Protocol

BEFORE

The janitor, on the other hand, I had a hard time forgetting.

He was bad news, and it wasn't just how he looked.

He was intoxicating. Elias greeted me every morning with a smile, always crossing my path somewhere on my way to the lab.

Most of the time he caught me in the breakroom when he came to clean the employee bathrooms, but occasionally he would stop me in the hall or the elevator.

He had a habit of making me late, and rather than just cut our conversations short, I started coming to work fifteen minutes early.

When he saw me coming, he'd take off his headphones, pausing whatever he was listening to, and set them on a little hook on his cart, giving me his full attention. He smiled with his eyes when he talked to me, something so many people failed to do.

We didn't even talk about anything in particular.

Sometimes he would ask me what I was working on, but most of the time he would just ask me silly questions, like what movies I would choose if I could only watch three movies for the rest of my life.

Little did he know, I was well versed in ice breaker questions, having spent so much time in college.

Pretty much every professor forced the entire class to participate on the first day in an exercise like that.

As I entered the event space that had been transformed into a ballroom equipped with a large bar, I knew that there was only one person I hoped to see. If he wasn't there, then I'd have a drink, mingle for an hour, and leave.

Unsure about the dress code or my coworkers’ feelings about tattoos, I dressed as modestly as I could.

I owned a single dress with full sleeves, so that was the one I wore.

It fell just below my knees, so I wore a pair of black pantyhose underneath to try to conceal some of the artwork on my legs.

They weren't as heavily decorated as my arm was, but people in academic spaces could be really uptight, and I felt it best to play it safe.

By no means was I early to the event, but it was close to empty when I walked in. Even scientists arrived fashionably late, apparently.

The company invitation mentioned an open bar, so I found that first, hoping that some liquid courage would help me mingle with my peers. Without party-goers, the bartender wasn't busy, so she met me at the counter when I approached.

“Hey!” She said, enthusiastic for her first visitor. “I'm Dolly, I'll be helping you tonight. What can I get you?”

“Could I get tequila and club soda with some lime juice?” It was nothing special, but it was easy, and I loved tequila.

“Is Don Julio okay?” She asked.

“They've got an open bar with Don Julio as the default?” I expected Jose Cuervo at the very best.

She shrugged. “You know these big companies. They've got more money than they know what to do with.”

“In that case,” I said. “Don Julio is definitely okay. I'm Cassie, by the way. I didn't mean to be rude.”

“No problem, Cassie.”

Drink in hand, I felt good about making my first friend, even if she was the hired help. I could definitely do this.

Apparently, twenty minutes after me was the time to arrive, even though a large portion of us lived in the staff housing on campus and had no reason to not come at the start.

Regardless, the crowd filtered in, and I spotted my first target.

Dr. Fassi was standing in a small group of middle aged men and women.

I took a deep breath, glancing around for Elias just in case, and I approached my coworker.

“Cassie, dear, it's good to see you,” Dr. Fassi said. He outstretched his arm, putting a hand on my shoulder. “This is Dr. Cassia Hayes, she's one of our newest.”

I waved to the small circle of people. “Nice to meet you all.”

“She recently graduated from The University of Michigan,” Dr. Fassi said, and the small crowd hummed and hawed. “I think you'll be impressed with her work on the Adenovirus.”

“How so?” Asked a middle aged doctor. “Lisa Miller, by the way.”

Dr. Miller had a short brown bob, wearing it tucked behind her ears. Her blue eyes shined brightly at the mention of my research.

“I, uh, have been working toward making it the go-to vector. It is such a neat little virus, I'm working on modifying it to be more effective in vaccines.”

Dr. Fassi cut in. “She wrote extensively about the topic in her dissertation, Lisa, you should really check it out.”

“You read that?” I asked.

Dr. Fassi nodded. “Of course, it was the main reason I suggested we recruit you. It was a fantastic read.”

I was touched, having been seen like that. It was my assumption that only the board had read my research.

Dr. Miller led me by the arm to the bar and made sure I had enough to drink.

We chatted briefly about my work, and she was eager to learn about it.

My parents were proud of me, my professors, too, but having a stranger interested in something I poured my heart and soul into gave me a high I couldn’t ignore.

