Sweet Chemistry (5 page)

It took him the better part of the afternoon to recover. By the time he should have been having dinner with his brother, he was up to his neck grading exams for his intro class. There was no way he was going to get them back to his students on Wednesday like he promised. He called Jeff and explained he needed to work. He was too embarrassed to tell him what happened the night before, so he didn’t. Jeff didn’t need to know he was an idiot and drowned his sorrows with a half a bottle of gin. The last thing he needed was his baby brother’s pity. He already had plenty of that for himself.

“Wait!” Kate shouted as she pushed open the doors leading to the parking lot. “James?” Their eyes met just before he took off. She leaned against the side of the building and stared at the ground. Maybe she should’ve avoided Addiction, just like she had been, but what right did James have to claim her favorite dance club? Her cheeks burned. A night of celebration turned into disaster.

The door opened and Meg poked her head outside. “You okay?”

Kate shook her head. “I don’t know what to think. He was so mad. Why is he mad? I’m allowed to have a good time with my friends. Aren’t I?” She wasn’t so sure anymore.

Meg shrugged and sidled up next to her. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Why does it have to be so complicated? He either wants me, or he doesn’t.”

“Have you asked him?”

Kate’s eyes filled with tears. “How? Hey, Dr. Baker, do you want to go out?” She laughed bitterly as tears streaked her cheeks. “I’m so stupid. I think about him all the time. But I don’t want to be
that
girl, the one who throws herself at her professor, especially when he acts like I have the plague. That’s why I never asked him. I don’t need to.”

“Oh Kate. You’re not stupid. You like him, you put yourself out there, and he stomped all over your heart. You don’t deserve that. It’s his loss, not yours.”

“Thanks Meg.” Kate sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Sorry to ruin our night out.”

“You didn’t ruin anything. I was getting tired anyway. I’ll go get Tim.” Meg slipped inside and came out a minute later with Tim.

“Honey, you okay?” Tim tilted his head and held her face between his hands so she would look at him.

“I’ll be okay. You don’t mind leaving?”

Tim and Meg shook their heads. “Nope, it’s fine.”

* * * *

In class Monday, Kate couldn’t take her eyes off James. He refused to look at her, no matter how hard she tried to get his attention. She needed to talk to him, but he clearly didn’t want anything to do with her.

On Tuesday, Kate found Carrie frantically digging through a pile of papers threating to fall off her desk. Carrie sighed. “I’m
so
glad to see you. I need help.”

“I can see that. Where do you want me to start?” Kate dropped her backpack into the chair by the door.

“Well, I promised I’d help on two projects before I realized they’d both need help at the same time on the same day.”

“Carrie, it’s okay. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

Carrie smiled at Kate. “Dr. Moore needs me to help him in his office with some paperwork for faculty senate,” she paused and looked into the department chair’s office, “so would you mind getting these tests sorted for Intro Chemistry?”

“Of course I don’t mind. I did this all last week, remember?”

“You’re a lifesaver, Kate. Oh, and if you have any questions, just ask Dr. Baker. They’re for his class. He’s in his office, although you’d never know it, he’s always got the door closed.”

Kate swallowed hard.
Shit.
“Um, okay. Thanks Carrie.”

Carrie grabbed the other pile of papers and scurried into Dr. Moore’s office.

Kate sorted through the papers on her desk, and finally figured out the reason why Carrie had been so frustrated. Some of the Scantrons were missing. The test had two parts: a written part, and a multiple-choice part, which was recorded on a Scantron form. It took Kate a while to go through the stack, matching the names on the form to the names on the written pages. Finally, she had a stack of about twenty students missing their Scantrons.

Kate took a deep breath and walked down the long hall with the tests clutched tightly against her body. She raised her hand to knock and noticed it was shaking. She squared her shoulders and knocked three times.

She could hear papers shuffling behind the closed door and then the door jerked open. James’ mouth hung open, as if he had been ready to ask a question, and just as promptly forgotten what it was. He was frowning. He didn’t seem like he was going to say anything, so she did.

“You’re missing Scantrons,” she blurted.

