Heat

I dissected the leaf with as much precision as I could master, doing my best to keep the largest vein in tact for the time being. I wanted to get a few high resolution shots of the vegetation before I opened the vein to look at the microorganisms inside. I was fortunate that I'd found such a healthy specimen. It would make the documentation much easier. I picked up the camera, seeing it not only displayed in the capture lens but also through my mind's eye and how it would look in the paper I was writing. I snapped off a few shots at different angles and then changed lenses so that I could get a decent, close up, cross-section view.

“He did it! He did it! He popped the question and she said yes!”

I straightened from my position, struggling to swallow my heart back into my chest, biting back a natural instinct to yell at the intruder for startling me so badly. Seeing that it was Sara, made it a little easier to forgive especially with the rapturous smile she was currently sporting. She had ripped into this mini lab we'd set up with the force of a hurricane and I just hoped I could survive long enough to hear what she had to say. “He who?”

“Nick!”

“Nick? He proposed? To whom?”

“Mandy of course and she said ‘yes’.” She waved the letter she was holding in the air.

"He wrote me an email. Here, see for yourself." She passed the thin leaflet to me and then came closer to read over my shoulder as I went through it. "He sounds so in love."

I nodded, my hand covering the one she placed on my shoulder and giving it a good squeeze. "Yes, he does. They've set a date. A month from now. Do you want to go?"

"If we can, definitely. I think we're almost through here, right? My research is finished and you're into the final stages of yours. We should be able to push through. Actually, the timing is really convenient."

"Yes." We'd been discussing whether or not to take advantage of a new research opportunity that had crossed our paths. The date of commencement was scheduled two months from now and the debate was whether or not to take it or stay with our current venture. Both Sara and I felt there was more than enough material to keep us busy here but were very tempted by the new proposal. The only real issue was its location. We'd be going from the tropics to the arctic and Sara and I weren't sure we were up to such a drastic turn of climate. We'd become a little spoiled in our creature comforts as it were. Still, a change of pace was a very enticing. "Break out the parkas. Looks like we're headed north."

Sara giggled and did this little happy dance that had me grinning in return. “This is great news. I’ve been waiting to hear something for a while. Greg said they were getting pretty serious. Oh, it’s a good day.” She looped her arms around my neck and smiled up at me. “Let’s have sex!”

“What?”

She plastered her frame against mine and there's little doubt that she couldn't feel what her bold announcement had done to certain parts of my anatomy. “Let’s…(kiss)…have…(kiss)…sex.”

“What, right now?”

“Yes.”

“Here?”

“YES!”

“Now?”

“Gil!”

“What has gotten into you?”

“I’m happy. I want to celebrate. I want you. Why do you still have so many clothes on?”

“Because it’s the middle of the day and we’re in the process of conducting-“

“Pants. Off. Now.”

“Sara, leave my zipper alone.”

“Well we can try to pull them off without opening it but I don’t think that’s going to work so well.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re still not naked! I want you…now…yesterday….always.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. Yes. Right now. Geez, Sara, we’ve got our hands full here.”

“Lighten up, Bugman.”

“Sara, we can’t. We’ve got to complete this.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do but you’re not helping! Naked. Strip.”

“Anyone could walk in here.”

“Don’t care.”

“You would be so embarrassed facing them later.”

“Only if we’re caught which we won’t be if you would just cooperate and get naked now!”

There comes a time in every pointless argument when one has a mental epiphany that basically says, “Yo! Idiot! Why the hell are you arguing?” For me, that epiphany happened when Sara stripped off her top and stood there with her hands on her hips daring me to take her up on her ‘invitation’. “You know what?” I asked, removing my pants.

“What?” she asked with a grin, waiting for the set up.

“I’m suddenly in the mood for love.”

Her grin widened. “Simply because you’re…near…me?” she whispered in a throaty breath.

“Yeah, something like that.” The rest of my clothes were gone in seconds and then I had her in my arms, running my hands up and down her back as I pressed her close into my skin. “Oh…wait…my glasses.”

“I said clothes, not glasses, Gil,” she giggled into my neck. “Work with me here, dear.”

“Yes, dear,” I replied at did just that.