Chapter Three: Confidential

On that same gloomy evening, Dr. Sanderson arrived home fairly early. Typically he'd arrive home well past midnight, but this time it was nearly eleven. Dr. Sanderson unlocked and opened his house door. He walked inside and approached the living room. There he saw his wife, Amanda Sanderson and an unknown man sitting on his couch. Amanda looked over at Sanderson with a surprised expression on her face. Her hand was all over the man's thigh, which Sanderson noticed. He stared at them both in silence.

"I-Uh! Hi, sweetheart!" Amanda greeted her husband nervously while she quickly placed both of her hands into her lap.

The trio went dead quiet. The awkwardness of the situation was overwhelmingly high. Eventually the silence was broken once the stranger next to Amanda cleared his throat loudly. The man stood up and flashed Sanderson a faint smile.

"Hello, there. Name's Steve."

Steve offered Dr. Sanderson a handshake. Of course, Sanderson didn't follow through with the greeting. Instead he looked Steve coldly in the eyes. Sanderson gritted his teeth and clenched his hands tightly. Sanderson felt a strong urge and temptation to literally bite Steve's throat out. His body was shaking, his breathing was out of control and his face felt like it was boiling.

"L-Listen, man. Nothing happened. I'm just a friend, alright? Met your...your wife at the library. We both love reading and we both love talking about...er, reading." Even Steve nearly scoffed at his own pathetic excuse.

Steve spoke with a considerable amount of caution. Steve peeked past his shoulder at Amanda. Rightfully so, her face was riddled with signs of distress and anxiety from the situation. Steve shifted his attention back to Sanderson and flashed another disingenuous smile.

"I'll go. Take care, bud."

Steve patted Sanderson's shoulder lightly and kicked his feet into motion as walked straight past Sanderson and quickly left the house. Sanderson took a long, intense glare at Amanda.

"S-So...Jeffrey..." Amanda twirled her hair anxiously.

"H-How was work today?" She asked insincerely and it was an obvious, desperate attempt to change the subject.

Dr. Sanderson started to walk towards Amanda slowly. Out of fear, she immediately hopped up from the couch and tried to keep her distance from Sanderson. Suddenly, he stopped. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. Sanderson's face gradually started to turn dull while his eyes opened one by one. Shortly after, he strolled past Amanda and made his way towards the basement door. The doctor took out a small key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He swung it open and stepped inside before slamming the door shut.

Sanderson flipped on the light switch to brighten up the room. Before him was a desk with tons of paper stacked and piled up on one another and many plants scattered around the place. Overall, the basement was a messy environment.

Dr. Sanderson pulled his chair back and sat down. He dragged himself and the chair forward closer to the desk. The papers in front of him were various amounts of research and notes he prepared for his work and personal side-projects. He had been so deeply invested and dedicated with his work that Sanderson had little time to spare in the outside world. He even stopped paying attention to his wife.

Most of the research were in preparation of a new special "experiment". It was was his entire world, his top priority. Like a masterpiece, like an art form, he crafted and painted it very delicately, very precisely and most of all, very patiently and filled with the upmost compassion. It was only a matter of time before his masterpiece was ready to be unveiled to the world, but who would have the honor of being the first participant?

With the doctor being so sucked in and invested with his work, time flew. He spent well over an hour reviewing and making necessary modifications and revisions to his notes.

Creeeaak...

His concentration came to an abrupt end by the sudden creaking sound upstairs. He quickly rose up from his chair and spun around and faced the stairway. Faint footsteps grew louder and louder down the steps.

Once the footsteps stopped at the bottom of the steps, it was revealed to be his wife. Amanda's arms were crossed in an insecure manner. She still looked a bit shook up from what had transpired earlier. She panned her head across the basement slowly with a worried look. Finally, her eyes met with Sanderson's. Amanda began to speak with a hint of guilt in her voice.

"H-Honey...I-I...What happened earlier...y-you're not mad, right? You know it was just a friend?" Amanda scratched her wrist.

Sanderson stood still like a statue and didn't bother to give her any form of a reply. This made Amanda feel even more unsettled.

"Please, Jeff. You know I'd never do anything behind your back. I even respect you enough to stay away from you and this basement because I know you've been busy lately. Can we just talk about what happened?" Amanda implored Sanderson.

Her words failed miserably in attempts to provoke any kind of response from Sanderson. He had no indication of being upset or angry. Amanda knew that something was clearly off about him in that moment.

"You wanna eat at least? I made dinner while you were, uh, working. I made your favorite, too. Just how you like it." Amanda faintly grinned.

Sanderson rose his hand steadily and pointed to the stairs, sending a strong message that she had to leave. Amanda sighed deeply and frowned in disappointment. She turned around and made her way up the stairs. The sound of the door being shut filled the basement. Sanderson peeked over at his desk and formed a short smile. He sat back down and resumed his work. Perhaps finding his first "voluntary" participant in his experiment wouldn't be so difficult after all.

The next day, Clemens and Sanderson were in their office typing away on their computers. Clemens, as usual tried to spark up some conversation with Sanderson.

"Hey, doc. You feeling okay? You don't look yourself today."

Sanderson appeared exhausted. He had stayed up all night finalizing and perfecting his work. The doctor nodded slowly while continuing to type.

"Alright, then. I've been thinking about our work. You know, the project and whatnot. I've finally figured out how we can execute our plans easier while having great success." Clemens turned to Sanderson with a smile.

"But uh, between you and me?" Clemens leaned forward and spoke in a lower volume.

"I've came up with something. I've ran through some tests and quite frankly? It's better than what anyone else here has ever cooked up. Not even Birkin, our top scientist can top it."

Sanderson stopped typing and peeked over at Clemens. Clemens grinned wider and nodded eagerly.

"Yup, you heard me. This can put us on the map. This can put us on top of Umbrella, my friend. Meet me over at my house, yeah?"

The doctor for the first time showed the slightest sign of being intrigued. He nodded in agreement.

"Great! I'll text you the address. But remember, don't tell anyone. Completely confidential, okay bud?" Clemens concluded before continuing his work.