25. How Can It Be So Cold and So Hot at the Same Time?
Hudson
By the timewe pull up, it’s snowing so hard, it’s a whiteout. I crawl up the long, winding driveway, hoping I’m not about to go off into the ditch. I pull to a stop next to a long one-story building and look down into a field with rows of enormous radio telescopes all lined up. “You don’t happen to have winter boots, do you?” I ask her, thinking ahead to how cold our ankles and feet are going to be if we actually trek out into that field.
“No, but they have several sets inside. Goose down coats too. Glen, the senior engineer, will get us all set up.”
We hurry inside the lobby, and when I look around, I see that to our left is a large office with three desks set up and a whole lot of computers and other equipment. To our right, there’s a lunchroom. A note is taped to the door leading to the office, and Allie reads it aloud.
Allie and Hudson,
Welcome. We beamed out early and will be in Redding for the day. Should be back by five and are excited to meet Hudson. The diaphragm pump on 3E needs replacing and I thought it would be a good way to show Hudson how the telescopes work. All the parts are in the shed. Help yourselves to whatever’s in the fridge and cupboards. We’ll be back as soon as possible with fresh haircuts and lots of food. Hopefully you can stay to have supper with the team so we can catch up with you and answer any questions Hudson may have.
All the best,
Glen
“Beamed out. Is that a radio astronomer joke?” I ask her.
“It is.”
“I had no idea how funny your people are.”
“You didn’t laugh.”
“Exactly.”
She grins at me. “Why don’t I take you on a tour of the facility first. Hopefully the snow’ll let up by the time we’re done.”
We spend two hours on the tour. The facility is all under one roof, including the living areas and the offices. The kitchen leads to a living room with a fireplace and a big television, then four small bedrooms and two bathrooms. It’s pretty basic, but it’s cozy and has everything a person would need to live comfortably. Most of our time is spent in the observatory room, looking at computer screens. Allie’s full of enthusiasm as she explains how they capture the data and we sit, side-by-side, watching as the information is displayed in real time. “See that line there? It’s a quasar. You can tell by the very broad emission lines on the chart.”
“How long did it take you to learn to tell everything apart?”
“A few weeks. But once you start to see the patterns, it gets easy. For someone like Glen, who’s been doing this for decades, each of these charts is like reading a story. He knows exactly what’s going on up there.”
God, I want to kiss her right now. So, so badly. “Fascinating.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Agree to disagree on how fascinating you are.”
“You’re supposed to stop being so nice, remember?”
“Totally forgot. My apologies.”
“An obtuse jerk wouldn’t apologize.”
“Damn, I screwed this up again, didn’t I?”
“It’s okay. I’ll let it go this time.” She stands and stretches her back while I shamelessly stare at her. Pointing to the window, she says, “I think my plan of waiting out the snow isn’t going to work.”
I look out to see that, if anything, it’s snowing harder.
She looks at me. “Come on. Let’s go get kitted out. This is going to be the coldest pump change in history.”
“Awesome. Let’s do this.”
Thirty minutes later, we’re bundled up in borrowed winter gear and we’re out in the shed where Allie has gathered all the tools and parts we need to replace the pump. I smile down at her. “If you need me to use the tools for you, just let me know. You know, since you’re a woman and all.”
She grins up at me, immediately catching on. “Nice.”
“I thought being sexist would be the fastest path to pissing you off.”
“You thought right, but it’s not going to work since you’re only doing it because I asked you to.”
“This is a no-win situation, isn’t it?” I ask, glancing down at her lips.
“I’m afraid so.”
“In that case, maybe I should just go back to being myself.”
She slings the tool bag over her shoulder, then I reach up and slide it off. “Here, little lady. Allow me.”
Allie bursts out laughing. “What are you going for now?”
“Old timey western gentleman?”
“Nailed it. All right? Should we brave the cold?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“Not really.”
“Then, yes,” I tell her. “Oh, and I need to get some pics of me out there next to a telescope to send to Brittany. According to her, if it’s not documented, it might as well not have happened.”
“In that case, let’s go feed the beast.”
As soon as she opens the door, we get a blast of frigid air. I follow her out and soon, we’re trudging through knee-deep snow as white flakes swirl down and stick to us. “Is it far?”
“Yup. Unfortunately, it’s one of the ones at the very end.”
“But once we get out there, it’ll go fast, right?”
“I wish.”
“Dammit, this just isn’t going to tighten,” she says, twisting the screwdriver to the right.
“Want me to give it a try?”
“Yes,” she answers, sounding slightly defeated. “Apparently this is a lot harder when it’s minus a thousand out.”
She sets the screwdriver down, climbs down from the ladder and blows hot air on her red hands. Without thinking about it, I take off my gloves and take her left hand in mine, rubbing it and blowing on it. Then I put my mitt on it and do the same to her other hand.
“Worst. Jerk. Ever,” she says.
“Hey, a guy can’t be good at everything.”
“What if you had to play a bad guy in a movie?”
“I could totally do it.”
“I’m beginning to doubt that.”
Picking up the screwdriver, I say, “All right, enough playing around. It’s time for a man to take over.”
Allie bursts out laughing. “Much better.”
“I can’t believe I broke it,” I tell her. “Who knew there was such a thing as too much torque?”
When she doesn’t answer, I say, “Everyone. Everyone knows it’s possible to use too much torque, right?”
“Not everyone,” she says. “Just … most people.”
