The Biologist Ch. 02

As I was walking back to my apartment from the gym, I couldn't help but replay the scene that had transpired in the shower over and over again. His behavior made no sense. Hadn't he been cold and threatening to me just the week before? Did it matter? I had a hard time convincing myself that it did, but the way my body responded towards his touches totally betrayed everything I was thinking.

Finally back at my apartment, I forced myself to shove those thoughts out of mind. I had more important things to occupy my brain space. I actually lucked out in finding such a great apartment in such a short amount of time. There was a giant main living room that had a very modern look to it. Too bad it was filled with my old college furniture...The kitchen though, was my baby. The floors were hardwood in a deep mahogany color. The counters were a great tan granite color and all the appliances were stainless steel and all top of the line. I had allotted most of my money to the kitchen. Here is where I felt at home. Maybe it's the way cooking makes me feel. Everything in the lab is so controlled and precise. No room for error or improvising. Here, I can tweak things to my exact liking and make rash decisions about what to throw in the mix. As a result, I turned out to be a really good cook.

There were two bedrooms, one I had turned into an office, and the other was mine, of course. I had a giant king size bed (another thing I spent a lot of money on). The bed was covered in Egyptian cotton white sheets and a huge warm, but light as a cloud, white duvet. I had always wanted an all white bed growing up, and now I finally had it. The walls I had painted a chocolate brown color and had touches of sea foam and gold accents throughout the room. Other than the kitchen, this room was my escape.

I decided to take another shower. Considering how the last one ended up, I needed to just cleanse myself. I stood under the hot water for God knows how long when my peace was interrupted by my phone. I ignored it, but it just started to ring again.

I cursed silently to myself as I stepped out from the warmth of the hot water and steam into the colder air of my room.

"What?" I said into my phone a little more harshly than I intended to.

"Geez, SOMEONE is in a mood. Anyway I just wanted to call and tell you that I have to push dinner back an hour....I am stuck in the lab waiting for these plates to finish up." Ellen replied.

"That's fine. I've been there before. See you soon."

"Bye dear!"

Looking at the clock I was thankful she called, because if not, I would not have made it on time. How long had I been in the shower? At least now I had time to get ready. I decided on a pair of dark wash jeans that were a bit on the skinny side, but not too tight, and a cobalt blue button up shirt and black shoes. After spending way too much time on my hair trying to get it to look less like I had just gotten out of bed, I gave up. I mumbled angrily to myself about just cutting it short as I put in into a small ponytail.

As I reached the restaurant, I saw Ellen waving at me like a teenage girl. I chuckled to myself and thought how in the world was she so happy and peppy all the time.

Having never eaten at this café before, I wasn't too sure what to order, but as it turned out, I don't think it would have mattered. Everything was delicious.

The waitress we had was probably around my age or so and was quite pretty. She had strawberry blonde hair and sky blue eyes. She was a little on the taller end for most girls but she had very distinct curves. Any one, male or female, could clearly see how pretty she was.

"And what can I get for a handsome gentlemen such as yourself tonight?" she said in a tone that almost implied something other than taking my food order.

"I'll have the Herb Crusted Salmon with the marinated vegetables. And a sweet tea."

She giggled a little and said "Obviously you are from the south judging by that accent, but I am so sorry, we don't have sweet tea. I can bring you unsweet and there is some sugar on the table if you wish."

Mentally crying on the inside about not being able to have my sweet tea fix, I mumbled "Water is fine."

She took Ellen's order, winked at me, then left.

Still depressed about the sweet tea it took me a few seconds to see Ellen smirking at me.

"What?"

"She likeeeedddd you." She sang.

"Huh."

"Huh? Huh? She was gorgeous. Could you not tell? How out of it are....oh!"

I mentally cringed at what was about to come. Now I have never been one to be embarrassed about being gay or anything, but I didn't announce it to the world. If I was asked, I would answer honestly. And a few times in the past, it has led to some issues.

"Or maybe you didn't notice because she doesn't have the right equipment."

