7. Carina
SEVEN
CARINA
“Is it Friday yet?” I ask Cassie. KFCR has seemed busier than normal lately.
She laughs. “Nope, not even close. It’s only Wednesday.”
Flopping down into my chair, I loosen my braid. “How is that possible? I swear we’ve already had twelve field trips this week.”
Cassie laughs again. “Carina, we’ve had two, which isn’t that different from every other week.”
A manic-sounding cackle falls from my lips.
“Okay, two field trips, but they were both with our youngest clients, a preschool and kindergarten class. Doesn’t that move the number up from two to at least ten?
” Cassie shakes her head at me, and I frown.
In fairness, field trips are what I love most about my job.
Usually, they’re electric, and I feed off the excitement of those I share KFCR with.
But it had been a long, strange week already, and I’m not my normal happy self.
I have no explanation for it. Joking, I mumble, “Maybe it’s almost a full moon? ”
Cassie snaps her fingers. “You might be onto something. I was reading something about that last night.” She stares at her phone, scrolling through a website, and exclaims, “You’re right!”
“What?” I question.
Turning her phone to face me, she says, “The next full moon is this Monday. They call it a Beaver Moon. That’s interesting, right?”
I hum, not sure where she’s going with this.
“It says here that full moons bring heightened emotions and often they bring change and transformation.”
Not a believer in astrology, I only half listen to what she’s saying, especially when she mentions something about an inner goddess. For me, I don’t discount that the moon affects us, it’s just more scientific than spiritual.
“Hey, Cassie, you know how the moon affects the ocean, especially the tides?”
She puts her phone down and tucks her short brown hair behind her ear. “Yeah, it’s something to do with the moon being closer to the sun, right?”
“Yes, exactly. It’s because its gravitational pull causes the tides to rise and fall.”
She smiles at me. “We should teach that here at KFCR.”
“I agree. We could design fun labs for kids, teaching them practical things about how the moon, recycling, and the environment affect the ocean. The only problem is selling it to George so he can take it to the board.”
Cassie smiles at me. “If anyone can do it, you can. You’re brilliant and love to educate others on the ocean. You know how to make it interesting and don’t talk above people.”
“Aww, that is so nice of you to say. Would you maybe want to help me? We’d have to brainstorm it outside of work because George hasn’t approved it, but I think if we had the major concepts down, we might convince him to have it become a work project.”
She shyly looks at me. “I don’t have your background, so I’m not sure what I could contribute.”
My mouth falls open. “Are you kidding? You’re one of the most creative and energetic people I know. I need your brain to make all the science stuff fun.”
Cassie’s cheeks pinken like I’ve embarrassed her. “Are you sure?”
Nodding, I stand up. “Let’s gather all the pamphlets we have, and during our lunch we can make a list of what we think kids would be interested in.”
An hour during lunch isn’t long enough for us.
“What are your plans tonight?” I ask while cleaning up my trash.
Cassie stops. “I have plans with my boyfriend already, but we could meet tomorrow. Does that work?”
Excited about this project, I almost shout my response. “It does. I may take this home tonight and get a head start, looking up easy experiments to go along with our topics.”
Later that night, I pull out my laptop and look up simple kids’ science experiments to see if any will work for us. There are so many, it’s tough to narrow them down. Cassie can work her magic and identify which ones will provide the most fun and excitement.
Meeting during lunch a few times a week and at night several times, we design a set of labs we can either do at KFCR with visiting students or bring into schools.
We’ve worked hard to utilize materials that are both recycled and affordable.
Last week, when I scheduled a time for us to meet with George, he sounded excited about our project.
“Are you nervous?” Cassie asks while grabbing the experiment materials from her desk. Last night, we finalized the last piece of our presentation, a dynamic PowerPoint. We’re hoping it sells the idea.
I smile confidently. “No, I’m not. I think George is going to love this fresh approach to education. It feels like we’re breathing life into a stale, out-of-date program that’s devoid of passion, current knowledge, and fun.”
She forces a smile and mutters, “I wish I had your confidence.”
Before we turn the corner to the research center’s conference room, I give her a side hug. “We got this.”
An hour later, we’re both wearing smiles. George is thrilled with our idea and can’t wait to have us present it to the board at the meeting next month.
The weeks of waiting zip by and the date we’re presenting nears, stirring up anxiety in my belly.
I’m confident in our project, but presenting it gives me flashbacks to defending papers in some of my advanced classes.
Even though Cassie and I have rehearsed what we want to say, my nerves are still shaky, like I’ve had too many energy drinks.
When the conference room door finally opens, one of the board members welcoming us inside, I freeze.
“Are you ready?” Cassie asks as she turns to go into the room.
“Uh. Yeah. Coming.” I stumble over my words.
Why am I so nervous? Then it hits me. The nerves aren’t about me.
I want the success of this project to be Cassie’s.
Every time we’ve talked about it, I’ve seen the excitement in her eyes.
This is her project, and I just helped it along.
She’s spent hours on her own, researching the best eco-friendly products to use to make the experiments we’re proposing not only fun but earth-conscious.
She stops. Worry covering her expression. “Are you okay?”
Swallowing hard, I nod and force myself forward. “Yep,” I croak as I pass her. I have to pull it together for her. Putting on my best smile, I face the board and start the presentation.
An hour later, we’ve presented our idea and fielded questions, most of which were about the experiments.
Cassie handled the cross-examination like a well-seasoned researcher and easily won the respect and support of George and the board.
With simple tweaking, we were approved for our new education program.
“We did it,” Cassie squeals after we’ve left the boardroom.
Over the last month, our working relationship has grown into a friendship.
Incredibly proud of her, I wrap her in a hug and admit, “I’m so proud of you. You handled that meeting like a pro. Let’s go out after work and celebrate.”
“Thanks, Carina. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Neither of us being big drinkers, we go to Solid Grounds, a local coffee shop and toast our success with pumpkin spice lattes. While we’re celebrating, my phone dings several times, alerting me to incoming messages. When I see who they’re from, my gut swirls with unease.
Stephen
Hi, Carina. How are you?
I’ve noticed you’ve been busy at work, and I didn’t want to bug you. But now that your proposal has been accepted, I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me.
I’ve been so busy with our project that I haven’t given any more thought to the date with Stephen.
When he first asked, I’d been surprised.
He’d always been nice to me. I just hadn’t thought of him as any more than a coworker.
I’m not sure why I said yes, and now, I feel like if I go on a date with him, I’ll give him the wrong impression.
Me
I’m good. I’m glad our proposal was approved.
Breathing out, I type another message.
Me
About the date. I don’t want to lead you on. You’re my friend. I think if we cross that line by going on a date, it has the potential to make things uncomfortable or awkward between us.
Stephen
I guess I hadn’t considered that. Maybe trying to date your coworker isn’t the best idea. Thank you for being honest with me.
Me
Still friends?
Stephen
Yes. See you at work.
I’m relieved. That went so much better than it could have. I know my dad said to try a date with Stephen to see what it would be like, but I’m sure he has feelings for me that I don’t reciprocate, and because of that, I think things might get uncomfortable between us.