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"Sorry about my Dad," Maru mumbled as Demetrius finally left the lab, instructing her to clean up after their tests on the soil samples were completed. Yoba that was embarrassing, she thought. It's bad enough that he still treats me like I'm twelve, but to bring the farmer into it too? Ugh!
"That's alright," the farmer replied, wiping down the counter. Maru tried not to stare at the way his forearms flexed with each swipe of the paper towel across the surface. Focus, she chided herself, organizing the notes she had taken by experiment number, so that they would be easy to cross-reference when she wanted to revisit the results.
"This was pretty cool," the farmer said behind her, catching the binder she had just picked up to file away before it could hit the ground.
"It was?" Maru asked, her eyes wide. She hadn't realized the farmer was so close. Smooth, Maru, she bit back a groan. He's going to think you're an idiot.
"Yeah," he replied, his warm brown eyes sparkling as he spoke. "I never took chemistry or biology beyond the minimum required in high school. We certainly never did any cool experiments like this." He handed her the binder.
"Thanks," she mumbled, trying to ignore the way her heart beat a little faster when their fingers brushed against each other. "I've always loved chemistry, but most people don't seem to understand that." She pushed up her glasses as she stared up at him. Is it just me, or is he standing closer than he needs to?
As if he could read her mind, the farmer took a step back, although she didn't miss the strange look in his eyes as he did. Almost as if he… regretted it? she thought. No, that can't be right.
"You know," she said, opening the drawer in between them and shoving the binder inside, making a mental note to file it properly later. "There are lots of practical applications for chemistry on a farm."
"There are?" the farmer asked, leaning casually against the counter top, his eyes lighting up again.
"Yeah," Maru confirmed, clearing her throat a little since her words came out squeakier than she'd intended. "Take fertilizer, for instance," she said. "Finding the right balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to enhance the growth of your crops."
"Is that what those numbers and letters on the bags mean?" the farmer asked.
"Exactly," Maru said, relaxing a little as the conversation slid into familiar territory. "The N stands for Nitrogen, the P for Phosporus and the K for Potassium. Like the periodic table," she added, pointing to the poster on the wall.
"I get the N and the P," the farmer said, looking at the numbers and letters. "But why 'K'?"
"It comes from the Latin word 'kalium'," Maru explained. The farmer's grin grew wider, and she took that as encouragement to keep going. "And 'kalium' is derived from the Arabic word 'qali', which means 'plant ashes' or 'alkali'. In English, we tend to use the word 'potash' which is why we call it 'Potassium.'"
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of potash," the farmer said, sounding excited. "And alkali, now that you mention it, but I've never really understood what they meant." He hummed for a moment as if he was processing what she had said. "You know, you're really smart," he said finally, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink that Maru knew she was mirroring since her own face grew warm.
"Thanks," she said, bashfully. Unable to think of anything else to say, they just stared at each other for a moment.
"Don't mind me," the raspy voice of Maru's brother broke the silence in the room. "I'm just heading to my bedroom. Didn't want to interrupt."
You could have just not said anything, Maru thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as he gave her a knowing wink. Didn't want to interrupt my ass! She knew that Seb would be at her door later that night for all the details. The man may pretend to be uninterested, but he likes to gossip more than Mom! Still, given how mercilessly she'd teased him when he'd started flirting with his now-boyfriend Sam, she couldn't really blame him.
"Well, I should probably get going," the farmer said, reluctantly. "I have a few chores to take care of before I head to bed, but… this was fun," he said. "Hey, do you think we could maybe take some soil samples from the farm and see what I should be adding?"
"Of course," Maru replied, excitedly. "I'm free on Wednesday if you want?"
"Wednesday is perfect," the farmer said. "Pierre's is closed anyways, so I was planning on just clearing out some land on the farm, but I'd much rather work on this with you instead."
"Great! Wednesday it is then," Maru confirmed, unable to keep the smile off of her face. She gave the farmer a small wave and leaned against the counter as he left the room.
"Wednesday it is then," her brother's high-pitched voice made her jump. She hadn't realized he'd left his room again. Actually, she wasn't even sure he'd entered it in the first place, since she'd been so focused on the farmer.
"Shut up, Seb," Maru said, pulling the binder out of the drawer to file it properly (and to give her something to do other than look at Seb, but he didn't need to know that).
"I don't know, Ru," he continued. "It seems to me like you were conducting an interesting little chemistry experiment there."
Maru threw a pen at him, and he laughed, picking it up and putting it in the pocket of his hoodie before he gave her a knowing wink.
"Thanks for the pen," he said. "Have fun on Wednesday!" With that he finally disappeared into his bedroom, leaving Maru alone with her thoughts.
"Wednesday," she mumbled, smiling to herself again. "Hm… I wonder if the farmer likes robots."