I nearly choked on my drink.

"Oh sweetie that's wonderful! Don't worry about anything. I won't tell anyone of you don't wish me too, Ben. And I will still love you all the same."

I managed to mumble out a small "Thanks".

After that, dinner went by with no consequence. Ellen pretty much took hold of all the conversation telling me about what exactly she did in her lab and how she came to work for the University and the classes she teaches.

I told her a little about my undergrad and graduate school programs and what exactly I was doing in my research.

Soon the evening was over and the waitress brought us our check. Ellen insisted on paying, despite my arguing, but giggled as she looked at it; in the top corner, our waitress had put her name and number with a little heart next to it. I just laughed along with Ellen.

When I got home I was completely exhausted and stripped down out of all my clothes. I slept naked most of the time because I loved the feel of my sheets against my skin. I was out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. But the thought that I completely forgot to ask Ellen about Gabriel quickly passed into my head.

****

I woke up early the morning wanting to get started in the lab as soon as possible because I knew I had a long process ahead of me. Phase 2 consisted of growing the microbes in the Kaolin, then identifying the exact species of organisms in the clay. In Phase 1, it had taken me forever to determine that there were indeed things growing in the clay and then identify the two distinct classes of microbes. First there were the methanogens. These microbes produce methane as a metabolic byproduct. These are classified as Archaea , which is more primitive than Bacteria. These guys are most commonly found in marshes and animal remnants (most commonly known for in cows). The other group of microorganisms is the Sulfur Acetogens. These are far more advanced than the methanogens as the rely on sulfur for metabolic purposes.

Anyway, I needed to get started on making the plates and growing the microbes because I needed a decent number of cultures to provide enough DNA for all the tests I need to do. So I popped in my ear buds and got to work. I decided to make about 150 plates up. After I made the mix, I had to autoclave the batch in order to kill anything that was possibly growing in the flasks or anything that may have fallen in the solution as I prepped. This would take about two hours. In the mean time I figured I would go ahead and prep the Kaolin solution. I measured out enough clay to match the plate counts and put in into the centrifuge. I paused my music to listen to one of most favorite sounds in the world. Call me a nerd but I love the soft purring sound the machine makes as it rotates the mix at an impossibly fast speed. Once that was down and I had filtered out the supernatant and did the proper dilutions, I had about an hour and a half left before the autoclave went off.

Deciding there was not much I could do until my batch was done baking I decided to walk around the science building. I had been here almost two weeks and I still had yet to take in the beauty of the place I practically lived in. There were three floors to the old brick building; each level having its own "major" and held rooms for classes and multitudes of student and private labs/offices. The basement was where the Physics and Geology departments were. Something about their machines needing firm grounding or whatever caused them to claim that floor. It had been nicknamed "The Dungeon". I clearly understood why. It was dark down there because of the lack of windows due to the fact it was underground. There was no cell service and it was cold. Not my cup of tea. The second, and main, floor is obviously the best floor because it is the biology floor. The third floor is the Chemistry floor and it brings up feelings or angst, depression, frustration, and pure hatred. I quickly walked around that floor before I had to leave.

Finally there is a small staircase in the corner of the biology hall that is almost hidden. It leads up to the old closed down observatory. After walking up the spiral staircase, I entered the most peaceful place I have ever been in. It was dark save the small light let in by the single window in the roof of the dome. There was no furniture of any sort in the room except for empty bookshelves and an old desk. There was a small nook where you could sit and not be seen by anyone, I immediately decided this was going to become my new spot. I loved it here and it gave me plenty of time to think and get away from the chaos of my job.

My alarm went off all too soon telling me my agar mix was complete. With a sigh I slowly made my way back to my lab. It was only noon and I still had so much to do...

****

Once back in the lab, I had to quickly pour the mix into the plates before it thickened up. Once done I just had to wait a few minutes for the agar to harden then I could incubate them just to double check nothing was growing on them yet. I took these few minutes to wash the equipment I used. There is nothing more I hate in the world than a dirty lab. I was so involved in washing the equipment and dancing to the music being pumped into my ears that I hadn't seen the person in the doorway to my lab.

