nightingale

chapter four

song- robbers; 1975

Lucy woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls and found herself sprawled across the bed still dressed from yesterday. She sat up to find Brad taking the rolls out of the oven, she noticed the blanket and pillow set up on the couch and instantly felt bad. She must've been taking up the whole bed ever since her nap yesterday afternoon.

She looked at the clock- it was almost 10, she had slept nearly 19 hours straight. Sleeping in was normal for her since she primarily worked nights back home, but maybe this was just a sign that she had truly been working her body too hard.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Brad's voice interrupted her self-analysis. He walked over to her carrying a plate of freshly iced rolls, only stopping to grab her makeup wipes out of the bathroom. "You're gonna want these." He laughed. She scowled but took them anyway knowing he was probably right.

She quickly blackened two wipes before digging into the breakfast food that had been placed in front of her. A few seconds later Brad brought over a glass of apple juice, chuckling when he saw that the plate was almost clean.

"You know if you didn't skip dinner you wouldn't be so hungry." He remarked.

"I honestly don't remember the last time I slept that long..." She elucidated. She got up to put more cinnamon rolls on her plate, and as she faced the counter she felt arms wrap around her waist. She sighed as she decided to let the boy have this moment.

"You excited for S.T.A.R. Labs today?" He asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"What?" She asked, confused as to what he was talking about.

"You said you'd let me take you to tour it, we talked about it yesterday morning." He explained, slightly defeated.

"Oh, yeah, right," She tried to salvage the situation, "I'm super excited!" She faked. It's not that she didn't want to hang out with Brad or see the city's infamous lab, she just didn't want him getting any more attached to her. She appreciated him, but she'd be gone soon. "When are we going?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"I figured we'd go around noon? Then maybe get lunch after." She nodded.

"Alright let me shower and change." He gave her a thumbs up and went to clean up the kitchen.

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Lucy let Brad hold her hand throughout the entire walk from his apartment to S.T.A.R. Labs, much to her vexation. Public displays of affection weren't a normal thing for her, she much preferred public displays of anger.

They climbed the stairs to the lab and followed the signs that led to the beginning of the tour. The college intern that had a "Tour Guide" button pinned to her shirt was far too cheerful to be conducting tours rather than doing actual science as she had probably expected from an internship.

"The noon tour is leaving now if everyone would follow me!" The girl exclaimed, loud enough to be heard over the chatter of those waiting. The pair followed along, staying at the back of the group.

As they listened to the guide's speech, Brad would add in his own commentary. This commentary, however, added absolutely nothing and just made Lucy make a mental note to never bring Brad to a museum.

She didn't expect anything different from a guy like Brad. He wasn't an intellectual per se, but more of a regular straight white guy. Lucy ignored most of what he was saying so she could focus on the intern's facts. It wasn't until she was pulled away into a corridor that she could no longer ignore him.