Always Been There

CHAPTER 2: NATHAN OR NATHANIEL?

His eyes looked very familiar to me. For a second l felt like the whole world froze. The mix of curiosity or concern with the brown eye though another shade, it felt familiar. I heard someone coughing at the back, leaving my trance like state. He helped me to regain my balance then took the files that fell on the floor giving it to me. My heart skipped a beat.

'Nathan'?

" Thank you " It was then I had a proper look at him. He was about some 6 feet tall. At first his hair looked black but now I can see the blue hues. His eyes are honey brown shade. He has no working idea around him but his aura around him felt like he's not a normal person. He was wearing a button-up white shirt and black trousers. I'm sure he's someone who works here if not he couldn't have entered so easily.

" It's okay," He said, walking off. I stood there looking in the direction he went.

" Ma'am, are you alright? " Rachel asked me tapping on my shoulder. I shook my head saying " it's nothing ". I went into the elevator giving one last look in that direction.

I dumped my things on the table before taking my seat. I saw a wall clock. It's 9:30 AM. ' l still have half an hour left '

" Bring a cup of coffee and some cookies, Rachel? Thank you " She left the office.

I leaned back on my white office chair. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? That man who helped me just now looked like Nathan. Was that Nathan? With Nathan's IQ and character, I won't be surprised if he's an influencing personality in the country. But he wasn't Nathan. Though it's been years, I still remember his face as I saw it yesterday. That man just made me remember Nathan a little bit because of his similar facial features.

Maybe that person is someone who looks like Nathan? That's it. I'm overthinking.

I sat straight when I heard someone knocking the door. Rachel came in with a small plate of cookies and a cup of coffee.

" Thank you Rachel " Rachel bowed and left the office.

Holding the cup, I walked towards the big one way glass window. ' I need to focus '

Aley City is situated in the North Eastern side of the country. The whole North Eastern part of the country can be considered as military zone. The reason why the security here is top notch. To stay in this part of country one needs to be powerful and clean as well. Aley City is a bit far from military base but we're still under military zone.

I took a sip, staring through the one way glass. The capital city 'Zinder' is only two hours away from here.

' The lab sure is guarded well '

I started checking the file on my table. I saw the wall clock again. 10 minutes left before the meeting starts.

I went out with my file and some reference materials in my hand. I saw Rachel walking towards me. Maybe to notify me.

" Let's go "

I'm fully focused now. My head stopped thinking about that person. He might be one of the members joining in this research. And my haunch was right.

When I entered the meeting room, he was already sitting across my place. I stood at the entrance for a second then came in as if nothing happened. We just nodded at each other. In the next few minutes, the others came. Only Dr. Mac Callum left.

If I'm not wrong, the other four must be Dr. Catherine and Dr. Liam of the east laboratory and Dr. Mathew and Dr. George from the west laboratory. They wished me as soon as they saw me but when they noticed the person who helped me they respectfully bowed their heads.

' Just who is he? '

After a few seconds Dr. Mac Callum came in with some reports with his assistant. His assistant is one of our seniors so it was not a problem for him to be here.

Dr. Mac is in his late 70's. Contradicting to his age, he looks strong and healthy. Only because of his slightly bald head and Silver colored hair, you can say he's in his 70's.

" Good morning everyone" He gave a big smile but l know it meant trouble. I already know this research is gonna be a big project to tackle.

" As you know this particular case is quite a problem. A few months ago, I was tasked to send you the samples, and as you've seen these species are hard to study and research. So far, only Dr. Maya and Dr. Nathaniel were able to make some progress " Dr. Mac pointed me and the guy who helped me. I was surprised.

Dr. Nathaniel is a mysterious figure. Expect for a few higher authorities, no one saw him. Only his name and achievements were known to this world. Not even his last name was known to the Public.

I looked at him. He just gave me a nod. " So this research would be officially carried by Dr. Nathaniel and Dr. Maya. For further progress please check the materials given to you this morning........"

