Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
K athleen touched her lips, the memory of the kiss lingering. Her mouth had been so soft. And this time, the press of lips hadn’t turned her rigid and sent her spiralling into panic. She’d let Veronica touch her, and liked it. She wanted more. She didn’t know what to do with that.
She stood in front of Tank Two, checking the ion conductivity levels, trying to shake the warmth beneath her skin.
But even the sharp scent of minerals and ozone didn’t strip it away.
She adjusted the flow rate, blinked hard at the numbers, distracted.
It wasn’t the kiss itself—it was the tenderness.
The way Veronica had asked. The way she hadn’t pushed when Kathleen had frozen the time before.
And the way, this time, her body hadn’t tried to escape.
Ted came clattering in from the hallway, juggling a tray of sealed nutrient bags. “Delivery’s late again,” he muttered, setting the tray down. “They switched the chemical supplier. This stuff’s thicker than glue.”
Kathleen didn’t respond right away. She keyed in the new calibration and set the chamber to process. Only then did she turn. “I’m leaving early tonight. It’s David and Edith’s anniversary.”
Ted nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on the tanks.”
“Check conductivity every hour. The light cycle’s already set.” She started removing her gloves, pausing to glance over. “Don’t touch Tank Three.”
He saluted playfully. “No mad science without supervision. Got it.”
She gave him a faint smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
By the time she got home, the memory of Veronica’s kiss was still there like a scent in the air.
Kathleen walked into her apartment, dropped her bag on the hook, and placed her shoes carefully by the wall in the entryway.
The familiar hush settled around her. Everything in its place.
The quiet that usually soothed her now felt intrusive.
She wandered to the kitchen, flicked the kettle on out of habit, and stared out the window while it boiled.
She’d barely poured water over the tea bag when her phone rang.
It was her old university professor and mentor, Professor Edith Williams.
In her late fifties, she carried herself with the unflinching confidence of someone who’d spent decades in labs and warring with grant committees.
She had a fierce loyalty to the few students she took under her wing; Kathleen had been one of them.
Edith had seen in her the rare combination of raw talent and intellectual hunger, and she’d defended her more than once when the faculty dismissed Kathleen’s social awkwardness as arrogance.
Though now semi-retired from lecturing, Edith still loomed large in Kathleen’s life—an exacting voice in her head, reminding her to think sharper, question harder, and never hand her work to people who hadn’t earned the right to see it.
“Hi, Kathleen,” Edith said brightly. “You are coming tonight to our anniversary dinner, aren’t you?”
“I am, Edith.”
“Knowing you, I’m checking you haven’t forgotten. I’ll be wearing that green scarf you gave me, so no excuses about not recognizing us at the restaurant,” she said with a laugh.
Kathleen smiled faintly. “I think I can manage.”
There was a pause, then Edith asked, “You haven’t been stuck in that lab of yours and ignored your social life, have you?”
Kathleen’s stomach tightened. “Um… I’ve been… seeing someone,” Kathleen said slowly. It wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Oh? Anyone interesting?”
Kathleen hesitated, caught between truth and omission. “No one serious.”
Edith murmured her approval. “I’m glad to hear you’re getting out.
Dinner tonight should be fun. An old school friend of mine is coming; she’ll keep us entertained.
David and I have become old stick in the muds.
She rang me and said she’ll be staying in New York for a few months, so I invited her along. ”
“Where has she been?” asked Kathleen.
Edith gave a soft laugh. “Lord only knows. She’s been divorced twice and between husbands. I think she’s bringing someone with her. She goes through men at a rate of knots and always has someone hanging off her arm. I’ll see you at six.”
When the call ended, Kathleen stood in the kitchen, tea cooling in her hand. She thought about Veronica. The quiet steadiness in her eyes. The heat of her palm. The way she said goodbye like it wasn’t final. It had to mean something, didn’t it?
Sighing, she finished her tea and went to her room to get ready for the night. She put on a pale pink dress with a soft fabric and a generous fit.
She arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, clutching a small box wrapped in decorative paper and tied with a silver ribbon.
Edith and her husband were already at the table and waved her over.
“Hi, dear,” Edith stood to kiss her on both cheeks and immediately assessed her outfit. “You look very fetching.”
Kathleen gave a small smile and turned to David.