Tequila made me brave–I didn't choose it on a whim, and with the notion I'd be walking home, I didn't think it was a problem to indulge a bit. It wasn't, yet–a problem. As I noticed him, I said my apologies to Lisa and excused myself.

Elias sat at the bar, making small talk with Dolly and a few others that sat around him waiting for their drinks to be made.

Those who recognized him as the janitor didn't hide how they felt about him being there. They turned up their nose to him, as if just because he emptied trash cans for a paycheck he somehow didn't deserve a smile in return. Everyone else could feel how they wanted to feel about him, but he was devastatingly charming, ridiculously funny, and I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I had a crush on him.

“Hey, Eli,” I said, sitting on the stool next to him.

He turned his head and smiled, but he was tight lipped. “I prefer Elias.”

I felt my face get hot at the thought of offending the only real friend I'd made. At least, I thought I'd made a friend, but what kind of friend didn't allow you to call them a nickname? “I'm so sorry I didn't mean–”

He waved his hand dismissively. “No harm, no foul,” he said, and his smile was back. The real smile, the one that made the corners of his brown eyes crinkle. “Do you come here often?”

I couldn't help but smile with him. The giddiness I felt from speaking with him had me nearly bouncing in my seat. “Yeah, no, first time.”

“My mistake, I thought I'd seen you around before. Must have been one of the other scientists milling about.” He made a show of looking around the room. “Yeah, I think I saw who I confused you with.”

I looked around the room, too, and just saw cookie cutter molds of exactly the type of person I expected to see. Brunettes dyed blonde, their hair curled with a large barrel curling iron, and heels too high and too expensive for a work function.

“I was chatting with Dr. Fassi and some of his acquaintances,” I said. “They were pleasant enough.” They also seemed to be their own band of misfits. Scuffed, sensible shoes, and clothes that weren’t fresh from the dry cleaner. Normal people.

“Fassi is a wonderful man. I'm sure he keeps good company,” he agreed.

“Would you like to join us?” I asked, trying to be inclusive. “I could introduce you.”

He shook his head. “That's okay. I only came here hoping a friend would show up, and she just got here.”

“Oh, she's here? I can make myself busy somewhere else,” I offered, peering around. I figured it made sense that Elias might have more than just me to talk to. He was a likeable guy.

“Yeah, she's here. A little slow on the uptake, but she's cool.” He swirled his glass, the ice clinking against the sides.

I stared at him for a moment before he spoke again.

“I came here to see you, Cassie,” he said finally. “So, thanks for showing up so I didn't feel silly.”

My stomach fluttered as he said the words, and I couldn't help but smile as I looked away.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he joked. “Dolly? Could you get Cassie another?” She nodded and started making my drink. “Don't worry about paying, I've got this one.”

“It’s nice to see you again, it’s been so long,” I teased.

I turned my stool to face him, and propped my arm up on the counter, resting my head against my hand.

He mirrored me, and his face ended up closer than I had anticipated.

I could smell his cologne, and having a man like him so near, eyes searching my own, I was hypnotized.

If he hadn’t spoken and brought me back from my stupor, I might have had to wipe drool from my chin.

“I really didn’t do much after work today.

No news to share, unfortunately, unless you’d like to hear what I ate for dinner,” he said.

His hand rested gently around his glass, and he brought it to his lips, sipping lightly from it.

I stared at the soft curve of his mouth until I remembered that conversations required the participation of both parties.

“I was too nervous to eat dinner,” I admitted. “So now that I’m here, I’m just starved.” I was telling the truth, but I had also hoped for hors d'oeuvres.

“Nervous for a work function?” He asked. I doubted Elias could be nervous anywhere.

I shrugged. “I hate doing new things by myself. I don’t really know these people, and looking around, I don’t think I have a lot in common with them.”

“Me neither. If I asked them what their deserted island movies would be, they’d probably pick Avatar.”

“That’s not a bad movie,” I argued. I didn’t think so, anyway. I’d only seen it once.

“They call the thing they shouldn’t have ‘unobtanium,’” he said. “It’s insulting to the viewer. They couldn’t call it anything else?”

I laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

“I like your dress, by the way,” he said, a finger lifting from his glass to point at me.

“Thank you.” I played with my sleeve. “I was trying to be modest, but I think it's a little too warm for this ensemble.”

“You do look hot in that.”