Kassangie late night cuddles: my first commission purchase! ❤️
Not a fan of cigarettes but I love them in art for some reason, so I decided I wanted to see how Assangie would look with one. Plus I'm starting to lowkey headcanon that he only craves a puff after having really good 😏. (Stay tuned for that!)
I noticed @imagobin was taking self-ship commissions so I decided to take the plunge and I couldn't be more pleased! Like I knew we would be so cute together, but do you see how cute we are?? 😭
The best things are they are a great artist, very reasonable pricing, highly responsive, frequent updates, truly collaborative experience, plus they are just so sweet and nice! Go commission them now! I most definitely will again. ❤️
Over the next several weeks, Julian and Kat continued to meet at least twice a week to work on their research. Kat would prepare datasets and then Julian would test them through his pipeline programs, tuning parameters often for optimal results. Kat also continued to scour through published literature in case any new variants of interest popped up. Preparing the datasets could be tricky sometimes, and also required some advanced coding skills, for which she required Julian’s expertise and guidance. They often found themselves working late hours in Julian’s office as they simply lost track of time while engrossed in their work. Sometimes they would decide to have dinner delivered to the office or Kat would step out to pick something up for them.
While they both were very professional and focused on the project, they were also spending a lot of time together and getting to know each other rather well. They shared jokes, anecdotes, and funny stories from their pasts. Kat shared stories from her life in the United States, and Julian then would share stories about his childhood in Australia. Australia seemed like a different world to Kat and she could not fathom ever making it there, it seemed like it was on the other side of the moon. However, Julian made it seems less foreign to her, and she told him how she often joked and called Arizona the “Australia” of the United States due to the warm climate and strange, ominous creatures that could be found there. Julian told her a little about his early hacking days in his teens and twenties, but he was careful to not mention his website or citizen journalism activities via “the fifth estate.” He was beginning to grow quite fond of Kat and was pretty sure she was a trustworthy individual, but he still felt the need to be cautious. On the other hand, Kat’s crush-feelings for Julian just continued to grow the more she got to know him. She was fascinated by his mind and how talented he was with computer programming. She could see why he was hired as a VP in bioinformatics. While he was very confident and even arrogant at times, he never made her feel inferior. He seemed to value her contributions to the project and treated her as an equal colleague rather than as if he were her boss or mentor. They both began to truly enjoy each other’s company, and they looked forward to their working meetings together, despite knowing they would often run late into the night.
One day, on a day when Kat and Julian usually met after work, Kat noticed Julian was not in the office. She was a little concerned and a bit disappointed to think that they would not meet that day, since she always looked forward to her time with him. She did notice however, that he was online via the instant messenger intranet program, and she saw some emails from him come through of which her variant scientists group was copied. She figured he was simply working from home that day, and that he probably had his reasons for doing so. She pondered sending him an instant message just to check in and make sure he was alright, that he hadn’t fallen ill or anything, but she did not want to overstep her bounds.
A couple hours later, as the usual time for their regular meeting approached, a strange chat window popped up on Kat’s computer. It was not through the company’s regular intranet instant messaging program. It looked more like a command prompt, with the white letters on a separate window with a black background. It simply read “Kitty-Kat.”
Kat felt a wave of heat flash through her face once this message popped up. It was so strange—if it were Julian, why didn’t he just message through the IM program? Then again, how could it be anyone other than Julian, who was the only one to call her Kitty-Kat. She glanced around her desk, making sure no one else was nearby, then she bit her lip as she started to type a response in the mysterious chat window.
- Julian, is that you?
- I’d still like to meet today, if you are up for meeting offsite.
This has to be Julian, she thought to herself. Who else could it possibly be? Kat was extremely intrigued—Julian continued to keep up the mystique.
- Yes, I can meet offsite.
- Excellent. I will send a driver to pick you up at 4pm. He will be parked in a black car across the street from the back lobby.
This was the same spot where she often saw Julian enter a black car after leaving the office after their late meetings.
- Great, I will be there!
- See you soon.
Then the little black chat window disappeared. Kat felt her heart starting to race in her chest. This was all so strange and mysterious. Why the secret chat window, why was a black car picking her up, and most importantly—where was she going? She had so many questions, and while this was all so baffling and a little nerve-racking, it was also exciting. Julian sure knew how to keep things interesting. She looked at the clock and saw it was 330p, and at that point she didn’t even care if she had emails to answer or other work to tend to—whatever it was it could wait until tomorrow. All she could think about was making it out to that street in time to see where this car was going to take her. She quickly gathered up her things and rushed toward the elevators.
Once she made it to the lobby, she continued to scurry across the floor and caught Astrid’s attention at the front desk as she breezed right by her without a greeting.
“Hé! Kat! Hello to you, too!” she quipped after her.
Kat stopped in her tracks and retreated back toward the receptionist.
“Oh goodness, I am so sorry, Astrid!” she gasped, catching her breath. “I am in a bit of a hurry…”
“Clearly! Who’s on fire?”
“Well…Mr. VP is not here today, but I got a strange message from him and he is having a car pick me up at 4:00!”
“Pick you up? And where is it going, this car?” Astrid inquired with a raised eyebrow.
Kat placed both of her hands on the large marble desk and leaned in dramatically.
“I have NO IDEA!” she gasped with a mixture of fluster and excitement.
“Oooooh, quel mystère!” Astrid bubbled with curiosity and enthusiasm for her friend. “Well would you like a little snack for the road? I’ve got some of those little cakes you like…or perhaps some crisps?”
Kat laughed, she loved how generous Astrid was with her snacks. It was sweet how she wanted to take care of everyone, especially her good friends.
