Love Signals: An opposites-attract, forced proximity, only one bed, revenge romantic comedy (Love St

9. I See Crazy People. Walking Around Like Regular People…

Hudson - Three Days Later

Okay,so when Dr. Allegra Cammareri wants to avoid someone, she does one hell of a job. She’s had me whisked off every morning by a different staff member first thing when I walk in the building, each one keeping me completely busy all day, only to find her gone when I finally manage to make my way to our office. The first day, it was an engineer named Edward, who although a nice guy, is obsessed with measuring the symmetry of people’s faces and got me to pose for some app. Apparently, I got a 93%, which is the highest he’s seen. Whatever that means. I honestly didn’t learn a thing about SETI research or engineering, but I’m a whole lot more knowledgeable about the science of attractiveness.

The next day, I was greeted by Gwen, who roped me into helping lead an early morning tour of a group of insane women who call themselves Moms and Bright Babies or something like that. They were the worst—privileged, plastic, and smug, not to mention highly competitive and obsessed with getting photos with me. I felt bad for Gwen because they didn’t listen to a word she said the entire time. I don’t think those babies did either. I’ve also got news for those women because as far as I could tell, they’re just normal babies who suck on their fingers and drool. At least I got to watch a video about Frank Drake, the father of SETI research, during the tour. Fascinating guy, and someone I definitely want to study, because he’s exactly the type of inspiration I need. Gwen spent the rest of the day explaining what an astrobiologist does—well, in between long pauses while she texted her boyfriend, and to be honest, I didn’t pick up much of what she said because it was every bit ‘over my head’ as I thought it would be.

Yesterday, I was paired up with Virgil, an astrophysicist who is super jealous that his arch nemesis (some guy named Carl) has been given a position as the facilities manager at the Green Bank Telescope in Virginia. Apparently, it’s not only the world’s largest fully-steerable radio telescope in the world (like, taller than the Statue of Liberty), but it’s also a big deal in the SETI world. Or at least for Virgil, who spent the entire day showing me videos about it and giving me all the reasons Carl has no business running a facility of that stature. And here’s the kicker: Virgil didn’t want the job. He didn’t even apply for it. Has no intention of ever applying for it or moving to Virginia to work there. Why he’s so angry is beyond me. So, what did I learn yesterday? I suppose you can say I learned that geniuses can be every bit as petty as the rest of us.

Other than that, I haven’t had a chance to get Allie alone so I can fess up, I am no closer to understanding what I need to know to become Dr. David Peck Todd, and at this point, I’m not even sure if I will be by the time I go back home. So tomorrow, I’m going to try a new strategy. I’m going to come in an hour early, so I can meet her in her office before whoever she’s got me set up with arrives. And I’m going to come bearing gifts.