Chapter 23

The day Keith was due back in the lab tensions were definitely high. I was trying my hardest to appear nonchalant, but it seemed like no one else was taking cues from me. Sarah bustled about, tidying things and generally getting in the way, and eventually I retreated to my office and shut the door in order to get some work done.

It was about an hour before anyone disturbed me, but eventually there was a quiet knock at the door.

"Come in," I called distractedly, having by now gotten stuck into a particularly tricky passage on one of the papers I was editing. The door opened and I glanced up to see Keith standing there, looking very tanned and slightly nervous. "Oh, it's you," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Aiming for a late start, I see."

He grinned, showing that his time in Chile obviously hadn't done any damage to his expensively straightened and capped teeth. "Thought I'd give the department plenty of time to prepare for my arrival," he joked weakly.

"Just enough to work themselves into a tizzy. I doubt anyone will get anything useful done all day."

"Apart from you, of course, the ever unflappable," Keith said, folding his arms and leaning against my doorframe. "You look great," he added. "I like the hair."

Of course - he had been gone by the time I had cut my past-shoulder-length waves into something shorter and more manageable. "Thank you," I told him. I knew I should probably return the compliment but wasn't feeling too inspired right then. I finally settled on "So, we'll need to set up a meeting to discuss turnover and re-allocation of projects. I'm free on Wednesday after lunch, if you are."

"Absolutely - I'll let Keira know," he said.

At first I was sure I had misheard him. "...Excuse me?"

"She'll..." Keith's eyes narrowed slightly. "No one's told you, have they? We had a funding window - I've taken her on as my assistant."

'We've had a funding window'. That was just like Keith - he had probably ferreted out some money from somewhere and instead of offering it up to the department as a whole taken it for himself and his 'assistant'. "You're not serious, Keith. With all we have on our plate right now you've allocated that money to hiring yourself an assistant? Do you know how many places I could think of spending a year's wage?"

But Keith was already shaking his head. "It's not even a year's wage, hon - just enough for a six month grade five contract - she'll be taking a pay cut. And it's precisely because we have all this stuff on our plate - K just wants to help us dig out of the mess I left you in." He tipped his head to the side, his deep brown eyes contributing toward his very best 'puppy dog' look. "I'm trying to make it up to you for my leaving - I thought you'd be pleased."

You could have made it up to me by not coming back, I thought sourly, fighting to keep my expression from showing what was running through my mind. "Fine. We'll discuss the rest on Wednesday. Have your notes to me by tomorrow so I have time to go over them."

"Um, sure, I'll do my best," Keith said in that non-committal tone that he liked to use when he had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

"Mm. Alright. Oh, one more thing - will Jonas be ready to be picked up at six?"

"Jonas? Oh, he's round at thingy's place, catching up - by which I assume he means playing video games or watching hyperviolent films. I don't know what his plans were for the night - did you have something in mind?"

"I was going to take him out to dinner - we discussed this, Keith," I said, losing the fight against annoyance and rolling my eyes at him.

"Oh. Right. Yes. I'll talk to him," Keith said vaguely, characteristically unphased by my irritation. "I'll let you know, I'm sure that's fine."

I sighed. "Just tell me when you've talked to him. You've been away for over six months, Keith - I'd like to see my son."

"Right, yes, sorry," he said, finally looking a little chastened. He hesitated, then added, "He missed you."

"I missed him too." In truth, I still hadn't completely adjusted to living on my own; I still expected to see dirty trainers scattered about the entrance hall or luridly-coloured science fiction novels stacked on the dining room table. It wasn't like I wasn't going to have yet more time to adjust, however - Jonas had decided he wanted to live with Keith, a decision I would respect even as it saddened me. "But he sounded like he had a good time. I'm glad."

"He'll be glad to get back to school and home, whatever he thinks now," Keith said, in a tone that suggested that Jonas was not necessarily looking forward to a return to routine.

"I'm sure." Glancing at the clock, I realized I was going to be late for my afternoon class. "I've got to go to class," I told Keith, gathering up my things. "Let Sarah know if you need anything and don't forget to get me those notes, all right?"

Keith straightened, now, unfolding his arms to slip his hands into his pockets and shooting me another of those oh-so-charming smiles. "All right. I've missed you too, you know," he said.

This stopped me momentarily, though I soon shook it off, closing my diary and slipping it into my bag. "I've got to go. We'll catch up more later."

 

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