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Along with the others I, Dr. Mac, and Dr. Nathaniel discussed what kind of species it might be, it's history and whatever experiments we conducted. We also discussed the data collected by the others.

By the time the meeting was finished, it was already lunch hour. ' I hope Rachel ordered my lunch '

" Well let's end our meeting here," Dr. Mac said checking the time. " Maya, Nathaniel you can meet your team after lunch and do get familiar with each other. You guys have a long journey ahead "

Dr. Mac's assistant opened the door. All of us slowly went out. To my surprise, Dr. Nathaniel was waiting outside for me.

" Hello, Dr. Maya. I'm Dr. Nathaniel " he offered his hand. His introduction was simple and clean. His face held no proud full expression or no air of arrogance. The small smile on his lips looked genuine.

" Hello, Dr. Nathaniel. I'm Dr. Maya. Maya Brewton." I took his hand and returned his polite smile.

" I see. You both introduced yourself to each other. That's good then " Dr. Mac who came after we said.

" Yes, Dr. Mac," I said.

" This child " He sighed. " You don't need to be formal around me when there's no one. Nathaniel's gonna work with you for a long while, so there's nothing wrong letting him know"

" Thank you," Dr. Nathaniel said in a polite tone.

" Alright, both of you. After lunch meets your team. come to me, if there's something you need to know " Dr. Mac said.

" Okay, Uncle Mac " He smiled at me, leaving us alone.

" I believe our offices are on the same floor," Dr. Nathaniel said as we started walking towards the elevator.

" Yes," I said my thoughts drifting back to him. Unlike this morning he's wearing a lab coat and working ide. He also wore a neck tie with a feather shaped silver tie pin.

When we reached the top floor, Rachel and a man around Rachel's age were waiting for us. Rachel was already holding my lunch.

" Dr. Maya " Dr. Nathaniel called me. I turned to see him. " This is my assistant Joshua. If I'm not available, you can approach him "

" Good Afternoon, Dr. Maya. It's my honor to meet you " Joshua bowed his head.

" Good afternoon, Joshua. It's my pleasure to meet you " I replied. Joshua seemed like a newly graduate person. He has a golden brown hair and a pair of sea blue eyes. I introduced Rachel to them.

Dr. Nathaniel suggested having lunch in the canteen with others. I agreed with him. So we went in to the elevator to go the down floor. We were casually discussing a topic when he suddenly said " If you don't mind please call me by my name Dr. Maya "

I was stunned for a moment. Dr. Nathaniel is a big scientist to start with. Besides my high school friends, I never truly made friends after that incident. Many people approached me with ulterior motives. So I wasn't close to any person in my professional life to call them my friend. I always kept my distance.

But with this person I don't feel that insecurity. I felt comfortable. If there's anything I should be the one approaching him for ulterior motive. Not him.

" Sure, Nathaniel but I think you should do the same " I replied with a smile. He looked a bit stunned then gave a big smile. " Fine, Maya "

Hearing my name from his smooth cello like voice gave me chills. We reached floor.

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CANTEEN:

As we entered the canteen, they were a nervous seeing us. Did we scare them? Things didn't go awkward as one of the team members was an acquaintance of mine.

Nathaniel, Lucas and I sat together with our assistants together. Rachel ordered pasta and fruit juice for me.

Lucas, Rachel and Joshua were talking but Joshua seemed a bit distant. I spoke a few words but Nathaniel just sat there. He only asked me few things.

After lunch we went to meet the team in laboratory. While going there Nathaniel and I exchanged our contacts. Introducing ourselves, we let them get familiar with us. Nathaniel seemed a bit cold to approach so most of them seemed a bit extra warm to me. He didn't behave that way with me. Is it because we have to work together? but he didn't show any reluctance. Does that mean he sees me on the same level as him? If he is then it's my honor.

