Chapter 40 Violet
FORTY
VIOLET
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO
“I’ve got good news,” Margot sang.
I turned in my lab chair to give her my full attention. “Like the good news?”
She waved her phone in the air. “I just got the email that our study is approved!”
I shrieked and jumped up to hug her. She stuck her hands out. “No hug rule!” she shouted, but she gave me a sympathy pat on the arm.
This was the first study led just by us. We’d have co-authors when we brought students in to help with the research, but we would be the principals if we ended up with any major findings. This was huge for both of our careers.
“I can’t believe it!” I cried. “We did it!”
“You did it,” she said. “You were the one who stayed late making sure all the corrections were in.”
My cheeks warmed at the memory of what else happened that night. “Well, I didn’t do it alone.”
She walked over to her desk and opened the top drawer, unveiling a split of champagne. “Either way, we should celebrate. Let’s go in the break room so we don’t get in trouble.”
We popped our mini bottle of champagne and poured it into paper cups, clinking them together. “Cheers, Vi. You know I’m not overly sentimental, but I think you should know that I wouldn’t be here, studying this, without you.”
“Oh, no way,” I said, waving a hand at her. “You would have found someone.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to tell you at the time, but I wasn’t leaving Boston without you. I didn’t want to risk a brand new team who might not have your skillset.”
“And my glowing personality?” I joked.
“Well, that too.” Her eyes were dewy. “But really. Thanks for coming with me. I know it was a big ask for you.”
“Margot, don’t make me cry, stop!” I rubbed my lips together and took a deep breath. “It was time, though.”
She put on an innocent look. “It looks like it’s paying off too. You got to reunite with a certain hockey captain.”
My cheeks warmed, and not just from the champagne. “Yeah. It was part of my motivation for coming here.”
Margot could have been the cat who got the canary. “I knew it. Make sure I get an invite to the wedding.”
I rolled my eyes. “No matter who I marry, you’ll be there.”
“Not marrying him?”
I sighed. “Can I tell you something and you’ll keep it private?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Always.”
“It’s seriously the stupidest thing. It’s embarrassing.”
“I love stupid,” she said. “Tell me!”
“We’re not even dating.”
Margot’s lips popped open. “Like a situationship?”
“No, like . . . fake dating?”
Her playful expression dropped. “What do you mean, fake? What is this, a 2000s romcom?”
“I mean, we got caught that night, obviously, and we had to lie and say we were together so the team could issue a statement.”
Margot put her hands on her cheeks where they were flushing from the champagne. “You kids call it whatever you want. There was nothing fake about how that boy wanted you. And I’m a scientist, so I know things.”
I stuck my tongue out. “You don’t study human behavior.”
She flicked a glance at her watch. “It’s Halloween. We’ll have plenty of work to do tomorrow. For now, why don’t you take the rest of the day? Go get caught up on your life.”
“I have a life,” I protested.
“Fine. It’s about me. I want to go hang out with my wife and go to my kids’ school parties. You should go grind your man into a wall or something.”
I drained my champagne cup and tossed it in the trash. “If you insist.”
But then, I sat in my car, debating what to do with my free time.
Colt wasn’t home yet, but he would be in a few hours.
I wanted to do something to make him feel special.
He’d carried a ribbon for me for over a decade.
The least I could do was surprise him on my day off work.
An idea sparked in my head, and I pulled up Jeanine Sorrento’s contact info.
“Jeanine? Can I ask you a favor?”