We both laugh, and when we’re done, I let out a groan of regret. We’re finally back inside the building and are both stripping off our coats and stepping out of our boots. If I were here with anyone else, there is no way I’d find this even remotely sexy, but with her, it’s different. All she did was take off her parka, and my mind just kept on going, imagining her pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it on the floor. Her curly brown hair is wilder than ever when she takes off her beanie and her mascara has transferred from her eyelashes to her skin, but she still looks beautiful to me.
She glances up at me. “It’s not really broken. It’s just … temporarily out of service. But the good thing is we learned something valuable.”
“Not to let me touch the tools?”
“That too. But more importantly, that we shouldn’t do maintenance in these weather conditions.”
Her cell phone pings and she digs it out of the pocket of her parka. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s a message from Glen. The state troopers closed the road, which means they’re stuck in Redding and we’re stuck … here.”
Try not to smile. Do not smile, jackass. “Oh, that’s … inconvenient.”
She bites her lip. “Yup.”
She types something back and gets an immediate response. “They won’t have it cleared until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”
“So, we’re stranded for the night?” I ask, my body humming with possibilities.
We lock eyes and the tension between us builds. “Yeah. Good thing we packed overnight bags.”
“That was smart thinking,” I say, my gaze flicking down to her full lips. “Since we’ll be here overnight.”
She clears her throat, then says, “Yes, it’ll give us a lot of extra time in the observatory room. We’ll be able to make so much progress.”
She gives me the most bland smile possible, clearly trying to douse the flames between us, but honestly, it’s not working because all I can do is imagine pressing her up against the lockers behind her and picking up exactly where we left off in that opera house.
Instagram Reel: Hollywood Dish with Ferris Biltmore
The video opens to show Ferris sitting on a lounge chair in his backyard, dressed in a parka and beanie. He sighs wistfully. “Hey, bitches! Finally, some news from my love, my heart, my world, Hudson Finch. And no, he hasn’t decided to switch teams and declare his undying love for me. But he did something almost as good. He posted a hot, hot, HOT vid of himself doing some manly work on a massive satellite thingy they use to hunt for aliens. Check it out here.”
Footage of Hudson standing on a ladder, holding a screwdriver, starts up. “Hello from Black Creek, California, where an early spring storm has hit. I’m here to learn all about the mechanical side of radio telescopes. I’m trying my hand at changing out something called a diaphragm pump. It’s basically a part used to keep the telescope from overheating, although we’re in no danger of that today.” The camera zooms in on the pump, then back to Hudson’s smiling face. “Anyway, back to it for this guy so we can get out of the cold. I’ll catch you later!”
Ferris’s face fills the screen again. “Be still, my beating heart. No one can pull off goose down like Hudson. Not even geese. He’s … just everything a man should be, no? I watched that video four times before I realized one very important fact. Someone else is there with him. The person making the video, which brings us to my first segment of the day: Who’s Taking the Video, Hmmm?”
The words appear next to Ferris, and he shouts, “Hey, Hudson, dreamboat! Who’s taking the video, hmmm? Who is it? Is it that Allegra Camma-boring person? I hope not, for your sake. Because, BORING! And if it is her, you better not be kissing her because no. And that leads us to our next segment: No, Just No.”
The graphic appears and Ferris shouts, “No! Just, no, Hudson! Don’t you dare fall in love with her! She is not for you. She belongs with some graphic-tee-wearing geek with ingrown toenails and halitosis. Not you. No! Your perfect match is someone like … Emma Stone, who can act and sing and dance and make us fall for her, or … Sophia Loren in her prime.”
The words disappear, and Ferris’s face fills the screen. “Okay, so one last segment, then I have to get out of this coat before I die of heatstroke. And that segment is called: Look at You, Being Brilliant.
“Hudson! Hudson? Hudson. Look at you, being brilliant. You’ve got a screwdriver and you’re using words like diaphragm pump! I told you you were smart! And the rest of Hollywood better sit up and take notice, because Hudson Finch is not only fire, he’s also a fucking genius. Mic drop. And I’m out. Time to go jump in the pool.”
Text to Gershwyn:
Me
Just in case you try to reach me, I’m up in Black Creek, in the mountains, visiting an array of telescopes. Also, we’re snowed in for the night, but not to worry because there’s lots of food and I’m in a building with heat and running water.
Gershwyn
Who’s we???
Me
Allie and me.
Gershwyn
Really??? Just the two of you? Alone? In a cabin in the woods?
Me
Yes, but it’s a research facility in the mountains.
Gershwyn
Hmmm … what will you do to pass the time?
Me
She wants to spend a few hours going over the computer equipment with me.
Gershwyn
That’s boring.
Me
No, it’s really nice of her. She’s definitely helping me out.
Gershwyn
Okay, but if the opportunity presents itself, I say go for it.
Me
Not having this conversation again.
Gershwyn
Why? Is she reading over your shoulder or something?
Me
No, she’s in the shower, and I’m going to make some supper.
Gershwyn
Sounds very domestic.
Me
Good night, Gersh. Give Oscar some behind the ear scratches from me.
Gershwyn
You’re no fun at all.
Me
I’m here to do a job, not amuse you, you weirdo.
I stare at our exchange while I wait for the oven to heat up. Texting Hudson is smart. He knows right from wrong. He has no intention of sweeping the computer off a desk in the observatory room, setting Allie down on it, and having his way with her. And I’m going to have to turn this evening over to that guy. The one who knows right from wrong, because, honestly, the only thing I can think about is getting her naked.