what elephants know

Chapter 3

“Baby, I love that you don’t have a clue,” Elliot said.

Elliot Snyder – brilliant scientist, but he had absolutely no social grace. Elliot, in fact, was a jerk, almost to the point of being profound. He could spend hours explaining the science behind a project, but he couldn’t carry on a conversation with a woman (other than his mother) for more than five seconds. He invariably said something which got his face slapped or sent the woman fleeing from his presence. Elliot never seemed to say the right thing – until now.

“No, sweetie, it’s really got nothing to do with men being in charge. It’s just easier to prepare DNA from sperm. Sperm, you see, have a much higher ratio of DNA to protein.”

“But, Elliot, how can you get all the little . . . what are they called?”

“Chromosomes.”

“Yeah, that’s it. How do you get all the chromosomes if you don’t use a woman? You guys only have half of them, right?”

She’s so cute when she’s confused.

“No, no, that’s not true. Sperm contains 23 chromosomes, including the female X and male Y sex chromosomes. That’s really all we need for study, but we did use some blood cells from women so we had cells from both sexes.”

“Oh.”

Elliot laughed.

She really is adorable. I’m the luckiest guy on the planet. Every guy in here gave her the once over – a couple of times. Those cute little blond curls are attractive enough, but those legs – wow! I’m crazy about her short skirts. I love walking into a room with her and watching the guys drool. They’re probably wondering how a nerd like me got a babe like her.

Elliot took another quick scan around the bar. It was a dark joint, but there was enough light for him to see the heads snapping forward. The guys didn’t want him to see them checking out his woman. They wanted her. They all wanted her, but she was all his, from the tip of that cute little nose to that tight little butt.

Oh, yeah!

“Elliot . . . .”

“Uh huh . . .” Elliot tried to wipe the smug grin from his face. “Yeah, sweetie?”

“Well, I was just wondering. Do you bring your work home with you? I know how some men, especially really smart ones like you, always have their work right at their elbow. I mean, the last thing I’d ever want to do is get in the way.”

She was pouting prettily and staring at his worn leather briefcase.

“Not to worry, baby. I’ve got it all under control. I’ve got a little work to do, but I won’t be long. You can curl up on my sofa and watch some TV. We’ll find some kind of weepy woman’s thing for you on Lifetime or something.”

“Ooh, we’re going to your place?”

“Yep. I think it’s time you got the grand tour, don’t you?”

I really can be suave when I want to.

“Oh yes! I’ve been really looking forward to that. Can we leave now?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

Elliot paid the bill and, grinning all the time, took his pretty companion by the arm and sauntered toward the door. He made sure he made eye contact with every man he could on the way out.

Yes, sir! I’m the envy of every man in the room.

The trip to the apartment would have taken an eternity if she hadn’t spent it “prepping him” for the night’s activities.

Maybe I’ll just wait until tomorrow to go over those reports.

Elliot didn’t bother to hide his excitement, and he found that it was even more exciting to know the cabbie was sneaking a peek in his rear view mirror. She was as talented as she was beautiful, and the fact she was interested in what he did for a living, that just made her even more desirable. Sure she didn’t understand a bit of it, but that just made her the perfect woman.

Just like dad used to say: A woman ought to be cute and stupid.

Elliot thought about the women on his project. They were brilliant. Heck, all the scientists assigned to the Genome Mapping Project were brilliant, but they were also kind of cold. None of them seemed interested in him as a man and he didn’t find them very exciting, either. Well, maybe that was only partially true. There were a couple – OK a few – he’d take any of them out if they’d give him the time of day.

Who needs them? I’ve got myself a blond bombshell that’s driving me crazy!

It took him five minutes to get himself together when the cab stopped in front of his building. Elliot ignored the leering driver as he paid him, and quickly dashed up the steps to catch up with the hottest woman on this side of Venus.

If I wasn’t in love before, I am after that. What a ride!

Elliot let her walk ahead of him down the hall, enjoying the view and the sweet rhythm of her swaying hips.

And those legs!

Elliot was so excited he couldn’t unlock his door. He was fumbling with his keys when she took them from his hands, unlocked the door, and shoved him into the apartment.

Oh, we’re going to play rough!

He had no idea.

An hour later, she was leaving the bathroom, having cleaned up the last of the blood. She checked her hair and makeup, straightened her short skirt, and then went over to the bed to take one last look at Elliot. She checked the plastic ties that bound him tightly to the headboard, making sure she didn’t get any more of the seeping blood on her hand. She did have a bit on her finger, so she wiped it on the soiled gag she snatched from Elliot’s mouth.

“Why?” The word croaked out between lips bloodied and swollen.

She leaned over him, her breast brushing against his face as she did, a final insult. She scrubbed the wall above the headboard with the dirty rag, erasing any fingerprints she might have left there during her play time.

“Why, Elliot?” She batted her long lashes over the sparkling blue eyes just the way she knew he liked it. “Why not?”

She turned and left the room, picking up his briefcase and hard drive on the way to the door. As she closed the door to the apartment, she was pleased to hear him use his last breath to utter her name.

“Bienn . . . .”

Tags: Bienn, book, DNA, elephants, fantasy, fiction, novel, writing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 2:16 am and is filed under Book 2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.