Fourteen Days
Day Three
When Tanya awoke the next the morning she knew instinctively that James had already left. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling and listening to the sound of the traffic rushing past her window for twenty minutes. She allowed her thoughts to flit from one thing to another and never really paid attention to what her brain was telling her. It was the most peace she'd had in a long time. She felt optimistic about the time ahead as she knew that things were looking up.
Eventually she pulled herself out of bed and stretched her arms above her head. She showered quickly and dressed in her jeans and sweater with her hair tied into a messy bun. Her bare feet padded along the wooden hallway floor as she moved through to the living area of the apartment. She sighed as she looked at the maze and multitude of boxes that were waiting to be unpacked and organised and she knew what her task for the day was.
After a quick cup of tea she set to work. She began by opening the large French windows that led out onto the fire escape. The air was warm and a slight wind blew inside seeming to wash away the dust that had already begun to settle. She pushed the couch back against the wall and positioned the coffee table in front of it. She placed a large floor lamp beside the couch in the corner and began to unpack the television set and accompanying DVD player. She placed it on the opposite side of the room, facing the couch and then stacked the empty boxes outside in the hallway. Already half of the room had been cleared and looked better. Deeming it a good morning's work she noticed that it was lunchtime.
She made herself another cup of tea that she sipped whilst she prepared a ham and cheese sandwich. Once she'd finished making it, she switched on the oven and waited for it to heat up before placing the sandwich inside for a few minutes. Once she was satisfied the cheese was sufficiently melted and the ham was warm, she took it out and sat out on the fire escape to eat it. She looked out across the street below and the many people who drove or walked below her.
New York was such a busy place, it was a place that confused her and entranced her all at the same time. She was confused as to why so many people chose it to settle. Why it had such good opportunities for people who came from all over the world, people like her and James. But that was the exact reason it entranced her. Because it held so much excitement, so many opportunities that she couldn't hope to achieve anywhere else. It held the promise of a new life. A life she didn't necessarily want.
She sighed and sipped at her tea before taking another bite of her toasted sandwich. She wondered if, somewhere, Harry was doing the same. She wondered if he was able to take care of himself. He was so skinny. She hoped there was someone making him lunch. She considered venturing to his apartment and ensuring he ate but she didn't know New York very well and she had work to do of her own that afternoon. So once she'd finished her lunch she climbed back through the window and washed up the mug and plate. Leaving them to dry on the draining board she made her way back through to the living area. Standing in the middle of the room, she decided that it would be a good idea to finish off unpacking and organising before going through her notes for the serum.
She began by moving all the boxes onto the clear side of the room to make the other side of the room clear. She then ripped open a box that held a flat pack desk and began to assemble it. This took her longer than anything else had. She kept catching her fingers and having to stop for a couple of minutes to nurse them back to working order before she could continue. But a couple of hours later she was finished and the desk was assembled in place next to the television.
Next she managed to assemble the accompanying chair, this didn't take half as long as it was much simpler. She cleaned up the boxes and plastic wrapping from the desk and chair and placed it all out in the hallway with the other boxes. It was all lined up neatly along the wall. Making her way back through to the living area she realised there were only a few more boxes left and she was sure that she could get the living area finished that day. She glanced at her phone that lay on the coffee table and saw it was nearing four. Depending on what was in the boxes, it might mean a late dinner for her and James but she was sure he wouldn't mind if it meant that she could finish off this room.
She unpacked the first box and found a lamp and some other various things to go on the desk. She set everything up and placed all of the papers onto the desk as well. Once she'd finished unloading both the boxes she put them outside in the hallway along with the others and found it was almost five. Walking back through to the, now completely unpacked, living area she noted it needed something a little more to make it homier. She closed the windows and found a vacuum cleaner. She vacuumed the carpet until it was presentable and then picked up her purse and phone and headed out. She knew she didn't have long and walked briskly in search of what she needed. Everything in New York was relatively within walking distance and it didn't take her long to find a shop that sold vases and then another that sold flowers. She picked out a bunch of white roses and spared no expense. If she was going to be living in this apartment for the next eleven days then she wanted it to look appealing.
She got back and put water in the vase, prepared the flowers, and placed them on the coffee table before cleaning up after herself. She stood in the doorway as the sun set and she smiled to herself as she observed her hard work. She was proud of the way she had turned a room into a home in a day. She was exhausted but she wanted to keep going to and look over the notes. She glanced at her phone and saw the time to be nearing seven. She wanted to begin on dinner for her and James, and admittedly, she was very hungry.
