Well once again my efforts to update more frequently has been thwarted, this time due to unforeseen circumstances. Between struggling to pay rent and my grandmother passing away a few weeks ago, I've not been in the best state of mind to write, even though I mostly had this chapter finished for a while. And once I went back to writing again, I ended up surpassing my word limit resulting in this being a longer chapter. I'm not upset though as it came out better then I originally thought it would. Hopefully y'all will feel the same. Anyways, enough stalling, enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter 6: Garden of Surprises

It was around six am when the sun had risen on that bright, beautiful Saturday morning. But while birds and animals were gently being awoken from their slumber, Bob was already awake and sprawled out on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling, his eyes wide and bloodshot.

"Can't….sleep…must…sleep…..starting…now...…...blast….."

Once again he had been plagued with nightmares. Or more accurately, the same recurring nightmare with the fire, the demon and the laughter. Bob knew he should be bored of the scenario by now and have found ways to stop himself having the dream. However this time, something different happened.

He remembered running from the flames and the laughing spiky haired demon as he'd done many times before, only this time something new had caught his attention. A small fuzzy white light appeared in the distance over a lake, bright enough for him to see yet dim enough to lack detail. As he raced toward it, it started to take shape yet remained blurry despite how much closer he got to it. He reached the edge of the lake and held his hand out toward it when he felt the demon grab him from behind and drag him back down into a pit of flames, laughing all the while.

That's when Bob once again found himself sitting up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat.

After splashing some water on his face, Bob laid back down on his bed, the images in his dream replaying over in his mind. Since he knew there was no way he'd be getting back to sleep, Bob had spent his remaining time awake trying to figure out what the significance of the light was. The only thing he could come up with was that the glowing apparition couldn't be a demon, or at least not the same as the one he usual saw. While the maniacal, spikey haired, laughing terror usually filled him with fear and dread, this new presence actually felt warm and comforting. If only he could get closer to see its true form.

Hours passed and soon Bob's alarm went off. Reminded of the task ahead, he groaned wearily. The thought of all that manual labor and dirt digging only made him want to stay in bed and continue staring blankly up at the ceiling. Still, he knew he had a job to do and despite barely getting any sleep, still managed to drag himself off the covers. Changing into his gardening outfit, he then grabbed a travel mug full of coffee, added at least three shots of espresso to the brew, and started the tedious task of loading everything into his car.

It was fifteen minutes to ten when Bob arrived at the empty campus. Borrowing a wheelbarrow from the janitors shed, he unloaded all his gardening gear into it, making sure to bring extra gloves and spades for the volunteers. Taking the long way around the building, Bob soon came upon the courtyard which featured several greenhouses, most of which had either been abandoned or used as storage over the years and had since fallen into disrepair. Only one greenhouse looked presentable; the one that Bob personally maintained himself.

As he pushed the wheelbarrow towards the greenhouse, Bob spotted a figure by the door, looking into one of the windows with their back turned. Figuring it was a volunteer, Bob quickened his pace to the door.

"Hello there, I assume you've come for the gardening posit-"

The person then turned around and Bob was shocked to see it was Lisa, who looked as surprised as he did.

"Professor?"

"Lisa!" In his surprise, he had let go of the handles causing the wheelbarrow to tip over on its side and dump out its contents. "Oh darn it!"

As Bob knelt down to pick up the supplies, Lisa cautiously made her way over. "Sorry to startle you. I didn't expect you to be here."

"The feeling is mutual." Bob grumbled as he hoisted up a bag of soil. "What are you doing here at this hour anyways? The greenhouse isn't even open yet."

"I was just…visiting is all. You did say I could." Lisa then knelt down and began helping to pick items off the ground. "I didn't want to bother you while you were working and thought that you'd taken the day off since you cancelled tryouts."

"My dear, there is no such thing as a day off when trying to maintain a vegetables garden." Bob retorted, as he hastily lifted a bag of seeds on top of the bag of soil. "It's not like plants can take a day off from growing you know…"

"Well obviously..." Lisa muttered in annoyance under her breath. She then noticed all the objects littering the ground and picked them up curiously. "Why do you have so many gloves and spades? Are you expecting a bunch of people?"

