The University wasn’t where Elizabeth usually found herself but she was looking for Lissa Dragomir to ask her a question about dinner when she wandered into a large almost seashell shaped room. It looked like it was some kind of lab for mathematics but she couldn’t be sure, budgets she was good with, in-depth math problems she wasn’t.
She was looking at a piece of art detailing the sequence of seeds on a strawberry when she heard footsteps. Turning she smiled. “Sorry, I was looking for a friend of mine and this room,” she looked around, “caught my eye, do you know if they hold events in here?” She could think of a few amazing events that could take place in a room like this.
It was, perhaps, not surprising that Ian was spending time in the math lab. In truth, he was a bit out of sorts -- he had the sneaking suspicion he was being watched, and he didn’t like that. Most people avoided the math lab, though, and the design of this one was a bit complicated, so he hoped it would help his anonymity a little.
The sight of the unfamiliar figure drew his attention as he looked up from a clipboard, and he offered a smile. “Oh sure, that’s fine. It’s a rather fun room, isn’t it?” he said, looking around as well. “You know, I don’t. It’d be a great venue, though. Very unexpected. I’m sure there are people who’d like something unexpected.” He offered a hand. “I’m Dr. Ian Malcolm. Who are you looking for?”
Elizabeth smiled taking his hand with a firm shake. “Elizabeth Burke,” she nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Malcolm.” She looked around at some of the pieces on the wall before looking back at him.
“Oh, a friend of mine. Lissa Dragomir, she takes some classes here and we were going to talk about dinner,” she answered. “But I think you’re right, this would be an unexpected room for an event.” She had a thoughtful expression. “Does it have any secrets to it? The room?”
“And you, Ms. Burke,” he said, shaking her hand in return.
“Ah. Well, I think this batch of classes is ending in a few minutes, so you should be able to catch her before too terribly long. In the meantime, you definitely found one of the more interesting spots to wait,” he offered, then smirked a bit. “Oh, plenty. Lots of dark ones.”
“Elizabeth, please,” she insisted.
El laughed softly. “Dark ones?” She asked noting his comment about classes ending shortly, she took a moment to send Lissa a text so she could find her when she was out of class. “I can’t decide if that sounds intriguing or dangerous.” She paused. “Probably a little of both.”
“Ian, in return,” he responded.
“Oh yes. The darkest sort. Lurid and scintillating, as any good dark secret ought to be,” he good-naturedly replied, dipping already into his standard flirtation as he moved to settle a bit against a table nearby. “It’s definitely a bit of both. Are you looking for a place for an event?”
Elizabeth laughed with a small shake of her head. “My friends' engagement party,” she answered. “And it’d be good to have a few more spaces in mind for any other events that come up.” El smiled. “I appear to be the resident event planner.”
“I don’t envy you for that. I’d be hopeless at party planning. My natural inclination is to just let cards fall where they may, so coming up with details isn’t my forte,” he said. “This friend -- it’s the one you’re meeting today?”
Elizabeth smiled. “It’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it.” She did, she liked how it kept her busy. Nodding, “yes, she recently got engaged to a good friend of mine and my husbands. It was about time too.” Elizabeth couldn’t help herself.
“Well, give her my congratulations. The marriage thing also isn’t really for me -- I’ve tried it four times now, to no avail,” he said, laughing a bit at his own failure in that arena. “If you’d like, I’ll reach out to the university for you and see if they’ll allow an event here. Just shoot me a message on the network as a reminder.”
“Four times?” Elizabeth asked her eyes widening a little bit. “I would really appreciate that, and you’ll have to come by for dinner sometime too.” Elizabeth knew she needed to branch out of the little group she’d formed here, there were so many other people to meet.
“I’m a terrible husband, unfortunately. Decent dad, though?” He smiled, and nodded at the invitation. “I appreciate the invitation, and will definitely take you up on it. You seem like a good one to know, especially if I end up with an event that needs planning.” He glanced at his watch as sound erupted outside of the door. “Well, that ought to be the end of the classes. I need to hit my office before I go to my next lecture hall. It was great to meet you, Elizabeth.”
“Being a decent father is important,” she smiled. “And it was really nice to meet you too Ian, I’ll send that reminder in the next few days.” She smiled as she looked towards the hallway. “I better go find Lissa.” With that, she left him to head to his office as she went to go find Lissa.