Science and Love

”Its been two years already, June. Ive been working here for that long and you are still trying? ”

”Come on, Claire. Its an opening in bioinformatics, you won have to work on the bench, pipettes won even see your face, and you can work from home when moving is not an option. The supervisor seems quite nice, and you will just apply. Pleeasseeee, for me? ”

”June, what makes you think she would accept me? And what makes you think I want to stop working here and go back to academia? ”

”Look around you, Claire. Other than the cards, everything else looks at you with disdain just because you
e a woman. And I see you looking at PhD positions before going to sleep, you still want to be a scientist. ”

”Wanting something doesn mean you can do that, sweetie. Believing that is for children and Im already a 79 year old lady. ”

”I don care, I have already applied for you, so thats that. ”

”YOU WHAT?! ”

* * *

What am I doing here thought Claire as she got into the elevator.

She never worked with bioinformatics. And she maybe worked for three or four months with human biology. And her knowledge in microbiology would be close to useless here. But at least there was that year as immunology teacher assistant. Yeah. She was screwed.

”Hello, Im Claire Trent, Im here to see Dr. Green? ”

”Oh, you
e the knew recruit? ”

”Thats the hope, yes. ”

”Good luck, darling! Just go to the first floor, straight to the end of the corridor and turn left and you
e there. ”

”Thank you! ”

Claire did as the receptionist said and got to the door with no difficulty. The difficult part was working up her courage to knock on the door.

What am I doing here? she asked herself, one last time, and finally knocked at the door.

”Come in! ” a voice said from inside.

”Hi, Im Claire Trent. I came for the interview? ”

”Hi Claire! Im Marjorie Green but please call me Marj. ”

Dr. Green was really young, maybe five years older than Claire, and she seemed really warm. She asked Claire to sit down as if they
e about to take tea.

”So, I saw your CV and was really interested, but what really caught my attention was you personal statement. I think its really brave of you to go after your dream and Im sorry you have to expose your personal life every time you meet someone new in a professional setting. Probably in a personal setting too, right? ”

”Thank you, Dr. Green. Oops, Marj. Yes, I have to explain my health history every time but Im used to it already. ”

”Well, here is a paper I think could have an interesting seed for your work. We need to write a project in two days so we can apply for a fellowship for you… ”

”Wait, You
e…You
e hiring me? ”

”Yeah, why would I call you all the way here if not? ”

”I thought you just wanted to talk to me face to face and interview me. ”

”Oh no, I just call people here if Im already interested in working with them. ”

”Oh my God! Thank you so much Dr. Green! You have no idea how much this means to me! ”

”Oh sweetie! First of all, is Marj. Second, Im really happy to have you on the team. Write a simple project and we work from there, okay? ”

”Yes Marj, Thank you so much! ”

She went down to the reception without really seeing where she was going.

”So, will we be seeing you around, sweetie? ”

”Yes! Ill see you guys again. Thank you for the directions, got there without a hitch. ”

When she got out of the building she started doing a dorky dance, in the middle of the street, not really caring who would see, and called June.

”What up, Claire. Who harassed you this time and how many bats should I bring to hit him? ”

”June, I swear to God, you make me absolutely crazy sometimes, but this time gives you credit to mistreat me for the rest of your life. ”

”What are you talking about? Is something happening and you can say it? Is this some kind of code? You have to arrange codes in advance for them to work, Claire! ”

”I got the job, June! Im back to science!! ”

”WHAT!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!! I knew you could do it, bèbè. Should we celebrate? ”

”Yes we should, but in two days because I need to write a project. But as soon as I send it to Marj I will be knocking on your door to celebrate! ”

”Wait, Marj? Thats already much better than expected. Okay, go do your thing and scream as soon as you
e ready. ”

* * *

Three years later

”So, how do you feel now Ms. MSc? ”

”As if a mountain had been taken off of my chest. ”

”Great! So Im going to put some little pebbles back for like, a week. May I? ”

”Just tell me what you need help with, Summer. You know Id do nearly anything for you. ”

”Soooooo, you know Im on the organizing committee of a bioinformatics conference, right? ”

”Yes, I saw you have at least two micro melt downs because of it. ”

”Yeah, well, so I don a have full blown melt down could you help me? You would come as a volunteer and everything would be covered. ”

”Sure. Is there something specific you need help with or will I be like a jack of all trades? ”

”Well, I will need you specifically for the presentations and poster sessions, but if I know you well you will end up working in everything. Are you okay for that? How is your health? ”

”Im okay, don worry. The medication kicked in last month and Im almost normal right now. ”

”Excellent! So I will send you everything in the next couple days. Youll share the room with Clara from the seventh floor, is that okay? Do you know her? ”

”Oh, thats great! I know her, but she definitely doesn know me. ”

”Great, we will correct that then. ”