25. Bioinformatics
25
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics: The use of computer science tools to analyze biological datasets.
OLIVER
Hey, are you coming in today?
Tessa
No, working at home
Are you okay?
Not feeling great
I’m sorry. Anything I can do?
I already emailed Sadie, but please be sure she sends me this week’s endo trial results
Sure. But I meant, is there anything I can do to make you feel better? I make a mean chicken soup
I bet. No thank you
This isn’t because of Friday night, is it?
Are you asking if I’m not coming into the office today because I’m sulking? You may have left me with the female equivalent of blue balls after that kiss at your place, but I am an adult, and I don’t sulk
Kind of sounds like you’re sulking…
If you must know, I’m having some pain with my period
…
…
…
I’m so sorry. Are you sure I can’t come over? I’ll bring you a heating pad
Thanks, but a heating pad won’t cut it. Painkillers are awesome. But not safe to drive. Savannah is taking care of me
I’m glad you’re letting someone take care of you.
Jealous you’re missing this?
(The attached selfie shows Tessa with her hair piled in a bun on top of her head, wearing an old, frayed T-shirt with animal hair on it. She is wearing no makeup, and her pupils are dilated.)
I’m positively green
I don’t know whether or not to take you seriously
I’m very serious. Can I come over?
I don’t think that’s a good idea
Okay, how about later this week?
I’m sure I’ll be back in the office by Wednesday or Thursday. My symptoms usually subside in a few days
…
…
Okay. I’ll wait. I hope you feel better soon.
I couldn’t wait.
When she didn’t show up in the office three days later, on Thursday, my anxiety went into overdrive. In her texts, she said she was fine, but I needed to see it myself.
I hoped it justified the lie I’d told. I’d asked the most junior person on West’s team for Tessa’s address, and her eyes had practically turned into heart shapes when I’d said I wanted to send my colleague flowers because she’d been sick.
It was the sending part I’d lied about.
But something wasn’t right about the address I’d been given.
Clutching a bouquet of red and white roses wrapped in crinkly plastic, I stood in front of a small apartment building on the outskirts of San Jose. The two-story building was a nondescript, weathered gray, and the small lawn hadn’t seen a mower in weeks. A cracked pot at the entrance held the remains of a plant that had given up a while ago. A sprawling, bushy tree screened half of the building from the road, and dense evergreens surrounded it at the rear. The back of my neck prickled. Anyone could’ve been hiding back there. A stalker. A murderous gang. An arsonist, though that might have done the owner a favor.
Tessa had owned a billion-dollar company. She couldn’t live here. That human resources person had to have been bullshitting me. It served me right for showing up without an invitation.
I picked my way up the cracked sidewalk to the entrance, where a rusty bicycle leaned up against the front wall. There was a cobwebbed video doorbell, the old kind that was as big as my farsighted dad’s mobile phone. This one had a small video screen mounted above it. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button.
After a second, the video screen flared to life. A burly, bald white man squinted at the screen. “No soliciting!” he growled.
“I—I’m not selling anything,” I said. “Does Tessa Wright live here?”
“Who?” He leaned closer until I could see the dark hair sprouting from his ear.
“Tessa. Wright.” I enunciated each syllable.
“Never heard of ’em. Go away.” The video glitched in the middle like it was a bad connection.
“Wait!” I said. “Are you sure?” Was I sure? Not at all, but this was the only address I had.
“Don’t come back.” The video screen went black.
What the actual fuck? I took a step back and stared up at the building. There were no signs of life in the upper windows, not even a twitching curtain.
If this were a roleplaying game, and I’d encountered a troll or a gatekeeping lackey, I’d have options. I could climb the building and try to open a window, I could scurry around the back to try to find another door, or I could take another swing at the gatekeeper.
I wasn’t against a climb, but I figured a second go was the easiest way. I brushed the hair out of my face, took off my sunglasses, and forced a smile. I rang the bell again.
“No soliciting!” It was the scowling guy again.
It was odd that he’d said it in exactly the same way with the same squinty-eyed expression. “Are you an AI?” I wondered aloud.
“AI? Never heard of ’em. Go away, or I’ll call the police.” The words were slightly different, but the glitch in the middle was the same.
I shoved my glasses back on. She was an evil genius.
And I was going to get into her goddamned lair.
Not bothering to tell her robot doorman goodbye, I circled the building to the tree line. It was so dense that no light penetrated the barrier of palm-sized, waxy leaves. Taking a fortifying breath, I flicked on the flashlight on my phone and pushed in.
