adjacent to Tom’s office.
Curiosity got the better of her. She’d never been in Tom’s office and for some reason he always found an excuse for her not to enter his space. He would often suggest they meet in her lab or the medical suites. His lab had been turned into a makeshift day care and he’d moved his working experiments to the space next to the volunteers’ housing unit. She ambled past her colleague’s door and stopped in front of the round regulator. After adjusting the number down cool air began to blow. Now was as good a time as any to see what he was hiding behind the closed blinds and locked doors.
She glanced around. The children played quietly in the corner and the guard that had been standing in the hallway was no longer visible. Slowly, she reached behind her and felt the wall as she moved toward Tom’s office door. She wrapped her fingers around the knob and twisted it. The door didn’t open. She huffed and released the handle. So much for luck; there had to be a way in. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and turned around to study the door. The blinds were cracked in the glass insert and she could see papers strewn across his desk. She tried again and her moist palm twisted around the metal handle. Frustrated, she shook the knob and the window rattled in its frame. Quickly, she looked around to make sure no one heard her.
The girls peered up at her from their spot. Each girl wore identical expressions of interest with their heads tilted in the same direction and their little brows drawn together. Robbie dropped her shoulders releasing the tension growing between them and giggled. The children laughed, too.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Tom spoke from the doorway, his lips puckered like he sucked on a lemon. He peered at her through black eyes too small for his head, which appeared bigger because of the receding hairline that he tried to hide with a badly parted comb-over.
“I came to play with the girls.” She kept her voice calm, while seething inside. Who was he to question where she went or how she conducted her day?
“You can’t be here, these girls are under restrictions, strict protocols were set up for their testing and last time I checked the list your name wasn’t on it.” Tom entered the room and quickly crossed it to stand before her.
“Then you better check again, Dr. Willis. Last I spoke to Colonel Malachai, he’d given me the go ahead to play with them.” Robbie crossed her arms.
“You bitch.” Tom’s throat worked as he swallowed quickly. “You strut in here, sliding up against the men, flouncing your hair and speaking softly. You entice them like a harlot.”
Her mouth twitched. “Get with the times, Dr. Willis. It’s the seventies. If I’m a harlot, then you, old man, could very well be a fucking Nazi. God knows you act like one.” She brushed his shoulder pushing past him. “Seriously, I wonder where Malachai found you.”
Tom clutched her bicep and wrenched her around. His was face a putrid greenish color and his jowls puffed out. “I was talking to you, you will respect me. I don’t know what the colonel sees in you but you will act like a lady in my presence.” He jerked her close. His breath was a mixture of hot garbage and rancid meat and it flowed over her with every word he spoke.
She quelled the nausea climbing up her throat, lifted her hand, and slammed her palm against his cheek. His head snapped back.
He loosened his grip and she shuffled back. “No motherfucker touches me, ever!” Where did that come from, she had never been so bold. She rubbed her belly; was this motherly instinct she had read about, manifesting?
One of the kids clapped, a tiny hollow sound. She glanced over to see the toddlers had taken a seat with their legs stretched out in front of the as if they were watching a show. The girls held hands.
“I am the best chemist in my field and probably a better geneticist than you.” Tom sneered as he
Curiosity got the better of her. She’d never been in Tom’s office and for some reason he always found an excuse for her not to enter his space. He would often suggest they meet in her lab or the medical suites. His lab had been turned into a makeshift day care and he’d moved his working experiments to the space next to the volunteers’ housing unit. She ambled past her colleague’s door and stopped in front of the round regulator. After adjusting the number down cool air began to blow. Now was as good a time as any to see what he was hiding behind the closed blinds and locked doors.
She glanced around. The children played quietly in the corner and the guard that had been standing in the hallway was no longer visible. Slowly, she reached behind her and felt the wall as she moved toward Tom’s office door. She wrapped her fingers around the knob and twisted it. The door didn’t open. She huffed and released the handle. So much for luck; there had to be a way in. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and turned around to study the door. The blinds were cracked in the glass insert and she could see papers strewn across his desk. She tried again and her moist palm twisted around the metal handle. Frustrated, she shook the knob and the window rattled in its frame. Quickly, she looked around to make sure no one heard her.
The girls peered up at her from their spot. Each girl wore identical expressions of interest with their heads tilted in the same direction and their little brows drawn together. Robbie dropped her shoulders releasing the tension growing between them and giggled. The children laughed, too.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Tom spoke from the doorway, his lips puckered like he sucked on a lemon. He peered at her through black eyes too small for his head, which appeared bigger because of the receding hairline that he tried to hide with a badly parted comb-over.
“I came to play with the girls.” She kept her voice calm, while seething inside. Who was he to question where she went or how she conducted her day?
“You can’t be here, these girls are under restrictions, strict protocols were set up for their testing and last time I checked the list your name wasn’t on it.” Tom entered the room and quickly crossed it to stand before her.
“Then you better check again, Dr. Willis. Last I spoke to Colonel Malachai, he’d given me the go ahead to play with them.” Robbie crossed her arms.
“You bitch.” Tom’s throat worked as he swallowed quickly. “You strut in here, sliding up against the men, flouncing your hair and speaking softly. You entice them like a harlot.”
Her mouth twitched. “Get with the times, Dr. Willis. It’s the seventies. If I’m a harlot, then you, old man, could very well be a fucking Nazi. God knows you act like one.” She brushed his shoulder pushing past him. “Seriously, I wonder where Malachai found you.”
Tom clutched her bicep and wrenched her around. His was face a putrid greenish color and his jowls puffed out. “I was talking to you, you will respect me. I don’t know what the colonel sees in you but you will act like a lady in my presence.” He jerked her close. His breath was a mixture of hot garbage and rancid meat and it flowed over her with every word he spoke.
She quelled the nausea climbing up her throat, lifted her hand, and slammed her palm against his cheek. His head snapped back.
He loosened his grip and she shuffled back. “No motherfucker touches me, ever!” Where did that come from, she had never been so bold. She rubbed her belly; was this motherly instinct she had read about, manifesting?
One of the kids clapped, a tiny hollow sound. She glanced over to see the toddlers had taken a seat with their legs stretched out in front of the as if they were watching a show. The girls held hands.
“I am the best chemist in my field and probably a better geneticist than you.” Tom sneered as he
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