"Hey, you don't have to participate if this isn't what you want," Pen said as she walked by Thea's side. This time she was looking like a presentable person in her formal attire and her red curls gathered stylishly on top of her head.
Whoever saw her in her disheveled state in the lab wouldn't believe that she was the same person as before.
"It's okay. I don't want the old geezer to have to say anything about this again. He's already going to give me a hard time with Robert as it is," she said as she sipped from her tea.
"You're making it sound like it's your fault… I mean Robert was the one cheating on you," Pen answered, then she added, "You've been drinking that tea a lot more these days."
Thea paused for a moment, looking down at the teacup and then at her friend before feeling a rush of heat spread up to her cheeks.
'Nope... She wasn't doing it because of him. She just liked the taste...'
"Yeah... I guess." She said, then continued as if nothing happened, "You know how the old man is, he just needs an excuse to make me come to this meeting," She said, wondering why he was making a big deal out of her attending this meeting.
Robert was definitely going to hate seeing her there. Not that that's any of her business.
"Well, it is an important meeting and you're the only one available enough to be leading this research, so it should naturally fall upon you even without your grandfather's pressure," Pen said carefully.
Thea knew that she was right. She was pushing it as it is without doing research all this time. She was so fixated on opposing her grandfather that she lost sight of what she really needed to do—her duty as a fellow professor at this university.
"I will take it…" She said, mustering the determination she found in her to finally make this decision.
"Are you sure?!" Pen exclaimed, looking at her with a broad smile.
"Yeah," Thea said awkwardly while wondering if she had made the right decision, "This is the best opportunity to make a comeback anyway, and I would have you to work with, so it's a win-win…"
"Yay! Finally!" Pen said, hugging her enthusiastically, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to finally say that!"
"Although, we will have to get through one last hurdle before this…" Thea said.
"What?" Pen asked.
"You know that Robert is going to use every trick in his bag to make sure that he gets control over this project. I can see him salivating over the Chim&Bio executives." She said,
"Ugh… You're right…" Pen said, "But I'm sure that you can make it work. This is more your field of expertise than it is his."
Pen was right. The domain of plants' chemical usage was more in her field of study. Although it had been a while since she'd done any real research, she was still keeping up with her studies, unlike Robert, who was more concerned about university politics these days.
"I'm not here to compete with him, to be honest." Thea said with a deep sigh, "But I can't say that I'm not interested in the subject. I think it's a good opportunity and I will do my best to earn it,"
"That's my Thea…" Pen said, slapping her on the back hard, "I know you can do it when you're determined,"
Thea gasped and glared at Pen, who smiled sheepishly.
"You're as weak as ever…" Pen said.
"You're the one who has too much strength," she answered.
"I'm sure that this will be advantageous for you. I hear that the future CEO of Chim&Bio is going to supervise this project personally."
"Whatever do you mean?" Thea asked.
"You're such a shut in. Everybody knows Chim&Bio's future CEO, the handsome and super sexy young man who keeps making the headlines," She said, "If you get this project, you will be working closely with him…" She said with a smile and Thea wanted to sigh,
"Dealing with those kinds of people is annoying…" She complained.
"Those are the famous last words of the girl who ends up falling for the CEO…" Pen said and grinned at her and opened the meeting room's door, stepping inside before her.
Thea followed behind her, greeting her seniors and trying to ignore Robert who was practically glaring at her. He didn't want her there. And he wasn't even trying to hide it.
"Thea…" Her grandfather called, motioning her over.
He was standing with a young man who looked like he was in his early thirties. He wore a tailored suit that fit him perfectly, with a crisp white shirt and a deep blue tie. He had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that accentuated his sharp features and gave him an air of intelligence and efficiency.
Was this the infamous CEO of Chim&Bio?
"Thea, This is Haden Bruce, one of Chim&Bio's executives. He came today as a replacement for his superior who will be supervising the project," Her grandfather explained, "Haden, this is Professor Thea Keaton. We were hoping to have her direct the biology part of the project."
"It's nice to meet you," She said, extending her hand to him, "I will be looking forward to working with you,"
"Likewise, Professor Keaton," Haden said with a smile, looking at her in the eyes.
He knew who she was, and he was giving her a careful appraisal to see if she got the position thanks to her grandfather or her own competence. By the end of the meeting, this man would have his verdict for sure.
"Now, let us not delay this meeting any further," her grandfather said, and she felt excitement build up within her. She hadn't felt like this in a while, she was looking forward to how things were going to work out.
As the meeting went on, Haden Bruce and her grandfather led the conversation as they identified the objectives of this research.
'Finding new components to replace the chemical version of some types of medicines,'
After getting the gist of everything, Thea began to put in her suggestions. Robert pitched in a few times but after realizing that this wasn't his field of practice, he reluctantly stepped back. Both Thea and Pen were the only ones involved at the end of the meeting and when Thea looked at her grandfather she found him carefully looking at her with a barely hidden smile.
He was pleased... She didn't know how to deal with that, she was too used to his disapproval that she was now confused.
"I think it's decided!" Said one of the senior professors, "Professor Grace and Professor Keaton will take care of this project. No one can deal with it better than these two…"
"I have no complaints so far," Haden said as he gathered his notes from the meeting, then looked at Pen for a moment too long .
He had been stealing glances at her since the meeting started. Pen didn't seem to notice though.
"We would be sending some of our people to audit your lectures if that's okay. Just as a final procedure," he added with a smile, and Pen nodded, moving her glasses as she looked down at her notes. Thea could swear that she saw Haden swallow hard as if he was choking on his own breath.
"Of course, I will send you my schedule via email. You can attend any relevant lectures you may find interesting," She said as she looked up at him.
Haden, who seemed captivated for a moment, blinked almost imperceptively before clearing his throat and nodding with his professional smile.
"That would be great. Thank you…" He said.
Thea wanted to smile, looking at the dynamic between the two. All the men who met Pen when she was put together fell for her almost instantly. But not all of them stayed when they got to know her other side when she's too absorbed in research to care about anything.
Not that Pen seemed to mind them. They were all as dispensable to her as the fancy clothes she wore when she felt like it.
For a moment, she wondered what category Haden would be. If he would run away as soon as he sees her other side too.
"Are you doing this on purpose?" She heard someone say from behind her and she was startled for a moment before realizing who it was.
When did Robert get the chance to move around the table and stand behind her?
"I thought that we agreed to leave each other alone unless it's necessary for work," Thea said in a low voice matching his before standing up and looking back at him, trying to put some distance between them.
"You are the one marching into my territory, this research would have been mine, if you hadn't stepped in," he said withso much confidence that it made her wonder if the man was joking.
"This is not your area of expertise, Robert, and you know it."
"I don't understand why you would say that. After refusing to do research for years, Why would you suddenly be interested in this?" He asked.
"Because we both know that I can't slack off on research any longer. No matter how convenient that might have been for you," She said, and he glared at her, making Thea wonder why she was even dating this scumbag of a man in the first place.
She should take a moment to re-evaluate her standards, seriously…
Just as she thought about that, the memory of the stranger at the park popped back into her mind and she shook her head trying to get rid of the disturbing memory.
That was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. There was no way that she was going to meet that person again. And there is no way that he is as wonderful as her memory was suggesting right now…
With that thought, Thea turned around and left Robert standing there.
Probably doing research was a good choice after all. She needs to use her brain on something more challenging than dealing with Robert's pettiness to step up her game a little bit.