Chapter 4 #2
“The mandatory Monday meeting usually blows, but the rest of the week isn’t so bad,” he said with an encouraging chuckle.
Elio swore as he sat up and turned towards Milo, resting his elbows on his knees. The ball hit the floor with a hard thwop! before Elio’s hand locked around it and it disappeared. “Not the bloody Monday meeting. This whole place. Everyone in it is a joke! Why are you wasting your time here?”
“Me?” Milo frowned as he considered. “Starlight is the best place in the city and it’s just a short train ride from home. I was offered jobs at MIT and Stanford and Harvard but I didn’t want to leave New York.”
“Why? You can’t be happy here,” Elio argued, scrubbing his face.
“I’m not happy here,” Milo admitted. “But I’m happy everywhere else,” he said, earning a dubious look from Elio.
“What if you could have more? We could go back to Europe, where they take science seriously. This is…a daycare for rich kids who don’t want to do real work.”
Milo opened his mouth to deny it but couldn’t.
The Mean Guys practically ran the place and nothing of substance had been produced in the time Milo had been with Starlight.
“But Europe…” That was just as unfathomable as that “we.” Milo was afraid he had peanut butter or jelly on his face, Elio was staring at him so intently.
“We could go wherever we want, except Geneva. They won’t let me anywhere near CERN.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Milo said and Elio snorted dismissively.
“What is the point of building the world’s largest particle accelerator if you aren’t going to put it to good use?”
What’s your definition of good use?
The chances of creating a black hole in Switzerland with the Hadron Collider were practically nil. Even a microscopic quantum black hole would most likely burn up instantly due to Hawking radiation but Milo was comforted to know that Elio was being kept at arms length from it.
“Totally,” Milo said, biting his lip as he went to the sectional and sat next to Elio. “You don’t have to stay if this isn’t a good fit, you know.”
“But you won’t leave?” Elio verified.
Milo shook his head. “Not any time soon. I have my family and my life here and Starlight is fine for now.”
“Fine?” Elio shot back, sounding angry. “Why are you settling for fine when you could be doing more?”
“Because… I’m only twenty-one. I have time and this is…a stepping stone,” Milo said with a shrug. “It sucks most of the time but one day, I’ll get to prove I’m competent enough to have a team and run a study of my own.”
“One day?” Elio jumped to his feet and paced to the windows.
“Time is the problem, Milo. Time! And you are being wasted here. Imagine what you could accomplish if you didn’t have to prove you were better than them!
” he said as he pointed toward the lounge.
Then, he threw up his hands. “It is what it is and if this is where you have to work, so be it.”
Milo blinked up at him, flattered and baffled. “Okay,” he said weakly and Elio began to pace in earnest.
“I will find a way to make this work. Pick something for us to study and we will show them what real, working physicists look like.”
“Okay.” What else could Milo say?
On one hand, working with a scientist of Elio’s caliber was a privilege and it would almost certainly propel Milo to the top at Starlight, and beyond.
There was no one else Milo wanted to work with, especially not one of the Mean Guys, but working with Elio?
That would probably be like working on a rollercoaster and Milo wasn’t sure his nerves could handle it.
“Are you sure you want to work with me? Brad and his gang are all lousy but I can think of a few people here who might be a better fit,” he said and Elio let out a bitter laugh.
“Do you think I haven’t scoured this building for brain cells? I’ve found a few competent people, but just like you, they’re keeping their heads down and don’t want to rock the boat.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Milo asked, something like a temper stirring deep in his gut. “Maybe some people just want to do their own thing and work in peace.”
“Peace, I understand!” Elio said as he waved a finger at Milo. “And you should be studying what you want because you have the potential to do something huge. But you’re wasted here and you’re wasting time!”
“I don’t know that I agree with that,” Milo said timidly, despite his growing frustration.
“I’m the youngest person at Starlight because I busted my butt to get here.
I skipped over a lot of things when I was a kid—school and fun stuff—so I could work at a place like this.
It might not be perfect but I’m not wasting time and I will grow as a physicist. They can’t stop me,” he said with a decisive nod. “But I won’t be rushed either.”
It was Elio’s turn to stare and blink and Milo thought he might be glitching, his jaw opened and closed and his hand rose to point, then dropped.
“That’s… You’re right. My apologies,” he said and bowed his head.
“Just pick something, Milo. I don’t care as long as it gives us something worthwhile to do. ”
“What about…” Milo scrambled to think of anyone else Elio might accept. “What about Carmen? She’s brilliant and she’s really funny when she comes out of her shell.”
“No. I’m not working with anyone but you. Message me when you’ve decided,” Elio said as he pulled his phone from his coat’s pocket and headed for the door.
“Message you? I don’t have—” Milo’s phone vibrated in his back pocket. He retrieved it and there was a text from an international number with Elio’s contact information. “How did you—?” But Elio had left with his skateboard. “What the heck is going on?”
Milo sent his dads a text, telling them that Elio had another outburst and that they were now project partners. On what Milo had no clue, but at least he could keep an eye on Elio and stop him from getting rid of Hector or opening a black hole in Manhattan.
That was a joke. Mostly. And Milo was mystified as he took stock of his new surroundings.
Thanks to Elio, Milo had a dream office to work in and the freedom to work on anything he wanted.
Essentially a promotion. Why had Elio done all of that if he didn’t have a reason and something he wanted to study?
Only time would tell so Milo decided to make the best of it.
Thanks to Elio, Milo had a safe, quiet place to just exist as a scientist. Some people might have felt a rush of ambition and pride after leap-frogging over their peers, but Milo was more intrigued by what he could learn and the answers he might find in a pressure-free environment.
“I guess I’d better get to work.”