“Not right now, my stomach is kind of in knots, but thank you!” Kat then looked up at the clock, then back at Astrid. “Oh, I just realized I am supposed to meet the car outside the back lobby— outside the restricted elevator! But how are you doing?”
“Agh, I’m fucking tired, you know it! Now vas-y, vas-y or you will be late! But we all will want details later, you know. Now go!” Astrid exclaimed as she shooed Kat off toward the back lobby.
Kat chuckled breathlessly as she waved to her friend and ran toward the back lobby. Just as she made it outside, she saw the black car pull up across the street. She felt her stomach drop once she saw the car and trotted over to it, trying to look a little more graceful even though she could not see the driver inside. His side of the car was facing the other side of the street. After she approached the back door on the passenger side, she opened it and peered inside inquisitively.
“Hello, um—were you sent by—”
The driver rolled down the divider between the front and back seats and looked at her with dark eyes that matched his dark, short hair.
“Dr. Assange—yes. Are you…” the man hesitated for a second, as if what he was about to say next was a bit absurd. “Kitty-Kat?”
Kat let out a breath and blushed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed herself. “Yes…Kat,” she started to clarify, but then rambled nervously as she climbed into the car. “…Kitty…Kitty-Kat….yes…” She shut the door and once she got settled she looked in his direction again, her head titled inquisitively.
“Can you tell me where we are going?”
“You will see soon enough. Once you get there, you will walk through the lobby to the elevators, and take it up to P4.”
Kat nodded, still so baffled by this mystery. “P4…” she repeated.
“Enjoy the ride, Miss…” And with that, the driver engaged the divider and began to drive away from the biotech building.
Kat took a moment to catch her breath and look out the window, as if looking at the passing scenery would give her clues on where she was headed. She then took a few minutes to make sure her hair was set right and refresh her light red lipstick. Then she took out her phone and began to text her friends in the group chat.
Kat: You guys, I am in this car that Mr. VP sent for me and I have NO IDEA where it’s going!
Aside from Astrid, the others were astounded by this curious scenario.
Jun: He wasn’t onsite today…
Bethany: Ooooh how exciting!
Astrid: You must tell us EVERYTHING!
Marilu: Maybe you’re going to his residence?
Quite honestly, going to where Julian lived would have been the most logical, educated guess. However, Kat did not want to assume, or presume, anything. Even if it were his home, she still had no idea where that was. It could be an hour away for all she knew.
Kat: The driver did tell me once I get there, to take the elevator up to P4.
Astrid: P4???
Marilu: P may stand for penthouse…
Bethany: Ohhh penthouse, of course! Mr. VP would be in a penthouse!
Jun: What a fun adventure!
The friends continued to text for a while until the car finally stopped and the driver rolled down the divider again.
“Have a good day, Miss…Remember, P4.”
“Oh! Okay—P4…” she repeated under her breath, then she looked at the driver as she opened the door. “Thank you very much, this is a lovely car.”
The driver smiled lightly. “Thank you.” He rolled up the divider again and Kat shut the door. As the car drove off, she turned around and faced the rather tall building in front of her. It wasn’t as tall as Santé Genomics, but it looked to have about 16 floors or so. She walked up a modest staircase to the front double doors and walked inside. It was an older building but it looked to have been remodeled. The wooden floor was polished and shiny, and had ornate, multicolored area rugs decorating the main walkways. To her left, there was a front desk, and as she continued to step forward past the desk she finally saw the brassy, reflective elevators. She pushed the “up” button and once inside the elevator, she saw the button for P4. It seemed Marilu was correct in guessing the P stood for penthouse. She tried to calm her nerves as she rode the elevator up to P4, and she was relieved to not have anyone else stepping on and off—she must have caught it at a perfect time.
The elevator finally made it to P4 and once the door opened, Kat walked out into a very quiet hallway. The hallway also had a wooden floor with a long runner that was decorated similarly to the one in the lobby. The walls were painted a very neutral grey color. She finally reached a door at the end of the hallway that had a P4 on it. Kat took a few breaths and took a moment to dry her sweaty palms on the sides of her slacks before she finally went to knock on the door.
However, before her hand could hit the door, it opened suddenly and quickly revealed Julian standing on the other side of it. He looked to inhale for a second, with his mouth slightly opened and his eyebrows raised, but then he quickly relaxed and smiled in a way that was both playful and seductive. His platinum blonde mane was a bit tousled, with rebel strands hanging near his right eye as usual while most of them on his left side were tucked behind his ear aside from a few light ones that seemed to escape and do their own thing. He was wearing a white collared shirt with a couple of the top buttons undone in a relaxed look and the shirt was loosely tucked into dark green-to-grey slacks made of a soft, comfortable fabric. He looked quite casual and comfortable indeed, but still breathtakingly handsome. In fact, Kat worried that he heard a squeak escape her mouth as she lightly gasped at his sight.
“Kitty-Kat— hello! I’m glad you could make it,” he smiled genuinely.
“Hi, Julian…!” Kat returned, still in a bit of a daze.
“Please, come in…!” Julian motioned a bit awkwardly with his arms. Sometimes the way he moved them made them look like they were asleep. He then shut the door once Kat stepped inside.
Kat continued through the entryway and walked toward the large living area, which was backdropped with large windows from floor to ceiling and no curtains. Due to the time of day, the sun was starting to set but plenty of light still filled the room. She noticed that despite the large dining table a few feet away, Julian seemed to be set up working at his couch and coffee table. He had a couple of laptops open on the table and various papers strewn about the table and floor nearby.
“Would you like anything to drink?” He called from the kitchen area, that was somewhat blocked off from the right side of the living area.
