"Oh god, how did I let Jack talk me into this?" Michael mumbled to himself perched on the edge of his sofa, his hands folded in his lap nervously awaiting a knock at his door. It was only ten after seven but he was holding down the same pose from the last half hour, a book he had thought of perhaps reading until she arrived just sat untouched on the glass coffee table in front of him. He had considered grabbing a light snack as he wasn't sure if he would be able to eat in strange company but the thought of the escort had banished any possibility of food. At least he had been able to get down a pastry and coffee this morning or he'd be running on an empty stomach by now.
To clear his mind he instead decided to preen, standing up tall he adjusted his posture in front of the table's reflection. He absentmindedly fondled his cufflinks one by one, they were small gold circles with stones set into them that glowed red in the light. He was particularly fond of those and had purchased them on a trip to his homeland. They accented him nicely, and though he didn't own one the rental tux fit him well and hung off of his lean frame. His hair he had trimmed to his shoulders the day prior, was now washed and slicked back with a tiny bit of gel, a light bit of cologne was slapped on his wrists. Rather than pose or try to instill any confidence in himself he just stopped to stare in abject horror at the reflection. "Perhaps if I put a bag over my face..".
DING DING!
He jumped from the sudden two part note of his doorbell.
"Oh god..." Somehow he managed to put one foot in front of the other enough to stand in front of his door and reach the handle. It was cold to his touch and he turned it as slowly as his sanity would let him until it clicked open under his effort.
Before him stood a thin woman with medium blonde hair and a pale blue rhinestone gown. She wore matching pumps and carried a small gold leather bag, two golden drop earrings sparkled from her earlobes. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, or at least he was convinced so.
"Michael?" She leaned to the side and gave a slight toothy smile. Good god, even her teeth sparkled. He was doomed.
"Ummm... Yes, sorry. Yes. I'm Michael Morbius." He offered her his hand cautiously.
She giggled slightly at his obvious fluster and took his hand in hers for a gentle shake. "Well Michael I'm Martine. I'll be escorting you this evening. Would you care to tell me some details of the event and your preferences?"
"My preferences..?" He began to sort out the words but the sudden realization that he hadn't even invited her in and had to look like an idiot hit him. "I'm sorry, please come inside. I've just, never hired an escort before." Now he tried to smile to cover some of his nervousness but all he could think every time he said "escort" was how he wanted to escort her to his bedroom. Morbius had never considered himself a passionate man but he now realized how dead wrong he was as images flooded his mind in torrents unbidden and he tried to clear them away to focus on the matter at hand.
She walked inside while chatting, choosing to perch on one of the barstools as she talked. When she sat the slit in her dress came up to her thigh and was pushed taut as she folded her legs making Michael curse his thoughts again. "Well, Michael? Is it okay if I call you Michael this evening or would you prefer a pet name?"
"Michael is fine." Everything she said was a constant distraction to his efforts to maintain order.
"Michael, we generally want to give you the girlfriend treatment as naturally as possible. I just need to know about whether certain things are okay to you. For instance would you like me to be talkative or quiet? Joking or serious? Or whether physical displays of affection are okay?" At this she softly touched his waist to pull him an inch closer to her stool to illustrate. He looked like he was going to faint.
"I'm.. I'm not sure what is best. As I said this is the first time..."
"Well how do you interact with any significant others at your workplace?"
"Well, it's never really come up.." God help him, he folded his hands in front of him in an effort to distract his mind but it did no good. He had often given thought to things like this when he was dating but as relationships never worked out he just tried to put it out of his mind. Now despite the melancholy of realizing he had no experience to draw on he was fighting visions of slipping away with her to the dark back corner of a workplace party and hiking up her dress.
Before that particular thought had time to play out further he deliberately took a step back away from her with his left foot and then stomped on his own toes with his right. "Oww!"
"Are you okay?" She looked genuinely concerned.
"I'll be fine."
"Okay. How about a description of the event?" She was trying so hard to be polite but he was making her nervous.
"Well, I've won a Nobel prize and.."
"Oh my god are you kidding me!?" He jumped back at the possible angry sound but it was purely surprise. "That's fantastic! That's amazing! I mean seriously? You're the guy in the news story?!"
"The news is reporting on this?" He flinched a little internally.
"Of course they are! So that's the party? Tonight? And you'll be making the speech?" Her eyes practically glowed with excitement.
