Hearts Under Ice Read online

  “Poor guy has been working since he’s been a kid.” Her father had said, pointing to some of the facts in a book. “I highly doubt he’s been on a date. At most receptions and parties, if he shows up, he tends to keep to himself. I heard that he’s pleasant if you talk to him, but he won’t try to be the life of the party.”

  So far, she had found all of that to be true. Donnie didn’t have any pictures of a wife or girlfriend in his office. In fact, he had no pictures at all. His office held nothing but books, papers, and the computer. She had found one fake plant in the corner, but that was all in terms of color or decorations. Comparing his office to hers was a joke. She made her area look like home, while his was as stuffy and dry as the lab. The one good thing about the lab was that it had several experiments going on at once. That gave it some life and excitement. Donnie’s office was just sad and dark.

  “Oh, what am I doing?” she groaned, starting to flip through the pages. “I have work to do, and I’m just thinking about him! Get yourself together, O! He’s your boss! All he did was tell you what he was working on. Even if you think it’s a pile of crap, you should just listen to him and pretend that you care. He deserves that much.”

  She went back to work and told herself to stop thinking about Donnie. Her mind listened and did the best it could.

  It was her heart that wouldn’t shut up.

  Chapter Three

  Olivia found herself dreaming about the same place again the next night. The world was more clear and colorful now. There were all kinds of butterflies around her, and she saw herself running through fields of them. The sky was pink, with purple clouds for some reason, but it didn’t bother her. Even more interesting were all of the stairwells that led up to the sky. She also saw strange rabbits and mice in different colors. It was like some abstract painting or movie, only she was living in it. As she tried to walk up one of the sets of stairs, someone stood in front and blocked her way. She tried to move around him, but he kept blocking her.

  “It’s you.” She said, not sure who was stopping her. She got a good glimpse of his face, but saw nothing there. Around them, the rabbits were bouncing, along with some dancing brooms. It was thought she had gone from the strange painting to Fantasia in about two seconds. She turned around and tried to go down, but the figure blocked her again. It was starting to get on her nerves.

  “Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want, but let me through!” she snapped. The clouds above her darkened, and she felt some purple raindrops fall on her shoulders. They were staining her dress. That was when she noticed what she was wearing. This dress was something that a princess would own. It was white, and went all the way to her feet. She could feel that she had on high-heeled shoes, and a string of pearls were wrapped around her neck. They matched her pearl bracelet and the pearl clips in her hair. This wasn’t her usual attire. Aside from the fact that she could never afford such things, they weren’t her style, either. She had no patience or desire to dress up this way.

  “What’s going on?” she asked the figure who was still blocking her. He didn’t move or say a thing. His face remained hidden in the darkness, but she wasn’t scared. He was annoying, but not an enemy. For some reason, she found herself holding out her hand and waiting for him to grab it. “I’m lost. I want to know what’s going on, and how I can get back home. Why won’t you talk to me? Are you afraid?”

  There were no answers, and she still couldn’t move. Her feet felt like they were glued to that step. She could not go up toward the sky or down below. The purple rain was now turning into purple snow. So far, she had no answers as to where she was, how she could get out, or who this mysterious stranger could be. It made her head spin, and she wanted to pass out.

  The alarm went off, rescuing her at just the right time, and she opened her eyes. After turning off the alarm and getting the lights on, she looked down at her pillow. She thrashed around a lot at night and her sheets were soaked with sweat, but she was relieved that it was just a dream. But there was no time to think about the dream now. She had to go to work and get something done. Before leaving yesterday, she gave Pam all her scheduling information, and received some sage advice in return.

  “I’m glad you’ve made your mind up, honey. The one thing Dr. Vaughn is a stickler for is time. If you are gonna be late, leave me a message. Other than that, I hope things go well for you tomorrow. We have a busy day ahead.”

  “A busy day, huh? Wonder how many more files I’ll have to take care of.” She grumbled to herself as she went into the bathroom and washed her face. Her clothes were hanging on the bathroom door. As Donnie had requested, she went with some jeans and an old shirt that she had dug up from her drawers. They were clean, so she didn’t expect to hear any complaints over it. She also opted not to wear any jewelry, save for some small earrings. She saw that Pam had them on yesterday, so Donnie probably wouldn’t mind. After she finished up in the bathroom and put on some perfume, she made her bed, grabbed her things, and went downstairs. Her parents were already up and drinking their morning coffee.

  “Morning, O.” Her mother greeted her, holding the coffee pot. “Want some?”

  “No, I should probably cut back on that.” Olivia shook her head. “I want to have very little for breakfast.”

  Her father noticed what she was wearing. “Are you sure you can wear that work?”

  “Oh, yeah. In fact, my boss encourages it. He said that the dress code is casual and most people tend to get their nice outfits messy if they’re in the lab,” she explained. “I picked something that wasn’t too shoddy, but casual enough.”