“Oh um sure…I’ll just take some water, thanks!” she called to him.
Julian returned with a bottle of water for Kat and he was holding a brown bottle of some other beverage in his other hand. Kat sat down on the far end of the couch, closer to the kitchen and windows. As she opened her bottle of water and took a drink, she watched Julian start to head back to his side of the couch. He brought the brown bottle to his mouth and quickly popped the cap off with his teeth before sitting down and releasing the bottle cap into his hand, which he then tossed onto the coffee table. He took a swig from the bottle then set it down on the table. Kat watched in awe, unaware she was actually gawking a little bit. He was so peculiar sometimes, but it just added to his mystique. He was never short on presenting these unique quirks at random, and for Kat, it just made him that much more appealing. He wasn’t just any ordinary man, and Kat loved that about him.
Julian glanced to his left, his eyes peering out at Kat from behind his white-blonde strands while he was hunched forward toward his laptop on the coffee table.
“What?” he seemed to take note of her frozen state.
Kat didn’t even realize she was staring until he called her on it. She lightly shook her head and managed to say something credible.
“What is that?” She motioned toward his drink on the table.
Julian looked back at the bottle and picked it up. He took another drink and licked his lips before looking back at Kat.
“This is Club-Mate—it’s a low-sugar energy drink. Would you like to try it?” He leaned toward her, extending his arm to offer her the bottle.
“Ohhh!” She smiled. “Okay sure!” She reached for the bottle. “Energy drinks though, usually not good for my nerves…” She then took a sip.
Julian nodded with a grin. “Ah right, the anxiety and decaf…” he remembered. His grin grew, amused at Kat’s adverse reaction to the Club-Mate.
“Yeah…it takes a little getting used to…an acquired taste…” he chuckled softly as Kat offered him the bottle back while squinting her eyes a bit.
She giggled. “I suppose so…”
Julian looked toward the bottle as he held it in front of himself. “Yeah, this helped keep me awake and focused for hours as I worked on various projects…”
“Like during your PhD studies…?”
He smiled softly then looked in her direction again, his zircon eyes tender and almost shy.
“Something like that…”
Their eyes locked for a brief moment before Julian finally looked back toward his laptop. “Alright, so—where are we at today?”
“Well, I was having some trouble tweaking the datasets to include some other biomarkers such as FGFR3 and NECTIN-4… and I think we also were still working on fine tuning the parameters for optimal accuracy and precision for the pipeline…” Kat recounted while she worked to unpack her laptop and set it up on the table next to Julian.
“Yes…it’s proving to be quite the challenge. Fortunately, I have plenty of stamina for such an endeavor,” he flashed a smug smirk as he looked at her again.
Kat did everything in her power to hold back her blushing. Was he purposely being flirtatious there? The answer was yes, yes he was. She took another drink from her water bottle, relieved that the cool temperature helped to dampen her lustful feelings for the moment.
“One thing about programming, is search engines are paramount. All programmers search for code. Sometimes that is a good 80% of the work—and it can often be time consuming—hence the need for things like this—” Julian lifted his bottle of Club-Mate.
Kat smiled and nodded. She and Julian then proceeded to work on optimizing the datasets and finding the best code to help them tweak their pipeline program. Time quickly flew by, as it tends to do when working on coding and programming puzzles. It can seem like the work just started, but hours pass by like minutes in a flash and this evening was no different for Kat and Julian. It soon got darker in the penthouse flat as the sun had set long ago, but neither of them seemed to notice as they had ample light beaming from the laptops in front of them. Julian, who was extremely focused and determined, spent most of the time in the same hunched over position as he searched and typed away on his laptops. He was definitely in the zone and hadn’t even gotten up to retrieve more Club-Mate servings.
As the hours continued to pass, Kat started to grow sleepy but she didn’t want to disappoint Julian, especially since he was working so hard. She didn’t want him to think she was not dedicated to the project. So she thought she could just silently sneak in a quick rest of the eyes for a few minutes and Julian wouldn’t even notice. She leaned the back of her head against the couch and closed her eyes. She felt quite comfortable and the room was dark and quiet, aside from the light tapping from Julian’s keyboard which was a relaxing sound like rain drops on a rooftop. Just another minute or two, she kept thinking to herself before her body finally succumbed to the relaxation and drifted off into a deep slumber. Her body remained upright for a good half hour or so, and Julian was so engaged in his work he did not even notice at all until her body started to shift. She slowly collapsed toward Julian, the side of her head grazing his shoulder. Once he felt the contact he looked toward her, a bit startled. He quickly leaned back into the couch and once he did, her head fell straight into his lap. Kat then let out a sleepy sigh and her hand rested on Julian’s knee, her body feeling quite content and comfortable, indeed, but still completely asleep.
Julian blushed once her head landed in his lap, near such an intimate area. He bit his lip and froze for a moment, unsure how he should proceed. Should he wake her up, or let her rest? He then smiled softly to himself as he looked down at her. He found this display of vulnerability on her part to be rather endearing, and the gentleman in him did not want to disturb her little nap. Plus, a part of him was curious to see how she would react once she woke up. The thought made his tender smile turn into a bigger amused one for a small moment, then it slowly faded as he blinked softly. He pursed his lips and looked to his left, reaching for a blanket that was draped over the back of the couch. He gently placed it over her body as it was cradled next to him, then slowly returned to his hunched over position at the laptop, continuing his work.