James shook his head. “What?”

“I work in the office with Carrie,” Kate started.

“Of
course
you do,” James interrupted. He squeezed his eyes shut, only opening them when she talked again.

Kate ignored him. “Anyway, she asked me to help organize your exams so you could hand them back, and these are missing their Scantrons.” The date indicated his intro class had taken this test the same day, which meant he’d been holding onto them for a week and a half.

“I gave them all to Carrie after I ran them through the machine.” James crossed his arms over his chest.

“Why did
you
grade them? Carrie always does that. I’ve helped her dozens of times.”

“I didn’t know, okay? I just thought I was supposed to do it. I fought that damn machine for an hour.” James rubbed his temples and then took a deep breath. “I’ll ask her to do it next time.”

“That machine is awful. The tests get jammed if you load more than ten papers at a time.”

“So that’s why it wasn’t working. I should’ve asked for help sooner.”

“Well, now you know for next time, right?” Kate offered a tiny smile.

James was staring at her and still hadn’t produced the missing forms.

Kate cleared her throat. “So, are you sure you don’t know where the other forms are?”

“Well…no. I’m not sure.” He swept his hand into his office. Every surface was covered with papers, including most of the floor. “You should see my apartment.” James closed his mouth and grimaced.

His apartment. She could visualize it perfectly: sparse furniture, spotless kitchen, and comfortable bed.
Stop thinking about his bed!
“Would you mind if I looked for them?” She looked past him and then froze. “Is there anything in here I’m not supposed to see?”

James looked at her like she was crazy.

“I mean anything Biochem related?”

“Oh. No, this is all intro chemistry. Why did I assign so much homework?”

“Because you’re new? Give it twenty years and you’ll barely show up to class.” Kate laughed, not because it was funny, but because it happened to her last semester. “Do you mind?” Kate touched a pile of papers.

“No. I don’t mind. I need help. I need a lot of help.” James furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something to her, but nothing came out.

Kate put the tests on a cabinet by the door and started sorting through piles of paperwork. She crawled around on the floor, shifting papers and opening folders, but still found nothing.

James was sitting at his desk and didn’t seem to be having any luck either.

She stood and put her hands on her hips. She looked around his office and noticed things she hadn’t seen before. There was a picture of James and another man on his bookshelf. They were probably brothers, featuring the same chocolaty hair, straight teeth, and full lips. He also had a collection of strange succulent plants, illuminated by a bright light clamped onto the shelf. Their leaves were glossy and plump. Kate gasped when she touched them. They were real.

“They have the most amazing photosynthetic pathway.” James was standing next to her.

Kate jumped slightly. She hadn’t seen him move. Suddenly, his office was too crowded and Kate began to sweat.

“I’ll bring them to class when I discuss it next week.” His voice was soft.

Kate nodded numbly. She knew she shouldn’t be in his office, but she couldn’t pull herself away. Her eyes focused on the end of the shelf closest to the door. There, tucked against a textbook, was a stack of Scantrons. “Oh.
There
they are.”
Get out. Get out before you say something wrong.
Kate grabbed them. “I’m going to finish sorting.” She backed out of his office and started down the hall.

“Um, Miss Rhodes?” James’ voice called out from his open door.

Kate stopped mid step, but didn’t go back to his office. “Yes?”

“Would you mind helping me organize this homework when you’re done? I was going to ask Carrie.”

Kate took a deep breath and smiled. He was asking her to help him work. It wasn’t a date, but still…“I wouldn’t mind. Give me a few minutes.”

She went back to Carrie’s spacious desk and finished collating the rest of the tests. She left a note for Carrie telling her she would be working in Dr. Baker’s office, and then she carefully lifted the entire stack of tests and walked down the hall.

“That was fast. Here, let me take those.” He jumped up from behind his desk and took them out of her hands. He put them down and then thumbed through them. “They’re alphabetized.”

“I hope that’s okay, it’s the way I usually do it for Dr. Moore.” She should’ve asked him if he wanted them organized another way.

