Edwin P.O.V.
It has been a week since I have started to work at the museum and it has been more enjoyable than most of my time at Genico. In the Pritzker Lab, I work well with my colleagues, the research is going well and I even made a couple of friends, some that are even from other departments. Three days ago, I finally received my official museum ID, so I don't have to use that paper temporary ID anymore. Sure, my picture could have been better but still, I felt that I was starting to become part of something.
To get started on the next portion of our lichen study, I decided to come to the museum slightly earlier than I usually do. After taking the Blue and Red Lines to the museum, I got in and there was practically no line to the security desk. I saw Beshte was at the desk, but he almost looked as if he was tempted to take a nap.
"Hey Beshte! How's it going?" I said. He seemed to have woken up a little bit after I said that.
"Oh hey Edwin, I'm fine, I'm just a little tired, I literally just got here like five minutes ago. Wait?" He said while checking his phone.
"You're here early, don't you usually come like twenty minutes later than this?" Beshte then asked.
"Well yes, but I want to get some items started for the next phase of out lichen study later on today." I replied. I then proceeded to give Beshte my ID.
"Okay, that's cool and I see that you now have an official ID." Beshte said.
"Yep, just got it Friday." I replied. By the time I finished that sentence, Beshte finished scanning my ID and gave it back to me.
"Well I wish you luck with your ongoing lichen study!" Beshte said.
"Thanks! And I wish you luck with whatever you will do today." I said as I walked my way towards the stairway.
As I got to the top of the stairs, I walked towards the lab entrance and checked my ID with the guard who's at the entrance most of the time, whose name I learned was Ono. I tried to be friendly with him a few times, but his eyes always seem to be glued to his computer screen.
After Ono scanned in my ID, I entered the department, went to my office to put by bag away and get my lab coat on. I then took the stuff that I needed to complete the lab and went to my lab station to get my stuff organized but I got distracted when I was passing some of the other geneticists' lab stations.
When I began to walk past one of the lab stations and I noticed that there is an elephant figurine sitting near the computer. I was a little confused at first but I then remembered the elephant paraphernalia from Ma Tembo's office and I thought that this could just be her station for when she works with us in this lab. But after I passed that lab station, I saw a second figurine in a second lab station but this was a figurine of some kind of antelope or ram with dark brown fur and some white areas on its face. Then as I pass by another station, I see another figurine of a buffalo and then another one of some kind of monkey or ape with a colorful face… I think they're called mandrills, but I could be wrong. I begin to approach the lab supply closet and the funny thing was that other than my desk, the two remaining desks had no figurines. I continued to stare at the desks with the figurines on them, analyzing how much detail was put into making them...but then I heard the sound of the door opening.
I walked into the supply closet to make sure that whoever walked in did not catch me snooping around the lab stations. I just randomly grabbed a jar of buffer and walked towards my station.
"Hi Edwin, you are here quite early, whatcha doing?" a voice called, I turned around to see that Bupu had just arrived at the lab.
"Oh hey Bupu, I just want to get a head start on that protein analysis we're going to start today." I replied, gesturing to the container of buffer I just grabbed.
"Okay, let me help you set up." Bupu said while he heads towards a lab station. I saw that he placed his stuff on the lab station with the antelope figurine.
Shortly after Bupu came to help me set up for today's activities, Ma Tembo came in and place one of her lab notebooks in the station with the elephant figurine. As I continued to set up for protein analysis and crystallography, I observed the rest of my colleagues and the interns enter the lab. With my colleagues I tried to observe which figurine they will sit by. I saw that Makini sat by the mandrill figurine, Vuruga sat by the buffalo figurine, but Peter sat in one of the stations with no figurine on them. I was a little suspicious of why Peter did not have a figurine at his station...Perhaps he was the one that gave them the figurines?
I spent the entire day working on protein analysis and crystallography and the next two days were not much different. On the Thursday of that week, I was working on on the crystallography on a lichen DNA simple and someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned around to see Ma Tembo standing there.
"Hi Edwin, how's it going?" She said.
"I'm alright, how about you?" I replied.
"I'm fine, I was just thinking, we have not had enough time to get to know each other personally. Want to get some coffee after you finish your crystallography?" Ma Tembo asked.
"Sure, sounds fun." I replied.
"Great, I'll meet you in five minutes by the lab exit." Ma Tembo said as she continued to assist one of the interns.
After about five minutes, I then told Ma Tembo that I would meet her in just a minute and I left to get the wallet I left in my office.
Third Person P.O.V:
As Edwin left to go to his office, some of the researchers are beginning to approach Ma Tembo's lab station with mildly apprehensive expressions on their faces.
