*Hey, this is chapter 3 of my* [*Kindle Vella*](https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BQZJXJYG) *story Chemical-18. I posted chapters 1 & 2 to this subreddit last week, but they can all be found at the link above along with chapter 4.*
*This section contains very little spicy content, but you may be interested in it if you read the first two parts. This is the last that Kindle Vella’s terms and conditions will allow me to share with you for free, so if you are interested in reading further, please follow the link above.*
*I hope you enjoy!*
[Link to parts 1 & 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/zukaui/chemical18_a/)
After Dr. Faust leaves the lab, Elizabeth walks to the break room in her panties where she dresses in her spare clothes. She then takes the stairs back up to the ground floor and slips out the back exit to her car. She doesn’t tell anyone that she is leaving, but there’s no way in hell that she is going to finish the workday. She is exhausted, humiliated, and wearing a pair of flip flops, sweatpants and an oversized, turtleneck sweater that smells like stale newspapers after being stored in the back of her locker for six months. Her eyes feel like they are about to explode from both Chemical-18 and the emotions that are welling up inside of her.
She cannot believe that she had dropped the vial. She also cannot believe that she had snapped at Dr. Faust. He was always so kind to her, and it was obviously a tense situation. Anyone, including herself, could have frozen and stared without even thinking about it.
She will have to apologize to him. Not now, but later, when the embarrassment has worn off.
The thought makes her stomach nauseous—or was that Chemical-18? She couldn’t tell.
What a no-good, bullshit day.
—
Elizabeth arrives at her apartment approximately fifteen minutes later. It is only a quarter past ten, and all the parking spots that are normally filled when she arrives home in the evening are empty. She chooses one right next to the building’s front entrance. From there, she rides an empty elevator to the seventh floor and, once it arrives, steps off and proceeds to apartment #704.
At her door, she reaches into her purse—the only item that she had remembered to grab from her locker—and takes out her keys. The hallway around her, which is normally abuzz with noise, is silent, save for the muffled sounds of gunshots and shouting emanating from a TV somewhere further down the hall.
Of course it’s quiet, she thinks. The adults are at work; the children are at school.
As she turns the key, a familiar voice calls out to her by name. Beth peers over her shoulder to see Christopher Abraham, her neighbor, carrying a backpack and walking quickly toward her.
“Beth,” Chris repeats eagerly, “I haven’t seen you in weeks. How have you been?”
Elizabeth adjusts her purse and offers him a polite smile before speaking, “Chris, I’m good. Well, I’m okay. I’ve actually not had the best day.”
“Oh no,” he says worriedly. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she says, “but I really don’t feel like talking about it right now.”
She is just beginning to open her door when he says, “Okay. That’s fine. Is there anything I can do for you?”
She pauses. “No, Chris, thank you. I really just want to get some sleep.”
She wants to leave it at that, but after seeing the look on his puppy dog face, she follows it up with: “Are you doing okay?”
Chris’s eyes light up and she immediately curses herself for asking.
Three years prior, when Elizabeth had first moved into the building, Chris had assisted her by carrying in several heavy boxes from her rented uhaul. During this brief interaction—which had only lasted about ten minutes and three elevator rides—he had proven himself to be kind and pleasant company; however, unfortunately for Elizabeth, he had also fallen inexplicably and madly in love with her.
She does not feel the same way about him and has told him so on multiple occasions, but that has not dissuaded him from conversationally pouncing on her at every opportunity.
He is nice enough, she thinks, just not really my type.
Hell, to be honest, she isn’t even sure she has a type anymore. She is married to her job—especially with the end of the quarter fast-approaching—and the last time she had even been on a date was over a year ago.
It had not gone well.
“I’m doing very well,” he says, brimming with excitement and gesturing toward his backpack. “I’ve enrolled in classes at Ohio State. That’s where I’m headed right now.”
Elizabeth feels genuine joy for him, “Chris, that’s so exciting!”