Bob paused, nervously clearing his throat as he tried thinking up a lie to tell Lisa but decided to just brush her off instead. "Look, I don't have time to chat. I have a lot of work to do so if you wouldn't mind, kindly run along-"

Just then, the bag of seeds he had just set down slide off the wheelbarrow and burst open on the ground.

"Oh dammit to puss spewing, blood gutting hell!" Bob yelled out as he got on his hands and knees and began scooping up the seeds into a small bucket. Lisa knelt down and began gathering the seeds too while Bob grumbled angrily.

"Great…just what I need…a lousy start to a lousy day…how could things get any worse?"

"Yo, Professor!"

Bob and Lisa both looked up as a young man with long bright ginger hair walked towards them, wearing a tie dye shirt and sandals. He had a calm serene look on his face and gave Lisa a small smile before turning back to Bob. "Sorry to interrupt but Prof. Cantwell asked me to give you this."

He then held up a note which Bob took and read.

Dear Robert,
Please stop by my office later after class to help arrange my folders and paper work in alphabetical order. Be sure to bring your own highlighter, pen and paper clips. Also I need to write an opening speech for next week's presentation. Be ready with a pad and paper to write down my ideas. And then type them into a 500 word paper.
See you soon.
Tina

Bob grimaced and folded the paper up, putting it in his pocket. "Thank you young man. Please tell Prof. Cantwell I shall be there around later this afternoon."

"No problamo." He nodded nonchalantly. "By the way, good luck with finding an assistant to help with your garden man. Normally I would volunteer cause I love mother earth and all, but it interferes with my Saturday class. Hope that's cool."

Bob felt a jolt of panic and laughed nervously as Lisa shot him a confused look out the corner of her eye. "That's quite all right, no need for apologies. Now why don't you head on back to Prof. Cantwell? Can't keep her waiting now." He then quickly shoved the youth away back in the direction of the main building.

The young man stumbled a bit but was otherwise unperturbed. "Whatever you say professor man…oh by the way, I have another note here for you. You have Fredrick St. Banks in your class right?"

"Unfortunately." Bob replied as the young man shoved another note into his hand.

"Yeah he asked me to give this to you too. Be careful when opening it though." He then paused and shot Lisa another amused smile. "Like your hair by the way. Peace!"

Lisa felt herself blush a bit and watched as the red-haired youth left the courtyard.

Bob then opened the letter, which appeared to be stained, and reared in disgust after reading it.

Dear Professor,

Here's something green to add to your garden.

Enclosed, was a large collection of boogers and loogies wiped on the paper.

Bob grumbled angrily and crumpled up the paper and stomped it into the dirt.

"So wait…you didn't cancel the tryouts?"

Bob then turned to Lisa, who he almost forgot was there. "Huh? Oh that. Well, you see…"

"I thought you said you found an assistant?" Lisa continued. "Come to think of it, why aren't they here taking care of the garden for you?"

"Yes my assistant, uh…cancelled on me last minute." Bob said thinking quickly.

"He cancelled on you last minute after accepting the job last minute?" Lisa asked skeptically.

Bob glared at her in annoyance. "Look, I don't need to explain anything to you. I have a lot of things I need to get done and such little time- oh great, now I'm behind schedule! Prof. Cantwell's going to have my head." Glancing at his watch, Bob quickly gathered the remaining seeds into the bucket as he hoisted it into the wheelbarrow and lifted it up by the handles "If there's nothing further, I'll ask you to please stay out of my way while I tend to the garden."

As Bob pushed the wheelbarrow toward the greenhouse door, Lisa stayed in one spot, thinking over her options as well as the opportunity now available to her. She then watched as Bob struggled to get his keys out with one hand which holding the wheelbarrow with the other. She quickly walked over and grabbed the wheelbarrow, holding it upright while Bob finally managed to locate his keys.