The rest of time we checked our lab, materials, tools and other things. There are still few materials that are yet to receive. We had a casual meeting with our team about the research it's objectives and the theories we came up with. I felt satisfied with our team. They are quick to catch up with us.

It was already evening by the time we were done with the lab. Uncle Mac didn't even visit us once. Seems like he's quite busy. I went into my office. Taking off my lab coat and working ide, I took my bag, phone and files. I turned on the spyware in my office before walking out.

Nearing the first floor lobby, I saw people from my team. They bid me good night. I looked for Nathaniel but l didn't see him. I said my bye to him anyways but l just wanted to see him.

On my way back home, I ordered roasted chicken and Veggies for my dinner. It was around 7 PM by the time I was done with my bath. I wore a black comfortable nightdress and let my hair down. I heard the door bell ring. Quickly putting on my robe, I saw the delivery guy from the security camera.

Bringing the plates from the kitchen, l turned on the TV. Changing it into a news channel, I sat on my couch eating my roasted chicken with veggies.

" Today's Science and Technology updates " I showed an interest to it. " Not too long ago, a new species was discovered. As for what kind of species it might be it's yet to be discovered. Many popular scientists and researchers had said that they didn't see this kind of species before and couldn't make much progress " I hm-med as the reporter went on.

" Today the Aley City's laboratory officially confirmed the rumors that Dr. Nathaniel would be researching this case along with Dr. Maya Brewton, a genius in the field " I choked on the chicken piece I was eating, watching mine and Nathaniel's pictures side by side. It appears like Nathaniel wants to reveal his face to the world. Turning off the TV, I went into the kitchen putting the leftovers in the fridge. I entered in to my room, took off my robe and fell on my bed. I saw a grey colored file on my bed. ' I need to review it for tomorrow '

I leaned against the headboard, reviewing those papers. I didn't notice how much time passed since I started reading the papers. My notification tone brought me back to world. It was a message from mom.

' I spoke with the military college Dean about my transfer to National defense University. I might arrive earlier than expected but I need to stay in the university. Let's talk about it tomorrow. Go to sleep. Good night ' I turned to the side to keep the file on the side table. Slowly leaving it I took the photo frame. It was taken a long time ago. To be exact almost ten years ago.

I was standing in between Nathan and Noah with the rest of our gang. I'm still in contact with them. It's just that I don't contact them frequently. I left it on its place, turning off the lamp, I went to sleep.

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I stood in front of the 'stars section' class room. The school staff member knocked on the door before entering in to the room. I took a deep breath before stepping inside.

Wearing the same uniform as them, a black colored checkered skirt with the same pattern tie on the white shirt and a black coat with white stripes on the edges of the sleeves and jacket, I looked like one of them instead of looking like a new student. On our coat lapels, there's this Blue Iris flower shaped silver pin, the school emblem.

There are some 25 students in the class. Even though there's no teacher around, the class is as silent as a library. All the attention came on to me. The staff member cleared his throat before introducing me.

" Good morning everyone " He grabbed their full attention. " she's your new classmate" and turned to look at me "Please introduce yourself "

I held my school bag a bit harder. " Hello, everyone " I calmed myself down a bit. " My name is Maya Brewton. I'm a transferred student from Leaf city Heaven Garden branch " I said confidently even though I'm a nervous wreck inside.

Silence. Some saw me with interest. Some were curious and few others were expressionless. I feel like I'll burst from this pressure. Then I heard someone standing up at the last bench. He's wearing the male version of our uniform. Black trousers, black checkered tie, White shirt tucked in and a black coat with white stripes on the edges. On his lapel there's the same silver pin. On top of it there's another silver pin engraved ' THE GLORY OF HEAVEN GARDEN ' He came towards me and offered his hand saying

" Hello, Ms. Maya. I'm Nathan Astley. Welcome To Heaven Garden main branch. It's our pleasure to have you here"

TO BE CONTINUED___________________________________________________________