S2/04. Old habits die hard

4.9 Linda West
Summer 1998, Frank's house, Oasis Springs

Right after her job interview in San Myshuno, Linda had rushed back home; and after a quick refresh, to Frank's house.
She wanted to tell him the news, and she wanted to see him.

Desperately.
Talking to Mae and her friends brought it even more to her conscience how pitiful her relationship with Frank was: Barely existing at all. It'd dissolved into something she didn't want to. Waiting patiently for better times as she'd done until now wouldn't improve it, therefore Linda decided to take matters into her own hands and change it herself.

Instead of going to the lab, as she'd planned before her trip, she came here.

The experiments could wait. For once, she wanted to have a regular, free weekend again, and she wanted to spend as much of it as possible with Frank.

Presumed he'd take some time off on weekends, too, which was anything but expectable.

When she arrived at his house, he wasn't home yet. Linda was disappointed, but not surprised.
What now? She was indecisive about what she should do next.
After contemplating for a while, and then dismissing going back home, she sat down on the bench in front of his door.
She would wait for him.

If she didn't deliberately make time for him now, who knew when she'd be able to see him alone. In worst case, it'd be after his return...
He surely wouldn't take it badly that she'd showed up uninvited, would he?

After waiting for what seemed endlessly, his Dodge finally pulled up on his yard.
Linda felt her heart in her mouth as she watched him get out.

But once he'd discovered her on his porch, his reaction proved all of her worries unnecessary.

Linda could barely breathe in his embrace, let alone talk, and so it came that she could share her news only the next morning.

"I got a new job," she whispered, as she watched the sunrays paint yellow circles on the wall. It was a lot later than she was used to get up, but it'd still take a while until the glaring summer heat would sift between the thin wood plank of the walls.
Linda was in a state of pure bliss.

"Hm?" Frank turned towards her, an attentive smile appearing on his face.  

"I applied to SMU. They hired me, right after the job interview."

"San Myshuno University?" Frank's eyes widened in surprise. "How come? Why would you downgrade?"

Linda sighed. "Because it just... fit. The job offer, the place, the timing... I couldn't resist, I had to apply. The university may not be as prestigious as Newcrest, but I will be a researcher, not an assistant. Here, with all this lecture preparation, mentoring and grading, I have almost no time left for studies, so it's impossible to achieve any meaningful results.

I just cannot stay behind here; with so little to do, and so little to talk about with only Delilah and Madeleine in this town, while you're off exploring Sixam."

Besides, there was the recent incident with the doctorate student, which made Newcrest's first-class ranking appear meaningless.

In short words she told Frank about it.

He chuckled. "I doubt SMU would've handled it much different, though."

"At least I won't have to take part in it," Linda grumbled.

"Hm."

For a while, it was quiet.

He had turned, watching the ceiling instead. His smile faded, making room for something deeper, more serious. 

"San My is far away," he said, and so was his gaze, too.

The words were few, but they said a lot.

It was as if the distance between Oasis Springs and San Myshuno dripped between them, slowly opening an invisible rift despite Linda and Frank laying arm in arm, entangled with each other.

He couldn't be more wrong.

"It's a timed project," Linda said. "One year. When you'll return here, so will I."

He mustered her with raised eyebrows and sincere curiosity, but also a lot more that she couldn't quite read. "To your assistant job at Newcrest?" It was more a statement, full of doubt, than an actual question.

"I'm expecting that I'll get a better position after I return from San Myshuno," she murmured. "The project is very ambitious, and regarding the results, I may – " She paused, knowing too well that she couldn't safely count on possibilities alone. "Anyway, there's also the food lab in Oasis Springs where I worked during my doctorate. They offered to hire me, too, after my graduation. Although I wouldn't study alien botany, it would be studying botany nonetheless. Either way, I'll find something to do and move back here. In a year, a lot can change."

"Yeah. It does."

Then his face finally softened slightly.

He brushed her cheek with a soft, fleeting kiss, before getting out of bed and dressed. 

Linda jumped up, unable to shake off the vague feeling that somewhere, something had gone wrong. "Frank?"

But to her relief, he smiled again. "Bella needs her morning walk. I'll be back in a minute, so don't go home yet, okay?"

That was surprising.
"You don't go to the lab today?"

He shook his head. "Nope. You're here now. And..." his smile became wider, "I actually could use a break, too. I finally found the error in the calculation. There was a wrong constant in your dad's equation. Now it all ads up. There's plenty of time to finish the blueprints next week. I gotta be somewhere later, but do you want to stay until then?"

"Oh Frank, that's great!" Linda beamed. "Of course I want to stay. I missed you."

A gentle smile on his face, he softly brushed over her head on his way out, while Bella jumped around him with excitement.

Linda went to wash her face and get dressed herself.

She couldn't be more elated.

Not much later, Frank returned with a box of heavenly scented doughnuts – much to Linda's regret. Regret, because her decision to improve her eating habits would have to wait a little longer. She wouldn't let it ruin her good mood nor appetite today.

Frank also carried a small grocery bag. 

"I hope this is any good," he said as he took out a square paper box of it. "It's the only one they have in the 24/7 down the street, and you'll have to make it yourself as I have no idea about tea." He grinned apologetically.
He'd bought milk and sugar, too.

Linda bloomed into a shy smile over the unexpected attention he'd paid to her habits. It was through small gestures like this, where his kindness shone through and made her feel appreciated and cared for.

