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Darcy had heard rumors about Doctor Jane Foster. Just some vague rumors that she was a little out there and the science department’s pet or something. Not much at first, but once she applied for the internship position a ton of people in the science department started coming up to her.
Apparently Doctor Foster was more than a little scatterbrained. And her project was way above Darcy’s head. She didn’t think she’d actually get the internship – or any of the other ones she applied for – because somebody else had to be actually qualified for the job.
But then she got the job and suddenly had to rearrange her entire schedule so that she could take her classes online with minimal on campus time as Dr. Foster’s lab was about two hours away from the campus. Then Darcy soon found herself leaving her dorm room and her roommate behind to move all her stuff to what seemed to be a used car dealership in Puente Antiguo.
Admittedly the apartment she was moving into was barely bigger than her dorm room, but she didn’t have to share it and it actually had a kitchen. Not that she could cook much, but box mac’n’cheese tasted much better than easy mac for some reason.
So that was a minor bonus.
She got settled in – not that there was much to unpack even though she had brought more than usual from home because she’d have a bit more space. And the weather in desert Arizona was really weird. Boiling days and freezing nights? She was so not down with that.
Then she met Dr. Foster. Who had apparently forgotten that she even had an intern coming.
“Oh. Hi. Sorry. I, is it really the 12th?” Dr. Foster asked.
“Yeah. Uh. So what am I supposed to do?” Darcy asked.
“You want to start now?”
“Aren’t I supposed to help you here? I warn you, I’m a poli sci major and I will probably only understand only the two or three syllable words at best.”
“I knew that. I did read your application. I just need a sounding board and someone who can help out.”
“So I’ll be getting credit for science while being a warm body who can listen, tidy up, and get coffee?”
“Ah, yes,” Dr. Foster said sheepishly.
“Eh, I can live with that,” Darcy shrugged. “So where do you want me to start, Dr. Foster?”
“Please call me Jane. And, ah, do you want to take the van for a snack run? I meant to do that yesterday but I kinda forgot.”
“Sure. I can do that,” Darcy said.
Aside from an apparently rather forgetful boss and menial labor, this looked like it would work out well. There’d be time for her homework and Facebook. And how much trouble could she get into working for an astrophysicist in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico?