Chapter 42
Losing
12 years later
Dr Angela Hofstadter gloomily stared out at the rain running down the windows of the Starbucks branch near her Parents home in Pasadena.
The blustery weather outside reminded her of her holiday in England when she was a child. And a smile briefly lit up her face at this happy reminder, before being replaced by a scowl as her memory then switched to more recent events.
Due to the increasing hostility displayed towards the U.S. by two unfriendly Nations. As well as the increasing need for Uncle Sam to reduce the national debt. It was decided by the Commander of the research facility, The familiar figure, ( to Angela's parents that is), of a certain General Rawlinson to concentrate their attentions on the stealth missile program, currently headed by Dr Karl Van Der Kokk, who was as creepy in his manner as he was in his looks.
And Angela had no doubt whatsoever that Karl had been very busy 'assisting' the General with his task of deciding which cuts to make.
Of course the main 'cut' being the warp drive research, that was until a few days ago headed by Angela.
(in truth the reason for giving General Rawlinson a desk to command was that it was considered by the powers that be that as General Rawlinson was only five or so years from retirement, they had decided to give him command of the facility as. 1) The research staff were quite capable of carrying out their work without the need for direction and therefore required very little meddling from the General. And 2) It would give the new commander in General Rawlinson's previous assignment more time to get familiar with his new command).
Angela's face darkened in anger, as she thought of her teams eight years of hard work and sacrifice that had now been thrown on to the scrapheap.
She hoped her dear Colleague, Dr Jane Caswell PhD, would hopefully soon find a position somewhere else as Jane too, as soon as she heard the outcome of the meeting, had quit, not only in support of Angela, but also loathe to return to the position of Dr Van Der Kokk's dogsbody. (For Jane, had formerly been employed as assistant to Dr Van Der Kokk, until to her utmost relief, she was 'rescued' By Angela.
As Dr Van Der Kokk possessed the view that everyone else was only employed to be a servant to him for his convenience, hence he viewed Jane in a similar fashion. I.E As nothing more than a glorified gopher.
Therefore Jane's transfer to the warp drive project did not go down well with Van Der Kokk, and when Angela was awarded her Nobel prize, Van Der Kokk's anger was then transformed into outright hostility towards Angela.
The meeting had begun cordially enough with Angela handing to the general her comprehensive document, ( a document that Angela had spent many hours on together with Jane), which outlined all the reasons vital for the continuation of the project.
Then she passionately pointed out to the General the fact that millions of dollars already spent on the last eight years of the project would be wasted. Clearly making the need for the warp drive project to continue. She sat back satisfied that she had submitted a convincing presentation, certain in her own mind that General Rawlinson would be sure to agree with her views.
But to her utter surprise, Angela gaped in disbelief as the General, without ceremony, promptly threw her precious document straight into the waste paper basket.
"Sorry Ma'am, But I have my orders", the General declared blindly, "And these cuts have got to be made".
Things then took a downward turn as Angela it seemed, had inherited her Mother Penny's explosive temper.
And as she deemed this rejection as a personal affront to herself and her team. She immediately let loose her rage upon the General.
With the result that the meeting quickly descended into outright chaos, resulting inevitably in Angela's resignation.
And for her final act she vigorously swept the general's desk clean depositing everything onto the floor before storming out. Only then to find herself suddenly escorted by 2 burly M.P.'s, and without even saying goodbye to her team, let alone collect all her things together, she was quickly led to a waiting utilty vehicle and unceremoniously dumped by the side of the deserted desert road,
Angela stood there stunned at the sudden change in fortune and wondering what on earth to do as her cell was still in her office at the facility, In fact Angela doubted that she would ever see it again security being so tight, but it left her with no possibilty of getting transport back to Pasadena, as living at the research facility she had not even had her own place she could go to.
With no other alternative she began walking alongside the road, thinking to herself that at least the government had spared her the trouble of having to haul her luggage behind her.
After three quarters of an hour she heard a vehicle approach from behind her, but on looking back she saw the same utility vehicle pull up alongside, and was dismayed to see Jane alight from the vehicle with a mocking, "Hey lady, here's some company for you", an M.P. Told her, then with a squeal of tyres it turned back to the facility.
Fortunately for the two women, two hours later they were picked up by a kindly rancher in his beat up old pick-up and he dropped them off in the nearest town.
(Now, back in Starbucks)
"I would have thought that my winning the Nobel prize would have at least counted for something?", Angela thought bitterly, as she picked up her cappuccino, only to discover that it was now stone cold, then she realised after glancing at the clock that she had in fact had been sat there for over two hours now in bitter contemplation.
And as the rain seemed to be coming down even harder, she went to to the payphone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hi Dad..., Could you pick me up please?...".
XXXXXXX
While Angela's cappuccino was still just an hour old, her twin sister April was equally staring out at the rain running down the windscreen of her car and feeling just as miserable over having been betrayed.
Her husband Bob and herself had been saving hard for some time to be able to take a much needed romantic break together in Hawaii and when Professor Jorgensen had taken her to task for her delay in submitting her report of the progress of the undergraduates in her department.
(April had in fact had suffered a migraine which had principally been the cause of her delay and unfortunately for April, Professor Jorgensen prided himself on his efficiency and as he was so well known for being efficient, then the whole university will also be recognized for it's efficiency, and anyone who does not keep up to his standard will suffer his wrath).
And so April, feeling disgruntled as she was, decided to cheer herself up by checking how much they had saved and how soon they could book their holiday in Hawaii.
"The sooner the better. Then the quicker I can get away from Professor Iceberg for a while. I guess the Iceberg's head is just too big for him to ever get a migraine?", April thought as she accessed the joint, online account.
