The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,17
making money, the other wanted to save the world. Even though that generalization wasn’t necessarily true and she was allowing her nerves to take over rational thought, those two groups didn’t necessarily mesh so most corporations kept the two groups separated, sometimes by large distances to avoid arguments. It was also cheaper to house the scientists on less expensive real estate, so why did he have everyone here at his headquarters? What was his plan?
She wouldn’t get any answers by sitting out here in her car, would she? She picked up her purse and her laptop case filled with data and pushed open her car door. There was no time like now to find out what her future might hold.
The lobby was impressive and she walked up to the security guard, explaining her purpose. She was immediately directed to a security office where her picture was taken, a security badge issued to her with instructions that she had to have the badge displayed on her person at all times while in the building. It would give her access to only the laboratory and the executive floor, which was on the twenty-fifth floor.
Elana looked at the badge, irritated that she was given access to the executive floor. Did Gaston really think she would be going up to his floor just to see him? How ridiculous! She couldn’t believe the man’s arrogance. One kiss and he assumed she’d be begging him for more.
Well, time had passed since Friday night. She’d gotten her head on straight and she was going to avoid that man as much as possible. She wouldn’t set foot on the executive floor unless she was going to a meeting to brief the man. If he called her into his office for any reason, she’d bring along a co-worker just for support.
She went down to the basement level, which was where the laboratory facilities were located. As soon as she stepped off of the elevator, she had to admit that she was impressed. The facilities were amazing! Everyone was hurrying about in their pristine lab coats looking serious and brilliant. There were no jeans, no messy tee-shirts although several of the more geeky looking fellows were trying hard to wear a tie and missing the mark completely. One man even had his tie neatly knotted at his throat but the rest of the material was off to the side, as if he’d tossed his tie behind him and forgotten about straightening it after he’d finished whatever he’d been doing.
The laboratory manager greeted her cheerfully, a man in his fifties with stereotypical thick, black glasses that he pushed up higher on his nose as he approached. “I’m Tom,” he said. “I understand that you’ll be working on something separate and need a distinct work space. I received the list of items you need and have them all set up in this corner of the lab.” He led her over to a brightly lit space with state of the art equipment, all much better than what she’d been using for the past few years.
“This is all for me?” she asked in awe, her fingers running gently over the equipment that would help her grow the bacteria faster and more efficiently. “This is wonderful,” she said, her face breaking out in a huge grin. “I can’t believe that this is all for my use. Are you sure I don’t need to share with someone else?”
Tom laughed as he shook his head. “No need. We all have separate areas, but we meet in the mornings and at five o’clock to share what we’ve been working on, what findings we’ve discovered and any problems we’ve encountered. I know you’re working on something separate, but feel free to join us. We might give you some ideas on your work, plus you might hear something that you could help us with.”
She looked back at him, stunned. “You mean, collaborate on work?” she asked, her eyes wide with amazement.
Tom laughed. “You’ve come from a university environment, haven’t you?” At her nod, he grinned. “We’ve all worked in that type of facility as well, but Signor Montebello demands that we put those kinds of work relationships behind us and focus on working together. We’ve had much more success, although there are still a few prima donna holdouts.” He blushed as he said, “Probably all of us are gaming for the next Nobel Prize in science so we aren’t completely altruistic in our efforts.”
Elana laughed, agreeing with him. “This is