The trees were spaced far enough apart for me to pass, but the dense canopy blocked the sunlight. Leaves brushed against my arms and my face. It wasn’t unpleasant—they were leathery with a spicy scent—but it was deep enough that I started to fear I’d chosen wrong, and there was nothing on the other side but more trees, or possibly an ogre. Until I bumped into a chain-link fence.
The black vinyl coating explained why I hadn’t seen it. It was practically invisible in the gloom. But a fence meant there was something behind it to protect.
If it was Tessa, I also wanted to protect her.
“Moment of truth,” I mumbled, pacing the fence. “This is where I go from being a concerned friend to being a stalker.” She’d said it wasn’t a good idea for me to come over. But she hadn’t said no.
I could turn around, shove back through the trees to my car, and call her like a normal fucking human. Knowing Tessa, she wouldn’t tell me if she was hurting. She’d minimize her pain like she’d done over text. It had to be severe if she’d missed four days of work.
My heart spasmed. Over the fence, through a few more trees, and maybe battle a flame-breathing dragon, and I’d be able to look Tessa in the eye. If she said she didn’t want me there, I’d turn around and leave, no matter how my stupid heart ached.
So I climbed.
My loafers weren’t the best shoes for scaling a fence, and they’d be scratched up by the end of this quest. Still, I stuck them into the holes of the fence, and with the bouquet tucked under my arm, hauled myself up the ten-foot barrier, thankful for the lack of razor wire at the top.
As I swung my leg over, my trousers snagged on the metal, and I winced at the ripping sound. God, I hoped Tessa was on the other side of this adventure.
I dropped down, kicking up a cloud of dirt. Then I pushed past one more row of trees to emerge, blinking, into the sunlight. My loafers scraped against a driveway. A motor court, actually. I squinted across the expanse of concrete. On the other side of the pavers was a house. It wasn’t quite a mansion, but it was about the same size as my much less secluded home. Unlike the apartment building out front, it was well maintained, with sparkling white stucco. Gerbera daisies in magenta, saffron, and pink grew among deep-green bushes and trailing succulents in the surrounding flowerbeds.
The front door opened, and Tessa stepped into the doorway. Her skin was paler than usual, and she shielded her eyes from the sunlight. She leaned against the doorframe. “I see you were undeterred by my security system.”
“That’s a security system?” Brushing leaves off the sleeves of my dress shirt, I crossed the driveway. “I expected at least a hedge of thorns and some attack dogs.”
“The cats vetoed the dogs. And it looks like something got you.” She pointed at my pants.
I looked down. Dammit, there was a rip right at the inseam. It only slightly dimmed the joy of my victory. “Any determined person can get through that.”
“Not without setting off the silent alarm.”
I swallowed. Did climbing a fence count as breaking and entering?
She gave me a weak smirk. “Lucky for you, I took pity and called off the police.”
My shoulders loosened. “I appreciate it. I wanted to check on you. And give you these.” I held out the bouquet.
She took them from me. “I thought I told you not to fall in love with me.”
“I didn’t,” I lied. “These are get-well flowers.”
“Yellow roses are cheerier. They mean friendship. These roses are red and white, for everlasting love. I’d have thought your Ivy-League upbringing would’ve taught you that.” She buried her nose in the bouquet and looked up at me through her eyelashes. Without mascara, they were auburn like her hair.
I hummed noncommittally. I’d known exactly what I was doing at the florist, yet I hadn’t been able to stop myself. She stared for a moment as that big brain of hers worked. Finally, she said, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to the girls.”
I rubbed at the ebbing ache in my chest. She was well enough to stand and walk. And she wasn’t sending me away.
We entered the house into a tiled entry. She led me to the left, and we passed a small table with a round tray that held pots of tall, blooming orchids.
The kitchen wasn’t as well laid out for cooking as mine, but it was spacious with a large island in the center. Savannah, whom I’d met a couple of times at Carly and Andrew’s, leaned a hip against it, her arms folded as she stared down an orange tabby who sat on the light-colored stone top, cleaning his ear with one white paw.
When she saw me, Savannah grinned. “Oliver! So nice of you to come check on Tessa.” She held out her arms.
“Hi, Savannah.” I walked into her embrace. She gave the best hugs, and she smelled like butter and vanilla. “Am I interrupting your visit?”
“No,” Tessa said. “Savannah lives here.”
“Temporarily,” Savannah said.