A couple more hours passed by, and Julian became so focused on his work he almost forgot Kat was still sleeping in his lap, until she finally began to stir. She took in a deep breath and sighed, grasping onto his knee as she returned to consciousness. Once she opened her eyes and saw a rather unfamiliar setting—the large windows staring back at her and the fabric of a rather unfamiliar couch. As she continued to wake up and realize where she was, and that her head was not resting on a pillow but Julian’s left thigh, her eyes widened and she quickly shot upright, pausing before turning to face Julian. Part of her was hoping he wasn’t there, or that this was a dream and she did not just embarrass herself in front of the VP of Therapeutic Bioinformatics.
“Welcome back, sleepyhead. Did you have a nice Kat-nap?” Julian quipped in a low, velvety purr that probably would have made Kat melt into a puddle of goo if she weren’t so mortified at the moment. She slowly turned toward him, still a bit hazy but enough to notice the sweet, amused smile on his face and blue zircon eyes shining in the monitor lighting.
“Oh my gosh…did I fall asleep? What time is it?” She asked, touching her forehead for a second. The blanket fell off of her arms and rested around her lap.
Julian looked at the clock on his laptop. “It is a quarter to 1…I suppose probably a good time to stop for the night.” He then looked back toward her.
Kat, a mixture between flustered and hazy, lightly shook her head. “Goodness, Julian, I can’t believe I just conked out like that…I am so embarrassed. I apologize for being so unprofessional, it won’t happen again.”
Julian blinked softly at her while his mouth fashioned a slightly crooked grin. “It’s okay, no need to apologize…we did work pretty late…”
“I suppose I should get going, huh? Let you get some sleep…”
“Hmm…” he murmured softly, as he reached for the blanket and gently pulled it up around her shoulders. “I dunno, it’s quite late actually…” His hand naturally dropped from her shoulder to the couch, right next to her lap with the back of his hand barely grazing the side of her thigh.
Their eyes met once again and Kat’s heart began to pound in her chest. This was probably the closest she had been to him. His lips were mere inches from hers, and they looked so soft and kissable.
“I think it might be safer if you stay here for the night. I have an extra room you can use…”
Kat felt a little silly, initially thinking that maybe he was inviting her to stay with him for the night, on a romantic level. Which if he did, of course she would have accepted—and if Julian were certain of this, he would have proposed it. While they both felt the chemistry, neither was sure how much of it was one-sided or mutual. They both also sensed each other’s hesitation which resulted in an atmosphere of sexual tension for the both of them.
“Thank you, Julian…that is so generous of you…but I don’t want to impose…”
Julian shook his head with a smile. “No, no…don’t be silly. It’s late, the trams aren’t running any more and my driver is in for the night. Plus look at all this space…” he gestured around his flat. “I have the room to spare.”
He then stood up from the couch and Kat looked up at him once he extended his hands out to her, offering to help her off the couch. She lightly placed her hands in his and instantly felt a small spark from the contact. Julian actually had beautiful hands—they were strong, yet soft and well-manicured. Once she stood up to meet him, her eyes found themselves in direct line with his exposed neck which teased her desires and looked particularly lovely in the moonlight of the living room.
“C’mon…let’s get you settled,” Julian said softly.
Kat fought another blush as her eyes met his once again. Her eyelashes fluttered as she smiled shyly. “Okay…thank you…”
Julian grinned lightly and they both paused, letting their eyes lock for a moment before Julian finally turned away and let go of one of her hands.
“This way, follow me…” he whispered, leading her down the hallway toward the spare rooms.
Kat bit her lip as she continued to hold onto his hand lightly while she trailed behind him. She blushed when they passed the door to his bedroom, pondering what a night with him in there would be like. Surely it would be nothing short of sinful and heavenly.
“Will this be okay for you?” he asked, stopping at a fully furnished and decorated room, complete with a double bed that had plenty of blankets and pillows to spare.
“Oh, this is lovely—better than my flat,” Kat giggled. “I might get spoiled and then you won’t be able to get rid of me!”
Julian breathed out a laugh then looked at her with bashful yet flirtatious eyes that were somewhat guarded by loose strands of his hair on both sides of his face.
“That might not be so bad…”
Kat’s heart seemed to stop and take a dip into her stomach as she looked back up at him.
Kiss me, you gorgeous, brilliant fool! You know I want you to…
Sometimes Kat wished she were more bold in these situations, maybe more brave and confident like Astrid… but she also wanted to be chased and feel desired. After a few moments of awkward silence, she finally spoke again.
“This is a lot of rooms for just one person, you really live here all by yourself?”
Julian’s air changed a bit, and he suddenly seemed more guarded. He had let go of her hand and shifted his weight a little. He took in a deep breath and nodded.
“Uhh yeah…this place actually belongs to an old friend of mine who wanted me to watch it over for him…”
The “friend” was actually a fairly wealthy donor to his journalism vision and website.
“Oh I see,” Kat nodded, actually finding comfort in that explanation. It made Julian seem more real, that he didn’t own this extravagant penthouse on his own.
“Oh, I almost forgot…hold on…” Julian then quickly whisked away to his room for a moment, then shortly returned with a t-shirt and some flannel pajama pants.
“Here… in case you want something a little more comfortable to sleep in for the night.”
Kat smiled as her body flushed with warmth. This was a really sweet gesture on his part, and somewhat intimate as he was letting her wear some of his clothes.
“That’s so thoughtful…thank you,” she returned humbly. “You’re a gracious host.”
Julian nodded with a little smile.
