the man. If he called her into his office for any reason, she’d bring along a co-worker just for support.
She went down to the basement level, which was where the laboratory facilities were located. As soon as she stepped off of the elevator, she had to admit that she was impressed. The facilities were amazing! Everyone was hurrying about in their pristine lab coats looking serious and brilliant. There were no jeans, no messy tee-shirts although several of the more geeky looking fellows were trying hard to wear a tie and missing the mark completely. One man even had his tie neatly knotted at his throat but the rest of the material was off to the side, as if he’d tossed his tie behind him and forgotten about straightening it after he’d finished whatever he ’d been doing.
The laboratory manager greeted her cheerfully, a man in his fifties with stereotypical thick, black glasses that he pushed up higher on his nose as he approached. “I’m Tom,” he said. “I understand that you’ll be working on something separate and need a distinct work space. I received the list of items you need and have them all set up in this corner of the lab.” He led her over to a brightly lit space with state of the art equipment, all much better than what she’d been using for the past few years.
“This is all for me?” she asked in awe, her fingers running gently over the equipment that would help her grow the bacteria faster and more efficiently. “This is wonderful,” she said, her face breaking out in a huge grin. “I can’t believe that this is all for my use. Are you sure I don’t need to share with someone else?”
Tom laughed as he shook his head. “No need. We all have separate areas, but we meet in the mornings and at five o’clock to share what we’ve been working on, what findings we’ve discovered and any problems we’ve encountered. I know you’re working on something separate, but feel free to join us. We might give you some ideas on your work, plus you might hear something that you could help us with.”
She looked back at him, stunned. “You mean, collaborate on work?” she asked, her eyes wide with amazement.
Tom laughed. “You’ve come from a university environment, haven’t you?” At her nod, he grinned. “We’ve all worked in that type of facility as well, but Signor Montebello demands that we put those kinds of work relationships behind us and focus on working together. We’ve had much more success, although there are still a few prima donna holdouts.” He blushed as he said, “Probably all of us are gaming for the next Nobel Prize in science so we aren’t completely altruistic in our efforts.”
Elana laughed, agreeing with him. “This is very nice. Thank you.”
He showed her around the rest of the lab, introducing her to the others who all seemed genuinely pleased to meet her and hear about her work. It was a nice, friendly atmosphere but still filled with the bustle of activity and intelligence that seemed to make the work area hum with excitement and anticipation.
An hour after pulling into the parking lot, she was set up and ready to work. She pushed herself harder than ever, wanting to prove to Gaston that she wasn’t a failure despite her lack of recent success that had her begging for his grant funding last week. Her need to prove herself to him had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to impress the man and everything to do with helping people who were hungry and farmers who could lose their entire crop to the various bacteria that she was fighting. She loved her work and the new environment helped her thrive. The people were kind and dedicated with a brilliance that she’d never encountered before.
Two weeks later, Elana peered through the microscope, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the results. They were positive! This was what she lived for now. The experiment, with
She went down to the basement level, which was where the laboratory facilities were located. As soon as she stepped off of the elevator, she had to admit that she was impressed. The facilities were amazing! Everyone was hurrying about in their pristine lab coats looking serious and brilliant. There were no jeans, no messy tee-shirts although several of the more geeky looking fellows were trying hard to wear a tie and missing the mark completely. One man even had his tie neatly knotted at his throat but the rest of the material was off to the side, as if he’d tossed his tie behind him and forgotten about straightening it after he’d finished whatever he ’d been doing.
The laboratory manager greeted her cheerfully, a man in his fifties with stereotypical thick, black glasses that he pushed up higher on his nose as he approached. “I’m Tom,” he said. “I understand that you’ll be working on something separate and need a distinct work space. I received the list of items you need and have them all set up in this corner of the lab.” He led her over to a brightly lit space with state of the art equipment, all much better than what she’d been using for the past few years.
“This is all for me?” she asked in awe, her fingers running gently over the equipment that would help her grow the bacteria faster and more efficiently. “This is wonderful,” she said, her face breaking out in a huge grin. “I can’t believe that this is all for my use. Are you sure I don’t need to share with someone else?”
Tom laughed as he shook his head. “No need. We all have separate areas, but we meet in the mornings and at five o’clock to share what we’ve been working on, what findings we’ve discovered and any problems we’ve encountered. I know you’re working on something separate, but feel free to join us. We might give you some ideas on your work, plus you might hear something that you could help us with.”
She looked back at him, stunned. “You mean, collaborate on work?” she asked, her eyes wide with amazement.
Tom laughed. “You’ve come from a university environment, haven’t you?” At her nod, he grinned. “We’ve all worked in that type of facility as well, but Signor Montebello demands that we put those kinds of work relationships behind us and focus on working together. We’ve had much more success, although there are still a few prima donna holdouts.” He blushed as he said, “Probably all of us are gaming for the next Nobel Prize in science so we aren’t completely altruistic in our efforts.”
Elana laughed, agreeing with him. “This is very nice. Thank you.”
He showed her around the rest of the lab, introducing her to the others who all seemed genuinely pleased to meet her and hear about her work. It was a nice, friendly atmosphere but still filled with the bustle of activity and intelligence that seemed to make the work area hum with excitement and anticipation.
An hour after pulling into the parking lot, she was set up and ready to work. She pushed herself harder than ever, wanting to prove to Gaston that she wasn’t a failure despite her lack of recent success that had her begging for his grant funding last week. Her need to prove herself to him had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to impress the man and everything to do with helping people who were hungry and farmers who could lose their entire crop to the various bacteria that she was fighting. She loved her work and the new environment helped her thrive. The people were kind and dedicated with a brilliance that she’d never encountered before.
Two weeks later, Elana peered through the microscope, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the results. They were positive! This was what she lived for now. The experiment, with
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