He grinned at her over the rim of his whiskey glass. “Long time no see, Kathleen.”
“Happy anniversary,” she said, setting down the box. “It’s no biggie. Just something I picked up at the local gallery.”
He unwrapped it and his face creased with pleasure. A blown-glass sculpture in the shape of a swirling leaf, shades of sea green and blue running through the glass.
“It’s beautiful,” Edith said with a pleased smile. “It looks like one of your algae strands.”
“I thought it might match your lounge.”
Conversation drifted toward mutual acquaintances and their work.
Edith filled the silence with updates on the classes she was taking now and some of the students work.
Her husband smiled, letting her do the talking.
His silence was familiar and comfortable.
He was like her, content to sit and listen.
Then Edith looked over Kathleen’s shoulder. “Darlene’s arrived.”
Kathleen turned her head toward the entrance and caught her breath. Edith’s friend was in a crimson jacket with leopard-print cuffs, laughing loudly—her voice was heard from halfway across the room. On her arm was a tall, curvy brunette in a black dress that clung like sin.
Kathleen’s world narrowed in that moment. She felt her throat dry, her stomach swoop. Her hands went cold.
It was Veronica.
She felt a moment of panic, then remembered Edith had no idea who she took to the gala dinner.
“Hello, Darlene,” Edith said.
Darlene made a show of air kissing her. “Lovely to see you, Edie. And you, David. I’d like you to meet Veronica.”
Veronica’s eyes widened for a second when they settled on Kathleen, then a professional mask plastered over her face.
Kathleen dropped her eyes, biting back the twinge of jealousy. Shit. Veronica was with maneater Darlene, and now it would seem woman-eater Darlene.
She’d told herself it was simply work for Veronica, that she had no claim. Though it still felt like a knife stabbing her in the chest.
Darlene settled into the seat next to Edith with an air of easy familiarity of old friends. Edith gave her a fond look. “You know how to make an entrance, Darlene. This is my friend Kathleen. She’s one of the Institute’s top scientists.”
Darlene smoothed her napkin over her lap and gave Kathleen a warm smile. “You look charming. I must say you don’t look like a mad scientist as Edith does.” She touched Veronica’s arm. “I must warn you that Veronica and I are woefully ignorant about anything scientific. We’re more into the arts.”
Kathleen gave her a half-hearted smile, managing to keep her tone polite when she turned to Veronica, though she felt like snarling at them both. “It’s nice to meet you, Veronica.”
Veronica inclined her head. “It’s a pleasure.”
If Veronica was surprised, she didn’t show it. Her expression was calm, perfectly composed, no flicker of recognition in her tone or her gaze. It made something tighten in Kathleen’s chest. She knew Veronica was being discreet but it still hurt.
Edith, already halfway through a glass of pinot, beamed across the table. “Darlene always brings such stylish people with her. Veronica, are you in fashion?”
“Not exactly,” Veronica replied with a small smile. “I work in lifestyle consulting—event prep, personal coaching, things like that.”
“Sounds very modern,” Edith said approvingly. “You must be good at reading people.”
“I try,” Veronica said, her eyes flicking to Kathleen for the briefest second before returning to Edith.
The waiter came by to take drink orders, and conversation shifted to an upcoming charity auction. Kathleen sat quietly, listening to Edith and Darlene chat like old friends—fast-paced, full of old shorthand and friendly glances.
But her focus kept slipping back to Veronica.
She didn’t say much, but when she did, her voice was warm, low, husky. She laughed at Darlene’s jokes, and once, when Darlene reached across the table to pour her a little more wine, her fingers brushed Veronica’s wrist. A whisper of contact, deliberate and affectionate in its subtlety.
Veronica didn’t react, offered a faint smile and murmured, “Thank you.”
Kathleen looked down at her plate. The food had arrived but she wasn’t really hungry.
“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” David said, glancing over at her.
“I’m tired, David,” she said, and offered him a small smile. “Long week.”
Darlene turned to her with a look that was equal parts amused and curious. “Edith told me how hard you work, Kathleen. What is it you’re working on that keeps you so focused?”
“No shop-talk tonight,” Edith admonished her friend.
Darlene rolled her eyes. “I was only trying to point out that Kathleen shouldn’t work so hard. She’s young…she should take some time off to enjoy herself.”