“Okay, I’ll let you get settled…”
“Okay…”
After Julian left the doorway, Kat unfolded the black t-shirt and on the front of it was a white decal of a large ship with several sails, and the words “The Pirate Bay” written under it in a sort of “Old English” font. Kat was intrigued and wondered what The Pirate Bay was. She made a note to look it up the next day, but for now she really needed to get some sleep. She went ahead and changed into the t-shirt but had not donned the soft pajama pants yet. She then found an outlet to plug her phone charger into, and she stood by the bed checking her phone for messages and setting her alarm. A few minutes later, Julian stopped back to ensure she was able to settle in. He stood outside the doorway and let his eyes survey her from head to toe. Her back was toward him, wearing only the t-shirt that cut off just below her bottom. He licked his lips briefly before biting his bottom lip while he took some time to admire her bare, slender legs. He finally let out a little cough to let her know he was standing behind her. She whipped her head around to face him, a little startled at first. She thought he had turned in for the evening.
“Just thought I’d check to make sure you didn’t need anything else…”
Kat smiled. “Oh thank you—I think I am okay. I am just trying to find where the switch is for this lamp…”
Julian smiled as he walked over to her.
“It is a tricky lamp…it’s up here…”
The lamp was one that was mounted to the wall, and had a switch somewhat hidden on the top ledge. It was a peculiar place for a switch rather than on the brassy mount itself or somewhere closer to the bulb.
After Julian stepped in to turn off the switch, it left him standing inches in front of Kat once again in the darkened room with only subtle moonlight peering in through the nearby window. He smiled to himself as he looked down at her, noticing that his Pirate Bay shirt served her quite well.
Kat felt her molecules buzzing inside of her again with him standing so close, also while she was only partially dressed.
“Thank you…”she finally managed to squeak out as their eyes seemed to lock almost intensely.
Julian lowered his head, and also seemed to lean in a little closer. His hand was still on the wall after turning off the switch. Kat took in a small breath and her heart began to pound faster in her chest once he looked into her eyes again.
“Goodnight…Kitty-Kat,” he murmured softly as he reached out to touch her shoulder and flash one final grin before backing away.
“Goodnight…Julian…” she whispered with glossy eyes. She then watched him as he walked out of the room.
Neither one of them slept well that night, each in their separate beds while their hearts secretly longed to be with the other.
Mendax Undercover - Chapter 4: Let Your Ego Flowcell
Kat yawned as she wandered over to the coffee and water station. Her new friends she met at the gala a couple weeks ago joined her and Juniper for karaoke the night before and ended up having so much fun that they stayed out later than originally planned. As she yawned again and breathed in the scent of freshly brewed coffee, she began to wonder if she could handle the caffeine just this once. The individual servings of decaf just would not get it done for her this time, and the aroma of the higher quality crystals drew her in more so than usual. Maybe she could use the extra boost to get her through the day. She turned around and began to pull a cup out of the stack, when—
“Good morning, Kitty-Kat—we meet again…” she heard a familiar smooth Australian voice purr.
“Oh, hi Julian…!” she returned, taken by surprise and in effect, the cup she pulled from the stack flipped right out of her hands. She tried to catch it with the other hand but it stubbornly bounced a couple times off of her palm like some sort of hot potato. After several failed attempts to regain her poise and control of this cup, it finally made its way into Julian’s airspace. He reached out and caught it easily, rim facing up. He peeked out from behind it with a wide, charmed grin on his face and zircon eyes shining brightly.
“Looking for this…?” he quipped, trying his best to restrain his amusement.
Kat blushed considerably and tried to laugh it off. “Aha, yes…thank you…” She retrieved the cup from his hand and turned back toward the counter. “The universe never fails to miss an opportunity to embarrass me…”
Julian took a few steps further into the alcove and stood behind Kat’s shoulder. He shrugged as he twisted his mouth a bit and tucked his errant strands behind his right ear.
“Embarrass, hm..?” He then watched as she reached for the carafe of fresh brew. He bit his lip for a second and raised his eyebrows before continuing. “No decaf today?”
Kat breathed out a slight laugh, still turned away from him as she poured her coffee and then reached for the cream and sugar. She took this time to try and flush out her blushing.
“Ah, yeah well…it just smelled so damn good I couldn’t resist it today. I’m sure I’ll pay for it later…”
“Oh?” Julian was intrigued.
“Yeah, the anxiety likes to hit me later in the evening… for some reason…” she continued, but then trailed off a bit once she turned around and met his gaze again. Her body was buzzing and her heart was racing without even ingesting a taste of the coffee yet. Julian blinked rapidly a few times as she looked up at him. She was about to take a sip from her cup when she suddenly stopped herself.
“Oh! I’m sorry…” she started. “Would you like a cup? I can pour it for you…?”
“Uhh… yeah, sure— thanks.”
Kat turned back around, again trying to calm her blushing. She set her coffee down, then reached for another cup and pumped from the carafe.
Julian took a few steps backwards and leaned against the counter. He crossed his arms as he stood somewhat at an angle.
“Hey, nice contamination catch on that flowcell yesterday…I saw they had to re-extract…”
Kat’s heart fell into her stomach. He saw that? Of course he did…he’s on all the emails…but he knew it was me? Now she was blushing but with gratitude rather than nervousness.
“Oh…yeah, thank you…!” She turned around to face him and was about to ask him if he wanted any cream or sugar in his coffee, when she saw his stance tense up a bit as he looked at his watch.
“Oh shit, what time is it…?”
“Oh, almost 10--?”
“Shit, I gotta run to a meeting—can you drop some cream and sugar in there and bring it to my office, please?”
“O-okay… sure…?” Kat stammered as Julian quickly darted away.
She just guessed how much cream and sugar to put in his coffee. She basically dressed it like she did her own. She quite liked both in her coffee at times, but not enough to overpower the coffee taste. It had to be a good blend.
Kat paused after she stirred Julian’s cup and then she looked at her own, realizing she hadn’t had a sip yet. It had time to cool off, so she was able to take a couple large swigs off of it. She really did enjoy coffee and would chug it in seconds if it weren’t for the heat. She then grabbed the full cup she made up for Julian and headed toward his office.
