The Watchtower Affair - Now You See It, Now You Don't
Bridgette's Diary
13 February, 1925 (cont...)
Belle declared
that we ladies needed to go have a decent lunch and that she knew just the
café. Linking arms with Keira and myself, she headed out the door and down to
hail a taxi. As we left the building, I realized that she was indeed on the
mark. I was suddenly starving and tired. All of that adrenalin and stress
earlier was finally catching up with me. Hopefully a good meal would perk me
back up in order to focus on my research. Keira stated that she too could make
do with some luncheon.
We took the
taxi to a corner café closer to the heart of the city, Maison Rouge. It was a
bit classier than what I’m used to, but the staff inside were very nice and
welcoming. Somehow I think part of thatwass because we were with Belle.
Something about her seems to demand good service. Maybe it’s the fact that she
is wealthy just seems to exude from her very person. She’s a wonderfully nice
person, but it’s also obvious that she comes from money and is used to a
certain standard where regular everyday interactions are concerned. At the same time, I could totally see her
working on her plane if needed. It’s just one of those things and an
interesting part of her personality.
I see that
I’ve started to seriously digressed yet again. To return to the original topic
of Maison Rouge, the food was absolutely delicious, although truth be told, I
was also quite famished by that point. Upon Belle’s suggestion, I tried their
beef tips with noodles and gravy and finished it off with a piece of lemon
cream pie that was just heavenly. I hope we can eat here again sometime before
I leave to return home. Keira shared that her meal was just as tasty. I wondered
what the gentlemen found to eat, since we left them to their own devices.
After the
meal it was off to Northwestern. Belle needed to stop by her friend’s office to
find out where we were going, which took a good few minutes. Apparently they
hadn’t seen each other in several weeks. He was a very nice older gentleman, a
professor in the archaeology department. Even though our fields don’t
necessarily cross over, I did recognize his name, since Dr. Mortimer Jones is
nearly as notorious as he is well regarded in his field. Once I got over my
surprise at Belle’s education in archaeology, it really wasn’t a surprise that
she knew Dr. Jones. And really, he’s quite charming in person, with a certain
intensity about him when it comes to his work. He was also a little shy, which
one wouldn’t deduce from his reputed exploits.
After we
finally reached the lab I immediate set to work. First I need to find the
chemistry library and look up a few references and interactions. While the
analysis a few months ago, of the fluid in the living tunnels, had brought back
much of my experimental technique, I was still a bit rusty at coming with
formulae from whole cloth. Fortunately it all came back to me rather quickly. I
was a bit worried that it might not.
After the
chemistry library, I set up shop in the lab, thankful for the blackboards since
it let me write out formula in one spot without having to switch back and forth
between pages of my journal. It was also easier to make adjustments as I went.
Once I hit the first couple of chemical interactions, the whole thing started
to take shape rather quickly, although I did need to make one more trip to the library.
There was
also the oddest distraction as I tried to work. Every hour, at exactly the same
time as my encounter with Pathos in the stair well, I would feel the strangest
sensation in my hand – the same hand he had bitten. Inevitably, it would leave
my entire body tingling in response. Often I would begin to absentminded rub
the back of that hand while I worked and every so often I would need to drag my
thoughts away from the handsome vampire and focus back on the work at hand. It
was quite maddening, but also more than a little pleasurable and left me
feeling a wee bit out of sorts and disoriented. And there wasn’t a person
present that I felt I could confide in. Keira found the existence of vampires
most unnatural and rather distasteful. I suspect she felt that the dead should
stay dead and really I agreed with her, at least in theory. In practice, it was
now becoming a little harder to maintain that stance. After all, she hadn’t met
the vampire in question. And I could tell that there was no love lost over the
vampires by Belle. I had yet to find out why, but there was an extreme anger
directed from her to Pathos, and to Labana before. A part of me was quite
curious, since it was obvious she had already known Mr. Smith and Mr. Wilde
before we joined the merry adventuring gang. As for the men, well, even if any
of them had been present, it wasn’t quite the sort of thing I would feel
comfortable in sharing with the opposite sex.
And so I
continued to work, getting caught up in the dance of potential chemical
reactions and their hoped for outcome and every so often I found myself
bothered and distracted by thoughts of Pathos. As for Belle and Keira, they
both appointed themselves my caretakers and brought me a steady stream of food
and drink during the hours I labored. I was grateful for their care, knowing
how distracted I can get while doing research. Often I’ve suddenly found myself
famished and dying of thirst because I didn’t realize that I’d been at it for
hours upon hours. And they helped me discover the most amazing soft drink, Coke
Cola. It certainly helps add some pep to your work!
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