He found her in the lab the next morning.
She looked up as he came through the door, and instantly a thousand apologies flooded into her mouth. She'd been up for a significant portion of the evening before, berating herself for making such a thoughtless comment, for upsetting him the way she obviously had. The look on his face had cut her deeply, and she wondered what could have happened to him to make him react so badly to what she'd meant to be an innocent joke.
"Ben, I…" she rose off her lab stool to address him properly, reaching out her hands in a gesture of supplication, but as he approached her, he took up both of her hands in a gesture that clearly meant she should stop.
"Juliet," he said kindly. "I owe you an apology."
"For what?" she asked, her eyes widened in surprise.
"I didn't mean to react the way I did last night…" he sat down on the lab stool next to hers, and gestured for her to resume her seat as well. Then he proceeded to tell her, in short clipped sentences, about his own abusive, alcoholic father. He was sparse with the details, but Juliet was more than capable of filling in the blanks. She knew what it was like to come from a broken home.
"Where is he now?" she asked when Ben had finished.
"Dead," he replied briefly. There was a hint of satisfaction in his tone that disturbed her, but then again, she'd wished for her ex-husband to be hit by a bus…and then it had happened.
"I'm sorry Ben," she apologized, placing a comforting hand on his forearm. Ben stared at the point of contact for moment, his eyes gleaming, before sliding his arm out of her grasp and catching her hand in his.
"I don't need your pity, Juliet," he said evenly, looking up at her. "I just need you to understand…the thought of being like him, acting the way he did…"
"I do." She replied, meeting his gaze. "I do understand."
"Good," he said, giving her hand a squeeze before letting it go and rising to his feet. "I have business to attend to. I'll see you later."
"Okay," she said, getting to her feet as well. He lingered for a moment, studying her face, before saying 'goodbye' and walking out the door. She watched him leave and caught a glimpse of his expression through the window.
He looked triumphant.
…
After that incident, Ben became more or less a constant fixture in her day-to-day experiences on the island. She would see him in the cafeteria, cross paths with him as they left their houses for work in the morning. Sometimes he would be waiting for her after work on the bench outside the lab, book in hand, and offer to walk with her the few yards to her house. He was pleasant, attentive, and always happy to see her. She felt flattered and special in response, especially when she noticed some of the mildly envious looks from certain female members of the community.
It wasn't that she hadn't realized that Ben was an attractive, high-status member of this little society, but the time they spent together was always friendly—just friendly. Her conversations with Ben were humorous, not flirtatious. He rarely attempted to intrude on her personal space, or make physical contact with her the way a potential lover would. He was simply Ben, and she was grateful to have his friendship in her life.
In the meantime, any inclinations towards dating and/or excessive socializing were usually consumed by work. Henrietta's death still haunted her, and she was determined to solve the fertility issue on this island before her six months was up, and she was already two weeks into month number two. She had more data than she knew what to do with, and yet she hadn't been able to crack it, to see the underlying trend that would render a solution, and she was beginning to feel frustrated.
…
It was eight p.m. already, and Juliet was exhausted, but she reminded herself that if she didn't start these cultures now, she was going to have to be in here over the weekend to process them instead of doing it first thing Monday morning. It was Friday, and she'd put in nearly eighty hours this week, working straight through the previous weekend, certain she was about to have a breakthrough, and yet she still had nothing but questions, and more questions meant more tests, which meant more time right here in the lab.
She sighed and resolutely straightened the seams of her lab coat. Grabbing the still-cold discs of growth medium, she resignedly began smearing the discs with the cellular solutions she'd spent the afternoon preparing, tediously labeling each disc as she went along. She was about halfway through when she heard a tentative knock, and the sound of the door opening.
It was Ben. He was carrying a covered tray, and it smelled good. Her stomach grumbled in response as he approached, but he had the good manners to pretend that he didn't hear it.
"Burning the midnight oil?" he quipped, setting the tray down a safe distance away from her work.
"Bringing me my bread and water?" she shot back, finishing her label before turning to give him her full attention.