"So I heard you invited Edwin for coffee, that's neat! Are you going to tell him about you know what?" Makini asked.
"I wasn't planning on telling him today, but do you think I should?" Ma Tembo asked.
"I don't think so, I still think that it's too early to tell him." Bupu replied.
"She wasn't asking you, Bupu." Makini agitatedly said with a stern expression on her face.
"Yeah but I still don't think she should tell him just yet." Bupu said.
"I agree with Bupu, remember how I reacted when I found out, I think that it would be best if you don't do it in a public place if he is going to have a similar reaction." Peter added.
"Pete does have a point Makini, so Ma Tembo, you probably should not tell him today." Vuruga said.
"Alright fine." Ma Tembo agreed.
Edwin P.O.V.
I walked towards the lab to check on Ma Tembo and I saw that she and the rest of the team were discussing something.
"Hey guys, what are you guys discussing?" I asked.
"Oh...hi Edwin...we were just discussing uhh… our guesses for what that project on the stairwell is going to be..Yeah, Vuruga thinks it's going to be a display case but I think it's going to be some sort of plaque. So should we head out for coffee?" Ma Tembo hesitantly replied.
"Sure no problem, let's go!" I said.
We soon headed out of the lab and headed down the marble staircase and we walked along the path of the main floor to exit the museum. We walked along the outdoor pathway for three minutes until we reached a kiosk near the museum. We just ordered two cups of black coffee and after we grabbed our orders, we just sat by at a nearby table and began to go to drink our coffees.
"This is nice weather isn't it Edwin?" Ma Tembo said in a calming tone.
"It is, it's great weather for jogging! I hope there will continue to be like this weekend, but this is Chicago so that's up in the air right now." I replied. Ma Tembo laughed a bit at the last part.
"I wish so too, I didn't know you jogged?" She replied.
"Yeah sometimes I jog on the weekends, just to let out my stress." I said.
"I feel the same way with my Friday night yoga classes. So during your interview, I think you told me that you have been born and raised here?" Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, I grew up in the Rogers Park neighborhood but I currently live in Logan Square."
"Ah.. so you have quite a commute from here, but to be fair I also have quite a commute here from my home in Hyde Park." She said.
"You live in Hyde Park? That's cool so are you near UChicago because I was there for grad school?" I asked
"Actually I live only two blocks from the main campus and that is actually one thing we both have in common... I got my PhD at UChicago as well. That's actually where I met Padmini, we were in a few research projects and internships together. I remember we used to complain about the weather here all the time because we both came from areas with warmer climates. I practically went into full panic mode my first winter here after graduating from USC." Ma Tembo said.
"I guess I can understand that, so what do you do during your free time?" I asked.
"Oh other than yoga, I like to read, swim and I even play the trumpet on occasion, even when it practically squeezes all the air out of my lungs." she said. In which we briefly shared a laugh after that.
"I get it, I play the double bass and it can be pretty heavy to maneuver and carry around. It kind of got me some looks on the Red Line during high school." I recalled.
"Well, I think that we should be heading back to the lab. What do you think?" She then said abruptly.
"Sure, that's probably a good idea." I replied. As we were walking back, I heard a text tone from my phone. I took out my phone to see that Jasiri from the fossil lab texted me.
Hey Edwin, this is Jasiri from the fossil lab, but you can call me Jas if you want. I'm going for a jog on the lake Saturday and I was wondering if we could meet up at some point, perhaps on the corner of North and Clark at 10 AM?
While walking, I decided to text her back.
Sure sounds great, I will see you then! Perhaps after that we could go to this art gallery in Bucktown later that night?
I was walking up the stairs when I heard my phone's text tone again and saw that Jasiri replied to my text.
I'm sorry, after our jog, I already have plans to visit an old roommate that's visiting. Can't wait to meet up for that jog though!
As I soon got back to the lab, I just replied back.
Okay, see you then!
The rest of that work week consisted of protein crystallography and analyses. Even when I have been forming some more friendships, they still seem to be pretty evasive about their pasts before college or the army for Beshte's case.
BEEP ….. BEEP…... BEEP…. BEEP…. BEEP …..BEEP…. BEEP….. BEEP…... BEEP
I woke to the sound of my alarm, I looked to see that it was 5:00 AM, but then I realized that it was Saturday and I had that jog with Jasiri today. I had five hours before we were supposed to meet so I had some time on my hands. I showered, brushed my teeth, shaved and got dressed. I decided to wear my black short-sleeved jogger shirt with a pair of black shorts that have a gray stripe on each side. I initially decided to pass the time by watching a little TV but I found nothing interesting to watch, proving that cable TV is terrible during the weekends. After reading some news stories online for the past two hours, I headed out to catch the Blue Line.
