Emily's Seams

I gave Larry two weeks notice this time. He appreciated it immensely and told me to come back any time.

It was my last day at the lab. Robert had also been coming in. He was helping to sort out a few pieces of his work for Larry. It was good research and it was nice to know it wouldn’t be rotting away somewhere, becoming less and less relevant by the day.

“Emily?”

It was Lynn. “Yeah?”

“The boss wants to talk to you.”

I nodded. “Sure, I’ll be there in a second.”

“He insisted. Right now.”

I sighed. Since coming back to the lab I had realized that even though Larry, the boss, could be a complete tool, he was also smart and hadn’t gotten to run his own lab by luck alone. He had just fallen into the trap of running it all and not doing anything anymore. It wasn’t his fault research was such a rat race.

Even so, I hated being interrupted. I quickly finished the last staining step of my slides and put them aside.

“Alright.” I went over to the sink and started to wash my hands. “Any idea what it’s all about?”

She shook her head just a little too fast. It suddenly dawned on me that the lab was empty.

My stomach knotted as I followed her out of the lab and into the small conference room.

“Surprise!”

I smiled and nodded as graciously as I could. I hated surprises. I had had more than my fair share of them and I didn’t want anymore. But this was really nice of them.

There were pink streamers twisted around the room. Clusters of pink balloons made me think Barbie Hemmorrhoids. Cups and napkins were the same hue of giggling pink.

“Wow, thank you guys. This is so nice of you.”

Robert came over and hugged me.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “Larry insisted.”

As he pulled away, my smile got even bigger. I couldn’t help it. He made me really happy.

“Emily! Come look at the cake George made you!” Lynn said excitedly.

I moved around a few people to see a massive white lump on the table. It was a sleeping mouse about the size of a cat. It had wings made of cardboard and, in baby blue icing, All lab mice go to heaven was scrawled across it’s rump.

“Oh my God, George. This is really good!”

He smiled as if to say ah shucks. “Wanted to bring something nice to your party.”

“You made this?”

He nodded. “Yeah, well, you can’t just read papers all the time. Gotta have a hobby. My sister got me into it.”

“It’s great. And just to show my appreciation, I’m even gonna let you cut me a piece.”

George laughed. “Sure, sure.”

As he hacked away at his cake, Larry came up and gently tugged my arm. “I just want you to know how valued you are here. I think back to that speech you wrote for me, you remember? On the work that Robert was doing?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

He leaned in close and whispered like we were co-conspirators. “I didn’t even read it until I was up there!”

I feigned surprise. “Oh really? That’s not very...diligent.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Oh I know, I know. But it was the best thing I’ve ever done. You know, people still send me emails about that little speech, saying how it reminded them of what it was like as a grad student and how they would try to be better bosses.” He sighed. “After you left, the first time, I mean. Well, after that I realized that what you said, about appreciating those who do the work that we present, also applied to you. This lab ran because of you.” He looked like he was going to cry. “As was clearly evidenced once you left, because for awhile we had no idea what was happening.” He chuckled.

“Thanks. That really means a lot.”

“If you need a letter or anything, you just ask.”

Celebrating my departure had a certain irony to it. I had treated everyone here like vermin for several years. If I were them, I’d be celebrating my departure too. But I knew there was no anger here, despite my best efforts. Most people didn’t care I was leaving, but a few would actually miss me. That was more than I could have hoped for.

We were leaving the next day. I had packed my bags, unpacked them and then packed them again. My passport, credit cards, reservation printouts and Tylenol were all safe in my carry-on bag. It was only six in the morning.

Maybe that was the problem. I was too excited to go. I was too prepared. Something had to come along to fuck it all up.