The rhythm soothed her racing thoughts, and she relaxed in the darkened room. Like her fish that lived in the deep, she couldn’t handle the harsh lights.
Standing back from the tank, she admired the two specimens that had found their home at the marine center. They stretched out like a foot-long sub, and their smooth bodies were swirled like marble. They were the only fish to breathe through their nostrils, and Ade had always found them fascinating creatures.
She poured a heady mix of clam, shrimp, squid, and mussels into the tank and watched as they inhaled it, piece by piece.
Hypnotized by their natural movement through the water, Ade sat still and relished the moment of sensory silence. No noise, no people, and zero expectations except to clean and feed the animals. It was a joy like no other.
The creak of the door disturbed her peace.
“I wasn’t quite sure whether to believe your resumé or throw it in the trash.” Fernando Auster, the director of the marine center, approached the tank and folded his arms. “But you’re the real deal, aren’t you?”
Ade’s mind was still on her animals. She hadn’t shifted gears to handle the expectations of human interaction and in the inertia, shestared for a moment too long. “Sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.”
He chuckled and dismissed her concern with a wave of his giant hand. “I mean that your resumé is outstanding. And I thought most of it was made up. But seeing you here in the lab with the animals, it’s clear you’ve had the kind of hands-on experience with marine life that most post-grads would give their right arm for.”
She decided not to question why they’d want to struggle without an arm. She’d heard that phrase before and found it very confusing. “I started volunteering at the aquarium when I was twelve.”
“I read that. That aquarium is one of the best in the world. What a place to cut your teeth.” He held a thumb up. “And the hours you’ve put in, even in your short time here, shows real dedication.”
She smiled, enjoying the recognition for her hard work. “Thank you. I enjoy lab time more than most other things.”
“There’s a maternity leave position coming up in the new year.”
Ade swallowed, remembering the last time she’d messed up an interaction that involved congratulating a colleague who’d turned outnotto be pregnant. “That’s nice.” Sometimes, she wished people would get to the point quicker. Conversations like this were like walking through molasses, and they left her brain and body exhausted.
“You could apply for the job, and I’d sponsor your working visa, if you wanted.”
“But I’m doing this job.” She signaled to her tablet. The measurements weren’t going to track themselves, and all this guy wanted to do was talk about his team. A label on her lab coat began to scratch her neck. She’d have to cut that out as soon as he stopped talking.
“I know you’ve got your role at the faculty. But this would be dedicated to the center. It might suit you better, that’s all.” Fernando floated toward the door. “Plenty of boat time when the spring comes too. I know you’re going to love that.”
He disappeared, and Ade breathed a long sigh of relief.She’d been holding herself together, not wanting to betray any inadequacy through her body language or tone. She reflected on what he’d said: a job that was more hands-on with the animals and less about looking after the students did appeal. The first half of this semester had shone a giant spotlight on her lack of people skills. So far, she’d successfully taken a couple of rolls but almost caused a fist fight about social activities.
Sure, there had been a whole lot of marine care. She’d overseen all the students’ time on the feeding stations, taking the water temperature, adding chemicals, and cleaning. But that was just going through the motions. When Greg had turned up for another of his shadowing sessions, she’d gritted her teeth the whole time, wishing she could have the space to herself.
She turned back to the tanks she’d been working on. A sablefish needed feeding, and she’d been a little lethargic these past few days. Ade worried there was something wrong. She made a note of the fish’s current behavior and weighed out the feed. Despite concentrating on what was in front of her, her mind drifted back to the job opportunity. Securing a real job would sure get her dad off her back about her prospects. It might buy her some time to figure everything else out too.
Her gaze settled on her cell half-buried on the cluttered desk. If only Sylvie was around this week to talk it through. She would have a better idea of what Fernando was talking about. Even in English, Ade couldn’t make much sense of his clichés.
Ade wondered what Sylvie was doing in the countryside with her parents. She hadn’t had the chance to travel outside of the city boundaries. The furthest she’d been on the tram had been the university campus and beyond that, the beach. It struck her as pretty unusual to be thinking about Sylvie so much. Oftentimes, the folks in her life had to be physically in the same room for Ade to feel much of anything for them. She loved her dads and her sister, but she didn’t pine for them in their absence.
So her reaction to Sylvie’s absence was something of a surprise.It would be great if she wandered into the lab right now, leaned her hip against the doorframe and raised her eyebrow, which Ade had learned was a sure sign of her unspoken curiosity.
Ade spun her pen around in her hand, perfecting the vision of Sylvie she’d conjured in her mind. She wore her trademark boots with a mini skirt, revealing as much of her taut, muscular legs as was appropriate for their educational establishment. A humble navy T-shirt would cling in all the right places, highlighting Sylvie’s perfect upper body: the daintiness of her shoulders, her ample breasts, and the smooth, kissable skin of her arms. Her hair fell in its usual place, caressing her jawline and escaping, begging to be stroked back behind her ear.
Whoa.Ade steadied her breath. She hadnotexpected to be swept up in a fantasy about her supervisor. Sylvie had shown her a warm welcome but had been nothing but professional in her conduct. Still, it’d been a super long time since someone had made such an impression on Ade. The spark of desire was a rare thing. When it did happen, it was ill-timed, ill-judged, and unrequited. There was nothing to suggest this time would be any different.
Ade put her fantasy Sylvie back in her box. The last thing she needed was to jeopardize her relationship with the only person in this foreign city who’d taken the time to make Ade feel welcome. Her students were immature, and she had nothing in common with them except a loosely similar undergrad curriculum.
With Sylvie, she was learning something new about the city, its arts and culture. The last three weeks had given her more new experiences than she’d had in the last three years back home. But Sylvie was better off in the friend zone, so that Ade couldn’t frighten her off. She banished the mini-skirted vision from her mind and replaced it with the pissed and crotchety Sylvie in her crowded classroom.
That was better.
Ade tracked her elephant fish one more time. They trapped their mate during sex with antlers on their head and genitals.Fascinating but hardly romantic.Ade needed to think more about animals and less about humans. That had always kept her safe and well. So far, so good. Right?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sylvie pinnedback the shutters to her parents’ stone-walled cottage. Shards of autumnal sunshine flooded the bedroom, catching the dust as it fell to the oak boards. She skipped the wooden stairs two at a time, her feet landing perfectly on the flagstones at the bottom. Her parents’ modest place in the country had been a sanctuary from her busy life in Paris since she’d been a teenager.