I got on the Blue Line and sat for a few stops and I got off at Damen. After exiting the Blue Line stop, I walked to a bus stop across the street to wait for the 72 bus to North and Clark. After a 17 minute ride, I got off at the corner of North and Clark by the Chicago History Museum in Lincoln Park. As I got off the bus, I saw Jasiri sitting on a bench near the water fountain. I saw that she was wearing a grey sleeveless shirt with some purple shorts, which I thought really complimented her hair.
"So I see that streams of water also seem to calm you down." I said as I approached her bench. She seemed to notice me and flashed a light smile.
"Oh hey Edwin, yeah this fountain is much more affordable than a spa appointment...So I see you took the bus here?" She replied.
"Actually a bus and the Blue Line, I live in the Logan Square area. So I take it that you live near here then?" I said.
"Actually I live in the West Loop area, I took the Red Line here." Jasiri said
"Okay that's cool, want to start jogging now?" I asked.
"Yeah, let's get this started." She said as she got off the bench and began to jog.
We jogged along the pathway through a portion of Lincoln Park and then we crossed the bridge that connected Lincoln Park to North Avenue Beach. Once we reached the beach we soon moved North along the Lakefront Trail. We eventually stopped in a park near Montrose Beach. We approached a bench in the park and we began to sit down after an hour or two of jogging.
"Man that was refreshing." I calmly said.
"Yeah, I should jog with you more often! I tried to do it with Fuli from security one time, but she kept outrunning me by a lot and we lost each other at one point. I also tried it with Makuu but he was upset because he kept bumping into people." Jasiri said.
"Oh okay, did Makuu get crouton slingshot level mad or.." I began to say.
"Oh no, he didn't get that mad but he was still upset because he has this thing about personal space." Jasiri added.
"I'm just curious, how long have you lived in Chicago?" I asked.
"About six or seven years. After I came to the US from Tanzania, I lived in Milwaukee, and then I went to UCLA for my bachelor's degree and I moved here for my graduate program at UIC. What about you, how long have you been here?" Jasiri said.
"I was born and raised here, though I live in the Logan Square neighborhood now, I grew up in the Rogers Park neighborhood. I went to DePauw University for undergrad. It was in a small town in Indiana called Greencastle, yeah I'm never going to that town again, it was the most boring experience of my goddamn life. I then went back here to get my graduate degree at the University of Chicago. So do you have any family that still live in either Tanzania or Milwaukee?" I replied. But suddenly, Jasiri developed this slightly depressed expression on her face.
"Well in a sense, Makuu is kinda like my family here and I have a few old friends in Milwaukee but that's practically it for me. I haven't really contacted my biological family in a long time." She said with an expression as if she was almost going to cry.
"Oh I'm so sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought it up.."I started to apologize to her in a rapid manner. I was about to put my hand on her shoulder when she grabbed it and started to have a slightly more elated expression while she tried to wipe the almost-tears from her eye.
"Oh no, it's fine..you didn't know...I'd rather not talk about my family that much. What about you, do you have family members that are still here?" She said.
"Only my mother, she still lives in the Rogers Park area. My parents got divorced as soon as my sister graduated high school, so I was about twenty at that time. Last time I heard, my dad met another woman, remarried and moved to Florida. I also have a sister who works at an international consulting firm, but I honestly don't know where she is, last time she contacted me, she told me that she was in Shanghai. I also have some aunts and cousins in the east coast but I never really talk to them anymore and all my grandparents are dead. So in a way, I also have only one family member and a couple of friends from my past that I still talk to." I said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Edwin. Were you surprised when your parents got divorced?" Jasiri asked.
"Oh no, to be honest I was actually kind of relieved. They argued with each other constantly and the marriage had been on the rocks since I was about five, even when my sister and I were kids, and part of me was wondering why their divorce came that late." I replied.
"Oh...I understand. So do you want to jog back to the bench by the history museum?" Jasiri asked. She seemed a little desperate to change the subject.
"Sure, no problem. I think that we should jog with each other more often! You're a great friend to be with!" I said with slightly more enthusiasm.
"Yeah we definitely should! But next time, let's try to jog south along the Lakefront Trail." Jasir said more enthusiastically.
"Sure, why not!" I said.
After that conversation, we jogged back in the direction of the Chicago History Museum and once we reached there, we promised that we will see each other at work the next week and we both went our separate ways. As soon as I got on the 72 bus, I kept thinking about the conversation that Jasiri that I had and I felt that we definitely made a connection as friends but I also have this feeling in my mind that it could be something more, either that or that run really tired me out this time.