Page 52 of Defended
"Truth. I'm going to be here late tonight. Speaking of, I'm going to go grab a snack from the vending machine, do you want anything?"
"I'm good thanks. Just trying to get out of here."
Lisa flashed her an understanding grin before picking up her purse and leaving the room. Shaking her head at herself, Melody put the slide on the microscope. She was almost done with checking this batch of cultures for the proteins they had isolated and then she could go home.
Home. Kawan. Daddy.
A pleasurable flush of anticipation swept through her.
Focus Melody. Work first.
She was bending over the microscope when she heard the door open behind her. "That was fast."
The vending machine was on a different floor and down several halls. She frowned, turning to look because either Lisa had forgotten something or it wasn't Lisa.
"Fast?" The overly smooth tone of Professor McCready's voice made her wince. Ugh. Of all the people she thought it might be, he was the least welcome.
"Professor McCready," she said politely, a mask of civility falling over her expression. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"Did you?" He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, and Melody straightened as wariness made her anxiety spike. The guy creeped her out way too much for her to try and ignore him when he was alone in the room with her.
Please hurry back, Lisa.
* * *
Although he was fairlycertain he was in the correct building, Kawan was otherwise lost. Apparently whoever had designed the building just assumed that everyone would know where to go, with no need for signs. Because it was late in the day, so far he hadn't found anyone he could ask for directions either.
Hearing a strange clunking sound, he moved toward it, hoping that the sound belonged to a person.
He almost felt like cheering when he turned the corner and saw a blonde standing at a vending machine, bending over to pick up whatever she'd just bought. The sound he'd heard must have been her food dropping into the tray below.
"Excuse me," he said, swiftly walking up behind her.
The blonde screamed and jumped, whirling around with her hand on her chest. Brown eyes glared at him. "Oh my goodness, you nearly made me pee myself!"
Kawan managed not to laugh at the blunt statement, but it was a close thing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Well, I hope not; that would be really mean if you did." She peered up at him, a slight look of suspicion on her face. "What do you need?"
"I'm looking for this lab," he said, holding out the piece of paper he'd copied Melody's information onto. "But I'm not sure I'm even in the right building."
One glance had her frowning. "Why that lab?"
"My girlfriend, Melody Williams, is there. Well, hopefully. She should be finishing up soon. I wanted to surprise her."
Immediately, the blonde's expression cleared, and she gave him a sunny smile. "Ah ha! You're Melody's weekend plans, huh? Well no wonder she's been distracted today. Come on, I'm headed back there right now."
She started walking and Kawan hastily moved to keep up with her.
The blonde hair and her apparent familiarity with Melody gave Kawan the clues he needed. "Are you Lisa?"
She brightened, nodding. "Melody mentioned me? That's awesome. I like her a lot, although we haven't really hung out much until this week." That was said with a sidelong glance as she stopped in front of an elevator and punched the up button. Well, that explained it; he was on the wrong floor. Lisa looked at him curiously. "Melody has no idea you're coming?"
The elevator arrived and they got in. He was only two floors off apparently.
"No, I wanted to surprise her, although I'll wait for her to finish whatever she needs to do."
"That's so sweet." Lisa grinned, putting her hand over her heart again, but for an entirely different reason this time. "I know she's almost done. She keeps getting all day-dreamy for some reason though." She winked at him. "I bet your actual presence will give her the motivation to focus on finishing up."
