Chapter 2
Ian wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. He had been in a bar last night. That he knew for sure. He had been drinking. And there was a girl. She’d been drinking too...
And she’d been pretty. Really pretty, even with the slur in her voice and the way her eyes couldn’t seem to stay open. She had really big.... personality. A really big personality and they got talking and then...
And then...?
He woke up alone in his digs. At least he thought he was alone. He was also on the floor. And his head hurt. He really wasn’t sure what had happened last night.
“Hey, you’re awake! Now, how much do you remember of last night, because I’m pretty sure that we didn’t sleep together, because you know, we’re still wearing clothes and shit, but I just wanted to check, you know? Because if we did, sorry dude. I’m not really looking for some English guy to sweep me off my feet or whatever. I mean I prefer to do the metaphorical sweeping around here. Not the literal sweeping, although I do a lot of that. Jane gets too distracted by SCIENCE to do chores and for the love of god say something.”
“Hi. I’m Ian.”
“Ian. Hey. I’m Darcy.” She held out her hand, rolling over so she was lolling out of the bed, and he shook it, bemused.
“I don’t think we slept together,” Ian said. Because he was on the floor in last night’s clothes and she was in his bed. He tried to remember exactly why she was in his bed. “Did you say you worked with Jane Foster last night?”
“Yes. Yes I did. Why, do you know who that is?”
“Yeah. I’ve read one of her papers.”
“Oh my God.” She sat up and stared at him. “You’re a science nerd. Awesome.” She didn’t sound like she was being sarcastic, in fact, she sounded genuinely excited. But then, she was American. Charmingly so, but he couldn’t be sure he was reading her right.
“Do you think I could meet her? Dr Foster I mean.”
“Sure. Fetch me breakfast, some aspirin and I’ll let you be my intern.”
“Brilliant.”He got up and went through to the kitchen he shared with a few other students. He was graduating in a month and he had no idea what he was going to do next. An internship with Jane Foster would be... wow. Not that he was anywhere near her level. He wasn’t a genius. He wasn’t special. He was just an average student trying to understand how the world worked. He could usually understand concepts if they were explained to him in the right way, or if he read about them. But he was a slow learner and he was just scraping a 2:1.
If he wanted to succeed, if he wanted to move up in the world of physics, if he wanted to make it with this Darcy girl, the internship was the way to go.
He made some toast and put marmite, marmalade and jam on a tray with the plate of hot bread and added a glass of juice and a box of paracetamol.
He didn’t have aspirin.
He hoped that was okay.