Internal Romances
Chapter 4
The next night was beautiful, if a bit chilly. After all, the Christmas season was upon them, with Christmas in only a few weeks, so everyone was beginning to get in a fairly good mood. Well, in comparison to how everyone had been acting towards her when she first arrived. Mandy had been unable to sleep, tossing and turning, thoughts flying around her head, never settling for contemplation for more than a few seconds before dissolving into mist.
Sighing, she yawned, walking into the lab, absolutely exhausted. She hadn't fallen asleep until something like five o'clock, and they she'd had to go to work for nine, leaving her about three hours of sleep. She'd nearly fallen asleep standing up in the bus on the way over, and was currently dreaming of the coffee she would find in the break room. No sugar or cream today, she wanted it black.
She walked into the break room, pouring whatever was in the coffeepot into the mug, and took a drink, nearly spewing it out as she found it to be, not coffee, but hot apple cider. "Great…no sleep, and now, no coffee…" She tried to find the coffee in the nearby drawers, but found none. "Why am I being tortured…?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling. Knowing that she had no choice, she looked around carefully, then scampered into the lab, looking around.
Greg moved his coffee around every few days, so now she was stuck with the challenge of finding it before he found her snooping around for it. She started going through the drawers and cupboards, and whacked her head a couple times, cursing loudly. Having looked in all the drawers, and finding nothing except some of Greg's magazines, which she hastily returned to the drawers. She pursed her lips, looking around, and finally spotted it on the top shelf. She stood up on tiptoe, reaching, and finally gave in and grabbed the chair, dragging it over.
"The one day I decide to wear heels…" She muttered irritably, and took off the shoes, placing them to the side, and climbed up onto the chair, making sure nobody was coming. She was wearing a dark black skirt and a white shirt, as well as nylons. She stretched her arm up as high as she could, leaving one hand on the back of the chair for balance, but was still just inches short of the coffee. Looking around to make sure nobody was coming, she let go with her hand, raising herself up onto her tiptoes. "God. Damn. It." She said angrily, as she was now brushing the bottom of the can, and stretched herself just a bit farther.
"My coffee!!" Came a fake shocked voice from the doorway, and Mandy jumped, losing her balance and starting to fall from the chair with a shriek, bracing herself for a hard landing, so she was surprised when two strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. "Saved your life!" Came Greg's voice, and she turned, eyes wide.
"Thanks." She said, flushing furiously. "Hey, you're a bit taller than me, you could probably…" She trailed off as he climbed up onto the chair, reaching the coffee with ease.
"There you go. Was it really worth risking your life just to get my coffee?" He asked, but didn't wait for an answer, as Mandy was already putting the coffee powder into the coffeepot, so he continued. "I'm going to ask Sara, as soon as she comes in…she'll be here, right about…now." Just as he said this, Sara went strolling past, and Greg winked, heading out the door.
She sighed, and took a sip of the steaming hot coffee, which suited to wake her up even more than the close contact with Greg had. Her heart had started pounding when she'd realized who it was who had caught her before she fell. Now, she had figured it out. He may have stopped her falling physically, but it was way too late to stop her from falling in love.
Only ten minutes later, there was the sound of the lab door opening, and she turned, fully expecting to see Greg start dancing around, laughing like a little kid. Instead, she saw Greg moping into the lab, and sitting at the table, resting his head on the table, sighing sadly. Feeling both sad for her friend and just a bit guiltily happy that he was obviously turned down, she couldn't decide between being overly sympathetic and being sarcastic. In the end, she chose what was stronger, which was the sadness to see her friend in such misery. She walked over to the down lab-tech and gently patted his back.
"She said no, huh?" She said after a moment, and he nodded, sighing heartbrokenly, but before she could start her sympathetic act, he started speak, each voice dripping with unhappiness.
"Flat-out rejection…said I was too immature for her…I bet she'd rather go out with a corpse than with me…" Mandy winced inwardly, and sighed, looking at his heart-broken face. "You really like her, huh?" She asked, and he nodded, and she put one arm around his shoulders gently, and an absurd idea entered her head as she looked at his sad face. She hated, with a passion, seeing her friends sad, and especially hated seeing Greg sad. So could she help him get what he loved…and in the process give up what she loved? If it would make Greg happy…she could do it.
