A few hours after leaving the commissary to return to his office, Doctor Jackson was back in the commissary. He could not control his curiosity about the note the woman had hung on the bulletin board. Now he was standing here looking around the board to locate the note in question. "Here we go," he thought as he finally found the note.
Room needed ASAP
Max. $600 included utilities.
555-9854
Ask for Jess
Jackson grabbed the note off the board and headed back to his office. A couple of years ago he had finally moved out of his apartment and bought a house. Since then he had always rented out at least one of the spare bedrooms. Mostly to young aspiring doctors joining his department. Usually his tenants did not stay long, just long enough to get settled at work, while looking for their own place.
Because of the translation he had been working on, he had completely forgotten to welcome his new personnel. In the last couple of weeks, three new people had joined his department, and he had no clue what either of them looked like. All he knew was their names, education, their resume. Jackson decided that now was as good a time as ever to introduce himself to his new people. He called up the lab and asked for Doctor Swenson. "This is Doctor Jackson. Please join me in my office," he said as soon as she got on the phone. "Yes, Sir," was her reply. "Thank you," Jackson said as he quickly hung up his phone. When he had decided to invite her to his office, it had seemed very normal to him, as he always does that with new personnel, but now his stomach was in knots and he couldn't sit still. He got up and paced the office, until he heard a faint knock on his door. "Enter!" Jackson said, "Please sit." Realizing he may have sounded a little grumpy, he quickly added a smile. He went to sit in his own chair. "So Doctor Swenson, how do you like the SGC?" he asked her. "I find it to be a wonderful place to work. Thank for allowing me to come here, Sir." "Please call me Daniel," he said with a smile. "I saw, in the commissary, that you are looking for a place to stay. I have a couple of spare rooms I rent to new people coming to the Mountain. At least 'till they get settle and find their own place," he continued his rant, almost scared to stop talking. Fearing his face would again turn that dreaded crimson red. "The room is not all that big, but it does have a fairly large walk-in closet. At this time, you are my only tenant, but should I get another you will need to share the bathroom. The kitchen is ridiculously small, but you get a cabinet where you can store whatever you like. We share the cleaning of common areas, such as kitchen and living room. We can agree on sharing the grocery bill, or if you rather would do your own shopping you can do so too. Up to you. The rent is $425, including utilities, DSL, and cable TV. You pay your own phone bill. When do you want to move in?" Jackson ended his speech with a small smile, which faded as soon as he saw the surprised look on the woman's face. "Oh God, when do I learn to shut up? Why would I just assume she would want to rent a room from me?" he immediately thought to himself. "Well, Sir, I would like to see the place before I commit myself to anything," she replied. "Yes, yes of course. I am sorry I didn't mean to be pushy," Jackson said while handing her his card. "Please give me a call, if you are interested. And please call me Daniel," he said with a smile. "Yes, S… Daniel," the woman replied. "Thanks for stopping by, and if you need anything just let me know," Jackson shook her hand and led her to the door.
After she had left, Jackson took a deep breath and resumed his position by the desk. "When do I learn to shut up," he thought, "No way I am ever going to see her again, she is probably going to turn in her resignation as fast as she can. She thinks I am a raving lunatic. Will I ever learn?"
On her way back to the lab, Doctor Swenson, was thinking of her first official meeting with Doctor Jackson. "He sure is a peculiar man," she thought, "Not much for small talk either. Oh well. I think I will give him a call to go check out that room." She kept thinking of the meeting, how surreal it had seemed. Maybe her female colleagues were right about this doctor being either gay or married to his work.