“I- I promise that I am not anyone weird. I just happened to hear you say that you would be stuck here for a while. If it wouldn’t bore you too much, the generating station offers a tour. Plus, there’s a cafe onsite, so you could get some better food. Oh, no offense Hal.” 

I am not sure if I heard properly, but I’m pretty sure the store clerk mumbled back: “Whatever Mikha.”

Real food does sound nice, even if ‘Hal’ looked offended that the food sold at his store was not up to par. And I didn’t even realize that there was a generating station near here. That could actually be really cool.

“I’m Mikhail by the way,” he says, holding his hand out for a shake first with Stacy and then with myself.

“I’m Stacy, and that’s Cassy.”

“What kind of generating station is it?” I ask. I mean, all things science interest me, so I'll probably say yes regardless. And again, no offense to Hal, but almost anything sounds more interesting than sitting in his store.

“Nuclear.”

Stacy and I give each other a look. I know that Stacy can tell that I want to say yes. She gives me a slight head nod indicating that she’s fine with it, even if it’s not really her thing, and I turn to tell Mikhail that we would love to join him.

“We just have to be back here in time to get the new rental.”

“Don’t worry, the tour is like an hour, and then you can spend some time at the cafe. I’ll pick you up and take you back here, no problem.”

We nod our agreement and head out to his car.

On the way, Mikhail introduced himself further. Apparently he has been working at the Palo Verde Generating Station as a lead engineer for the past two years, after earning his Masters in Engineering from Arizona State University. He explained some of the science he was working on at the plant to help perfect clean energy. I easily and eagerly followed along, pausing the conversation a couple of times to explain something to Stacy, who occasionally looked confused.Stacy is no dummy, but Nuclear Chemistry is hard for everyone to understand.

When we got to the plant, Mikhail had to leave for a meeting but promised he would be back to pick us up before we needed to go back for our car.

“Well, that was very kind of him,” I tell Stacy.

“Yeah, still kind of weird overall though.”

“I mean, didn’t you say the same thing about me when we first met?”

“Touche.”

The tour was very engaging for everyone in our group. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be there on a random Wednesday, but a family who is homeschooling their kids while on a cross country vacation happened to be there the same time we were. It was nice that the tour could interest me, Stacy, the parents, and the children. After the tour was over, we all spent some time at the interactive exhibits before heading over to the cafe.

The food was a welcome relief, especially when I realized that I hadn’t had a full meal since dinner the night before. The chairs were comfy and the wifi was strong. The cafe was the perfect place to spend the rest of our time waiting.

After a few hours, Mikhail joined us. We had a short conversation before Stacy stepped away to take a phone call.

“So, how was the tour?”

“Amazing! I loved how accessible it was for all ages and backgrounds.”

“Our educational outreach team did put a lot of work into it.”

I could tell from his smile how proud he was to work here.

“Eventually, I would love to have a job in educational outreach,” I smile back.

“Really? What do you do now? I am sorry, I realize this whole time, I’ve only spoken about myself.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem. I was very interested in what you had to say,” I put my hands up to stop his train of thought. I truly enjoyed hearing what he had to say. “I am a professor and researcher at Dartmouth College up in New Hampshire.”

“Oh? A professor, huh?”

“Yes,” Stacy comes back into the conversation. “We both worked incredibly hard to be called ‘doctor.’ Also, our car is ready.”

“I see, your steed awaits. Doctors, if you’ll allow me?” Mikhail got up, heading to the cafe entrance, waiting for us to follow.

—

By the time we arrived at the general store, there was a new car there ready for us to drive off in. One that would hopefully get us to our hotel without any issues.

“So, are you two doing anything exciting tonight?” Mikhail asks.

“No,” Stacy says before I have a chance to answer.

“Then, would you like to go out for dinner? Or drinks?”

“Not tonight, but thanks,” Stacy smiles as she gets out of the car. I would have invited Mikhail to drinks, but I can feel where Stacy is coming from. It’s been a long day and I don’t know if I would have the social capacity to continue a conversation with Stacy AND him. The more I think about it, the happier I am that Stacy declined him.

“Thanks for the ride and recommendation for the tour and food. It was pretty cool,” I say as I head towards the new car. Stacy had walked ahead, confirming all of the necessary details with the rental agency. 

“No problem, I am glad you enjoyed yourself,” he hands me his business card. “If you change your mind tonight or if you want to do something tomorrow, hit me up. I have tomorrow off.”

Was it the sun in my eyes, or did he wink at me as he said that?

It must be the sun.

—

“What do you think of Mikhail?” I barely even had the chance to put my seatbelt on before Stacy shot off.

“What do you mean, ‘what do I think of him’?”

“Do you like him? Do you think he’s hot? Are you trying to hook up or something?”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down,” I put my hands up defensively. “Where is all of this coming from?”

“It looked like you were giving him eyes. Were you?”

“What? No! I mean, he is kind of attractive, but that doesn’t mean I like him or want to hook up with him.”

“Good.” She says a little too defensively.

“Why,” I look at her as she focuses on the road. “Do you like him? Do you want to get a separate room? We can, I don’t mind.”

“No, no, no, no no,” Stacy sighs and looks at me. “He is nowhere near my type. Trust me.”

“Okay,” I cuckle. 

“Are you mad that I didn’t invite him to go drinking with us tonight?”

“Nah, I don’t have the social battery for that. Plus, I think it will be nice to be just the two of us. We can have a lowkey and chill night.” 

“That sounds perfect.”

The drive to the hotel was long, but it was spent in comfortable silence, save for the occasional direction from Stacy’s phone. It reminds me how glad I am that Stacy and I are close enough to have comfortable silence. 

After checking into the hotel, which would be more aptly called a resort, Stacy and I went for drinks. Since we were both tired from the craziness of the day, we decided to just go to the resort bar and restaurant. 

Three drinks and a delicious meal later, we were both ready to hit the hay. I fell asleep hoping for a more coherent tomorrow.