He tried to catch his breath. "Sure," he wheezed. "I'm fine. Finish your drink."
"Um, okay, if you're sure," Liz said. She picked up the bottle and took a sip of water. But his coughing continued, and Liz felt weird just standing there and watching him. She leaned over to thump him on the back.
Dr. Sosa jumped when she touched him. He jerked away from her, his arm knocking into a rack of test tubes on the counter behind him. The rack fell over, sending the test tubes clattering down to the floor, where they broke. The thick, pinkish liquid that had been inside them oozed out onto the floor, staining Liz's sneaker.
There was a moment of silence. Liz stared at Dr. Sosa, horrified. He looked at her in pretty much the same way.
"I'm so sorry," Liz yelped. "I hope I haven't ruined anything important."
Dr. Sosa shook his head slowly. "Don't worry, Liz," he said. "You are far more important than any of the experiments we've been doing here."
What an odd thing to say, Liz thought as she hurried to the closet for cleaning supplies. "I'll mop this up," Liz called over her shoulder. But when she turned around, Dr. Sosa was gone, the big metal door just closing behind him.
Michael poured another giant can of chicken broth into the big soup pot. He loved chicken noodle day… it was by far the easiest soup to make.
"Order up!" Maria called from outside the order window.
Michael frowned at her. "I'm supposed to say that, not you," he said.
Maria turned on her thousand-watt smile. "I know, but I have your order ready."
"What are you talking about?" Michael asked impatiently.
"Didn't you order a big, juicy kiss?" Maria asked.
Michael thought about it. Jeff Parker probably wouldn't
think making out in the kitchen was especially sanitary. Then again, Jeff wasn't here. And the Crashdown was pretty empty: an elderly couple in the corner booth, Kyle, and some guy at the counter. No one to rat him out to the boss. "I ordered three big, juicy kisses," he told Maria.
Still smiling, she hopped up onto the counter, propped her elbows on the order window, and leaned through to kiss him. Michael decided to just ignore the soup he was making and concentrate on his girlfriend.
"That can't be sanitary," Kyle said, shaking his head as he watched Michael and Maria.
The guy on the stool next to him laughed. "Well, they clearly put a lot of love into the food here," he joked.
Kyle nodded. "Best burgers in town. And I should know… I used to date the owner's daughter."
"So you pretty much ate here three meals a day," the guy said.
"You know it," Kyle answered. "By the time she dumped me, I was hooked on the onion rings, so I had to keep coming."
The guy shook his head. "You're unlucky in love, just like me."
"Well, I don't know about that," Kyle said quickly. "I was just unlucky with her. But I do okay."
"Not me," the guy said, sighing. "I just broke up with someone I really liked."
"Dumped you, huh?" Kyle said, taking a swig of Coke.
"No, I dumped her."
Kyle snorted. "Okay, what's your name?"
"Jesse. Jesse Ramirez."
"Well, listen, Ramirez," Kyle said, "Rule number one of dating: Don't break up with someone you like. What are you, a masochist?"
Jesse gave him a lopsided grin. "No, man, I was just too old for her."
"Oh, so you were doing her a favor by dumping her?"
"Um, yeah," Jesse said. "Though when you put it that way, it sounds kind of stupid."
Kyle emptied his Coke glass. "Hey, Maria!" he called.
Maria waved him away without breaking her liplock on Michael.
"I need another Coke," Kyle yelled, undeterred. "And one for my masochistic friend here."
Liz pushed open the door of the Crashdown and glanced around. Maria and Michael were hanging out at the door to the back room. Kyle sat at the counter chatting with some guy in a suit. It all looked normal, yet something seemed off.
It's the lights, Liz thought. The hanging lamps were LOO bright. She squinted up at them. That's weird. I didn't even know they had a bright setting.
"Liz!" cried Maria. "What are you doing here in the middle of the day?"
"She lives here," Michael put in. "Duh." He disappeared through the swinging door and went back into the kitchen.
Maria approached Liz, talking a mile a minute as usual. "Aren't you supposed to be at Meta-chem? Wait, is today your day off? You didn't get into a fight with that doctor guy, did you? I told you to use my mantra if he was acting like a jerk."
Liz winced. Was Marias voice always this loud?
"You got a real death grip on that thing," Maria added.
"What?" Liz said. Why was she so confused all of a sudden?
"Water bottle." Maria pointed at the plastic bottle in Liz's hand.
Liz glanced down in surprise. She'd forgotten she had it. "Oh, yeah," she mumbled. She opened it and took a swig. The water tasted funny. "I think I'm coming down with something," she told Maria.
"Is that why you came home from work?"
Liz shook her head. "No, Dr. Sosa had a little freak-out and sent me home. I feel bad about it, actually. He was trying to be nice to me, but he had a coughing fit and I accidentally made him spill some chemicals."
For once Maria was silent. She stared at Liz with big, frightened eyes.
"Not like a huge chemical spill," Liz said. "Just a little one. I cleaned it up, and Dr. Sosa said I could have the rest of the day off."
The bell over the door jingled, and Liz jumped. Usually she could barely hear that thing, but today it seemed especially loud and harsh.
"I'd better go check on the oldsters," Maria said, heading off to the elderly couple in the corner booth. Liz walked slowly over to the stool next to Kyle.
"Check it out," he said. "A mini-Maria." He gestured with his head to the little girl who'd just come in.
Liz looked at her. She had her hair in two braids, just like Maria did today. And she wore shiny lip gloss in the same shade as Maria's. In fact, she looked a lot like Maria. "Weird," Liz commented.
The girl hopped up onto the stool nearest the order window and gazed adoringly at Michael.
"Really weird," Kyle agreed.
"This cook is quite the stud," the guy next to Kyle joked. "First the waitress, now the kid."
Kyle snorted.
Liz couldn't help herself… she jerked away from him. Why was everything so loud all of a sudden?
"So, anything new at Meta-chem today?" Kyle's tone was casual, but Liz knew what he was really asking.
"I was only there for half an hour," she told him. "Dr. Sosa was arguing with Maris Wheeler about something. Then I knocked him into some chemicals in the lab, and there was a spill. He sent me home early."
Kyle sighed. "Well, at least you didn't draw any attention to yourself," he said sarcastically.
Liz shrugged. Somehow she just didn't care about Meta-chem right now, even if they did have alien cells in their laboratories. She was too busy trying to figure out why the lights were so bright and the sounds so loud.
"I'll ask Michael to meet me at Meta-chem tonight," Kyle said in a whisper. "He can open the door to that closet."
Liz stared at him in a panic. His voice was so loud, she was sure the guy next to him would overhear. But the guy just kept eating his fries, and Kyle didn't seem fazed at all.
"I need to go lie down," Liz said. She jumped off the stool and went through the swinging door into the back room. She made her way into the kitchen to grab a snack, figuring she'd take it upstairs. She dropped her backpack
and the water bottle on a counter and pushed past Michael, who was stirring soup.
"I like your hair. It's really long." The little girl was talking to Michael through the order window. Liz smiled as she pulled open the fridge and began hunting for the baby carrots they used as garnish.
"Yeah, thanks," Michael answered gruffly.
"How come it's so long?"
"Because I'm too lazy to cut it." Michael halfheartedly stirred the soup on the stove.