I wake up to the constant sound of my alarm going off which would normally inform me that it's time for school. I turned over in my bed and hit the stop button on my phone. As I am about to close my eyes and fall back to sleep I see that I have a text from an unknown number. The text came in at 4:30 am and read,
‘Anderson, I dropped off the rest of the supplies and wrote a report. Don’t come into the lab today
So obviously Huxley found my number, how? I have no clue but I clicked on the text chat and responded with,
‘Morning Huxley, why am I not coming into work today?’
I waited a few minutes for a response and when I heard nothing I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. About 3 hours later I woke up to my phone ringing on my side table, I picked it up and swiped to answer without checking who had called.
“Hello?” is all I said to whoever was on the other line.
“Melvirn is pissed, give him a day to calm down and then come into work” That voice immediately woke me up, I sat straight up in my bed and responded with
“Good morning to you too Huxley” I heard him huff on the other line,
“Good morning Anderson” I smiled slightly and said
“I guess I will see you tomorrow then” all I got from Huxley was a quick goodbye and then the dial tone sounded on my line.
My next step was to silence my emails since the lab had been open and packed for the past few hours. I will have many angry emails from Melvirn about not only losing and destroying some of his equipment but also exposing a top clearance research project to myself and anyone surrounding our accident. As I click into my emails I am shocked. Not only were there no angry emails from Melvirn but one telling me that he knew I had a late night and I could stay home from the lab today. Something is not right, there is no way that Melvin wouldn’t rip my head off for losing something so valuable. That means Huxley was lying to me. If the neon green vials were not for Melvirn, and Huxley was adamant about not letting me do the paperwork for the missing equipment then it was all a lie. There was no way I was going to sit in bed and contemplate this all day, if Huxley was hiding something then by the time I go to work tomorrow there will be no trace. I jump out of bed and run to take a shower. I am going to get to the bottom of this.
By the time I get to LAB TECH, it is way past noon and most of the staff have already filed in for the day. I make a point to go the back way to my desk to avoid Huxley. I turn my head slightly to see if I can spot Liam and when I don’t I continue to walk forward until I hear Melvin's voice inches from my face.
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“Raelyn! You’re here, look at that dedication. I appreciate you getting all my supplies back to me for this morning” I knew it!
The supplies that were broken weren’t Melvirns. The only way to prove my theory was airtight is to check the order forms in the locked drawer of Melvin's office. It just so happens that I am his lackey and have the only other key to the drawer. The only issue is I will for sure be caught if Melvirn is in the office with me. I guess I could go as soon as he leaves, my only issue is that Melvirn never leaves his office. I realized I had retreated into my head when I looked back up to see Melvirn staring straight at me with a confused expression on his face.
“Oh yes sorry, I'm glad I was able to get the materials for you. You should thank Huxley as he was the one who drove here last night to have them at lab tech bright and early” I hated giving Huxley praise but I needed to get Melvirn away from his office even if that meant going to thank Liam.
“I knew you guys were the perfect team to send! Not only did we have the project's resources ready for the morning but we didn’t miss any research yesterday” My face dropped slightly, this is what Huxley was saying.
Melvirn just essentially called us disposable but in nicer terms. Screw this, not only am I going to find out what Huxley is up to but I'm also going to start my trials.
“Thanks” is all I said to Melvin as I gave him a half-hearted smile and turned to walk to my desk in the back corner of the office.
I kept an eye on Melvirn as he walked over to where Huxley's desk was. This was my moment, as soon as Melvirs back was to me I jumped out of my seat and crept into his office. I left the door a crack open for not only a quick getaway but to ensure I could hear when Melvirn was approaching. I made my way over to his desk drawer as quickly as I could and knelt beside it. I pulled my keys out of my lab coat pocket and shoved them into the keyhole until I found the key that turned. I rummaged around until I found the folder labeled Huxley-Liam, this file would have all of his past and recent order history from the lab tech and give me a sense of what he ordered. I am about to pull out the files when I hear not only Melvirns voice approaching his office door but Huxley's as well. I quickly shut the cabinet door and lock it, I shove the flies into my lab coat and act like I had every right to be in the office. The office door swings open as Huxley and Melvirn walk in continuing their conversation from before they were in earshot.
“Raelyn? What are you doing in my office?” Melvin's question pounded in my head as I tried to think of a quick response.
Come on, brain don’t fail me now.
“I was just delivering the report on your desk from last night” Sure it wasn't me who wrote the report and I also didn’t deliver it but I am just hoping that Melvin didn’t see that Huxley's report already lied smack dab in the middle of his desk.
I looked up at Melvirn and gave him a genuine smile, and a convincing one at that. I quickly moved my eyes over to Huxley's face and registered slight shock as well as confusion. Huxley knows that I was not the one to deliver the report, he was the one who told me this morning. He then followed it with ‘don't come in.’ I'm so screwed. Not only will Melvirn know that I am lying about being in his office but there is no doubt in my mind that Huxley knows something is up as well.
“Ms.Anderson I appreciate your initiative but Liam delivered that report to me bright and early this morning” My mind went blank, what do I say, what do I say? I am about to open my mouth and make a fool out of myself when Huxley pipes in with
“She only got like 4 hours of sleep, she must have just forgotten,” he turned to me as he directed his next remark.
“You can take your report and leave mine, I'm sure yours is not even comprehensible.” I couldn’t tell if that was a jab at me or a save to get me out of the office as quickly as possible.
He motioned with his eyes down to Melvirn’s desk and I grabbed the nearest blank piece of paper, folded it up, and walked out of the office still clutching the files I shoved into my lab coat. The second I cleared the door and was out of earshot I let a breath out of my lungs that I didn’t realize I was holding. Just as I was about to sit back down at my desk I felt a strong arm grip my forearm and drag me into the closed-off lunchroom just to the right of my desk.
“What the” I whipped around to see Huxley standing there staring right at me with a tight hold still on my arm.
“What the fuck Huxley, what is your problem?” he looked me up and down before he finally let go of my arm and said,
“What the hell are you doing here?”