Chris is in his mid-twenties and has been out of work ever since the roofing company, which had gone belly up and filed for bankruptcy six months ago, had laid him off. Since then, Elizabeth believes that he may have fallen into a slight depression.
But now, as he stands before her, Elizabeth notices that he is beginning to look like his old self. He has gotten a haircut and trimmed his spotty beard so that he is now clean-shaven. With his strong chin once again revealed, she is reminded that he is actually quite handsome. Once he gets fully back on his feet, he will be a real catch.
For someone else; not her.
“I am just starting my prerequisites this year, but hopefully by next year, I will be able to enroll in something that actually relates to my degree.”
“Computer science?”
“Yep, with a focus on Cybersecurity.”
“Very nice. Prerequisites sucked for me too. I hated all the sociology and history classes that I had to take. Plus my memories from public speaking class still make me cringe to this day.”
“That kind of stuff doesn’t really bother me. I just hope that I don’t have to take any biology classes,” he says with a wink.
She chuckles and smiles at him. “Well, if you do and have any questions, you have an excellent resource just down the hall.”
“Yes, I do.”
An awkward silence settles over them only punctuated by television gunfire.
“Well,” Chris says, “I won’t hold you up any longer. I hope you feel better.”
“Thank you, Chris. Have fun in class.”
“I will. And don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.”
Elizabeth nods to him and watches as Chris walks to the elevator and stands awkwardly as he waits for it to arrive. He is tall, at least six foot, and has sandy blonde hair that is neat and combed to the side. He glances back at her and gives a smile.
He is quite handsome, she thinks again.
She returns the smile.
—
After her brief conversation with Chris, Elizabeth is starting to feel the tiniest bit better; however, she is reminded of the embarrassment that she had suffered that day when she looks at her phone and sees three missed calls from Gregory Faust. She tosses the phone, along with her purse, onto her kitchen counter and walks to her bedroom.
Trying not to think about anything at all, she strips off her spare clothes and tosses them into the hamper. She makes a mental note to bring new spare clothes to work with her the following day.
With the musky clothes now gone from her body, she steps into the shower. This time, the water is hot, very hot, and it washes away both the chill that had settled over her as well as the bad thoughts that had followed her home.
She steps out of the shower and, after toweling off, wraps herself in a robe and heads back to the kitchen. As much as she doesn’t want to, she needs to call Dr. Faust and let him know that she isn’t going to be returning to work for the rest of the day. She was wrong to leave without telling him, she knew that then and she knows it now, but at the time, she just couldn’t face him.
She picks up her cell phone, sees another missed call from him, and presses Call Back.
It rings only once before Dr. Faust answers. “Beth? Holy God, are you okay?”
The worry in his voice only makes her feel worse for lashing out at him. “Yes, I’m okay. I just needed to get some air.”
“That’s perfectly fine. How are you feeling? How are your eyes? And your Face?”
As he asks this, Elizabeth notices that she has a slight headache and that her mouth is extremely dry but chooses to attribute these symptoms to stress. “I’m feeling okay. My eyes were still stinging a little bit, but I just took another shower at my apartment, and they’re already feeling better.”
This brings relief to him. Beth can hear it in his voice. “Okay, good. So, you are still at home now?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ll be much use to anyone today.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” he says again. “You take all the time you need. Take the weekend if you need to, but please, Beth, if you start feeling worse or if anything happens to you, call me immediately. If you need to go to the hospital, the doctors will need to know what you were exposed to. I have a list printed out for them, just in case.”
“Thank you.”
“I also have an accident form for you to fill out. I’m going to email it to you, but don’t worry about it. Just get to it when you feel up to it.”
“I will.” She holds the line awkwardly and says, “And, Greg, I’m really sorry that I—“
“I’ll hear none of it,” he interjects. “It was a tense situation for both of us, and I’ve only now just stopped shaking.” They both laugh for a moment then silence creeps into the conversation. “Beth, I should apologize as well. I am really sorry that I was just standing there, that I was staring at you—“
“Nope,” This time it is her turn to interject. “I’ll hear none of it either.”
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/zye05b/chemical18_update
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