A/N: To respond to some reviewers: The year 1994 brought me two great things- my younger sister, and The Lion King. So, yes, GLaD to see someone picked up on it. On Chell's parents... well, I have decided who they're going to be, and suffice to say that Cave and Caroline will definitely have a connection to her. I don't want to spoil anything. It's still a ways off.
Anyway.
Chapter Nine: The Part Where He Makes an Offer She Can't Refuse
I woke up in the morning with a smile on my face. What a lovely dream that had been, about a party filled with Aperture employees and... and that. That was nice.
I got dressed and opened my door, ready to get to work. But when I opened my door, I realized I wasn't at Aperture. I was still at Cave's, and that dream had actually happened.
How bizarre.
I sauntered downstairs to find Cave drinking coffee and sketching furiously. He looked up at my entrance and his face brightened instantly. "Good afternoon, Caroline."
I glanced at the wall clock. It was 2:30. "Good afternoon." I sat down at the table across from him and nodded at the paper in front of him. "What's that?"
"Ideas for the next science sphere." He flipped the paper so I could read it. "More repulsion gel testing."
He had a rough drawing of the first test chamber inside the circle. I looked it over. "You haven't drawn any tests in here yet."
"I thought you'd want to do that."
My head jerked up. "Really?"
"Caroline, you've already been contributing more ideas to Aperture than most of the lab boys would like to admit," He offered me his pencil. "Make a test chamber. Hell, make two."
I took it hesitantly, chewing on the eraser for a moment as I stared at the blank space inside the sphere on the page. Cave watched patiently, sipping his coffee. I didn't want to disappoint him, but... Suddenly I knew what I wanted. I drew furiously, and a smile tugged at Cave's mouth. It was hard to fit the specifics of the tests inside the tight shape, so I flipped the page over and drew clearer images on the back.
"This is just a rough idea," I said as I gave the sheet back to him. "I'm sorry it's so messy."
He kept his eyes on me as he took the paper from my hand, not bothering to look at my work. "Unfortunately, I can't pay you for that because you weren't on the clock," he said. "So I have a better idea. Why don't I take you out for dinner sometime? Someplace nice and... and sciencey."
"I... I don't..." I stammered. I tried to convince myself that he was just trying to be nice, and that it didn't mean anything more than that. It wasn't working, especially after last night. "You don't have to do that. I've done more without getting paid, and besides you pay me too much already-"
"Caroline, the last guy to have your job barely did half the work you did, and he kept wanting a raise." He grimaced. "Should've fired him sooner."
"But... that doesn't mean you should..."
"Caroline." He grabbed my hand, and that finally caused me to blush.
"I suppose... I'd enjoy that."
He smiled, satisfied. "There's still plenty of food left from last night, if you're hungry," he said, pointing at the icebox. "Even cake."
"I'm actually not hungry." I stood up quickly, almost knocking the chair over. "I... need to pack my things for tomorrow. I'll see you at dinner."
He frowned as I practically ran upstairs. I closed the door behind m swiftly and almost collapsed on the bed, my hair splaying over the covers. My heart was beating too fast, and not from the speed at which I rushed up there.
If there was one thing I knew, it was that emotions did not make for good science. Science was grounded in logic, and logic made sense. Logic played by its own rules. I could understand logic. Even Cave's crazy science still had to follow most of the laws of physics.
But emotions, I'd learned, did not follow rules. They were liable to change, fickle as fiends, and worst of all, self-important and arrogant. They demanded attention and dominated thoughts. Emotions were not conducive to science. Science required a clear head that emotions only fogged and blocked.
...Wow. Cave was right. Married to science indeed.
So understandably, I did not think much of relationships. But Cave Johnson was... special. And it would be just one night, right? One dinner with the boss. Maybe he would forget about it. The facility would be awfully busy when we returned, after all. Maybe I'd be off the hook.
I didn't believe that, but it was nice to hope.
I rolled over on the bed, reaching for the binder on my nightstand. Packing could wait. Right now, I needed something to distract me, and losing myself in work was the perfect remedy.