"It's not a big deal." He glanced away and rubbed the back of his head with his hand to hide his embarrassment.
"It is the biggest of deals!" She wiggled her arms in the air to illustrate her point but Michael just looked at her like he was about to run and hide. "Ahem, Sorry. Sorry. I'm not supposed to get unprofessional like that. You um... don't get out much do you?"
He gave a sideways nervous smile. "Am I that obvious?"
"Completely." She giggled a little. "It's okay, how about we play this one by ear? We have to get going anyways." She pulled a cell out of her purse and rattled off a quick text. "There. Sorry, Had to let them know I arrived and that everything is fine." She flashed him a sincere smile.
"Playing by ear sounds ideal." He was actually quite relieved. the nature of the evening would keep his thoughts in check. It was also good to get going as he did not want to be alone with her more than was absolutely necessary.
Morbius held open the door for Martine and the pair chose to make the walk to the event rather than drive. The dinner was to be held at the ESU event center, a large glass ballroom at the center of the campus perhaps a quarter of a mile from Michael's apartment. It was about seven thirty-five, and they had plenty of time to take the walk at a leisurely pace.
"So, you work for an escort service?" Michael was back to being nervous, his foot had stopped hurting and the sun was fading into a colorful and romantic sunset. They were alone besides the occasional other couple walking past them on the sidewalk.
"Yeah... it's not what I wanted to be doing. I used to model. Once you're over twenty-five though, it's not so much a career path anymore."
"As beautiful as you are I'd expect you could model forever." The minute he said it he regretted it. He was not normally the type to engage in such flattery, he began to visibly blush and tried to turn his head to hide it when she looked at him in surprise.
"You barely said five words strung together earlier!" He was alarmed but she broke out laughing and she kept him at ease. He let out a cautious laugh in reply.
"I'm sorry. I suppose I'm just a quiet person, but yes, you look quite lovely. I can't fathom why anyone would ever not want you modeling their clothes."
"Eh, I'm better off without the job. No respect, no good food."
"They control what you eat?"
"Pretty much. Did you know fried cheese tastes delicious? I didn't know for years." She accentuated every line with a giggle and her giggles were driving him quite crazy. He wasn't sure if he could resist touching her for the entire evening. He kept picturing every lurid fantasy that had been in his brain in the last twenty years, it was one hell of a backlog to run through. He was a quiet man but still a man and though he never found a way to indulge in any kind of sex he was pretty imaginative on the subject. She paused for a moment. "I haven't worked for Royal for long. I'm trying to save up for a place. My family wants to just buy me a place but I don't want to owe them."
"Well there are some lovely places around here if you just poison the right people." He chastised himself for the dark humor but she giggled and gave him a slight hug that sent the blood in his veins to a rush.
"How about you? You work as a doctor huh?"
"Well, more as a research scientist." They were coming up on the building now and for all his nervousness at being alone he was disappointed that the walk was almost over.
"So what's that like?"
"Logical and uneventful. Normally pleasant, that is if you'll believe me after this party they're saddling me with."
"You have your speech?"
He reached into his left inside breast pocket and pulled out a stack of note cards. "I have it right here."
They walked up past the valet to the double glass doors. Inside one of the science professors had been stationed at the entrance with a clipboard, it was David Garris. Michael didn't know the man well but upon walking up to him and waiting while he cleared the couple in front of them Garris sent him a knowing nod and didn't even bother asking his name. He just motioned them both through to where a young student was ready with a camera and snapped a surprise candid photo. The flash was blinding and Morbius took a moment to recover by rubbing his eyes. He was close to the thought of strangling the boy.
The kid spoke up. "So sorry about that! Peter Parker here for the Daily Bugle. You mind if I get a few more for the paper?"
Michael was about to say that he did indeed "mind" when Martine answered "No" for him and moved in close to him, grabbing his arm and positioning it around her waist for the pose. She smiled but Michael froze letting the sensation of her dress tight around her body sink into the nerves of his hand. After the first couple of shots Martine leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Don't be so tense, you're supposed to look natural with me, like we're an item." The smile that played out on his face was something between elated and tortured, but he obliged and stood straight pulling her to him. God she felt so nice but by the time he was actively enjoying the photo shoot the photographer waved them on, thanking them profusely. He proceeded to his table with the help of an usher while wearing a laughably obvious smile and slightly blushing.