"You know I was thinking..." Lisa thought out loud as Bob began to finagle the key into the lock. "Since you have a lot on your plate at the moment and are in need of an assistant to help with things in the garden… and I just happen to be the only here at this time… I could stick around and help out… if you wanted me to that is."

Bob paused upon hearing Lisa's words, his hands frozen on the keys which remained stuck in the lock. Suddenly a confused mixture of panic and relief filled him. On the one hand, he did desperately need the help in order to get things done on time so he could meet up with Ms. Cantwell. On the other hand, it would also mean he'd be stuck alone with Lisa all day and would have to keep an eye on her in case she did something sneaky or suspicious. Weighing his options, Bob sighed in defeat, realizing he had no choice.

"Very well then Lisa." He said turning to her. "You may volunteer for today if you so wish, but it's only temporary. I will still be holding out for others that may potentially show up and I ask that in the meantime, you keep your copious amount of questions to a minimum. Understand?"

Lisa nodded enthusiastically as Bob took his keys and unlocked the greenhouse door. "Good. In the meantime, why don't we head inside and get started?"

As they both entered, the strong stench of manure hit Lisa's nose and she struggled not to retch. "Ugh, what is that horrible odor!?"

"Oh that? I'm trying out some new fertilizer for the soil and it's proven to be more potent than I expected. Give it time and eventually you'll get used to it. Try not to inhale too deeply though."

Covering her nose with her shirt, Lisa stepped into the greenhouse and was met with a truly breathtaking sight. The greenhouse, which was much larger then it appeared on the outside, was filled with luscious vegetation and plant life. The glass walls and ceiling were lined high with ivy wrapped in tomato stalks as well several types of beans. On the ground were several marked rows of vegetable beds containing carrots, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini and peppers all growing out of rich dark soil. Resting on nearby shelves were small pots and gutter shelves which featured several types of fresh herbs and spices, including basil, cilantro, mint, sage, rosemary and parsley. She followed Bob along a cobblestone path between the vegetable patches, past several stone fountains that featured various types of animals and through random patches of plant life. To Lisa, she felt like she had stepped in a garden paradise.

"This place is beautiful…" Lisa said in awe.

"Yes it is quite breathtaking." Bob responded as he carefully maneuvered his wheelbarrow around one of the vegetable beds. "Please be careful when walking around though. The make-shift sprinkler system I built hasn't been completely installed yet and the exposed pipes can rupture easily if stepped on."

Lisa carefully stepped around a small pipe and inspected one of vegetable beds curiously. "Are those sweet potatoes? Aren't they hard to grow in this season? Wouldn't you have to-"

She caught Bob eyeing her and immediately stopped talking. "I mean, it's impressive that you could grow something like that in here."

Seeing that she was attempting to complimentary, Bob decided to indulge. "Yes well, it's not any harder than growing carrots or eggplant. But thanks to some creative scientific shortcuts, I can now grow potatoes as easily as I grow lettuce."

Lisa looked at Bob in surprise. "Wow, so all this you grew entirely by yourself?"

"Well, mother nature did lend a hand in some places." Bob explained, attempting to be humble. "But for the most part, I did help organize her work into what you see now." He then reached into a small pot containing a leafy plant and carefully tore off one of its leaves, handing it to Lisa. "Here, sniff this basil. It'll help numb your nose to the fertilizer smell."

"Thank you." Lisa said, inhaling the sweet smelling basil as she continued gazing around the greenhouse in awe. "You certainly did a spectacular job with this place. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised by Monsarno's former top scientist."

Bob smiled slightly, remembering his old workplace. "Ah yes, those were some good times I spent in Monsarno labs…at least the parts where I wasn't being chained up and electrocuted by monkeys."

"And these vegetables are so bright and luscious." Lisa noted, examining the variously colored kale and peppers. "How long did it take you grow them? Did you use any special fertilizer? Certainly is a feat to make an organic garden appear this way…"

Bob paused, looking slightly uncomfortable, but remained composed. "I'm afraid those are enough questions for today. For now though, why don't you put your things away in the supply cabinet while we wait a few more minutes for others to show up?" Bob said gesturing towards a work bench in the corner.

