Chapter Three

Beth woke up in a foul mood. Her head was full of thunder and the taste in her mouth was unspeakable. She rolled out of bed. What had she done last night? Someone had thoughtfully left a glass of water by the bed. She took a couple of sips before sinking down on the floor with her head in her hands. There was an insistent keening in her head. Dear god, what was that? It took her a while to realise it was her alarm clock. Groaning, she turned it off. It was definitely morning. Maybe a shower would make her feel more human.

A shower, clean clothes and clean teeth made her feel a bit better, but not much. She walked gingerly to the kitchen, where Anna was eating cornflakes and reading a book. She looked up as Beth approached. ‘Hey. How’re you feeling this morning?’

Beth made it to a chair. ‘Awful.’

Anna grinned and poured her a coffee. ‘Here you go.’ She slid it across to Beth’s hand. ‘He said you were drinking whisky. I’m not surprised you’ve got a hangover.’

‘He? Who was that?’ She tried to remember, but couldn’t place anything beyond being in the pub with Hibs and Vik.

‘That gorgeous bloke from your lab.’

‘What gorgeous bloke?’ Had she managed to pick up a gorgeous bloke and not remember it? If so, where was he now? She felt an irrational stab of guilt.

‘With the long hair.’

‘Hibs?’ Beth peered at Anna. There were many words she could think of to describe Hibs – kind, thoughtful, dependable, irritating, bossy, but not gorgeous. ‘He’s not gorgeous. He’s just … Hibs.’

Anna laughed. ‘You’ve been hanging out with him too long. You’ve stopped looking.’ She paused, her spoon poised above her cornflakes. ‘Have you seen the way he moves … and those beautiful long fingers …’

‘He’s got stupid long hair.’

‘He seems to look after it though. It’s all glossy and thick.’

Beth considered it. ‘I suppose.’ She didn’t particularly like long hair. She preferred her men to have buzz cuts and muscles in the right places. Like Gordon.

‘I’d love to get my hands on that,’ said Anna, still staring into space. ‘And on that body.’

Beth tried to think of what Hibs’s body was like, but couldn’t really bring to mind much beyond a lab coat. ‘What? Hibs?’

Anna stared at her. ‘What? You haven’t noticed? He hasn’t got an ounce of fat on him. He’s all toned and … yummy.’

Beth sighed. Hibs had this effect on women. She wasn’t sure how he achieved it. It was probably some mesmerising technique he’d learned with his martial arts or something. ‘He’s not really boyfriend material, you know,’ she said.

Anna looked surprised. ‘What do you mean?’

‘His idea of a long-term relationship is, like, two weeks.’

‘So?’

‘What do you mean “So”?’ She was clearly missing part of the conversation. It was probably drowned out by the pounding in her head. ‘He’s this massive commitment-phobe.’

‘That’s only a problem if you’re after more than just sex,’ said Anna. ‘Besides, people change.’

‘Not Hibs.’

There was the sound of post landing on the mat and Anna went to fetch it. Beth looked up, a tiny spark of hope flaring in her queasy stomach.

‘Is there anything—’

‘From America? No.’ Anna pulled a face. ‘I’m sorry, Beth.’

So, definitely nothing from Gordon then. Beth swallowed another sip of coffee and felt the hot liquid rebel and come back the other way.

‘Beth?’

Beth stood up and lurched towards the bathroom. ‘Going to be sick.’

It was nearly lunchtime before she made it into the lab. Her head still hurt and her vision seemed to be lagging behind real events by a few seconds. Her stomach had settled down now and her nausea was replaced by anger. Anger at Gordon for being such a bastard. Anger at Hibs for being right. Anger at herself for caring.

It was Hibs’s comment about photography that really got to her. There was a time when she had really enjoyed photographing people. But Gordon had frowned on the idea. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly that he disapproved of, but she had sensed his annoyance. At first she’d just stopped telling him about the photos she’d taken. Then, as she spent more and more time in his arms, she’d stopped entirely. Almost without her noticing, her favourite hobby had simply faded out of her life.

Perhaps she should take it up again, see if the buzz was still the same. There were those vouchers the boys had given her – she could use that and the cheque from her parents to get some supplies. It would make a change from taking pictures of bacteria.

She slammed her way into the office and stomped to her bench. There was a Post-it note saying, ‘I’ve set up cultures for you to do your experiment tomorrow. Hibs.’ She scrunched it up. She had lost the morning. The only way she could catch up was to work through until late.

‘Afternoon,’ said Hibs.

She turned, slowly, so that she didn’t overbalance. ‘What?’

‘Good afternoon, Hibs. Thanks for getting me home and putting me to bed last night, Hibs,’ he prompted.

‘Did you?’

‘What, take you home? Of course I did, you ninny. You fell asleep on me.’

Beth frowned. ‘Did I?’ She couldn’t remember anything. She hoped she hadn’t embarrassed herself. At least she had been fully dressed when she’d woken up, so she hadn’t done something truly idiotic like succumb to Hibs’s seduction voodoo.

Hibs came over and stood next to her. The bay was narrow, so they were only inches apart. He looked so utterly like his normal self that she relaxed a little. He peered at her. ‘You look like crap.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Go home, Beth. You’re probably still drunk.’

She shook her head, but then wished she hadn’t. She put her hands up to her head to stop it reverberating.

Hibs put a hand on her shoulder. It felt like a ton of lead. ‘I’ll cover for you with Roger. Vik didn’t make it in either, so it’s not just you.’

Beth ignored him. ‘My flatmate fancies you,’ she said, accusingly.

Hibs grinned. ‘I know.’

‘You’re not going to do anything about it, are you?’

‘Do you want me to?’

‘No. Definitely not. She’s my housemate. She’s new to town. Have mercy.’

‘Mercy,’ said Hibs, ‘is definitely not what she wants.’

‘You know what I mean. It would be weird. I don’t want to see you wandering around in your pants while I’m having my breakfast.’ The very idea made her feel light-headed. Clearly, her hangover was worse than she’d thought.

Hibs laughed. ‘I don’t do that.’ He took her elbow. ‘Now go home and sleep it off.’

She shrugged him off and stalked to her bench. She tried to pick out a pair of gloves and managed to knock a box of pipette tips on the floor. Yellow plastic tubes sprayed everywhere. She stared at the mess for a moment before kneeling on the floor and trying to gather the tips and slot them back into the holes on the box.

‘You can’t use those now: they’re covered in crap,’ said Hibs. ‘Just bin them.’ He started to scoop them up. ‘And, Beth. Go. Home.’

Beth stood up. ‘Okay, okay.’ She set off towards the door. As she paused to wash her hands, she looked over her shoulder. ‘Hibs?’

‘Yes?’ He was standing by the bin, wearing his white lab coat. He had blue latex gloves on and a pair of safety goggles on his head. His hair was tucked into the collar of the lab coat to keep it from getting any chemicals on it. This was what she thought of when she thought of Hibs. Not the sex god creature that Anna had described.

‘You were right. About Gordon. I need to get over it.’

Hibs smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it.’

‘I’m going to move on with my life,’ she said. ‘Move on to new things.’

The smile moved off his face. He nodded. ‘Good. I’ll look forward to it.’

As she left, she couldn’t help wondering what he meant.