Set Me Free// L. Staley

34. Whale With Human Legs

"Hm...there's more microplastics than usual," Rowan mumbled under her breath, looking through the petri dish of sample water. "Weird."

"Does that shock you?" Markus retorted, keeping his eyes on his notes. "We're fucking the world over with every second that goes by."

"Yeah, it doesn't surprise me one bit, but it's insane how fast water can look so clean then suddenly turn to shit. Maybe this sample is closer to shore?"

"Who knows anymore," Markus shrugged. "It doesn't surprise me."

"Unfortunately."

"So..." Markus prolonged, "you're going out with Christian?" 

Markus looked up from the stack of papers to Rowan, smirking. 

"Yes," she hummed from beside him, her eyes not leaving the microscope. "We're going to paint."

"I can paint," he mumbled under his breath.

"Are you jealous or something?" Rowan joked, rolling her eyes as she tapped her pen against the table's surface. "It's just for the apartment, though. If you want to tag along, you can. You can be my plus one, and, who knows? Maybe Christian will invite his wife-"

"As much as I would like to share a lovely meal with you and Christian, I'd rather skip on awkward tension," Markus sighed, ruffling the top of Rowan's head with another smirk on his face. 

Rowan paused, turning to look at him in confusion. Awkward tension? Why would there be any of that? Did Markus and Christian get into a fight? They got along just fine, so what made Markus so hesitant?

"Uh, why exactly would it be awkward?" Rowan questioned, losing her attention from her notes. 

Markus shrugged, not showing any specific emotion on his face. "Well...You see -- You know what? It isn't my place to say."

"What?"

"Just have a good time with him, that's all," Markus mumbled, returning to his paperwork.

Rowan frowned, looking down at a vile of ocean water they collected earlier that morning. She watched as tiny particles floated throughout its clear liquid. 

"You can't just leave me hanging like that-"

Before she could continue, her phone started to ring obnoxiously in her lab coat pocket. Markus' eyes left his notes, looking down at her hip with raised eyebrows. 

"I think I can," he chuckled. "Now, answer that before you get in trouble."

Rowan rolled her eyes, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She looked to see who it was, sighing when she saw it was an unknown number.

"It isn't important," she mumbled, declining the call as she put it back in her pocket. Right as she resumed her work, her phone starting to ring once more. 

"Obviously, it is," Markus retorted.

She pulled her phone out once more, creasing her eyebrows when she realized it was the same number. She accepted the call with hesitance, putting the phone to her ear.

"Uh...hello?"

"Rowan!" A man's voice boomed through the other end of the line. "Why did you not accept my call?"

Rowan rolled her eyes, suppressing the urge to yell at the top of her lungs. Her irritation grew under a millisecond, and Markus saw it with visibility. 

"Father of the fucking year," Rowan grumbled under her breath. "What do you want? You're calling me at work."

Her dad went quiet, not bothering to penetrate the tense air.