Social Distancing

Chapter 3: Nice to Meet You

If I tried hard enough, then I suppose I saw the appeal of complimentary cafeteria food. To me, however, the cafeteria posed nothing more than infinite opportunity for social awkwardness. I took a deep breath, grabbed a half turkey sandwich, an apple, and bottle of water, then sat down at a small table by the window. Despite being gray and dreary-looking outside, it was refreshing to get some natural light.

I pulled out the quintessential 'please ignore me' weapon from my purse, my earbuds. My legs ached to run and I glanced out the window to see if there were any possibilities in the neighborhood. For my daily runs, I stuck to the park near the flat my parents had graciously rented for me. While I appreciated their concern of not wanting me to stay around other graduate students, the three-block away location felt a bit isolated.

"May I join you?" A voice said to me as I turned on a playlist.

I glanced up and saw a familiar face. "Paul, right?" My fingers removed the earbuds and slipped them and my phone into my pocket.

"How's it going?" His voice sounded kind as he slid a tray of food across from me and filled the empty seat.

"Haven't done anything except piss off Tucker and take some exams. Lab's amazing though, I'm excited."

"Tucker's pissed?" Paul frowned. "He shouldn't be drinking at work."

"Oh..." My cheeks flushed pink. "Pissed off, like angry. Sorry, I have trouble with British slang."

"Tucker's always pissed off about something, so don't worry." He assured me with a casual smile.

My eyes studied his for a moment and tracked the darker gray striations that laced over the lighter background. "What does the third floor do?" I asked, eager for a change of topics.

"We work in antigen deliveries," he replied with a smile and started eating his salad. Between bites of lettuce, he added, "Compared to what you guys do, we're the equivalent of the mail cart pushers. I've only been there for eight months but it's a lovely group of white coats."

I smiled at his mail-cart analogy. That was a sentiment that most likely only a scientist could appreciate.

"You're at UCL, right?" I nodded silently at his question. "Exams aside, things going okay?"

"So far. I've only been there since September. I'm in the PhD program at the Division of Infection and Immunity."

"Do you have a dissertation topic?"

I shook my head. "No, my advisor said it's a two- to four-year program. I'm hoping to do it in one."

"Aiming high, huh?" He smiled. I returned the smile and noticed for the first time that his voice had a tone of charm in that was... pleasing to my ears.

"Maggie, there you are." Dr. McKenna waited for me at the front desk when I returned from lunch.

"I'm sorry, did I take too long?" I glanced at the clock.