For a moment, Juniper had looked up from their computer screen and saw their good friend headed toward the VP’s office with two cups of coffee in her hands. They raised an eyebrow and cracked a small smile before focusing back on their work.
Kat lightly knocked on Julian’s door and as he was seated at his desk, he motioned for her to enter from behind his computer monitors. She quietly walked in, letting the door close behind her before approaching his desk and softly setting the coffee down. She shyly looked away and started to make her way back toward the door, careful to not disturb Julian in his meeting.
“Thank you, Kitty…” he said softly, then peered out from behind one of the computer monitors as she started to walk away.
“Hey, wait—” he called lightly.
Kat stopped and turned back toward him.
“Turns out my meeting was cancelled at the last minute…”
Kat smiled. “Ohhh, gotta love it when that happens!”
Julian smirked and nodded his head up and down. He then stood up and walked to the front of his desk and leaned against one corner in a half sitting- half standing position.
“H-how is your coffee…?” Kat asked. She knew he hadn’t had a chance to sip it yet, but she was trying to break the awkward silence.
He exhaled for a moment as his lips fashioned an inquisitive pout and he looked toward his cup. He stuck his fingertip in it and twirled it around a bit as if it were a swizzle stick. Then he quickly licked the warm liquid off of his fingertip.
“Mm!” he hummed sharply, then reached for the cup.
Kat tilted her head in wonderment for a second. So strange…and yet at the same time, still so fucking magnetic…
“It’s good… perfect actually…you have good taste, Kitty-Kat.”
Kat’s eyes fluttered as she was on the other side of yet another one of his wide, enigmatic grins. Julian swooped his hair behind his ear again and readjusted his stance to face toward her. He then motioned toward a chair in front of his desk. “Please…would you like to sit?”
Kat blinked a few times, a bit surprised. “Oh! Okay, sure…” She then walked toward the chair and sat down in front of him. She still felt nervous, anxious, and her heart was still pounding in her chest, but for the first time in his presence she began to feel something else—a slight calmness.
“Tell me about yourself-- How long have you been here at Santé? What made you leave the United States for Switzerland…?”
Kat blushed lightly—Julian was taking an interest in her, but she had no idea why. Honestly, neither did he—but he was interested. No, she was not elusive and mysterious like he was, far from it—but what drew him into her was her transparency. He was not used to encountering other people who were so honest that they couldn’t lie to save their life no matter how hard they tried. This was like a breath of fresh air for him.
Kat answered his questions, gave him a brief summary of her career trajectory, her studies, and how she ended up in Basel. She told him how she studied languages such as French and Russian before she finally settled in pathology and precision medicine. She then began to tell him about the research she began in her graduate studies, and how she would like to continue it somehow.
“Did you not want to pursue a PhD?” Julian asked, sipping his coffee.
“I haven’t exactly ruled it out…but after I finished my master’s I ended up getting this job and moving here, and I dunno I’ve just been enjoying it. I feel pretty content, like I’m where I should be…”
“What do you like about living here in Basel?”
Kat shrugged a little. “Oh, so many things. I don’t even mind the winter as much here as I did over there…maybe because I don’t have to drive in it. I love that you can be in a different country in a matter of minutes…plus Paris is only a three hour train ride away…”
“Ah yes, Paris…of course,” Julian smiled.
“Oh—and I don’t know if you’re into this sort of thing—but there is this cool pub just a couple blocks from here that plays a lot of great music from the 80s and 90s…”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! Do you like to dance or anything like that?” Kat could feel herself blushing a little bit but she was enjoying the conversation. She felt oddly comfortable with him. She wasn’t sure why he was engaging in this conversation with her though. Perhaps he was just looking to take a break and chat with someone. He was new in town, after all.
Julian smiled and nodded for a moment, then his mischievous zircon eyes peered out from his errant strands that always found their way back in front of his face no matter how often he swiped them back.
“I’ve found my way onto a dance floor or two before….usually after a number of, um, strong beverages…” Julian chuckled.
Kat giggled. “Ohhh! Yeah, the drinks at this place are good too. There are a lot of great places around here for that.”
They both laughed playfully, then Julian said softly, “Maybe you can show me sometime…”
Kat’s heart almost stopped right in her chest. Was he asking her out? It seemed he was leaving the door open to go in that direction at least. She batted her eyelashes shyly, trying to hide yet another blush event. “Yeah, sure! Anytime…I know it can be a little strange and lonely moving to a new country at first… I mean, you came here from Australia, right..?”
Julian shifted his weight as he continued to lean against his desk. “Yes, I grew up in Australia, but my work has taken me all over for several years now…”
“Oh, of course…” Kat figured he meant his work as a scientist, which was only half of the story. Julian was careful with his words—he didn’t want to reveal too much of his past but he also did not want to lie to her.
“What do you think of Basel so far?”
Julian shrugged. “Yeah, it’s nice…quiet. Keeps me out of trouble…” He flashed another charming grin. “But back to your research…how would you like to continue it?”
“Well, I felt like I was maybe onto developing a predictive gene signature for urothelial carcinoma patients and immune checkpoint inhibition therapy. Maybe something similar like what is out there for CRC patients and FOLFOX/FOLFIRI regimens…”
“Mm-hmm…so you’d like to create an algorithm to predict survival benefit…and test it against large datasets, I imagine?”
“Yes, exactly! But I will be honest with you—my graduate studies only touched very briefly on data science, and it was a difficult class for me. I don’t really understand how to tweak the parameters to improve accuracy and precision of the pipeline programs and things like that…”
“What programming language did you use in your studies?”
