Chapter One

The drive into work first thing on a Monday morning was unusually quiet and the music on my radio station was to my liking so I had a good feeling about the start to the week.

“Morning Sarah”, I said as I entered the lab

“Morning Doctor”, Sarah replied

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that”, I said as I hung up my coat.

“Sorry Jim, how was your weekend?” she asked, sitting at her desk. She was always in before me and a very diligent Junior.

“The usual moans and gripes but I think the kids had a good time at the festival”, I replied

“Gator By the Bay?”, she asked. An annual Louisiana-style music, food, and culture festival in San Diego

“Yeah, did you go with what’s his name?”, I asked

“His names Frank Jim and no we just had a quiet one in over the weekend, very relaxing”, she replied

“Oh good, I have a feeling today Sarah that we might make a breakthrough, we got close last week and I want to push hard to get some firm results for the end of month report to the board next week”, I said

“Jim take a look at this”, Sarah said indicating for me to look through her microscope

“Oh my God”, I said

“This is it isn’t it Sarah?”, I asked

“I hope so yeah, it certainly looks promising”, she replied

“Ok carry out the usual tests and if it’s viable then we’ll go for it with both the other two samples”, I said excitedly

“Both of them?”, she asked

“Yes why not, I want something definitive to take to the board next week or they might take us back to the concept stage or worse still shut the whole project down”, I replied

Myself and Sarah had been working on a project called DNL, short for ‘De Novo Life’ for 2 years now at a fairly large Biotech company based in San Diego. ‘De Novo Life’ or ‘Synthetic Life’ means building a cell from scratch that has all the key characteristics of being living. It had never been done before and the new solution we were tweaking seemed to show some promise and the breakthrough we had been looking for.

I was sitting on my own in the canteen for lunch as Sarah wanted to continue working through lunch and Mike came up and sat opposite me. Mike was essentially my boss but we were good friends as we’d known each other for over 10 years rising up in the Biotech industry together.

“Hi Jim, how’s things?”, Mike asked

“Not too bad Mike, how’s corporate?”, I asked

“Pain in the balls as usual”, he replied

“Where’s Sarah? don’t you guys usually eat together”, he asked

“Not on Mondays, besides she’s working through lunch today as she’s making good progress”, I repled

“What about you?”, Mike asked cheekily looking at me with a silly grin on his face

“Come on Mike you know I have the old ball and chain”, I answered

“I know, but come on then spill the beans on this progress, suits upstairs are dying for something new, it has been two years”, he remarked

“Maybe by the end of the week I might have something for corporate but wait for the presentation next week Mike”, I stated

“Sure Jim, how’s Janet and the kids? Were you at the Gator festival at the weekend”, he asked

“Yep we never miss it, although I can never make both kids happy these days, I just let them go off and do their own thing. What about you and Lily, you thinking about tying the knot?”, I asked

“I’m not sure now’s the right time”, he replied

“It’s never the right time with you Mike, I’m telling you she wants to hear those magic words or she’ll be off”, I remarked

“Yeah, where’s she gonna go? Back to her Mum, haha. No she’s fine for now, I’ll pop the question eventually, you know the old saying ‘be mean to keep them keen’”, he said joking

“It’s ‘treat them mean, keep them keen’ but the same thing I guess. Anyway, better get back to work and tell those old guys their money is being well spent. Trust me, the presentation next week might be a game-changer”, I stated as I got up and left.

I brought back a sandwich, apple and crisps for Sarah to the lab and put them to one side and asked, “I hope bacon’s ok, they didn’t have any chicken?”

“Yeah bacons fine, I don’t follow any religious dietary restrictions”, Sarah replied

“Oh I forgot, you’re part Jewish, is that on your Mother’s or Father’s side?” I asked

“My mothers but she’s not really religious either although we do attend the occasional Bar Mitzvah”, she replied

“How’s it going then?”, I asked

“Looking pretty good so far, I am starving though so I think I’ll take a break and grab that sandwich, thanks for that”, she said

“No problem sweety, oops sorry that just slipped out, you’re not my wife”, I said slightly embarrassed

“Not yet anyway” she said 

I looked round at her smiling inquisitively 

“Just kidding Jim, oh salt and vinegar my favorite, you remembered. I’ll be about half an hour” She said as she opened the door

“No problem sweety, Just kidding!” I shouted, chuckling to myself as she left the room.

I arrived home at the usual time and was excited to tell all my family the good news about my progress at work.

“Hi sweet, smells good!”, I shouted as I entered the house as I knew she was in the kitchen cooking dinner

“Hi darling, did you pick up the soy sauce?”, she asked as I entered the kitchen

“Yep got it right here”, I said as I put it down on the kitchen counter and spun her around from her cooking and gave her a big kiss on the lips

“Ooh, you’re in a good mood, something happen at work?”, she asked

“Yep, I think we’ve done it Janet”, I said letting go of her and leaning back against the sink and grabbing a piece of salad from the bowl

“Really?”, she asked surprisingly 

“Yeah, I mean we have to wait a few more days to be sure but we’ve definitely made significant progress to take to the board next week”, I said munching on the piece of lettuce

“That’s great news darling, hopefully they’ll stay off your back now and might even increase your funding”, she remarked

“I hope so, Mike has been a great help with that so I want to take him and Lily out for a meal somewhere nice next week to celebrate after the meeting”, I said

“Sure that sounds good, do you want me to organise it with Lily?”, she asked as I left the kitchen

“Yep, sure sweety that will be good. Where are the kids?”, I asked from the living room

“Josh is with a friend and god knows where Mary is, she just leaves without telling me where she’s going”, she replied

“I’ll have a word with her at dinner about that”, I said

“I’ll give her a ring if she’s not back in half an hour or she’ll miss dinner”, she said

“Sure, I’ll go wash up”, I said as I went upstairs

At the dinner table Janet had prepared one of my favorite dishes and I was getting ready to tell the kids my good news.