Gabriel was leaning casually on the door frame of the lab enjoying the sight in front of him. Bentley hadn't noticed he was there and was dancing to the beat of whatever he was listening to. Gabriel took this opportunity to look over Bentley. He was shorter and smaller then Gabriel but not feminine. He had a toned body and was wearing jeans that hugged his hips and ass in just the right way. His shirt was snug with the sleeves pushed up showing off arms. His dark black hair was pulled back up off his face and neck with a stray piece hanging in his eyes. Gabriel wanted so much to see it down and run his fingers through it and tug on it. The way he was moving his hips wasn't especially sexy but he had such a cute ass that it took a surprising amount of will power to stop Gabriel from going over there and bending him over the counter and taking him hard and fast right there. Gabriel told himself Bentley was more than a quick fuck. He was worth the wait. He knew he was very dominant in his ways liked to get what he wanted without question, but he didn't want to scare Bentley. He needed to take this slow. Well slow according to Gabriel.

All of a sudden I felt a tingle run down my spine as I scrubbed the flask. It was a very familiar tingle. One that made me uneasy yet turned on at the same time. When I turned around to look at the source of this feeling, no one was there.

Did I imagine that? Maybe I am just being paranoid. Or obsessed. Either way, this is not healthy.... I quickly shoved these thoughts away and continued cleaning.

I nearly had a heart attack when I felt someone touch my shoulder.

"What?!" I snapped as I turned around and ripped out my ear buds. Instead of the green eyes I was expecting, I was looking into brown ones.

"Geez sorry. I called your name out. Maybe if you took those things out every once and a while...." Ellen laughed, clearly amused by my reaction.

"Who were you expecting?"

"No one. I have to start remembering to lock that door....."

"Well come take a break and have some lunch. By the looks of it, you will be pulling an all nighter and you need to remember to eat Ben."

I groaned. She was right. I was going to be here all freaking night. I had to constantly check my supernatant dilutions and plates for any sign of contamination and I had to also start prepping the materials for the next portion of the experiment. She was also right about me not remembering to eat. Back in Georgia when I was in the lab my meals consisted of some sort of candy bar or chips from the vending machine, coffee, and sweet tea.

Ellen insisted on going to this burger joint down the street. I got weird looks when I asked if they had any sort of veggie burger. They didn't. So I just got some chicken fingers and fries. And a stupid water again. I would make it my life goal to find a place that served sweet tea in this town.

"Veggie burger?"

"I don't eat red meat. Just fish and I try to eat chicken at least twice a week."

We ended up losing track of time and by the time I got back to the lab it was close to 5 o'clock. I mentally cursed at myself because now I definitely was going to be here all night. After checking on my plates again, they needed about four hours before they needed to be taken out and inoculated. I decided to do some research and see if there was any way I could narrow down the list of possible species of microorganisms. I was brought out of my research induced stupor hours later when my alarm went off apparently for the second time as four and a half hours had passed.

I took out the plates and once I deemed them uncontaminated, I began to prep them with my Kaolin slurry. I was completely unaware of anything other than my plates and my music when I felt that there was someone behind me. For the second time that day, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw another person in the room. This time my blue eyes met green ones.

I took my ear buds out just as Gabriel said something about maybe not wearing them all the time.

I was not in the mood for this right now.

"What do you want, Gabriel? Isn't there somewhere else you can be?"

"For one, I want you not to speak to me like that again. Ever. I do not appreciate that tone, Bentley."

"My tone? You don't appreciate my tone?! Seriously? I have been here all day. I am tired. You come in here to MY lab, unannounced and you get mad at me? No. And stop touching my things. You are going to contaminate everything."

Gabriel was wearing an evil but amused smirk on his face and there was something in his eyes that made him seem slightly dangerous. Then I felt that damn tingle again. Was my body not aware that I was not in the mood for his antics right now? Apparently not; I could feel myself getting harder by the second. I turned around quickly to hide my arousal and also because I could not look into those green eyes of his. I tried my best to focus on swabbing my plates again. I could still feel his presence behind me.

