Interlude of a Date

Alicia and Nicki go on a date. That's it.

Alicia walked into Serrate, an Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown. She waited by the hostess, looking at the fine wooden tables and leather upholstery until she spotted Nicki sitting at a booth. She walked over as Nicki jumped up. “Alicia!” Nicki greeted. “Wow, you weren’t late.”

            She held out her hands and Alicia stepped in for a hug. “It’s a surprise to me too.”

            “You look like you just came from work,” Nicki commented, sitting back down.

            Touching her hair worriedly, Alicia sat across from her. “I’m sorry,” She said, admiring Nicki in her short black dress. “You’re right. And, you look like you dressed for the occasion... You look nice.”

            “Oh, I was joking,” Nicki replied, her forehead wrinkling. “You’re beautiful! Your work attire is always so stylish.”

            Alicia blushed and looked down. She smiled, knowing her warm face wouldn’t be noticeable. “Thank you, how have you been?”

            Nicki opened the menu. “I’ve been good,” She answered. “I’m very busy with work.”

            “Oh my, same.”

            Nicki grinned. “Yeah, you and Pagel moved onto mice, right?”

            “Yes,” She said, flipping through the menu. “We have been treating these mice for over a week and there hasn’t been any change in them, nothing has happened yet.”

            Nicki reached across the table to pat her hand. “That’s okay,” Nicki assured. “Ours took several weeks to get results.”

            Smiling, Alicia stifled her qualms, asking, “What were your results?”

            “It was fascinating,” She started excitedly, shutting her menu. “The mice became compliant and very intelligent. We ran them through mazes and got them to learn dozens of tricks without any sort of motivation.”

            A waiter approached the table, halting the conversation. “Hello ladies, can I get any drinks started for you?”

            “I’ll have water, thank you,” Nicki said.

            “Me too.”

            The waiter nodded. “Are you ready to order?”

            Nicki glanced at Alicia who nodded. “Yes, I’ll have the chicken parmesan, please.”

            “And I will have small Caesar pizza.”

            Alicia and Nicki shared a jovial look. The waiter wrote it down, saying, “Alright, those orders will be out soon. I’ll bring the waters right out.”

            The waiter walked away and Alicia faced Nicki. “Wow,” She said, picking back up the conversation. “That’s crazy. Why do you think that happened?”

            Nicki shook her head, answering, “We didn’t do anything to analyze why this happened biologically. You two should look into it, though.”

            Alicia laughed. “Pagel is very upset that we are replicating Lawrence’s work, but if we can find new things, maybe he would like it more.”

            Pausing to think, Alicia continued, “I bet we can do an MRI and an autopsy on the mice.”

            Nicki tilted her head with a smile. “You could use our mice as part of your research. To be honest, we’ve kept them as little lab pets because they’re so cute.”

            “Aw, I don’t want to kill your pets, but we could certainly use them. I can pick them up from you when you get to your lab tomorrow.”

            Nicki grimaced, momentarily distracted by the waiter setting two glasses of water on the table. “I’m not going to the Institute tomorrow,” She admitted.

            Alicia tensed. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for and dreading. “Does that have to do with your new research?”

            “Yes, I’ve been at Flare Mental Hospital doing our research. Flare is where we are housing our subjects for the time being.”

            “How is it going?”

            Nicki’s smile grew exponentially, revealing a dimple in one cheek. Alicia felt her heart melt and chest tighten looking at it, making her feel even more guilty. “We have come across so many amazing people with great abilities. And most are volunteers, which makes me feel so blessed.”

            “What kind of abilities have you seen?”

            Nicki laughed lightly. “Oh, where do I start?” She answered, excitedly tapping on the table. “Someone had the ability to read minds; they actually have a hard time not reading people’s minds. And when another one was stressed out enough, they would transform into a giant creature who multiple arms and an exoskeleton. It was crazy to watch them transform.”

            “Holy crap,” Alicia responded with an astonished chuckle. “Are you curious about how this happens, the powers?”

            Nicki shook her head. “We’ve been collecting DNA data for every subject, but we have no idea how the DNA gets expressed into these powers… We aren’t really dedicated to researching it either. We want to find commonality to the powers, and from that commonality, determine how Orange Day triggered the DNA to do this.”

            Alicia nodded, thinking it over. “So, you are going to do a genome study?”