“Python.”
Julian nodded. “That’s pretty common now, and one of the easier ones to use. Lucky for you, I know it well.” He flashed another grin that was mixed both with charm and arrogance. He never missed an opportunity to gloat about his intellect and talent.
Kat smiled back lightly, still in awe that any of this conversation was happening. Then it got even better.
“Look, they are bugging me to work on some research. This sounds intriguing. How would you like to work on this with me?”
Kat went completely numb. She wondered if she just hallucinated. Did Julian just ask her to work on a project with him?! Was she dreaming? Then she remembered to breathe before she passed out.
“Oh—really? I mean—yes! Yes, of course, absolutely!” she finally responded enthusiastically, internally kicking herself for sounding so desperate. This was exciting for her though—not only was she able to continue her research, but she was going to do it alongside this platinum fox of a man who rearranged the structure of her molecules any time she was near him.
Julian grinned widely and nodded. “Excellent. Set up a meeting sometime next week and we’ll get started. My calendar is updated.” He then pushed off of the desk to stand upright, and then he finished the last sips of his coffee. Following his cue, Kat stood up as well.
“Okay, will do. Thank you so much, Julian…I just—I really appreciate this.”
“Well, we can help each other out…” he walked back toward the chair at his desk and sat down. “But for now I’ll let you get back to work.”
Kat bowed her head. “Yes, of course…okay, thanks!” She turned around and headed toward his office door, but stopped when Julian called to her one last time.
“Oh and Kitty-Kat..?”
She blushed any time he called her that. “Yes?”
“Thanks for the coffee,” he said, then followed it up with a sort of “chef’s kiss” gesture and a playful yet magnetic grin.
Kat giggled a bit before returning, “You’re welcome, anytime…” She then turned back around and made her way out of his office door.
Julian watched her from behind his monitors as she exited the office. He touched his fingertips to his mouth for a moment as he continued to gaze in that direction, even after she was gone. He was inexplicably drawn to her, but he had to be careful. He couldn’t risk blowing his cover. He couldn’t afford to get too close to anyone—the cost was too high if it didn’t work out. He could lose everything and be put back in the line of danger again. The last time he fully trusted someone and partnered with them to manage his high profile website, that person ended up betraying him by sabotaging the website which rendered it useless until Julian could rebuild it again. For Julian this was the ultimate betrayal, and a mistake he swore to never make again.
Kat’s knees almost buckled under her after she left Julian’s office—but once she regained her composure she scurried back to her desk and had to tell Juniper immediately. Juniper then accessed the inter-office messenger program, where the 5 friends had a private chat set up.
“Hey everyone—ready for lunch soon? Let’s meet at Astrid’s desk and figure out where to go from there—Kat has a story for us!” Juniper typed.
The three ladies responded immediately, excited to hear the tale to come.
^^ Kat talking about her interaction with Julian. ❤️🔥
I wrote another chapter! The next one is gonna be more difficult but it should also have some good stuff in it.
After the five friends met at Astrid’s desk on the 1st floor, they decided on a place to have lunch. There was a quaint Indian food restaurant called Tandoori Palace Gate that was near Santé Genomics. It had great food, a lunch buffet, was decently priced, and offered a calm, relaxing atmosphere. This was a typical go- to for many people in the biotech sector, and these friends quickly made it a favorite mid-day hangout where they could socialize and catch up. Once they were seated and settled, they soon ordered and then began their chat session. The topic of the hour was Kat’s new story regarding the latest interaction with the otherwise elusive bioinformatics VP.
“Okay so what is this story, what happened?” Bethany inquired with playful excitement.
The other three focused on Kat with a curious air.
“Oui, tell us!” Astrid echoed.
Kat fanned herself a little bit as she exhaled, trying not to blush too much like a giddy schoolgirl. However, it may have been a bit too late for that.
“Okay well—we ran into each other at the coffee station again…” Kat began.
“Ahhh coffee…” Marilu mused. “I bet you needed some after last night—I know I sure did!” The others laughed in agreement.
“Yes, that was fun, but we can’t make a habit of staying out that damn late—not unless we all call off the next day or use PTO or something…” Juniper added, rubbing their tired eyes. “Oh but you were saying, Kat…?”
“Ah yes, so the coffee station. Well, he has this habit of sneaking up on me and taking me by surprise…he’s like some sort of sneaky ninja…”
“Or sexy ninja…” Astrid added with a smirk.
The others groaned and nodded in agreement. Even though Marilu and Juniper were asexual and aromantic, they could still appreciate the allure of a handsome man. Plus by now, all of the friends were emotionally invested in Kat’s new crush.
“Anyway—so he startles me again and I of course fumble my coffee cup, thank goodness it wasn’t full. It just kept bouncing off my hand until it flung towards him and he caught it!”
The friends giggled.
“Right, so then we just started chatting a bit—he made a crack about me going for the caffeinated stuff…oh! Then I offered to pour him a cup and then he had to run off to a meeting, and asked me to bring it to his office…”
The friends leaned in, interested to hear what came next.
“Have you ever been to his office before?” Marilu asked.
“I hadn’t!”
“What’s it like?” Juniper asked.
“Oh…I dunno…it’s nice. It’s big. Large windows on the far wall, and a conference table in front of those. Then bookshelves and cabinets behind his desk…I dunno, looks like a typical executive’s office...”
“Nothing personal in there? Décor?” Astrid asked.
Kat tilted her head for a moment. “You know, no—I didn’t really notice anything… I think he had a small fridge in there, maybe? Behind his desk…but that’s it…”
“Not surprising…” Juniper began. “I was talking with Otto in bioinformatics and he said Julian hardly talks to anyone…you have probably talked with him more than anyone on his own team has!”