“This is really nice sweety”, I remarked

“Don’t sound too surprised”, Janet said sniggering

“No I mean there’s something different in it”, I commented

“Not really, it might be the soy sauce you brought as we were out last time. Oh no I know what it is, I saw it on one of those morning breakfast shows, fresh fig”, she said

“Wow, I never would have thought of that, well definitely use that again. What do you think Josh?”, I asked looking at my young son

“Yeah it definitely has more flavor so nice one Mum”, Josh confirmed

“Well, you can thank what’s his name off Morning San Diego for that”, Janet said

“How you doing today Mary?”, I asked looking at my teenage daughter as I carried on enjoying the meal

“I’m ok Dad”, she replied

“School alright? Mum says you’ve been popping out without telling her where you’re going”, I said putting my fork down and looking at her a bit more seriously

“I was just meeting up with friends Dad, you guys worry too much, I’m just an average 15 year old”, she said dismissingly

“That’s what worries me, I’m not sure what average is these days. Don’t forget I grew up in the noughties when the internet and mobile phones were just becoming the norm so I’m not an old fuddy duddy, yet anyway”, I said sniggering and carried on eating

“I know Dad, look I’ll text Mum in future when I’m going out”, she said looking up and smiling

“Good girl, that’s all I ask sweet, just so your mother doesn’t worry”, I said

“How was work anyway? Mum said you’ve got good news”, Mary asked

“Yep, well you know the project I’ve been working on these past 2 years, well I think we’ve done it, I mean I think it works. You know the synthetic cell thing?” I asked looking back and forth at 

Mary and Josh

“I know Dad, wow that’s great, will you be getting a raise then?”, Mary asked sniggering

“Haha, well if it does actually work hopefully in the future, yeah”, I replied quite seriously

Janet looked at me smiling and reached out to rub my hand and I held it for a bit

“We’ll see what happens but it should be a good Christmas”, I remarked.

“That was lovely Janet, ok guys can you help Mum clear the table and I’ll start loading the dish washer”, I said as I got up from the table

After clearing up I went to the living room to watch TV as usual with Mary and Josh.

“Can you change it Josh, deal or no deal is coming up”, I said lounging back in my favorite chair with a beer

“Oh Dad, why do you like that shit, you’re supposed to be a top scientist and you know it’s just a guessing game”, Josh remarked while Mary giggled

“I just like the mindless entertainment, and when did you start swearing? None of that in this house young man or I’ll ask Mum to put out a swear jar”, I said jokingly

“He just likes ogling the dolly birds”, Mary commented looking at Josh smiling

“Haha, don’t tell your Mum”, I said

“Oh, hi there”, I said as I noticed Janet standing behind me and I grabbed her and put her on my lap with our heads together

“Don’t tell me what?”, she asked

“Nothing important sweet”, I said taking a sip from my beer

“Oh we’re not watching this crap again”, she said

“Hey, I just told Josh to watch his swearing but as it seems to bring out the potty mouth in all of you go ahead and change it Josh, pick something you like but not too loud”, I said taking another sip from my beer.

We watched TV together until it was getting late.

“Come on guys it’s past ten, off to bed”, I said

Janet had fallen asleep on my lap but then woke 

“Oh yes, I’m off to bed too, come on you two”, she said as she got up

“I’ll be up in a few hours darling”, I said as they went upstairs

I liked to have a bit of alone time as it was the only chance I got in the day so I grabbed another beer from the kitchen and looked for a decent movie to watch. I finally went to bed and tried not to wake Janet as I climbed in. She turned her bedside light on though

“Oh sorry for waking you sweet”, I said

“No that’s ok Jim I wasn’t fully asleep anyway, I wanted to give you your reward for being such a clever man and looking after this family so well”, she said smiling at me

“We kissed passionately and she climbed on top of me and we made love. When she climaxed she rolled off me a bit out of breath and asked, “did you cum?”

“Not quite, but that was great sweet, you know how much I love watching you cum”, I said

“She reached across under the covers for my privates and slowly finished me off. After she cleaned up from the on suite bathroom she laid across my chest and asked

“How’s it going with your lab partner, Sarah isn’t it?, you barely talk about her”, she remarked

“She’s fine, a good little scientist”, I said

“What? you mean she’s short?”, she asked

n”, I said

“Not because of her height I hope”, she remarked

“Of course not babe, you’re just being paranoid. No, she went to Stanford and was the most qualified candidate. I don’t talk about her because there’s nothing to say, she’s a good worker and that’s it, lab work is pretty tedious darling”, I said

“Invite her round for dinner after this presentation then, I want to meet her. After all it has been two years that you’ve been working together”, she said

“Yeah you’re right. I should have invited her round before, I just didn’t think about it”, I said reassuringly 

“Ok darling let’s get some sleep, we’ve both got an early start again in the morning”, she said, giving me a peck on the lips and rolling onto her side of the bed.

“Yep, sleep well sweety”, I said

I lay there for a bit with my eyes open thinking about what she’d said about Sarah. Sarah was a bit of a flirt which is why I’d never invited her around before but I hoped I wasn’t lying to myself and Janet about any feelings I might have towards her. I just needed to stay focused on the work and what would hopefully be a career defining moment for me as well as Sarah.