chemical

Julia loved the smell. The moist air entered her nasal cavity and somehow made her forget all about the huge painting project she had looming over her. Five self-portraits due in two days. She absorbed the scent once more. She crushed her rippling reflection, spewing water across her jeans. She wished she could just make it go away, so she wouldn’t have to stare at it for several hours that evening. Her converse were waterlogged now. She didn’t mind. The wind picked up a bit. Nipples poked out defiantly beneath a sky blue hello kitty tee-shirt.

Desiree knocked on the door.

The door opened a crack, enough to show a sliver of the room and one dark green eye that swiveled around, looking up and down the hall.

"Are you alone?" Came the voice from behind the door.

"Yes," unsatisfied by the answer, the eye swiveled back and forth again, "Oh for heavens sake Mandy, you told me to come over, either let me in or let me go home."

"Hello, my name is Jane Hathaway, PhD in biochemistry, and this is an audio log of my current project. Ever since my father was laughed out of the scientific community for his theories on protein bonds, I have dreamed of vindicating his memory. It's taken me years, but finally I've proven his hypothesis correct. But I'm not just going to write a paper that'll be read and forgotten in a few months. No, I have something more impressive in mind. There's a conference next month, and I've been invited to give a presentation.

Location: Hazardine Chemical Warehouse
Time: 10:45 a.m.

For newcomer Jim and his trainer Phil, it is another average workday at the Hazardine Chemical warehouse. Anything that is sent from the main chemical plant is to either be stored in the warehouse or shipped out to its buyers, today the two men have finished their morning shipments much earlier than they have ever done. The next workload won't be in until late afternoon so they head off to a section of the warehouse to play some cards and pass the time.