As Lisa went to put her bag away, a worried look crossed Bob's face. He knew this would happen. They hadn't even started working together yet and already Lisa was asking way too many questions. While he still needed her help to get through today, there was no way he could let her stay on and discover some of the other secrets he was hiding. Immediately he started thinking of ways to get rid of her (legit ways that didn't include murder or kidnapping) and smiled when he came up a solution.

"Alright Lisa, let's not waste any more time and get straight to work!" Bob said as Lisa rejoined him.

"But shouldn't we wait for-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Bob immediately shoved a garden fork into her hand and pulled her down towards the nearest garden bed. "Now I want you to till the soil under all these plants while I get the watering cans ready."

"Wouldn't a rake be more efficient-"

"NO RAKES!" Bob snapped before quickly calming back down. "I mean, enough chatter. You have a lot of vegetable beds to get through. Better get started. Chop, chop!"

Taken slightly off guard by the bizarre method, Lisa hesitantly began using the small fork to break up the soil under the many rows of plants. From behind, Bob smirked down at her. If she was determined to work for him, then he'd make her work so hard that she would quit after the first day. Hopefully by then, he'd have at least one other student show up for the job so he'd have the excuse of dismissing her. Either way, Bob planned to make Lisa quit by evenings end.

"Alrighty, break time!" Bob called out as he settled his shovel down and took off his gloves. "You get thirty minutes for lunch!"

After nearly two hours of back breaking work, Lisa dropped her shovel and slowly limped her way over to the sink, ripping off her gloves so she could wash up. It took a lot of effort for her just to lift her arms and turn the knob on the faucet, but when she did, the cool water felt therapeutic on her skin. Never before had she exerted herself that much while gardening. What was worse, she was sure Bob had planned that intentionally and was trying to drive her to exhaustion.

Since handing her the fork, Bob seemed intent on making her do all the gardening chores in the most inefficient, tedious way possible. Aside from refusing to use rakes to till the soil, he also made her personally water each plant with a large heavy watering can instead of using the sprinkler system he mentioned, ("Oh dear, it seems to have broken down again!") and he made her lug around a huge bag of fertilizer, giving her only a small measuring spoon to scoop and spread over all the plants. She had tried correcting him on his bizarre methods but he either ignored her or gave her a more difficult chore to do.

The worst was when he made her organize and reorganize bags of seeds that he planned to plant in the winter, first in alphabetical order, then in order of color and finally according to species and genus. Once she was done, he made her shovel out the dead remnants of a vegetable bed in order to plant new ones. She was halfway done when they broke for lunch and her body now felt drained and weak, like she had just run a marathon while lifting weights and carrying several bags of luggage at once.

Washing off the dirt and grime from her hands and face, Lisa then grabbed her bag and headed towards a bench by the greenhouse entrance, wanting to be as far away from Bob as possible. She let out a tired sigh as she plopped down on the bench, barely having the strength to sit up properly.

"Ohhh…how am I going to get through the rest of today? At this rate I'll be lucky if my limbs don't fall off…"

Massaging her sore digging arm, Lisa started to think working in the garden was a huge mistake. It was clear that Bob didn't want her there and seemed to be piling on more work then was necessary just to prove his point. Would he be doing that every time she came to work here? If that was the case, she wouldn't last a week. However, it was the only way she'd have a chance of figuring out the password for the flash drive. The sooner she figured out the answer, the sooner she could quit and go back to avoiding Bob for the rest of the school year.

Taking a water bottle out of her bag, she chugged half of it in one gulp before opening up a bag of dehydrated apple slices she had gotten from the vending machine. They weren't her favorite and were rather tough to chew but at least they were edible, even if it was hardly enough to last her the day.