Then she froze as the total amount saved in the account was shown to be just $17.53.
At once in a panic she called her husband.
"Honey, we've been robbed" she quickly told him in agitation.
Then it all came out as Bob admitted he had spent it all on acting lessons for himself.
April knew that Bob was tired of working at the university restaurant, she knew too that as a classically trained Chef he had longed to gain a measure of fame in his field, and it was only due to a series of mishaps, Mismanagement or sheer bad luck etc.
Few of which could be attributed to Bob.
With the result that all these mishaps only served to severely affect his confidence as a Chef, which was how he came to be working in the University canteen.
April knew too, how Bob envied the prestige and income that her brother Wyatt had achieved in his acting profession.
But she was totally unaware, that Bob would be so desperate to escape his personal prison, that he would even clutch at straws in such a way as to think that he could be as successful an actor as Wyatt was.
"Please Honey, listen to me! I've joined an amateur dramatic society and the Director has filmed all our auditions and he is going to send me mine once he has checked them over.
Honey, I swear, as soon as you see it, you will see for yourself that I am just as good as Wyatt, and I can earn thousands of dollars too! And then we will go anywhere you want Honey please?", Bob had earnestly told her.
April's only reply was to tearfully end the call.
And so April sat there watching the rain while she considered what on earth she could do. Then finally coming to a decision she started her car and drove towards her parents home.
As soon as Leonard arrived and saw Angela standing forlornly outside Starbucks, he immediately noted the downcast demeanour of his Daughter, despite her happy greeting towards him, but wisely Leonard decided to say nothing to her despite his worry, leaving it up to Angela if she wanted to tell him if she had a problem.
When they arrived back at the house, April, Angela's twin sister, had already arrived at the house and was enjoying a cup of coffee with her Mother Penny, and after both Mother and Sister had excitedly hugged Angela in greeting, Penny went to get Angela a coffee. Upon her return,they all chatted for a while until Penny, noticing the rain had ceased, rose and excused herself to her daughters and said that she must sweep the driveway now the rain has finished.
"I reckon the rain has done it for you already Mom?", April remarked.
"Oh no dear. I will still need to give it a brush down", Penny explained.
April thought that this was a little odd. But said nothing more to her Mother.
While Penny was busy with her broom,
the two Sisters decided to have a turn around the garden.
And as twins are normally so in sync with their siblings feelings Penny's twins were no different, And each asked the other what was wrong almost simultaneously. So Angela began the conversation by explaining her predicament to April.
"You can always come to Cal-Tech you know, I mean I know Professor Jorgensen's a pain but the others are O.K.", April told Angela when Angela had finished her explanation.
"Well perhaps he could go and join Dr Van Der Kokk, and put all the rotten eggs in one basket so to speak," Angela giggled briefly before becoming serious again, "It's not that specific problem I'm worried about", Angela elucidated,
"It was such a bolt out of the blue that I feel so numb. I seem to have completely lost all my enthusiasm for any research at all", she said sadly.
"So what will you do now?", April asked her. Feeling at a loss to help.
"I'm going to take a break from it all for a while, then hopefully by then I will feel a bit differently", Angela decided.
Then April explained about her problem.
"Honestly, he must think I'm so stupid, we were talking about our romantic holiday together only a couple of days ago, and not one damn hint from him, that he's spent all our savings. I was so looking forward to it and Professor Jorgensen has been a pain in the butt ever since he arrived at the university, and I felt such a fool for him deceiving me like that. I really thought he cared for me to talk to me". Then April broke down in tears.
"Oh sweetie, come on, get revenge not miserable. And perhaps we can send your Professor Jorgenson to work with Dr Karl Van Der Kokk, They would be great together, seeing as how they are both a couple of low life creeps".,Angela suggested.
Then added consolingly, You know Bob does love you very much, I Know, I've seen it on his face when he looks at you", Angela consoled her Sister.
"Yeah, I guess I know he does really, You know he's a good Chef. And I know it's only because he hates that canteen so much.
In fact he downright detests the Cal Tech Nutritionist when she changes the menu every five minutes, and as a last resort, he is trying to find success in something else. Seems anything as long as it will get him out of there", April told her. "But what will it do to him if he finds he's terrible at acting?.
I'm so worried for him, Oh I wish he could have spoken to me first?", April wailed, wringing her hands in anguish and shedding more tears.
"I guess he just feels it's his job to bring the money in and be successful, I don't think your Bob handles failure too well, It's the male ego you see, it's so fragile at times", Angela summed up.
April mulled over Angela's words for a few moments, "So then, just how on earth can I find out how Bob does at his audition without the need for me to talk to him about it?. I mean worrying over him and just letting him think he can walk all over me are two different things, he needs to learn his lesson", April declared firmly.
"Why not give our brother a ring, maybe he might know , him being in the profession and all? ", Angela suggested
"Great idea, I'll call him now
So then, do you think Mom and Dad would mind awfully if I stayed here for a week or two?", April asked her Sister, before she headed for the telephone.
XXXXXXX
As April talked with her brother Wyatt. Penny returned from her labours, telling her daughter, Angela as she entered, that that was that job done for the week, and then Penny headed for a shower and a change of clothes after asking Angela if she wouldn't mind putting the broom away for her.
Angela returned from her assigned task and after she had washed her hands, then feeling peckish, she decided to make herself some french toast, as she had not eaten much in Starbucks, feeling too emotionally disurbed at the recent events.
On opening the fridge to get the eggs she knocked over a bottle of Hidden Valley ranch salad dressing and on righting it, she thought it might be quite nice to have a little salad with her toast too.
But, the simple act of opening the salad compartment door, led Angela to make an unsettling discovery.
