Laboratory Love by Chrystal Wynd Page B

recommendation for you was one of the reasons you
were hired at Blonde Concepts, despite your being related.”
    I
looked at Simon. “You’re related to
the
Dr. Cormick?!”
    “Uncle,”
said Simon, grinning.
    “I
see,” I said, and I did. No wonder he knew so much about biology.
    “Anyway,”
said Dr. Banford, indicating that Simon and Dr. Cormick should take a seat,
“what can I do for such an illustrious figure as yourself, Rick?”
    “You
can lend me Corine Strait for a research collaboration,” said Dr. Cormick.
    What
the hell?
    Dr.
Banford said, “Did you say you want to do a research collaboration with us? And
you specifically want Corine for this?”
    “You
got it in one, Carl,” said Dr. Cormick.
    “All
right,” said Dr. Banford. “I’m listening.”
    Dr.
Cormick pointed to the monitor where the video of me putting on my experimental
lipstick was still playing. “I assume you’re familiar with Miss Strait’s
experiment with chrystalmic?”
    “Only
in general,” said Dr. Banford. “Not the specifics. I was in the middle of
considering whether her actions constituted a full suspension or just a simple
termination when you walked in, in fact.”
    Dr.
Cormick chuckled. “Oh, come on, Carl. We were young and daring once, too.”
    “True,”
said Dr. Banford, “although I never quite reached the level of experimenting on
myself with unknown agents.”
    “Not
totally unknown!” I said. “There’s been some-“
    Dr.
Banford and Dr. Cormick looked at me. Simon put his hand to his forehead and
shook his head.
    “Sorry,”
I mumbled.
    “Anyway,”
said Dr. Cormick, “as I was saying, my nephew gave me a rundown on what
transpired during and after the experiment.”
    “That
had to be an interesting conversation,” said Dr. Banford.
    “It
was indeed,” said Dr. Cormick. “And Simon was smart enough to bring me some
blood samples from Miss Strait. Our research is in the early stages and thus
obviously very crude, but the results so far are fascinating.”
    “Go
on.”
    “For
starters, it appears that chrystalmic and oxytocin share many similar
properties.”
    “Oxytocin?”
said Dr. Banford. “You mean…?”
    Dr.
Cormick nodded. “Yes, the hormone most believe responsible for binding a woman
to her partner.”
    “I
agree that’s interesting,” said my boss, “but I’m not sure of the relevance.”
    “Well,
there’re two points of interest here,” said Dr. Cormick. “The first is the fact
that it appears my nephew was imprinted on Miss Strait.”
    “Imprinted?”
    “Yes,”
said Dr. Cormick. “His DNA was introduced into Miss Strait and he became the
center of her world, much like when baby ducks first see their mother. I have
yet to test the extent of the imprinting, of course, but I would bet a year’s
grant that Miss Strait could identify Simon in a dark room by sense of smell
alone.”
    I
turned bright red.
    “Well,
now, that begs a question, does it not?” said Dr. Banford, turning to me. “That
question being, how did Simon’s DNA find its way inside you?”
    The
question hung there. My cheeks continued burning.
    Dr.
Cormick cut in smoothly. “I understand Miss Strait drank my nephew’s coffee not
long after she applied the chrystalmic compound,” he said. “That was the likely
exposure.”
    “No
doubt,” said Dr. Banford, his gaze lingering on me for a moment. Then he turned
back to Dr. Cormick. “You mentioned
two
points of interest, Rick?”
    Dr.
Cormick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The second point of interest is that it
appears that Miss Strait is allergic to chrystalmic.”
    That
got my attention. “What?!”
    Dr.
Cormick nodded. “You've been experiencing a very bad reaction, my dear,
complete with swelling and adverse conditions. And if I’m not mistaken, your
lips are still very much swollen. Your lips were the primary point of contact,
were they not?”
    I
nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
    Dr.
Cormick continued. “I feel we have an