Wandering through to the kitchen she glanced through the cupboards and the refrigerator as she thought about what to cook for them. She couldn't cook pasta or salad because they'd had those dishes recently but she wanted it to be nice and healthy. She eventually found a bag of potatoes and there was still a lot of left-over chicken. Deciding to continue their streak of chicken she began to chop up the potatoes and then fry them for a while in oil, as she did so she preheated the oven to a high setting. As the potatoes were frying she tore up a slice of bread and mixed it with flour and an egg. Once she had her mixture she rolled the chicken pieces in it and placed them on a baking tray. At the same time she stopped frying the potatoes and added them in along with the chicken all onto the same baking tray and then she placed them into the preheated oven. Once they were cooking she ventured for some other form of green vegetables and found a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. She boiled some water and added them to it to cook them as the chicken and potatoes cooked in the oven. As their food sizzled away she cleaned up the mess she'd made and placed the washing up in the sink, ready for James to do after dinner.
"Hey I'm home!" James yelled as she was dishing up their dinner onto plates. She handed him his and once again they ate in silence.
"What's this?" he asked after a mouthful of peas.
"Home-made chicken nuggets and fries." She smiled as she took a bite of potato.
"How old are we seven? Besides I sometimes hate the fact that you're a health nut. Why didn't you just order in or something?" he asked but she noticed he quite happily ate his food.
"Well maybe we can order in tomorrow or something?" she suggested and he nodded.
"That sounds great. You cook too much, you must be exhausted."
"Just wait until you see the living room." She smiled. They finished their dinners and James did the washing up whilst Tanya took all of their notes and lay them out across the coffee table and floor so she could look over them all. She settled herself on the sofa and threw herself into her work until James joined her.
"This is great!" he exclaimed as he walked into the living area she had so kindly cleared for him. He laughed and she smiled weakly, eager to return to her work.
"So what did you do at Oscorp today?" she asked, wondering if he had any new developments.
"I requested Harry's medical records. Here." He handed her a file from his bag and she immediately flipped it open. "And we began to look at a list of potential stabilising agents. At the moment we're looking toward noryproxate. It's the most efficient and the cheapest." He explained and Tanya's eyes narrowed as she scanned his records.
"But it says here he's allergic to trichodamal?" she asked slowly and James nodded as he sat down beside her.
"Yeah."
"Well, trichodamal is found in traces of noryproxate. If you use that you could kill him."
"It's a risk we have to take."
"No it's not. You could use ploraflormine. It's just as good and will give the same effect."
"But it's more expensive."
"This is a man's life. You don't bargain with that. I'm sure Harry will understand if you dent the company budget a little bit in order to save his life." She said coldly, slapping the file shut and throwing it at him. "What else?"
"We began theorising algorithms to make the serum work. But we still don't have enough data." There was a pause as Tanya's eyes scanned the sheets of paper that surrounded them.
"We need more data about the serum that makes Harry the goblin. Pass me everything you have on the goblin serum." She instructed and began to collect specific sheets herself. James helped until she had a small pile in front of her. Once she had them in the order she wanted them, she began to read. She immersed herself completely in the notes and ignored any of James' comments. Eventually he grew tired and went to bed but she continued to read until she was finished. Once she was done she leaned back and sighed, running a hand through her hair. It was nearing eleven at night and she was exhausted and no closer to understanding the serum.
She knew that it latched itself onto Harry's DNA and replaced a strand of it but she didn't know how it could be removed or replaced itself. She didn't know how it altered his being or how they could combat it. She just didn't have any of the answers. Feeling defeated and pessimistic she decided to continue the following day but to give up for the evening.
She made her way back into her room and changed into her nightdress but before she was about to get into bed she realised something strange. Her bedroom window was open and the blinds were clanging quietly against the wall. She opened them for a second and surveyed outside to tell if there was someone out there. Deducing there was no one, she shut the window and bolted it before shutting the blinds and turning back to her bed. On her pillow lay a small envelope that she hadn't noticed before. She approached it cautiously and opened it hesitantly. Inside it read:
Tanya.
I need to know how you're working with the serum. I need to be cured. Contact me as soon as you receive this note. I will supply you with whatever you need.
Harry.
She rolled her eyes and threw the note onto her bedside table. She collapsed into bed and flicked off the light, she had had enough of domineering men for a lifetime.