  “Wait, you’re working in the lab?” Her mother pushed a plate of toast in front of her. “I thought you said that this was office work.”

  “It is. I’m not going to be doing any experiments, Mom. I may just have to walk in and out of it. That’s all.” She explained. “Donnie made me promise not to touch anything.”

  “Donnie? You’re already on a first name basis with your boss?” her father asked.

  “He insisted I call him that.” She took a bite of toast and tried to ignore their looks. “Calm down, you guys. He’s just my boss. It’s a pretty casual environment. He’s really young, but has a lot of great ideas.”

  “Oh, we’re not trying to imply anything!” her mother insisted. “It’s just that this wasn’t the job we thought you had been given. It sounded so simple when you applied for it.”

  “Well, it turns we were all wrong. There’s a lot more to it.” Olivia said, ending the conversation by grabbing her purse. “I better get going. I’ll see you guys tonight.”

  They said goodbye to her as she left for the day. She knew they were both thinking about her and how invested she was getting into this. It was true that she wasn’t expecting to work in a lab or with a boss like Donnie. She figured that they would cross paths once in a while, but that was it. She had worked only one day, and already he wanted her to call him by his nickname. He didn’t make her uncomfortable, but she felt like he was telling her too much. She wasn’t ready to hear about time travel or unimaginable scientific achievements quite yet. She just wanted to do her work.

  A part of her did feel sorry for him. Right before bed, she had read up on his personal life. Donnie’s parents had passed away when he was still a toddler, so he was raised by his uncle. They didn’t have a whole lot while he was growing up, so he had to work hard to get into college. It was difficult, since he was a child genius, yet they could not afford for him to go to fancy preparatory schools. His uncle had saved up the money to send him to MIT, and that, combined with several scholarships, were what got him through his undergraduate and graduate studies. He had his PhD and was working professionally well before most kids his age were out of college. Due to always studying or working, it appeared that he never had time to settle down with anyone. She had also seen some posts where people were making fun of him for being a loner and a nerd. On every online forum regarding Donnie, people overwhelmingly pushed
him down. They saw him as a smart guy, but not worthy to be their friend. He was too socially awkward. The more she read about him, the sorrier she felt. She could see why he’d turned to her with his ideas. He had no one else in his life or business that would listen to him.

  Once at work, she went to her office and decided to finish eating breakfast. There were more papers to file, as well as a note from Donnie. He had such neat, perfect handwriting. She smoothed it out and began to read.

  Olivia,

  I’m going to be late today. I was supposed to give you more details about your job, but I’ve spent all night working on my invention. I told Pam to leave you this note and some work. The computer guy should be there around ten, so you will hopefully be up and running then. I should be in by noon. If you have any questions, you can ask Pam or Harvey, who is in the office next to mine. I’ve told him that you’re new and are still learning the ropes. He won’t give you anything to do that will overwhelm you. Also, you might be asked to get some stuff from the lab. Vijay and Leila will be in there, and they’ll give you what you need. You can bring it to my office, as that will be unlocked.

  I’ll see you later today.

  -Donnie

  Now this was something interesting. Not only did she get a little note from him, he wanted to give more details about their project. If she didn’t know any better, it seemed like he had developed a thing for her. All she wondered was, why? She thought she was pretty, but was that reason enough for him to want to tell her all of his secrets? It would make more sense if he told someone that knew him well, or was as smart as he is. Then again, judging from what she had read, there weren’t many people willing to listen to him. So far, all he had done was tell her about his plans, and now wanted to share more. There was no harm in that, right?

  As she tried to focus on the files, she thought back on what Donnie had mentioned yesterday. There were so many worlds that she wanted to see. What would life be like had 9/11 not happened? What kind of life would she have if her ancestors had never come to America? What if no wars had ever been fought? Those were the things that scared her when she thought about bending time. Sure, it would be nice if wars had never taken so many lives, but that didn’t mean that things would be better. For all she knew, the whole world would be in chaos because of it.

  She spent the first couple of hours filing the papers until the IT guy came to hook her up. As he worked there, she ran a few of the errands that Pam had written down for her. They involved going to the lab and getting Donnie’s papers from the counter. At first, she was a little nervous, but there was already a man and woman in there, so the nerves disappeared. She carefully opened the door and caught their attention.

  “Oh, hi!” the woman waved at her. “You must be Olivia Mendoza. Dr. Vaughn told us about you.”

  “Um, yeah, that’s me.” She nodded, getting a good look at them. They both had dark hair and eyes, but his complexion was darker than hers. “Do you guys work with Donnie?”

  The man looked a little confused until it hit him. “Oh, you mean Dr. Vaughn! Yes, we’re in here to make sure that the stuff in the lab is okay. I’m Vijay, and that’s Leila. Has anyone shown you around this place?”

  “Oh, I already saw everything yesterday,” she said. “I’m just here to get Dr. Vaughn’s papers. They said they would be on the counter.”

  “Right! I put them over here.” Leila handed her a giant book on anthropology. “The papers are inside.”

