2040 Revelations Read Online Free Page B

entered the building she checked her watch before taking the stairs up to the top floor. Turning left, she headed down the main corridor, passing a few students on the way. A moment later she’d reached Dean’s door; the sign read Mass Spectrometry Manager. Giving a swift couple of knocks, she entered without waiting for a response. Dean’s desk was empty but a furtive-looking woman shuffled through papers over on the right hand side of the room.
    ‘Can I help you?’ she asked Sarah, evidently annoyed at the intrusion.
    ‘Err no – I mean yes – is Dean about?’
    ‘No, he hasn’t been in today. He’ll be back next week.’
    Sarah was crestfallen. She’d come all this way for no reason and the chances of getting any carbon dating done that evening had gone out of the window. I knew I should have called him first , she thought; idiot . ‘All right,’ – she gave the woman an apologetic smile – ‘no problem. Thanks anyway.’
    She wandered back into the hall and considered her options. Get the train back to London tonight or get a room at a local hotel and head back tomorrow. She rubbed the back of her neck, unconsciously easing some tension. Frustratingly, her efforts to get here quickly had proved fruitless. Plus, telling Trish about her problems with Mark had brought up memories she wanted to bury. Sadly, though, her friend wasn’t really the problem as no matter how hard she tried to forget the incident with Mark, she couldn’t seem to shake it.
    I need a drink , she decided. The Turf Tavern was close by. Dean had taken her to it a few times back in the day. It was mostly students and tourists, so not her usual cup of tea these days, but it was familiar and friendly.
    Having made her way back out of the building, a few minutes later she was nearing the pub when her phone rang. She looked at the screen; it displayed Mark’s face and he looked agitated. Great , she thought, that’s all I need . Pressing a button on the screen expanded the image; it also enabled Mark to see her.
    ‘Where are you? I was worried. Do you know what time it is? It’s getting dark … and who are those people?’
    Sarah looked round as some raucous college girls passed by her as she slowed.
    ‘Just some students from the campus,’ she said. ‘Look, Mark, you’re right, it’s getting late and I’m in Oxford. I’m checking into a hotel. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.’
    ‘Oxford? What are you doing all the way out there? I thought you were meeting Trish at The Pillar.’
    ‘I was – I did. She told me some information about those bones we found a while back. You know the ones we were waiting to get carbon dated?’
    ‘It’s taken that long? I thought you said they’d sped the process up or something?’
    ‘They have, but you still get dumped on a waiting list and with my rep everyone else gets priority. Finally someone got round to doing it, but they analysed the wrong thing so I came over to sort it out.’
    ‘Sarah, haven’t we discussed this? It will go nowhere. It’s always gone nowhere and it always will go nowhere. Forget about it.’
    ‘I’m not so sure. Trish—’
    ‘So are you coming home, then?’ he said, cutting her off.
    She was getting irritated with him now. ‘What? No. I told you I’m staying overnight; I’ve got to go, it’s starting to rain.’
    ‘Fine!’ he said. The screen went blank; he’d hung up.
    Bye then , she thought. Wrapping her coat around herself as the drizzle turned into a deluge, she hurried on.
    Reaching The Tavern, Sarah pushed open the main door. A rush of warm air and noise greeted her, the smell of beer and damp clothing filling her nostrils. The pub heaved with people, the downpour having driven many inside. Not that students needed any excuse to drink and socialise. Ordering a glass of dry white wine, she settled in at the bar on a stool. A group of tourists huddled next to her examined a map and argued in a language she’d guess was Indonesian, although she