 "Thank you," was all she could say over the butterflies dancing inside her belly.

He replied with another warm smile before turning towards the coffee machine. "What's that project you're gonna work on, after all?"

"Oh!" Linda exclaimed, filled with excitement but also slight embarrassment. "It may sound a little –uhm... audacious, maybe? But hear me out."

Where should she even start?

"So..." she gathered her thoughts as she put water for tea to boil. "You know how alien botany doesn't chemically interact with terrestrial organisms because of its different biochemistry, yes? Therefore it's not very interesting for most scientists, nor investors. They don't consider much more potential in them than some pretty, but rather difficult home decoration.

Until –" 

She paused, taking a deep breath before breaking the news.

"A few weeks ago, two well-renowned botanists specialized in genetics published an article in 'plant science' about the possibility of implementing, or exchanging parts of terrestrial plants' DNA with alien XNA. They based their hypothesis on the findings of my dissertation about the 'citrus irides', where I showed that its genetical structure is literally the same as a similar fruit based on carbon.

You can imagine how their bold claims caused quite a bit of an uproar! The majority of experts are doubting its viability, of course. It's impossible, identical structure alone can't be sufficient to achieve successful genetic modification, there has to be the elemental compatibility, too! But somehow, they managed to convince SMU to fund the research to prove their hypothesis. The one I'll participate in, too."

Frank raised his eyebrows.

"Sounds crazy, indeed. I didn't think you'd risk your reputation by participating in something that's ridiculed and doomed to fail."

Then, after examining her face, he added, "Don't tell me you believe them."

Linda sighed.

"I have to admit, I'm very sceptical too. I did my fair share of experiments with alien plants, and never, ever have I seen them interact with organic biomass of any kind. On the other hand, I am not even close to their level of experience in genetics, so I am not qualified to judge. 

And honestly... why not go for something unexpected, something crazy for once? Even if the objective of the study is proven wrong, we will still find out a lot more about alien genetics. They're such a fascinating life form, I want to find out more about them regardless. Who knows what it may be useful for?"

She'd almost expected another amused smile, but instead Frank mustered her with utmost sobriety.

He stayed quiet for a moment, before he took a deep breath and spoke.

"I know, that – Linda, this is strictly classified, okay?"

Linda blinked and watched him with anxious anticipation.

"A few crew members from the '74 expedition that came into contact with... the life forms on Sixam, developed some very strange behaviours. But I don't know any details, either. I've heard only rumors. And since no one could reproduce the effects with the samples brought back from Sixam, nor prove that the effects were really caused by the plants, they got declared harmless and their existence disclosed to the public."

Linda inhaled sharply. Frank's revelation took her breath away. "So you're saying... there is a possibility to achieve a chemical reaction?! At least there must've been circumstances on Sixam, that did. How exciting!"

Frank shot her a cautious, but almost bewildered glance.

"What I'm saying is, be careful, okay?"

"But of course, I always am," she assured him, as she already skimmed her mind for options she hadn't yet come up with to trigger the desired results. She was so caught up in the news that she almost poured the hot water into the sink instead of her cup, forcing her to pull herself together again.

When she turned around with her successfully finished cup of tea, she found Frank examining her doubtfully.

"I am careful," she assured him. "I'm always following protocols."

With a faint smile he shook his head, and to her relief, dropped the subject.

"When were you in San My, after all? You didn't tell me when you applied at SMU." 

He took his cup of coffee and sat down, the opened the box of doughnuts.

Linda lowered her eyes. His tone hadn't been reproachful, but she couldn't help feeling a little abashed.

"It wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't hired me, anyway," she mumbled.

Then, with her usual composure, she continued. "My interview was yesterday morning. I stayed at Mae's," she said, following him to the tiny makeshift table in the corner.

The doughnuts were as tasty as they smelled, and the tea was surprisingly more than decent. It was funny, to eat out of the box without plates nor cutlery, and Linda found herself wondering if Frank even had any. His whole house was not only small, but also quite frugal.

"Did you see Diana?" He asked. "She's often at Mae's."

"Yes, she was there, too." She paused, thrown back to last night. "And probably half of San Myshuno's population between eighteen and twenty-five." She chuckled, remembering the over-excited, funny  welcome Mae's guests had given her. 

Frank's mouth corners curled into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard about their new friends. It's quite a party over there, apparently." 

He looked out of the window, giving Linda the impression that there was more on his mind than he revealed.

"Say... when you move over to San My, could you keep an eye on Diana for me?" he asked after short break. His voice was quieter than usual.

"Is something wrong?" Linda asked, not alarmed but rather surprised.

He shook his head. "No, it's just... She has a habit of making some really dumb decisions occasionally." 

Linda had a hard time imagining that. She'd only known Diana as a hard-working, very disciplined young woman, who studied a lot for her complex education as a nurse while also taking care of a young child. Linda could only admire her for that.

However, she suspected that Diana would trust herself more onto anyone else who was in Mae's living room yesterday than Linda. Since last night, she just couldn't shake off the impression that Diana didn't like her very much, although she couldn't quite pinpoint why, or if it was true in the first place.

Maybe that was what Frank was worried about?

That Diana was too dewy-eyed over her new friends?

"I'm not very good at looking after people," Linda admitted, "but I will support her when I can."

Frank smiled.