  “Thanks.” She took them out and looked at the cover of the anthropology book. “Huh, I took an anthropology class a few years ago. It was pretty interesting. I had no idea that anyone here was interested in it, too.”

  “Oh, those are Dr. Vaughn’s books. He’s been into anthropology ever since he decided to make his latest creation,” Vijay explained. “He went and checked out a lot of anthropology books from the library. I guess they still weren’t enough, because he asked us to go to the library and get some more. I asked him why he was so interested in it, and he just said it had to do with his new project. He still hasn’t told us much about it.”

  This was a surprise. “He didn’t tell you?”

  “Well, we know it has something to do with bending time and space,” Leila shrugged. “Dr. Vaughn usually doesn’t spill his secrets until he’s ready to. When I asked him about his interest in anthropology, he said he was very interested in how mankind came to be. Then I asked what he meant, and he said I’d find out in due time.”

  “Weird.” Olivia murmured. “How long have you guys been working here?”

  “It’s about two years for me, and three for V over there.” She nodded towards Vijay, who was bringing over more papers for me. “We don’t really talk to Dr. Vaughn much, but he’s pretty harmless. He tends to keep to himself, but he’s never rude.”

  “Yeah, I just figured he was shy.” Olivia said, taking the papers. “He must be working on something big. I just wish he’d tell someone what it is.”

  “Good luck with that. Dr. Vaughn doesn’t really have any friends that he’d share his secrets with,” Vijay said. “He would rather keep this to himself. I wouldn’t sweat over it. If he wants to talk you, he’ll talk to you.”

  Olivia looked down at the now huge pile of papers. “You don’t happen to have a cart that I put this stuff on, do you?”

  “Right over here.” He pointed to a metal cart in the corner. “Just bring it back here when you’re done. Anyway, we’ve stalled you long enough. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

  “It was nice to meet you both. I’ll see you around.” She dumped all the books and papers into the cart and pushed it over to Donnie’s office. He said it would be unlocked, so she could just leave the items on his desk. All the while, she was thinking about Donnie. It was strange that she was the only one allowed to call him by his nickname. He didn’t seem uptight when they were speaking with each other. After the little incident in the lab, he had opened up to her and told her about his plans. There was a little sparkle in those green eyes, and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Maybe he needed a friend after all. She didn’t want to move too fast, but a social cup of coffee together couldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t be a date; just two coworkers spending some time together outside of work. If it bothered him that much, she could always plan it for during lunch.

  “Yeah, lunch.” She said out loud as she rounded the corner to the office. “I can ask him during lunch today. The worst he can say is no.”

  In her mind, she tried to write out a good note. Far too many of her lines came out flirtatiously, so she scratched those and went with something simple. Scribbling it down, she put the note on top of the first book so he would be sure to see it. This couldn’t hurt either of them. She wanted someone who could be her friend here, and maybe he did, too.

  At the very least, she would find out a little more about him.

  ~ ~ ~

  By the time Donnie arrived at work, Olivia’s computer was up and running. Pam had given her some things to key in, so she was busy with them. She had picked up all of his things from lab for him and left a note on the first book.

  Donnie,

  This is what your assistants gave me. If anything is missing, just let me know and I’ll go get it. I’m in my office if you need me.

  -Olivia

  P.S. I know this may sound forward, but I was wondering if you were free during lunch. Maybe we can grab a cup of coffee or something?

  Donnie frowned at the note. It was a very bold move to ask him out like that. They had only known each other for a day, and she wanted to go on a date with him—her boss. He wanted to crumple up the note, but he couldn’t. It sounded innocent enough. All she had asked was to go out for a cup of coffee. It wasn’t like she was propositioning him to sleep with her or go on a honeymoon. A cup of coffee between coworkers was not something to be scared of. She was trying to be friendly.

  “I guess going out for coffee today won’t hurt.” He decided out loud. He had no idea what he wa
s supposed to feel about this. It was the first time anyone had bothered to ask him out to do anything. He’d had the urge to ask people out before, but was too scared to do it. All the other girls he knew seemed to think he was a nerd or a weirdo. There were a few girls back in college who used to think he had Lyme disease, and that scared them off. That, combined with the fact that he was fourteen at the time, left him no chance at the dating game. As he got older, it got harder to develop any kind of confidence with women. At the end of the day, all he had were his inventions.

  She doesn’t like you like that, Donnie. You’re jumping into a river before you know how deep it is. He scolded himself, sifting through the anthropology books. He had asked Vijay and Leila to get some more for him yesterday, and they did not disappoint. He liked both of his assistants very much, but they always closed up anytime he came around. It was as though they were trying too hard to be professional. He didn’t mind that they smiled and joked around. He had even told them that on numerous occasions. They didn’t need to get serious just because he was walking around. Still, both of them just treated him like a boss and not a friend. It was a little heartbreaking, even though he knew it wasn’t personal. They were just scared of him.