“As long as you need to. Forever if you like.”
Savannah’s nose twitched. She sniffed, then flicked her fingers at the cat. “Shoo, Hedy.”
Tessa scooped the cat off the counter and hugged it to her chest. “Are you two fighting again?”
“Cats don’t belong on counters.” Savannah tossed her short blond hair. “I don’t want to pick cat hair out of my dinner.”
“She lives here too.” Tessa kissed the cat’s striped forehead. “She’s curious. She’s not used to food being made here.”
“Oh.” Savannah’s smile faded. “I hate that I’m disrupting?—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tessa said. “She’ll get used to it. You’re not disrupting anything. And this house is plenty big for the five of us.”
Five? How many people lived here?
Like she could hear my brain exploding, Tessa turned to face me. “Oliver, meet Hedy Lamarr.”
The cat’s yellow eyes narrowed as I reached out a hand for her to sniff.
“Don’t worry,” Tessa said. “She’s suspicious of everyone.”
The cat wrinkled her nose, showing one sharp incisor, but, still bold from my adventure, I held my palm there, below her chin. When the cat didn’t bite me, I scratched her neck.
“Huh,” Tessa said.
The cat tipped up her chin so I could scratch the white spot on her throat. “Good girl,” I murmured.
Tessa shuddered, then set the cat on the floor. It twined around her legs, leaving a coating of white hairs on her black leggings.
“She loves you, Oliver,” Savannah crowed. “When I got here, it took her almost a whole day before she sat in my lap.” The cat trotted to her and rubbed her face against Savannah’s ankle. Despite their earlier argument, she bent and scratched Hedy from her shoulders to her tail. Then, her tail held high, the cat turned and stalked out of the room.
Savannah glanced at the clock on the stove. “It’s almost time for your medicine.”
“Thank god,” Tessa said. “Gimme.”
Savannah reached into a cabinet and pulled out a prescription bottle. She opened it, tapped out a tablet, and put it in Tessa’s palm. Tessa swallowed it dry.
“Why don’t you go lie down?” her friend asked. “You’re so pale.”
She was right. Tessa’s freckles seemed darker against her white face. A guilty chill washed through my stomach. “I’m sorry I made you get up. Why don’t we go to bed?” I choked.
“I mean, I’ll take you to bed.” Fuck, that still wasn’t right.
My face was on fire. “I mean, you should lie down.”
She huffed a tiny laugh. “Yeah, I probably should.”
“Want me to put those in a vase?” I nodded at the roses Tessa had set on the counter.
“I’ll do it,” Savannah said. “Do I need to put these out of the cats’ reach?”
“No, roses are nontoxic.” she said.
Savannah caught my gaze. “Make sure she rests, okay?”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “I don’t need two mothers. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“Sure you are,” Savannah said, “but we’re here, and we want to take care of you. Go and lie down. Since we have a guest, I’ll make a roast chicken. It’ll be a few hours before dinner is ready. You two have plenty of time to…rest.” She pressed her lips together like she was holding back a smile.
I didn’t need to rest, but Tessa clearly did. There were purple half-moons under her eyes. As much as I wanted to stay so I could ensure she was okay, I didn’t want to prevent her from sleeping. “I’ll help you to your room, then I’ll go.”
“My god, I’m forty-three, not eighty-three.” But she took my arm.
Tessa led me toward the adjacent living room. The space looked comfortable, with a dark gray slipcovered sofa and a soft blanket in light gray flung to the side. Her laptop sat open on the coffee table. Another cat, this one with short blue-gray fur, gazed at us from the other end of the couch. “This is Anita Borg.”
How much did I love that Tessa had named her cats after women inventors and programmers? More than I should. I loved everything about this woman, except for how she pushed me away.
I let Anita sniff my hand, and she rubbed her cheek against it. “Two for two,” I joked.
“Oh, Anita’s a slut.” Tessa sniffed.
“She likes all the guys you bring over here?” The words felt like broken glass in my throat.
“Apparently. She’s one for one.” After dropping that bomb, Tessa dropped my arm and sailed into the short hallway. I shut my mouth and followed.
Tessa’s bedroom was on the main level. The curtains were drawn except for a narrow opening in the center. I squinted to make out details in the gloom. Her bed had a charcoal upholstered headboard, and her bedspread was a deep purple. There was a small desk in the corner. A single leather armchair with a matching ottoman anchored the other side. The wood floors extended in here, and a rug with a Turkish geometric design covered the space between the bed and the bathroom. Another one softened the floor under the chair and the desk.