“It’s great. Can you help me put these assignments with those tests? That way I can hand them all back at once.”

“Sure. Why don’t you read the last name and hand them to me, and I’ll file them?” Kate sat down on the floor and pulled the stack of tests into her lap. “Who’s first?”

“Campbell.”

“Beth or Andrew?” Kate asked immediately.

James gaped. “You memorized their names?”

“I sorted them ten minutes ago.” Kate shrugged.

“There are nearly a hundred students in that pile.”

He seemed freaked out, so she didn’t respond to his comment. “Beth or Andrew?” She held her hand open.

“Andrew.”

She slipped the assignment in place. “Next.”

They went through the piles of paper covering his office over the next hour. James gathered the stray papers for each student and Kate filed them. She had to split the stack of papers because it was too big for her lap.

When they were done, Kate looked around at the clean floor and desk. “Wow, it’s like a new office!”

“Thank you for your help.”

“Do you want me to get you a box to put those in? It’ll be easier to keep together.” Kate couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him yet. Just a few more minutes and maybe he’d forget about Angelica.

“Where are they?”

“Carrie keeps them in the supply closet. Here, I’ll show you.” Kate led James down the long hallway and into the main office past Carrie’s desk. She walked into the back room and then opened the small supply closet. “This is where Carrie keeps supplies. I always put boxes on the bottom, right here.” Kate pointed to the tidy tower of boxes all perfectly nested together and lined up. She took a step inside and James followed her, filling the small room with their voices. Inches separated their bodies.

“Wow, I didn’t even know about this room. I used that space a lot before the semester started.” James nodded his head toward the back room.

“So
you’re
the one who left the mess out here.”

James shifted his eyes away sheepishly. “I was going to clean it up, but when I went back to do it, it was already clean.”

“Yeah, Carrie and I tackled that the first week.”

“So I guess I need to thank you for that too.”

“No need. It’s my job.”

“I insist. Thank you for helping me.”

Kate was staring at his lips again. She was in serious trouble.

James had spent an hour hiding behind his desk while Kate crawled all over his office floor, and now they were standing inches apart. The walls closed in, pushing him toward her as the sweet scent of her skin assaulted him. He nearly lost his senses and touched her. She licked her lips. Surely she wanted him too. Didn’t she? Her hair was covering her cheeks. He had to fix that. His brain kicked in just in time and moved his hand away from her to a box of paperclips. “Paperclips. I need some of these.” He focused his gaze on the supply shelf behind her.

“So, there are the boxes. Which one do you want?”

Kate’s words jumbled together in his head.

“Yes. I’d like that.”

She cocked her head and frowned.

Uh oh. Wrong answer.

Kate turned around and picked out a box. “Here, this one should work.” She inched past him. Where did she go? He was still staring at the shelf where the paperclips were arranged. He shook his head and followed her into the main office where Carrie and Lloyd were discussing something just outside Lloyd’s office.

Kate was talking again, but not to him. In his attempt to block out thoughts about her, everything became clouded, even sound. Now Lloyd was talking.

James blinked. “What?”

Lloyd frowned. “I see you’ve met Kate.”

“Yes, mm hmm,” James murmured.

Carrie started talking to Kate as James’ focus blurred again. He couldn’t take his eyes off Kate. And then Kate was talking to him and leaving. Why was she leaving, and why wasn’t his brain working?

James stood in Carrie’s office for a few seconds after Kate left, clutching the box like a mindless fool. “I, um, I’m going to finish up. In my office.”

Carrie and Lloyd continued their discussion as he slipped back down the long hallway to his office.

He groaned when he went into his office and could smell Kate. He let his head fall against the door and squeezed his eyes shut. He was screwed.

* * * *

James managed to get through the next two weeks without acting on his impulse to get Kate alone. He had finally started thesis research with one of the senior chemistry students, Michael, and the distraction was very welcome. James worked with Michael in the research lab, and every time he was there, James became more familiar with what was available. At one point, he even began writing down notes for a research project he could write a paper on. Being published in scientific journals was another huge step to getting tenure, which Lloyd was always happy to remind him of.