"Well, I figured I ought to reward your self-incarceration…I mean, dedication. I'm surprised to find you haven't chained yourself to the table," He grinned at her, an expression she'd noticed he rarely shared with anyone else. "Come over here and eat your dinner."
He pulled the cover off of the tray, revealing a plate of chicken and dumplings, a bowl of salad tossed with some kind of vinaigrette, and a bottled water.
"What, no dessert?" she teased, trying not to look at the meal longingly. Ben quirked an eyebrow at her and proceeded to produce a chocolate bar from a pocket in his shoulder bag. He placed it daintily on the tray. There.
Juliet laughed and put her head in her hands. "You're spoiling me," she chuckled, looking up at him peevishly.
"Not at all," he replied, taking a seat.
"Ben, it's not that I don't appreciate this, but I have to finish these cultures tonight," she protested, gesturing to the cylinders of growth medium in front of her.
"Eat your dinner first, and then I'll help you finish them," he responded logically.
"Can you do that?" she asked, dubiously.
"Well, I may not be a brilliant scientist, Juliet," he replied acerbically. "But I am capable of holding a pen and writing out a label."
"That's good to know."
With her last line of objection defeated, she shifted her chair closer to him and to the tray and began to inhale the meal voraciously.
"Ben, this is amazing," she said around a mouthful. "Thank you."
She saw the corners of his eyes crinkle in pleasure at her words. The tips of his ears turned pink. Compliments were never wasted on Ben. She could tell that he cherished every one.
"Did you make this?" she queried, opening the water bottle and taking a swig.
"Yes, and if you don't slow down, you're going to choke on it," he snorted.
"Sorry," she said. "But I'm starving. Have you eaten already?" She was loading her fork with vegetables.
"Yes, but I saved dessert," he pulled another chocolate bar from his bag. She grinned at him and proceeded to wolf down the rest of her meal, doing her best to satiate her hunger and enjoy the food at the same time. When she was finished, she pushed the tray away, pulled her used napkin from her lap to set on top of it, and picked up her chocolate bar with nimble fingers.
"Here's to your culinary expertise, Ben," she tapped her candy bar lightly against his in a mock toast before opening the wrapper. "Please, never hesitate to cook for me again."
Ben smiled as they ceremoniously bit into their chocolate together.
"Had I known you were incapable of feeding yourself, I would have arranged for you to have a chef to make use of that well-stocked fridge," he teased.
"Please," Juliet said, growing serious, the levity of the moment gone. "You've done enough for me already. It's my turn to hold up the bargain."
She set her half-eaten chocolate down and turned back to her cell cultures. Ben followed, situating himself next to her, poised to take action. Juliet resumed applying her cell solutions to the discs of growth medium, handing each one to Ben when she was finished and telling him what to label them. With his help, the work that might have taken her another hour only took them twenty-fives. They left the lab together at 8:45.
"Oh, fresh air!" Juliet breathed once they were outdoors. "I remember this."
Ben chuckled as they walked together along the lighted path to her house.
"I certainly hope that you sleep in tomorrow. You've earned it," he commented lightly. Juliet smiled, but made no response. In her mind, she'd earn extra rest when she finally figured out how to get a pregnant woman to carry her child to term on this island. They walked the rest of the way in companionable silence.
When they reached her house, Juliet stepped up onto the porch and unlocked her door. She turned back to Ben and was surprised to see that he hadn't followed her, but was waiting down on the ground.
"Would you like to come in for a nightcap?" She asked. "I know I've got a bottle of something somewhere. It's the least I can do in return for the food and all your help tonight."
"Tempting offer," Ben replied. "But I need to get home to Alex. Goodnight, Juliet." He took a step up, clasped her left hand in his right one and brushed his lips across her knuckles. "Sweet dreams." He relinquished her hand with a squeeze and a smile, then turned and began to make his way to his own house.
"Goodnight Ben!" she called after him. "Thank you!"
She went inside, wondering what on earth had possessed him to kiss her hand like that, and even more perplexing, why had her heart had skipped a beat when he'd done it?