The tables were large ornate circular affairs with eight seats each. The medical department chair Richard Thomas was at their table with his wife, Curt Conners was next, he worked in the same lab building as Michael, and the unfortunately placed Larry Burghouse was here seated with his obnoxious girlfriend who looked annoyed as hell to see Martine. The last chair was Emil Nikos, Michael's main lab assistant. He was a charming man who smiled beams at Martine. Michael introduced him with a great hug and a smile but most everyone else at the table sat staring at her in disbelief.
Richard broke the silence. "Michael good to see you!" The two shook hands. "And who is this with you this evening?"
Morbius snapped into focus "This is Martine." Richard took her hand and shook it, an action repeated by the rest of the table's inhabitants. Michael moved off to the right of the table to catch up with Richard and discuss the schedule for the evening while Emil scooted his chair closer to chat with Martine.
"So what kind of witch's spell have you cast over him?"
"What?"
"Sorry, my phrasing is not so good." He spoke in a much heavier accent than Michael. "Michael of course. I have never seen him smile like that in my life! I didn't even know the man could smile."
Martine gave a laugh. "Surely you're exaggerating. He's a very sweet man."
"Is he? Incredible! I swear this is literally the first time I have seen him smile in public in ten years. He looks at you like you are his sun." Emil chuckled it off but Martine stared a bit at Michael across the table. Away from her he did look more serious and he furrowed his brow as he talked. He must have sensed her stare because for a moment he looked right back at her and grinned. She smiled in silent reply but then he just went back to his previous expression with Richard as they went over details.
"Interesting."
Rachel, Larry's girl spoke up from the other side of the table. "He must really be head over heels for you." With her inflection it was less a statement and more of a question. Martine just smiled back but just then a waiter came over to take drink orders, interrupting them both. Martine ordered a bottle of a mid-range white wine. She hadn't discussed food with Michael yet and he was expected to pick up the tab but she figured a mid-range wine would avoid suspicions and wouldn't ruffle his feathers. Not that she thought anything would bother him if she did it.
That was concerning. Clients were not supposed to be actually emotionally attached to the escorts but the commentary from Emil and the way he looked at her, she was going to have to have a talk with him about that when they got a moment. Of course maybe he was just a very good actor.
At that moment Morbius concluded his discussion and sat back in his chair next to Martine, he leaned over and smiled. She decided then and there to test this out so she greeted him with a loud "Hey hunny!" and pecked his cheek with a kiss. Morbius looked as though a gunshot had gone off in his vicinity. His chair tipped slightly backward and then forward as he corrected his mistake, and he turned a bright shade of beet red, quite a tone for someone so pale.
Troubling, very troubling. She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Michael can we talk a minute?"
He tipped his head over to the side. "About what erm... hunny?"
She tried to get as quiet as she thought she could without being drowned out by the four-hundred or so people talking in the room. "You know to not actually get emotionally attached to me right? What we have is a financial arrangement."
Almost immediately he stammered out the words "Yes.. of course." and glanced at her bearing the the most obvious forced smile. Dear god this man, anyone could read him like a book, it's like he doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body. For some reason she found that utterly charming, probably due to the number of assholes she'd spent time with who had no problem lying to her with a straight face.
Dinner consisted of a choice of three dishes, there was duck with a butter sauce, an 8oz ribeye steak with horseradish sauce, or an Asian vegetable stir fry with tofu. She chose the duck and It was one of the best meals Martine had eaten in years. Michael picked at his steak consuming maybe half of it and his sides. He looked upset and that really bothered her, maybe she should have waited until the end of the date to clarify to him. Then again it was entirely logical that he knew and he was just nervous about the speech. She hoped that was the case.
After dinner, Richard stood and made his way up to the podium. They had a nice light setup with a mounted video monitor as well. Speakers and a couple of tech-minded volunteers stood by the wayside.
"Ladies and gentleman we have a short film for you now. We hope you'll enjoy it." There was soft applause and they dropped the house lights. The film cut to footage of a patient awaiting liver transplant, it listed her name as Rebecca, a small girl of thirteen in a hospital gown with wild red hair. She was the victim of a rare condition. She talked to the camera about who she was and where she was born and a long talk about how she used to love to dance. Martine looked over to Michael to see him slinking down into his seat nervously. Sweat had started to bead on his forehead and he looked as though he wanted to crawl under the table and escape. She grabbed his arm and squeezed his hand as they showed the video of her surgery. She was the very first patient to get one of the new transplants with the artificial valve that Morbius had designed himself. Another squeeze on his hand came with the footage of her post surgery interview.