Kat shook her head. “No way, that can’t be right…”
“He seems like the type to keep to himself,” Marilu noted with a slight nod.
“Takes one to know one!” Bethany teased.
Marilu shrugged. “Yeah, fair…” They were being amusing in their own way.
“Ooooh, but I haven’t gotten to the good part yet!” Kat exclaimed, getting a bit giddy. “Okay so… I go into his office thinking I’m just going to drop his coffee off and leave—but then he’s like, ‘hey my meeting was canceled,’ and I was like, ‘oh that’s cool,’ and then he was all, ‘why don’t you stay and chat a bit,’ and I was all, ‘bpbpbpbpbokay!’”
Laughter filled the table. As Kat continued, her speech and hand gestures were becoming more dynamic as her cheeks flushed slightly. She was beaming.
“Anyway, so yeah, we just chatted a bit about how we ended up at Santé, and I told him about a couple of fun pubs around for dancing and stuff and then he was all, ‘maybe you can show me sometime…!’” Kat started to fan herself again.
The others expressed surprise with dropped chins and more leaned in gestures. “Whaaaaat…” they sang in unison almost.
“He is so into you—he has to be!” Bethany exclaimed, then taking a sip of her Lassi.
“But you guys, it gets even better… After that, he asked about my graduate research, and then, well, long story short—he said that the company is on him to do some research so he asked if I would like to work on my research with him!”
“Woooooah!” the friends chimed.
“I know!” Kat brought her cold glass of water to her cheeks and forehead for a moment, trying to calm her excitement.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little jealous,” Juniper responded. “I wouldn’t mind some hot VP wanting to help me further my graduate research…”
“You could end up publishing a manuscript with him!” Bethany exclaimed.
“And presenting together at ASCO… Oooh overseas trips together…?” Marilu mused.
“This could also mean lots of late nights together, eh?” Astrid inquired with a raised eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you have to do research after the normal workday?”
“Ooooh…” the others chimed in unison, agreeing with Astrid’s thought.
“Yeah…maybe…I guess we’ll see! But yeah, I am pretty elated about this, you guys… I really don’t know why or how this is happening, but I guess I’ll try to enjoy it and not screw it up by doing something stupid!” Kat scoffed at herself. “Hopefully I can control the clumsiness around him if I have to see him more…”
“Awe Kat, you’re so hard on yourself,” Juniper said, being a supportive friend as they often were. “You are so passionate about precision medicine and what we do, and I bet he sees that in you and knows you will take it seriously.”
“Thanks, my friend,” Kat nodded to Juniper. “So yeah, that’s my big news for the day…how is everyone else doing?”
“I’m so fucking tired…!” Astrid growled.
“Didn’t you leave with that businessman last night?” Bethany asked.
Astrid chucked. “Ah yes, I did…upper-class connard,” she added with disdain.
“But he was handsome—was he not very nice?”
“Bof… he was fun for a night—to dominate, you know…but they are all the same. Thinking the pretty French girl is so exotique…it’s so…ennuyeux, non?” Astrid rolled her eyes. “But I give them what they want, a show, eh! It’s fun for a night.”
Bethany grimaced. “But what about finding a real nice man and falling in love?”
“Pfft—l’amour, c’est la guerre,” Astrid quipped.
Bethany looked at Marilu and Juniper.
“Don’t look at us, we’re ace…” Marilu noted, crossing her hands back and forth a bit.
“That’s not to say we don’t believe in others finding love, “ Juniper added. “I just think it’s very tricky, and rare to find a good one. Most of the time it’s just too much hassle, and who has time for that nonsense?”
Bethany sighed, then looked hopelessly at Kat. “Kat, what do you think? Do you believe in love?”
Kat shrugged. “I am generally a skeptic… However, deep down I do want to believe, wish for it… It’s been a long time since I met anyone who made me think of stuff like that though…”
“Until now…?” Bethany inquired with a hopeful smile.
Kat cracked a shy smirk, almost feeling like she were caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Yes…Mr. VP…well…he is giving me the feels for sure. He is just so…enchanting…” Kat sighed hopelessly, then immediately scolded herself in her head for being such a silly schoolgirl.
“Oh my God, I just realized something…” Bethany added while covering a giggle with her hand.
“What?” the others asked.
“We are just like the ladies from Sex and The City…!”
“Huh?” “What?” “How do you mean?” the others inquired simultaneously.
“Oh my God, yes! It’s so obvious!” Bethany laughed, so proud of herself for discovering this parallel. “Sex and the City—the biotech version!”
The others just looked back and forth at each other, then back at Bethany for further explanation.
“Okay so I’m totally Charlotte—the one with the more reserved and traditional outlook on love…”
“Ohhh…” the others began to nod as she continued.
“And Astrid here is Samantha, feeling power in her sexuality and having fun with it. Then we have TWO Mirandas!” Bethany gestured toward Juniper and Marilu.
“Ah yes, the romance skeptic!” Juniper laughed. “I even have the short red hair!”
“And Kat…” Bethany motioned toward the variant scientist. “Well, she’s our Carrie of course…and Mr. VP is her Mr. Big!”
The table roared with approval.
“God…” Kat sighed. “He’s even elusive like Mr. Big was…”
“Oap, there she goes…” Marilu waved a hand in front of Kat’s eyes to bring her back down to earth.
The table giggled as they continued to finish their lunch before heading back to the office.
And just like that… Basel was starting to show Kat there was room in life for friendship and potential romance as well as a successful career, and maybe having it all wasn’t as rare as most people thought.
