit,” Lex said, still fixing Merrick with a hard stare. “I think most women can.”