Across the greenhouse, Bob had taken out his own lunch and was already digging in. He hummed a little, being pleased with himself for cracking the whip on Lisa. Surely by the time the day had ended, she would want to quit. However it left him in a difficult position, as no other student had shown up to help, which would leave him shorthanded. The thought of having to meet up with Ms. Cantwell later also weighed on his mind, as he knew she was just waiting to pile more responsibilities on him, making him all the more anxious to seek the aid he needed.

As Bob took a bite out of his cucumber sandwich, he found himself looking over at Lisa, who sat on the faraway bench eating some sort of bagged snack. She looked miserable and tired and it seemed as if eating her snack was causing her some sort of discomfort. Watching her struggle, his curiosity got the better of him, causing him to walk over as she attempted to devour another apple slice.

"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say it looks like you're trying to eat drywall." Bob said as he approached Lisa.

She glared at him in annoyance and swallowed her apple slice. "Do you mind? I'm trying to eat my lunch in peace."

Bob looked down at the plastic bag and winced in disgust. "Ugh, dehydrated apple slices? You know you get just as much nutrients out of those as you would with pieces of cardboard."

"Yeah well, they were the only decent things I could find at the vending machines that weren't over two dollars." Lisa scoffed as she took another swig from her water bottle.

Bob looked at her curiously. "I thought Stanford pays for your meal plan? Why are you wasting money on snacks even uncouth elementary school children wouldn't touch?"

Lisa rolled her eyes and sighed. "If you must know, it's because all the meal options in the cafeteria are either unsuitable for a vegetarian like myself or are downright inedible. Especially that sorry excuse of a salad bar."

"Ah…I see your tongue has also been insulted by the atrocity that is that withering compost heap." Bob said, suddenly remembering the deplorable state of the salad bar. "The first time I ate there, I found slugs in my bits of rancid lettuce and the carrots were so soft, I could tie them up like string. And don't get me started on the radishes. Let's just say there was enough fuzz on them to knit a hat."

"Tell me about it." Lisa smirked. "The mushrooms had so many heads growing out of them, I thought they were gonna start a choir."

Bob let out a small amused laugh which Lisa also shared in despite herself.

"Tell you what, since your lunch is less than adequate, why don't you share mine? I tend to binge a bit during the day so I always make extra for myself." Bob offered.

"No it's okay." Lisa said looking at her apple slices wearily. "I'm sure I'll get through this by the time lunch is over."

"Are you sure?" Bob arched an eyebrow and leaned in close. "I have cucumber sandwiches…"

Lisa's eyes widened and looked at Bob. "On what kind of bread?"

"Why wheat bread of course. Along with a lemon dill cream cheese spread." Bob said.

Lisa immediately dropped her bag of slices and followed Bob back towards the bench where his food still lay spread out. Sitting down, her mouth instantly watered from seeing the sandwiches but she got real excited when she noticed a jar of dip. "Is that hummus?"

"Why yes." Bob said handing her the jar and a small bag of pita chips. "It's a special type of three bean recipe I discovered online. I can also make it with eggplant and peppers when I'm in need of variety. Have a taste."

Lisa dipped a chip into the hummus and savored the creamy chickpea taste. "This is wonderful! And you made this yourself?"

"Through much trial and error, yes." Bob said, sitting on a nearby rock. "But I dare say it's more edible then your dehydrated cardboard apples or a multi-headed mushrooms."

"I'll say." Lisa said as she dipped more chips into the hummus. "It's strange through, I never would have pegged you as a cook…or a vegetarian for that matter."

"I wouldn't say I'm a complete vegetarian, more like a reluctant convert of circumstance." Bob said taking a bite from a sandwich. "No offense to your personal philosophy on animals, but I couldn't resist a good filet migion or chicken franchise should the dish be presented to me. Alas, my current diet is catered more towards my health rather than personal taste. But since I couldn't very well survive on food paste and pencil shavings, much less that unmitigated gob they serve in the cafeteria, I learned to prepare my own meals. It's time consuming but it's benefited me greatly these past years."

"I can see that." Lisa nodded, glancing at his thinner form as she ate a sandwich. "So…what kind of health problems do you have…that is, if you don't mind me asking?"

