Page 95 of Love Undiscovered
“So, do you like your job?” he asks.
“I do. I don’t necessarily like the people I work with. They can be sexist and judgmental, but I love the work that I do. I love that if I’m successful, it could make a difference in the world.”
“Do you need me to beat up the sexist and judgmental ones? ‘Cause I will.”
I laugh.
The barista brings out our order, I see that Chance has also purchased a selection of pastries. He tells me what each of them are, then proceeds to cut them in half, so we can both try them all.
“Do you like your job?” I ask.
“We’re not completely through talking about your job, because I still don’t totally understand what it is that you do. But, yes I love my job.”
“What made you go into law enforcement?” I ask, picking at my muffin.
“My dad was a detective, so was his dad before him. I grew up seeing what the two most important men in my life did, how they locked up the bad guys, and helped people in the community, and made an effort to right the wrongs. I wanted to do the same. I guess, like you, I wanted to make a difference. Or at least try to.”
“Do you think that inwanting to make a difference” —I use finger quotes as I say the last part— “we are both being too idealistic?”
“I hope not. At least I don’t think so. Do you?” he asks.
“I’d have to say the same.”
“So, what exactly is it that you do?” he asks, leaning forward, forearms resting on the table’s edge.
“My degree is in chemical engineering,” I say.
“And you have a master’s degree, right?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“My girl is smart,” he says, shoving half of a pastry in his mouth.
I ignore the flutter in my stomach when he refers to me as his girl. “Did you even taste that?”
He nods, then wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Food. Good.”
He’s so corny I can’t help but laugh.
Then he asks, “What does a chemical engineer do, besides the obvious that I can guess from the name?”
“Well, I’m sure just that, what you can guess from the name. But I am working on developing a process that will breakdown products that were previously non-biodegradable for repurposing.”
“Essentially recycling that which was not recyclable before?”
“Yeah, in a sense.” I nod my head.
“That seems like a no-brainer, no offense. How come it’s taken people until now to figure out how to do that?”
“Well, that’s just it, I haven’t figured it out yet. So, it still remains non-existent. But I’m close.”
“So, when you go to work today, and you sit down in your lab, what is it that you’ll be doing?”
“In simple terms, I’m running trial tests on the process to see if it works.”
“Keep it simple for the simpleton?” he asks with a wink.
I laugh at him.