"Please go. I have things to Gabriel."

I sighed in relief when I heard him leave and close the door behind him a minute later. I rushed to my office while reminding myself to start locking that door; even though I had probably said it about a hundred times already. My plates weren't done but I needed to sit down. What in the world was going on? Why did my body respond to him like that? I hate being told what to do, or so I thought.

I groaned and threw on a pot of coffee on the small maker I have in my office. I screamed internally when I heard a knock on my door and someone walk in.

"What now? What could you possibly want now?" I shouted as I walked out of my office expecting to see Gabriel again. Instead I saw a man I had never seen before. He was maybe around thirty or so. He was wearing think black rimmed glasses, khakis, and an argyle sweater. His hair was parted on the side. He screamed nerd.

He gave me a bemused look and chuckled slightly before announcing who is was.

"I'm Daniel Spencer. I am the assistant and secretary to the Head of the Biology program here. I am here to inform you that the Head wants to have a meeting with you to discuss your research and your findings and what not."

"You are aware that I do not work for the school, correct? The company I am working for is paying you to let me be here and use this equipment. I report to them about everything. My research is in no way affiliated with the school."

"Yes, we are aware of the situation. The Head would still like to meet you formally because you are indeed here and using our equipment. Be at the buff at 8pm on Friday."

With that he left and closed the door behind him. The buff or Buffington's was a local grill and bar in town. I sighed and ran my hands over my face. This day could not be worse if it tried.

****

Friday was approaching quickly. I was literally dreading this meeting. I can understand wanting to meet me because I am using some highly expensive equipment, but I was still not looking forward to it. After shutting myself in the lab all day Monday and Tuesday and most of today, I decided to quit and head to the gym. I hadn't been since the whole shower incident last week and I felt lazy.

I went home and changed quickly into some old running shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Once there I put in about three miles on the treadmill before I headed to the weight room. I found an open bench and began to do some light weight with lots of reps, as I didn't want to bulk up. Suddenly I heard metal clinking metal and realized someone had put more weight on my bar. Then I was looking up into those green eyes.

"Lift."

I must have hesitated longer than he liked because he said, "Lift Bentley, you know with your arms. I will spot you. Now."

Struggling internally about listening to him, I lifted. We worked silently for the next hour as he kept adding weight until I had maxed out on my bench press and my squats.

"Go shower. You smell."

I wanted to scream at him for insulting me but I had no energy left. My muscles burned. I was tired and I felt like I could barely move. When I got in the showers though, I couldn't help but think about what happened last time and I secretly wanted it to happen again. It didn't.

As I walked to the locker room, Gabriel was there changing. I willed myself not to look, but failed. The man was beautiful. There wasn't much else to it. It looked like he had showered too because he had beads of water dripping off his hair and rolling down his back and chest. He was wearing nothing but some tight black briefs that showed off his perfect ass and thighs. His abs were so defined that I just wanted to rub my hands across them. His nipples were hard and perfectly sized and I had the sudden desire to lick them. When I made it up to his face, I realized he was staring right at me. I turned deep red.

"Be here tomorrow at 6pm. Don't be late."

"Tomorrow..?"

"Yes. Tomorrow. We will do shoulders and abs. Also, buy some fucking workout clothes. Those are a disgrace."

I was fuming when he left. He was going to seriously complain about my clothes after he demanded I work out with him again? Then I was mad at myself because I was feeling a little bit excited about seeing him again.

****

Thursday went by pretty quickly and 6pm was almost here. My muscles were screaming at me and I really did not want to go, but I have a feeling I would regret it if I didn't. Something in Gabriel's voice made me want to obey him. Around 4pm I went to the vending machine to get a Snickers bar, which had been my lunch the past few days, when I heard complete and utter chaos break out around the corner. I ran back towards my lab praying it was not the source of the noise.