Bob pondered for a moment and sighed. "Well…I suppose it'd be okay telling you, given that you know the details of my past involved in this story…you remember when we spoke of Monsarno earlier? And all the work I've put into manipulation of DNA?"

Lisa nodded as Bob went on. "Well after I left Springfield, I couldn't very well continue manipulating my genes like before, so my body had to naturally process out all of the foreign DNA. As it takes the body several years to grow new cells, I went through a sort of…withdrawal period. I became ravenous with food to the point where I was making Santa Claus look physically fit, all of my animal extremities were causing me severe discomfort, and my emotional state was turbulent and unpredictable at best. Not to mention I would often be struck with…ahem…certain animalistic urges…"

"Urges?" Lisa asked.

"So naturally, I couldn't take it anymore." Bob continued, avoiding the question. "I managed to locate an old colleague of mine from school who became a medical doctor and he performed a few operations on me to help with the naturalization process. As a result, I had to make changes in my diet to help cleanse my system and prevent any more undesirable instincts from re-emerging. It's been a few years now and I'm happy to say I'm animal DNA free. Human components notwithstanding."

"That's wonderful Bob." Lisa said admirably. "But I am curious though…what sort of 'extremities' did you end up having to remove?"

"I'm afraid that's where it gets rather…personal." Bob said, clearing his throat as he subconsciously scratched his backside. "Also, I do believe our thirty minute lunch break is up."

"Already? That was quick." Lisa said, standing up as she finished the last cucumber sandwich. "Thanks for sharing your lunch with me. It's the best meal I've had since coming here."

"Oh you flatter me Lisa." Bob nodded humbly. "Now why don't you put on your gloves and I'll show you how to prune leaves on all the plants?"

Even though Lisa was only supposed to train for two more hours, she ended up staying at least twice as long to the point where the sun was starting to set. During that time, she and Bob had gone over every single technique and method for taking care of the plants. At one point, it seemed like Bob was making up tasks to show Lisa as he seemed to be paying more attention to her then the clock. Lisa didn't mind though as she became engrossed in their conversations, which involved topics such as Bob's diet, what sort of food he cooked, the recipes he wanted to try out, where Lisa could find cheap alternative food within walking distance of the school, and how she could grow small plants in her dorm window. They were so deep in conversation that neither one of them bothered checking the time, with Bob even turning off the sound on his phone so they wouldn't be interrupted, resulting in several missed calls from Ms. Cantwell.

"I'm telling you, if you added a couple of berry bushes in here, you could grow more food during the winter time and use it to make several different types of jam and preserves." Lisa said putting away her gloves.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I have always wanted to try a new recipe that involves boysenberry jam." Bob contemplated as he packed way the remaining tools in his wheelbarrow. "But alas, there wouldn't be much room for them to grow in here. I'd either have to remove several vegetable beds or dig up one of the stone paths."

"Well…what about putting it in another greenhouse?" Lisa asked thoughtfully. "There are several of them here that are unused. Surely the school would let you use one of them?"

Suddenly Bob looked uncomfortable. "Another…well, see Lisa the thing about that is…um…"

Lisa looked at Bob curiously as he struggled to come up with an explanation. "The school…only gives me enough money to pay for this place. Yes. See the budget only allows for this one greenhouse to be operational. To run another or several of the greenhouses I'd need more money, more support from the school. But since this is for my own personal hobby, they wouldn't consider it unless I had something to give back to them."

Lisa thought for a moment. "But you do have something to offer the school. A vegetarian alternative! If we grew enough fresh produce to sell in the cafeteria, we could replace all that revolting stuff at the salad bar and give the greenhouse a real purpose within the school!"

"We?" Bob asked.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I guess I sort of assumed since I was the only one to show up…" Lisa said, awkwardly rubbing her arm. "But if you'd rather not have me as your assistant I'd understand…"

Bob paused. This was it. She was giving him the opportunity to say no without guilt. And yet, as he looked at her, thinking back to the conversations and ideas they had come up with together in the last few hours, he found himself incredibly reluctant to do so.

