Chapter 5: Trick or Twist?
The next few days were definitely not a breeze. They disagreed on everything possible. They found the other's idea to be too illogical or boring or simply irritating. Left alone another day, they would be at each other's throats surely. The pitching of idea and approval from Mrs.Dre was done. But the approach to the take the project further was where they drew the line.
Nadia didn't understand if Jason had a coffee addiction or just ordered it to simply irritate her. Every time she tried to change what he proposed he ordered coffee or complained about it. It was not like he was the brightest of the bunch. He had nothing to put forward nor was he willing to accept her's.
She gave up on trying to win his argument and started the project herself, behind him. It was wrong,she knew. With the final submission being only few days away , she had no choice. She mixed the compounds,added the catalyst and produced the results required,or something approximate. The day before the submission,when they met again, she showed him the project.
Nadia ,though nervous about his reaction, knew in her heart that it would be alright."Well, what do you think?"
Jason just kept staring at the compound, expressionless. "Maybe you can give me some feedback?" No answer.
"I..I didn't know what to.." Jason interrupted before she could finish,"No need for an explanation.You had your reasons. Anyway, this is better that what we could have come up with."
He got up to leave. "Do you want some coffee?",Nadia offered, "You know,my treat."
Jason stopped and turned slightly to his left. "No thanks,I hate coffee." With that he left without a second glance at her.
Nadia was excited as well as nervous during the presentation. Any grade she was allotted was how much she was actually worth. Mr.Dre walked around, checking on each project and commenting on few. She jotted down few points on her writing pad and moved on to the next. When she was just two desks away, Nadia noticed Jason moving uncomfortably in his chair. He was struggling with something in his bag. Before she could ask him what was bothering him, Jason extracted a small vial of clear liquid and drained it's contents into the beaker containing her compound. The beaker gave a small sizzling sound followed by a nauseous smell.
It all happened so fast that, she took some time to process it. The moment she came to her senses , she grabbed the beaker and looked inside. There was a black mold instead of the blue powder.
Nadia felt numb. She didn't know what was happening. Her mind didn't register anything going on around her. Her hands started trembling and before she could drop the beaker,Jason snatched it from her and placed another small flask on the table.
Just as the swapping finished Mrs.Dre approached them,asking something and Jason started explaining, pointing at the flask , a small yellow flower and sometimes at her.
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