Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 372: Worst Case Scenario

When Dr. Butler led Keeley into her lab, everyone stopped and stared.

"Listen up, everyone! This is Doctor Keeley Hale and she's going to be conducting her cystic fibrosis research here from now on. I want all of you to be welcoming and answer any questions she might have about how things work at DOMA," he said strictly.

She winced internally. Great. The way he had worded things totally made her seem like a VIP rather than a coworker.

Still, she managed to paste on a smile and wave. "Nice to meet you all. I look forward to working with you."

She received a bunch of murmured hellos in return. Dr. Butler disregarded this and pulled two of the people who had been loitering about in the room aside after barking orders at them to come over.

Turned out money could buy friendliness. She should have known. Exactly how much did Aaron give this guy for her to receive such special treatment? Honestly, she was afraid to ask.

"Doctor Hale, these two will be your research assistants. I assure you, they have both been with us for years and are quite experienced," Dr. Butler said warmly. Then he changed his attitude instantly when he turned on them. "What are you standing there for? Introduce yourselves!"

Her assistants were a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties and a man who might have been in his early thirties. The woman introduced herself hesitantly as Kate Anderson but the man simply stared at her.

"Keeley Hall?" he asked incredulously.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "That was my maiden name. Do I know you?"

"You probably wouldn't remember me but I was one of the TAs for Dr. Clarent's introductory genetics class about ten years ago. I graded a lot of your homework." He came to his senses and held out his hand to shake. "My name is Shawn Daniels."

Honestly, Keeley didn't remember this guy at all. There had been so many TAs in so many different classes…She took introductory genetics back in 2007. It was crazy that he knew who she was.

"Good to see you again," she said anyway. It was the polite thing to do.

Dr. Butler seemed pleased that they already knew each other. "I'll leave the three of you to get better acquainted and begin planning how to restart your research. Come by my office during lunch to get your ID badge."

They all nodded as he left and the silence was a bit awkward for a moment. Shawn broke the silence.

"Wow, Keeley Hall. I can't believe how the tables have turned. I used to be your TA and now you're my supervisor. What have you been up to the last ten years?"

"Well, I finished my undergrad, got married, got my PhD, and had twins. They're three now." That was the very, very condensed version of what happened. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want to bother with a master's degree so I started out working in a pharmaceutical lab. I was there for a couple of years before I got a better offer here. I'm married too and have a six-year-old son."

Kate finally cut into the conversation. "Your last name is Hale…you aren't Aaron Hale's wife by any chance, are you?"

Keeley sighed. Just her luck that people would still remember her name. That news had blown over years ago; why did it still occasionally get brought up?

She supposed it was probably because Aaron's expansion plans had been going so well lately. He had been featured in a financial magazine about a month ago. He talked entirely about business but the article still briefly mentioned his wife and children.

"I am."

The other woman scowled. "I was wondering why you came out of nowhere. We don't get new research projects started very often. How much did he pay to get you accepted here?"

"Kate," Shawn said warningly.

"What?" she snapped. "You know it's true. I liked the other research team I was on. Nobody asked me if I wanted to be transferred to someone who bought her way in."

The worst case scenario that Keeley had imagined while wondering how today would go was happening before her very eyes. Fantastic.

It wasn't like she had anything to defend herself with anyway. She had bought her way in. Well, Aaron had done it for her. There wasn't any other way she would be able to continue her research in New York City.

This was a big part of why she had originally planned to reject his offer to fund her research. When she got pregnant with the twins and had to stay in New York to raise them with their father there was no other choice.

She needed to stand her ground or this woman would never respect her. She cleared her throat, getting the attention of both of her new research assistants, and began to speak.

"My brother had cystic fibrosis so I care very deeply about finding a cure. My research with mice was viable so yes, my husband did fund it so I could keep it going and find a cure sooner than I would have otherwise. I don't see how this is a problem if more people are able to be helped earlier than they normally would have."

Kate frowned, unable to retort. Keeley had a valid point. It looked like she won this round.

"So," she said sweetly. "Let's get started."

The next hour was spent going over the method section of her dissertation where all the information about how she had conducted the gene therapy was written. Neither of her assistants had conducted gene therapy before but they knew the theory.

Kate was sullen but at least she did what she was told. Keeley had to believe she would win her over eventually. Maybe she could bring some of those cookies she promised her kids she would make to work tomorrow. She wasn't above bribery. After all, she had learned from the best when it came to that.