Lisa however, seemed to have gotten the message. "It's alright. I…need the time to study more anyways. Well it's been fun. I guess I'll see you in class."

As Lisa turned away towards the entrance, she immediately felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait!"

Lisa turned to see Bob, who seemed surprised by his own actions and quickly withdrew his hand. "I didn't say you…didn't have the job. Cause you do! That is, it makes no sense not to, considering that we've spent so much time going over everything. Plus, I could share more of my homemade recipes with you, perhaps provide you with a free lunch or two…at least till you can procure a proper meal for yourself."

Lisa's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really? That's great! Cause I have so many ideas for us to try out, so many improvements to make! Oh I can't wait get started, when should I come in next?"

"Um…oh, Tuesday would be great. I have a meeting during the day but I can join you later in case you need a refresher on anything we've gone over."

"Sounds perfect! I need to head back to the dorm now but I'll be sure to write down everything we discussed for next time. See you then Professor!" Lisa then skipped merrily out of the greenhouse.

Bob waved after her and waited till she was gone before he went into the back room and began banging his head against the wall.

"Stupid, stupid fool!" Bob cursed to himself. "How could you let this happen? You had the opportunity to get rid of her! Oh it's so like you to let yourself be overcome by flattery and conversation! Just because it's the first real significant interaction you had with a person in years-"

Bob then paused, surprised at the uttering of his own words. He hadn't realized till that moment just how incredibly lonely his life had become. After all, he no longer was in contact with his family and any prior relation he once had now thought him dead or missing. Plus Bob hadn't made any close friends since he'd gone into hiding. He never really talked with his fellow professors unless it regarded their curriculum's and most of the students he's had were either complete dullards or self-obsessed book worms that only talked to him when they needs homework advice.

And then there was Lisa. Bright, intelligent Lisa, whom he could hold a conversation with for hours and would still want to continue further. It was just like when she would assist him with experiments back at the Monsarno labs, all while discussing topics of poetry, art and music. Thinking back to those fun times made Bob feel strangely sentimental and even hopeful for future encounters.

"Maybe having her here won't be so bad. As long as I don't let her ask too many questions or go into my office, I have nothing to worry about…and at least it'll be nice to have a stimulating conversation to look forward to for once."

With that happy thought in mind, Bob packed up his things and headed out of the greenhouse towards the main building. For the first time since the school year started, he was looking forward to seeing Lisa again.

Lisa arrived back at her dorm, practically buzzing with ideas and eager to get to her laptop so she could write them down. She was surprised to see Janey lounging on her bed reading a magazine.

"Janey? What are you doing back early?" Lisa asked.

"Early? What are you doing back so late?" Janey asked, looking at her skeptically before wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Ugh, and why do you smell so bad? Did you roll around in a cow field or something?"

"Sorry, that's the fertilizer. It's really potent stuff…wait, have I really been out that long?" Lisa asked finally paying attention to the dimming light outside.

"Let's just say I managed to get most of my math homework done by this point. And you know how long that takes me." Janey said, suddenly sitting up straight. "So how'd it go by the way? Why did you stay so late? Did Prof. Sullivan make you pull out all the weeds on campus or something?"

"Actually…it was quite nice." Lisa said thinking over the past couple hours. "It was rather tough at the beginning but now…I'm rather looking forward to going back again."

"Really?" Janey asked skeptically. "What about Prof. Sullivan? Aren't you worried he's gonna find out that you took his flash drive?"

Lisa paused for a moment, smiled and shook her head. "I don't think I have to worry about him finding out. As long as neither of us says anything, I think I'll be able to bear his company for a little while...and get some tasty lunches while I'm at it." The thought of the hummus and sandwiches made her mouth water, leading Lisa to spend the rest of the night on her laptop looking up gardening techniques and vegetarian recipes to share with Bob during their next encounter.

I'll do my best to get the next chapter out sooner, though I'm not making any promises. Also, for those who read my Avatar stuff, just letting you know I plan to revive my Lion King fic and finish what I started. So be on the lookout!