Morbius tipped his head toward Martine to whisper. "Help. I think I'm going to pass out. I can't do this." He really did look horrible.
Martine ran her hand over his face "It'll be okay. I know it'll be rough but you're a good person who has done great things."
He looked even more flush. "I just do my job, I don't deserve this."
"No, you don't deserve to be forced up there and paraded around for bragging rights but it'll be over soon and I'll be right here when you get back okay?" For all his oddness there was a part of this man that she truly understood and admired. He didn't want the recognition or the fame, he just wanted to get on with his work.
He nodded and forced a smile at someone finally seemingly understanding him but just then a bead of sweat ran down into his eye and stung. Martine casually grabbed her napkin to dab it up and he winced but didn't turn away from her. The film ended and the house lights went up startling everyone. Richard at the podium guided the applause "And tonight we bring you the man behind the Nobel prize Michael Morbius!" Louder applause erupted as he gave a brief flick of his hand but Michael didn't dare budge from his seat. Martine panicked and stood taking Morbius' arm and pulling it up he looked confused as hell but Martine forced him up by sheer will, he rose and she walked him hand in hand up the stairs to the podium. The clapping died down and for a brief second he looked like a deer caught in the headlights but Martine reached into his breast pocket and got his note cards laying them in his hands. Some members of the crowd giggled audibly. She then gave him a hug and stepped to the side of the stage with Richard. Morbius looked down and up and then turned to Martine with a quietly mouthed "Thank you" and he then broke out into his speech. Any snickering or crowd noise finally died down as he talked.
As he read it became readily apparent that Michael Morbius was no professional speechwriter. He went into descriptive detail about other scientist's breakthroughs that had furthered his own research, about the dates on which he had gathered needed results, and about the people whose grants had made his work possible. Martine also detected the occasional word in Greek rather than English. It seems he thanked everyone in his building. He thanked Emil the most profusely of all and jokingly promised to wrap up his current project so that Emil could take some time off soon to visit his girlfriend in Greece. Emil laughed and waved towards Michael on the stage. The crowd seemed to wake up from the fifteen minutes of monotony and they laughed as well. Michael closed with a final thanks to the school and Richard saw a great opportunity to sweep in and stop him on a high note. "Michael Morbius everybody!" He patted him briefly on the shoulder as the crowd's applause rose and tapered off. Richard motioned to the seats so that Martine and Morbius could go sit down while he made a few announcements about the evening at the podium. Michael nervously took her arm again as they descended the steps.
"I think I bored them to tears."
Martine let out a short shrill laugh. "Oh c'mon it was only fifteen minutes or so of full medical jargon. I thought you did pretty well considering you looked like you might keel over beforehand."
"Thank you for that by the way. If it weren't for you I think they would have rushed me out of here in an ambulance." He smirked and they both found their seats. Emil passed Michael a beer and Michael nodded lightly and downed it in one long swig. Emil then leaned over and hugged Martine.
"Thank you, I would have never been able to get him up there." Martine smiled, Emil truly was a nice guy. Michael finished the beer and plopped the bottle back down on the table. "Sorry, that helps. I never did like wine much it tastes far too sour, the beer is much better, good liquor is best but they have no ouzo here."
Emil smiled. "Just watch your consumption or we'll have to wheel you out."
"Oh no, I'm fine now. After all I have to escort the lady home after this, I'll be sober. Just maybe buzzed enough to deal with all of the idiot questions I'm going to get for the next thirty minutes." Michael popped a breath mint in his mouth from his pocket and rose out of his chair just as Richard brought over a group of five men in suits to talk to him. "Please forgive me Martine but I will return." He leaned in and kissed her hand before walking away with the group. After he left a suave rugged man in his twenties walked over to the table with his blushing date to talk.
"Ah Jack, I was wondering where they had you seated." Emil smirked.
"Way in the damn back, could hardly see the speech for all the old fossils in silk hats ahead of me. Food was good though. How's he doing?"