"I gotta go, uh…run some tests…just…don't do anything stupid, alright?" She said weakly, then gave him one last reassuring pat on his back before turning and walking out the door and down the hall, knowing where Sara would be. Finding her in the evidence room, she cleared her throat, tapping on the doorframe, causing her to look up. "Hey Sara, uh…need any help?" She asked lamely, and walked in, even though Sara shook her head.
"No, I'm fine, thanks…" She said, but Mandy didn't leave. "What do you want then?" Sara asked, seeing as she was still there.
"I was just thinking…about how lucky you are…" When Sara looked at her strangely, she continued, every part of her wanting to take the words back. "I mean, you've got a great guy who totally loves you…wish I had that…" Sara looked at her like she was crazy, and, seeing as she was going to have to be blunt, she added. "Greg!"
"Greg? Oh come on, Mandy, he's way too immature for me…" She said, turning back to her evidence, and after a few seconds in which Mandy counted down the seconds in her head. "Plus, he doesn't totally love me…it's just a crush…"
"I'm not so sure about that…" She said, and made as if she were about to leave, but of course, she heard Sara call her back, obviously to object.
"Wait, wait, what do you mean?" She asked, and Mandy tried to look innocent, wanting to take it back, even if she knew it was true. "What makes you think it's more than a crush?"
"Oh…just how he's always talking about you…and you know, he's not that immature…I've seen another side of him, he just puts it on in front of you to impress you." She was lying a bit through her teeth now, Greg was childish almost all the way through, but she was fairly sure she could coach him about how to act like a mature adult. He'd listen, if he wanted to impress Sara…oh, how she hated thinking that… "You are lucky…a lot of girls would love to have someone who loves them so much…" She said, trying to sound casual, examining her fingernails.
Sara didn't say anything, and Mandy walked out, watching warily. Just a few seconds later, Sara had placed down her evidence and was heading towards the lab, to both her triumph and her annoyance. Well, it had worked. Waiting a good five minutes, she then began to casually head back towards the lab, just long enough to see Sara heading out. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a calm, fairly happy expression on her face and walked into the lab, and was nearly bowled over as Greg went dancing by her.
"Oh, sorry Mandy, but you will never guess what just happened!" Before she could pretend to hazard a guess, he kept going. "Sara agreed to go out with me!! I'm picking her up tomorrow for dinner, because it's our day off!" She watched him for a moment, then raised her voice so that he could hear her above his dancing.
"That's great, Greg…where are you going to take her?" He paused, thinking about it. "I don't know…just out for coffee or whatever…" She shook her head, which made him stop totally. "What? What's wrong with that?" He said, and when she bit her lip, he moved closer, staring suspiciously at her. "What?"
Regretting every word, she kept going, trying to sound casual. "Well, I mean…why don't you take her to a sit-down restaurant? I heard that new Italian place is great…and some flowers for her would be nice…" She said, and Greg was nodding, as if thinking. "Also, when you give them to her, say that you bought them because they're beautiful, just like her. And make sure to compliment her during the meal. Her eyes, her outfit, her hair, anything will do." He nodded again, and grinned.
"Hey, I could use a female telling me how to impress the fair sex…not that I need the help, of course…so, what kind of conversation should I make? Should I talk about work, or hobbies, or what?" He asked, and she bit her lip, as if thinking, but really she was just steeling herself to strike the final blow to her own heart.
"I'd talk about lots of things…let the conversation go on it's own, I can't script it for you…" She said, and he nodded again, glancing at the clock. "Well, shift is over, so…good luck…I'll see you the day after tomorrow…" With that, she left, with his final thanks over her shoulder. She sat in the locker room, staring at her opened locker, for about ten minutes, feeling sick, then sighed, grabbing her coat, and left, wishing that life would be more fair.
((I'm so sorry it took so long to update guys, I've been busy with exams and stuff at school…anyway, I'll try to update more often now!!))