Tessa let me take it all in, then she quirked her lips. “You staying?”
“Let me help you with the pillows.” I grabbed one of the fluffy charcoal pillows. But as it turned out, it wasn’t a pillow. It was a black cat that went boneless when I picked it up. I bobbled the unexpected weight for a moment before I got my hands under the ball of fluff and cradled it to my chest.
“I see you’ve met Kat Johnson.”
The cat purred against my ribs as I rubbed a finger behind her ear. “You matched your pillows to your cat?”
She picked up a pillow that definitely didn’t have eyes or claws and tossed it onto the bench at the foot of the bed. “It’s her favorite hiding place. Kind of like that scene in E.T.”
I hummed and scratched Kat under the chin.
“Ugh, you’ve never seen it, have you?” She gazed up at the tray ceiling.
“E.T. came out ten years before I was born, so…no? Why? Should I see it?”
“It’s what got me into tabletop games. It defined my generation, but it’s no big deal.” She pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.
“We could watch it together sometime.”
“Eh, it was very much of its time. I’m sure it wouldn’t hold up now.” She yawned.
Time for me to go. I set Kat on the bed, and she nestled against Tessa’s ankles. “Need anything else? Water? Your laptop?”
“No.” She tugged the covers up to her chin. “Thanks for the flowers.”
I crossed back to the bed. “You’re welcome. But it’ll take more than your bullshit security system and a few comments about our age difference to get rid of me.”
“Will it?” She blinked up at me.
I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Bet.”
“What does that even mean?” she murmured.
“It means I’ll be here when you wake up—if you want.”
“Yeah.” She yawned. “Promise?”
My heart swelled. “I promise.”
I whispered the last part because she was already asleep. After one last glance at her peaceful face, I walked to the door and quietly shut it behind me.
In the kitchen, Savannah hummed as she seasoned a chicken.
“She’s asleep,” I said.
“Yeah, her meds take her out,” she said. “She usually sleeps for a couple hours after.”
“She has a lot of pain?”
“It’s unpredictable. Some months, it’s mild. I’d say typical period pain. Other times, it’s agony. And it can flare up around ovulation too.” She winced. “Sorry. That’s probably TMI.”
“I care about her. I want to know about her pain and her condition, including her periods.”
Savannah stared at me for a second. Then she put her arms around me and pulled me into a surprisingly strong hug. “I like you.”
“Thanks?” I relaxed into the hug.
With one last squeeze, she released me. “I mean, I like you for Tessa. She deserves a man who loves everything about her.”
“I do.” I’d needed that. The hug and her words. “I love everything about her. But she doesn’t feel the same.”
“Doesn’t she?” Savannah’s blond eyebrows tucked up under her hair.
“She told me not to fall for her,” I mumbled.
“Was that for her sake or yours?”
“Does it matter?”
“I think it does. Use that smart brain of yours.” She picked up the pepper again and shook it over the chicken.
Why would Tessa tell me not to fall in love with her if not to protect me and my fragile heart? Unless she was protecting her own heart.
She’d told me about that dickhead, Harry, and how he’d ruined her company. She hadn’t mentioned how she’d felt about him. Had she loved him before he’d broken her trust?
“I’d never betray her,” I said.
“I think that’s true. But does Tessa? She’s got some, like, baggage around romantic relationships. I know I’m the dumb one of our friend group, but I know about that guy who screwed her over at Red Rover. And I met her dad. She’s got trust issues for sure. Did you know our friend group had never been to her house until a couple months ago? Except for me.” She puffed out her chest. “And now you.”
“You think I have a chance?”
“You’re here, aren’t you? Inside her fortress. She’s taken us both in. Like that little jerk.” She pointed at my feet, where Hedy Lamarr rubbed her face on my pants, leaving a smudge of orange and white hair.
“Have you seen E.T.?”
She blinked. “Of course. Reese’s Pieces were my favorite candy for years after.”
I let that nonsensical statement slide. “Could we watch it together, and you can give me the, um, context?”
“You want me to be your Gen X whisperer?” She grinned. “Okay. Help me get the chicken in the oven. We’ll do the low and slow version.”
I washed my hands and got to work. I chopped vegetables and staged them for roasting while she put the chicken in the oven. Then I showed her how to use Tessa’s television, and we found the movie.
By the time it ended, I understood a little more about the woman I’d fallen for. And I needed a tissue.