"Much better than expected thanks to this young lady here." Emil motioned to Martine and Jack let out a low wolf whistle. Emil knocked him on the arm with his fist in an effort to end the offensive gesture but Jack was oblivious. "Heya, you must be from Royal!" Jack extended his hand and Martine grasped it for a polite shake. "Glad to see he actually made the call." Emil looked confused but had learned long ago never to ask questions when Jack was involved.
Jack's date wandered off to the bathroom while Martine chatted with the two men. "So you're from Greece?"
"Me and Michael both but not Jack here."
"I'm from the good ol' U S of A." Jack looked at them like it was an accomplishment worthy of sky-high trophies.
Martine tried to keep from rolling her eyes at Jack so she turned to Emil. "Are you and Michael family?" Martine was wondering if there were a long family line of science minded Grecians just waiting back home. The thought made her giggle but in truth Michael and Emil looked nothing alike. Michael was short with dark curly hair and Emil was a tall muscular man with auburn short hair and a strong jaw.
"No, I immigrated to help Michael about ten years back, we're old friends so he got me a work visa. Michael has no family left." Emil looked distraught at the thought but Jack just rested his hand on the back of Emil's chair and added "He does okay though. So it's looking like this will all rap up by eleven. You need a ride home?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Martine and Emil looked like he was going to stab Jack with a fork. "Do not harass the young lady Jack I swear you have no morals!"
Martine rolled her eyes. "Don't you have a date?"
"What tonight? No I oh! You mean Cindy?"
Emil tried very hard to hide his amusement as Jack got whacked in the head with a red sequined purse. Cindy was standing behind him. "Ow. I'm sorry baby!" But it was too late and Cindy started towards the exit with Jack in hot pursuit.
Michael drifted over to the table watching the chase in the distance. "Those two are going to get tackled by security."
Martine sipped her wine "Serves him right." She drained her glass and looked up at Michael. "He's an idiot you know."
He grinned "I am fully aware. It's about half past ten and I think I've had all the social interaction I can muster. Are you ready to go?"
"Are you sure you shouldn't stay more?"
"I couldn't bear it." He grinned and his eyes darted around the room so as to escape anyone else wanting to talk to him.
Emil smiled. "That is the Michael I know. See you on Monday?"
"As always."
Emil shook Martine's and Michael's hands and bid them good night. "You take good care of her yes?"
"I will, of course" Michael said his apologies to the rest of the table and took Martine's arm to walk her out. Rachel gave them the stink eye as they left.
The walk home was eerily quiet and very dark. There was little traffic on the way to his apartment and no pedestrians to be seen. Michael was too exhausted to talk and he was growing more weary with every step. Martine took off her pumps and carried them with her purse, choosing to walk barefoot.
"I'm going to get chewed out tomorrow by Richard for sure."
"For what?" It aggravated her that someone would chide Michael later for darting out of an situation so obviously uncomfortable for the man.
"For leaving early. I just needed to be out of there." He paused "This is all just a circus that I never asked for."
"What happens when you go to accept the award?"
He groaned. "More parties, plaques, I get paraded around like a show pony some more. Not to mention I have to go overseas to attend the ceremony and that means flying." He let out a deep sigh.
"You have anyone to go with you?"
"Emil I suppose.." He cut off when he gathered her meaning. "It would cost me a fortune to hire you for the trip but I may just do it." She giggled and hung on his side switching her shoes to the other hand.
"I'll do it for free."
Morbius showed alarm at her words "Won't that get you in trouble?!"
Truth was that she hated this job normally. There were lewd customers, bad work hours, and one instance where she had actually feared for her life, but tonight was fun. "Maybe, it's worth it though." She offered a sly smile.
When they got to the front door she put her shoes on and reminded him of the bill. She had a mini-panic attack when she realized that he had not paid half up front, it was her fault as it had slipped her mind. He assured her that it would be fine and he pulled five one-hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and put them into her clasped hands. She sent her text to the agency and they stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"Well I guess this is good night." She reached up to hug him but he leaned forward and instead planted his lips on hers and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He softly pushed her lips apart with his tongue probing her mouth and gently grasped her bottom lip in his as he backed up and broke off the kiss.
"Sorry! Oh god.. I'm so sorry." She tried to grasp his arm and let him know it was okay but he just pulled it away and apologized again, grunted "Good night", and shut the door. When she shook off the disbelief and started the walk back to her car she heard a muffled wail of anguish drift through the walls.