“She’s got that from her father,” Edith added. “Head down, no nonsense.”
Veronica’s voice was soft. “There’s nothing wrong with focus.”
Kathleen looked up. Their eyes met for only a heartbeat, but it was enough to make her feel unsteady.
Darlene noticed. Her gaze lingered on Veronica a moment longer than necessary. “Well, I must say, it’s refreshing to spend time with someone who listens as well as she speaks. Veronica’s been a very calming influence on me.”
“That’s rare,” Edith said. “You’re usually the one doing all the talking.”
“Exactly,” Darlene said with a low chuckle, “and it’s nice to feel looked after, for once.”
Kathleen picked up her wineglass and took a long sip.
The rest of the dinner passed without incident. Veronica never broke her role, never slipped out of character. Yet, the grace with which she moved, the ease she showed with Darlene made Kathleen feel like she was watching a play she didn’t audition for. One she wasn’t sure how to interrupt.
As they stood to leave, Veronica held Darlene’s coat while she slid her arms in.
Darlene smiled and said something too low to hear, and Veronica responded with a soft laugh that Kathleen felt like a kick in her ribs.
They all stepped out together into the cool evening air.
The city shimmered beyond the restaurant awning, a soft hush settling over the sidewalk.
Edith was laughing as she adjusted her scarf, linking arms with David on one side and Kathleen on the other.
Darlene slipped her hand through Veronica’s arm, resting against her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You don’t mind walking a little, do you?” Darlene asked Veronica, looking up at her with a smile that was unmistakably fond.
“Not at all,” Veronica replied, calm as ever.
Kathleen trailed a few steps behind, watching the shape of Darlene’s hand against Veronica’s sleeve. It wasn’t possessive, but it wasn’t casual either.
They strolled half a block together, the conversation light, an old story about one of Edith’s experiments, an upcoming charity luncheon, but Kathleen remained silent.
When the car David ordered pulled up, Edith kissed her on both cheeks. “We’ll talk soon. Just the two of us next time. Lunch maybe?”
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll let you know when, honey,” Darlene said, then glanced at Veronica fondly. “Meanwhile, I’ll keep this one out of trouble.”
Veronica gave a gracious nod. “Thank you for including me.”
“We’ll drop you off on the way, Kathleen,” said David, holding the back door while she slid in beside Edith.
As the taxi pulled away, Edith gave a satisfied sigh and leaned back into the seat. “Well, that was lovely,” she said. “Darlene hasn’t looked that relaxed for years. I think she really likes Veronica.”
Kathleen said nothing.
“You two must have noticed.”
David grunted quietly, his way of staying out of it.
“She had her hand on Veronica’s arm the whole night.” Edith smiled faintly, then added, “When we were at college, Darlene dated both men and women. Had a beautiful girlfriend named Roslyn in our second year. Very intense. To be honest, I think Darlene scared her off.”
Kathleen turned her face toward the window.
“She never made a big deal about it,” Edith continued.
“She lived her life. She left New York for ten years after she got her degree, and I never met her first husband. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know which sex she’d choose to settle down with.
But she always said attraction wasn’t about gender, it was about the person. ”
Kathleen didn’t reply. Outside, the lights of the city blurred against the glass. She felt a strange hollowness spreading beneath her ribs, part confusion, part something else. She didn’t know if it was jealousy but it sure felt like it.
“Veronica’s very poised,” Edith said with a sideways glance. “The kind of woman that would suit Darlene.”
Kathleen pursed her lips. “She’s twice Veronica’s age,” she snapped.
Edith let out a hum of surprise. “Age is irrelevant if they like each other. Darlene needs someone steady in her life. Heaven knows, she’s made bad choices with her husbands.”
“I didn’t know the first guy, but there was nothing wrong with Bill,” David said.
“He was too staid and set in his ways for her,” Edith replied primly.
“Huh! She didn’t mind his money.”
“There’s more to life than money,” said Kathleen.
David’s chuckle floated over from the front seat. “The girl’s right and you know it, Edith. Those blokes couldn’t keep up with her. Maybe this Veronica can. She looks like she’s got stamina.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence, Kathleen quietly seething.
The image of Darlene’s hand looped around Veronica’s arm remaining with her long after she exited the cab.