            “Yes, eventually,” Nicki responded, pleased that Alicia caught on. “We are doing a full DNA work up, including karyotypes and DNA sequences.”

            “Wow, that sounds incredible. You must be getting a lot of funding for this.”

            Their food had arrived, the waiter gently setting down Nicki’s plate and placing Alicia’s pizza on a cast iron stand. “Thank you,” They chimed before giggling over their overlapping thanks.

            Leaving a spare plate, the waited dipped his head and walked away. Alicia looked at her pizza with grilled chicken and Caesar dressing delightedly. Nicki stared at it too, her eyes practically lighting up. “Could I try a slice?”

            Using a fork, Alicia transferred a slice onto the spare plate. She replied, “Of course, I can’t eat all of this.”

            Alicia ate the slice with a fork as Nicki remembered what they were talking about. “Oh yes, the city is footing the bill on our research.”

            They ate in silence for a moment before Nicki’s countenance changed. Her eyebrows scrunched up and she set down her silverware. Alicia placed a hand over hers. “Are you okay? Is something wrong with the food?”

            She shook her head. “I was just thinking about how off-putting it is that we are using the mentally ill as our control group,” She admitted in a hushed voice.

            Picking back up her fork only to tap it on her plate, she continued, “I recognized someone who’s in there and they… didn’t really have a choice in participating. It feels morally questionable.”

            That made her think of Kris, though Alicia wasn’t sure that Nicki met her yet. Nicki started eating slowly. “Is it legal to use them?”

            “No one has asked about it.”

            “You could if you are that worried,” Alicia replied.

            Nicki ate most of her meal and grabbed a slice of pizza. Frowning, she clicked her tongue. “I don’t want to ruin the data. To throw out most of our data, especially the control group… I’m not sure it’s worth it.”

            “I understand that.”

            Nicki nodded and they kept eating. She sighed suddenly. “You know, we always talk about work when we spend time together,” She said. “What do you do for fun?”

            Alicia laughed. “Oh, I don’t know,” She answered. “I enjoy reading or watching sci-fi stuff. I hang out with friends every once and a while. What do you do in your free time?”

            “I would say I’m quite the shut in,” Nicki responded, smiling coyly. “I watch TV, read scientific journals, and knit. Sometimes, I’ll go to seminars for subjects I find interesting… Um, I’ve been trying to learn how to cook.”

            “Oh, then I should visit you for dinner sometime.”

            Nicki blushed. “I don’t know… Maybe if you helped me prepare it.”

            Alicia grinned, replying, “Sounds like a date.”

            They finished eating with Alicia saving a third of the pizza for later. The bill came. Alicia took it, pulling out her wallet. “Hey,” Nicki protested. “I asked you out, so I should pay.”

            “You can pay the tab next time,” She said, smirking.

            They left the bill on the table and left. Alicia held the door open for Nicki, who said thanks. Nicki offered her hand to Alicia. Alicia hesitantly took it and they walked for a short while to a parking building. “This was fun,” She declared, looking at Nicki.

            Nicki looked down, turning red and smiling. Alicia beamed, thinking how cute she looked. They stopped by her car. “Yeah, I enjoyed it. I’ll text you later.”

            Alicia hugged her and said goodbye. She was tempted to kiss her, but decided that it might be too soon. Alicia stepped back, watching Nicki get into her car. She waved and walked away. Getting into her own car, she pulled out her phone. She called Theo. He answered after a few rings. “Hey Alicia, what’s up?”

            “Hey Theo,” Alicia responded, settling into her chair. “I just went on my date with Nicki.”

            “Oh really?” He sounded excited. “How’d it go? What do you think about it now?”

            “It went great, though we mostly talked about work… I don’t know about dating. I mean, she’s beautiful, and into me, and we have a lot in common. I want to, but I don’t want to lie to her or use her for the team’s research.”

            “I’m sure you can tell her in time, when you feel confident in your relationship. I don’t think it’s a big deal to share information with your friends about your romantic partner and vice versa. If you like her, I think you should go for it.”

            Alicia thought about it. “I’ll see where it goes. We have already agreed on tentative future dates.”

            “I hope this venture makes you happy.”

            “I would say it’s making me happy, like net worth happy. Thank you for taking a minute to talk with me.”

            “Of course, I’m happy to,” He said. “I’m just playing cards with my Gran.”

            “Aw, cute. I hope you have fun. Good night.”

            “Good night.”