Chapter Text
Olive showed up on time at the campus Starbucks, which was unusual for her, but Adam had beaten her to it again. He was already standing in line, arms crossed, and a deep frown on his face. Uh-oh. Was it his students again? Some more bad news from his Fund Committee?
She approached him cautiously, and when he noticed her, she could’ve sworn the lines on his face softened slightly. There was still something lingering in his eyes, but she decided to not bring it up unless he did.
“Hi! Ready to order?” She grinned up at him.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
They approached the counter, got their coffees – a new combination of sugar for her, and a black one for Adam – and sat down on one of the tables next to the windows. They were her favourite seats because you could observe the passers-by, and even now she looked out eagerly onto the Stanford campus.
Adam still seemed to be considering something, but she didn’t want to push him for answers.
“Anything new happen lately?” She asked as casually as she could.
He looked at her, puzzled. “What?”
“I’m trying to make small talk.” She rolled her eyes. “And you’re making it incredibly difficult.”
“Well, I’ve always been terrible at it.” Adam sighed, resigned. “How’s your research going?” He tried, with more enthusiasm than before.
“See? That’s better! Only a couple more of these awkward dates and you’ll get the hang of it.” She took a sip of her drink and felt the tastes melt on her tongue as she closed her eyes briefly. “And yeah, it’s going okay. But Anh insists that I’m spending too much time in the labs. She thinks I need a distraction or something. But really, it’s not my fault, my mice simply require a lot of attention. You would understand.”
Olive tried to give him a small smile, but if anything, he just looked even more brooding than he did a second ago.
“Olive, how would you- how would you like an actual distraction?” Adam’s hand on his coffee cup tightened. “I mean, like a weekend getaway. Or you know, something similar.” His eyes looked everywhere but at her face, and she wondered if something she said made him doubt in his decision.
“What- do you mean like a trip? Just the two of us?”
“Well, yeah,” He took a deep breath, “You see, Holden must’ve let it slip to his mom that we were dating, and then she told my mom, and now she thinks we’re actually together – which, of course, we’re not – but she called today and said she wants to meet you. I told her I’d ask you, and there’s absolutely no pressure, and-”
He stopped himself, realising he was rambling. Olive tried to contain her laugh at how flustered he looked.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t appreciate you making fun of me in such a dire situation.” He tried to sound strict, but the curl of his lips and the small dimples which appeared next to them told her otherwise.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to seeing you like this,” Olive said, smiling. “Of course I’ll go, if you want to really convince her that we’re dating. I mean, you’ve done all of this for me, it’s only right I do the same for you.” She shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee – if you could call it that.
Was that the answer Adam expected? Wanted? She hoped so. She’d normally feel terrible about intruding on his personal life any more than she already had, but this was about his mom. If she was giving him a hard time, it was only right for Olive to help a friend out – because Adam was her friend, right?
She almost let out an exasperated sigh. For goodness’ sake, this man confounded her. She’d need to get a book on reading social cues and body language, something she’d never thought she needed based on how she always overanalysed any social interaction. And yet. Here she was, absolutely stumped on whatever this was that she was doing with Adam.
Olive tried to read his expression, but his chocolate eyes were trained on the cup in his hand. “I- thank you.” He finally looked up at her, and she saw a faint blush colouring his cheeks. Or maybe that was just the lighting. “She will be staying at her apartment in Sacramento, so it should only be about a 3-hour drive away.”
“I’m free all Saturday, and I can probably clear the Friday evening. I’ll just ask Malcolm to watch over my experiments.”
“So you’re fine with staying there overnight?”
“Sure, why not? Besides, I’m actually very curious about your mom.”
Was she okay with sleeping there? It seemed unreasonable to ask Adam to drive 3 hours there and back after an already stressful and tiring workday. And, as Olive said it aloud, she found that she truly was very interested in meeting his mother. Besides, it’s not like they would be sleeping in the same bed. That stuff only happened in movies and her romance novels.
Olive’s timer went off next to her and she startled at the time. “Gosh, I have to check if all my data downloaded. So, are we agreed? Text me any other details.” She swung her backpack over her shoulder.
“Goodbye, Olive.” Adam said, getting up himself. “And- thank you so much again. You’re absolutely wonderful.” He looked so sincere, so thankful then, that Olive almost ran back to him and hugged him. Almost.
“Thanks again for the coffee.” She tried her best to smile instead as she turned and left the café. But really, the only thing she could focus on for the rest of the day were two words, spinning in her head over and over again.
Absolutely wonderful.