Once his speech was over, Robert had to wait to get his grant money in the form of a check from the governor before leaving the podium. Once that was done, the governor gave another interview and left early. However, the night was still young.
Later that night, Robert and Nicole hit the afterparty with their kids, mingling and laughing with guests. Robert realized that his sons still weren't paying attention.
"Pay attention boys," Robert spoke in a somewhat dissatisfied tone, waving the trophy in front of them.
"Yes, we saw you get a shiny trophy and some cash. Does that mean I'll get a bigger allowance?" Gabriel quipped, making Nicole glance at him in warning. However, Robert was too happy to notice his son's sass.
"Maybe you will," he said.
"What about me?" His younger son Daniel chimed in.
"Sure, sure, everyone gets a raise," Robert said absentmindedly as he faced a long line of people who seemed to only want to speak with him.
Everyone seemed eager to congratulate him, and he couldn't walk ten feet without someone offering a handshake or a toast. It was his finest moment, and all he could do was enjoy it.
Robert stood near the center of the room, smiling through an overwhelming blur of congratulatory handshakes. Some of the congratulations were offered by his friends with genuine smiles on their faces, and some were offered by his rivals through decidedly fake smiles and gritted teeth. For some reason, watching his rivals' faces try to push down their overwhelming jealousy as they shook his hand was more intoxicating than champagne.
"Did you see John's face when you got the award? It looked like the pretentious fool had swallowed a lemon," Dr Tran came up to Robert and joked. John was short for Johnson, a Doctor with the CDC. Johnson and Robert had gone to grad school in the same university. For some reason, he and Robert had always disliked each other. The dislike started when they were in school and continued long into their careers. Robert knew why he disliked Johnson, the man came from a wealthy family and seemed to have everything handed to him. He never took his studies seriously but he always got A's. However, he has no idea why the man disliked him. Maybe he hated him for the same reason; because he was so different from him that just looking at him made him almost mad with jealousy.
"I didn't. Did he look angry?" Robert asked, and in response Nicole and Dr Tran nodded. He smiled in response, as he straightened out his clothes. For once, he wasn't in his lab coat, but in a tailored navy suit with a small golden pin gleaming on his lapel. The pin was the symbol of the Scientist of the Year award and he had received it that night. Despite his disdain for Summers, he did not cringe away when the man fixed it to his lapel only an hour ago. And he certainly did not shy away from the congratulatory handshake he offered. It felt like in one minute, his entire life had changed.
The sound of the standing ovation he had received still rang in his ears, and the flashes of the cameras when he received the plaque and check from the Governor still stayed in his mind. Speaking of the check, Robert's hands returned to the pocket where he kept it, he patted it, making sure it was still there. The crisp lines of the paper seemed to reassure him that what had happened that night was real. Although he knew he deserved everything he had gotten, the feeling hadn't yet settled. No matter how much work he had put into it, no matter how hard he had prepared, he truly had not expected to get the award. Good things didn't usually happen to him. It was surreal. It felt like he was floating.
His wife, Nicole, stood by his side, radiant in an emerald green silk dress that shimmered with every movement. The dress was beautiful and elegant, just like its wearer. Nicole was a stunning woman with a kind smile and an even kinder attitude. Robert gave her a grateful look. She had been his anchor through years of setbacks and late nights, through experimental failures and research grant rejections. She beamed with pride, occasionally nudging Robert when someone important approached.
Their children, Gabriel and Daniel, had been allowed to attend the reception only after making solemn promises to behave, and they had, mostly. Gabriel had put his troublemaking tendencies aside to focus on keeping his brother out of trouble. Daniel was easier to manage as all he needed was a quiet spot and his handheld games and he could be silent all night. The taskntheygave Gabriel was to make sure his brother didn't get so engrossed in the game that he would do something rude. They now sat at a small table nearby, sipping sparkling juice and inspecting the mini desserts, many of which they were seeing for the first time. Nicole had to keep an eye on them so they wouldn't get smart and try to sneak some champagne, but she juggled that with comforting her husband who still seemed shellshocked.
"It's beautiful, Robert," Nicole whispered, leaning in close. "You've earned all this."
He gave her hand a squeeze. "Couldn't have done it without you."
A familiar voice cut in. "And yet you did it, with a bleeding heart idea that no one had faith in. Amazing. Really." There was a hint of amusement in the voice that Robert didn't quite understand.
Robert turned to see Dr. Lane Wickers, a slick-haired man with a smirk on his face. It wasn't surprising to him, it felt like every time he saw him, he was always smirking. This time, the man was offering a toast with his champagne glass. Despite how irritated he felt, he clinked his glass against Wickers'. In his mind, Wickers was just like Summers. He worked for Bio-deonTech, a firm known for scooping up university research and licensing it for lucrative defense contracts. They had sniffed around some of his colleagues' work before. Although they had gotten paid well for it, by the time Bio-deon Tech was done with it, they could hardly recognize the results as their work. Wickers' main job was to identify viable research and initiate contact with the scientists in charge.
It was an efficient tactic as most people did not believe he would screw over a fellow scientist that way. However, he knew that he and Wickers had two very different ideas of what screwing over entailed.
"They got their money, so what's their problem? Don't they know how business works?" He once said in a controversial interview. Some people agreed with him, while others, like Robert thought he was trying to use money to hide his guilt.
Robert accepted the toast but not the compliment. "Thanks, Lane. We had a lot of help from a few generous contributors and the university, despite how underfunded it is."
Lane grinned as if Robert had made a joke. "Well, you know what they say. Ideas are cheap. Execution's everything. Universities are old institutions, and very stubborn too. Times are changing, you have to go with the tide or wash out. And sometimes, you have to be willing to play with the big dogs to get what you want." Wickers' voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Robert, who frowned as he found that the last of his patience was fading.
Nicole stepped in with a well-practiced smile that cut through the tension like a scalpel. She had a lot of experience running interference between Robert and people he didn't like.
"And some ideas aren't for sale," she said the harsh words in a joking tone that got rid of the remaining tension in the air.
Wickers chuckled, raising his glass. "Touché, but think of what wonderful things this… second skin could do."
"Nothing dangerous, I'm sure," Robert spoke in a terse tone that brought back the tension from earlier.
"Oh, I'm sure that's not true,"
"It. Is." Robert said through gritted teeth.
To Wickers' credit, he did not flinch at that. Instead, his face lit up with a brilliant smile.
"You're riding high on this win, it's understandable. However, have you given any thought to what will happen after?"
"After what?"
"After the applause fades and the grant money fizzles out, what will you do the next? Maybe we'll see you at Bio-deon Tech," he said with the slickness of a car salesman.
"Oh, and one last thing. Anything can be dangerous in the right hands," he said in a light tone before leaving.
As Wickers drifted off to another conversation, Robert exhaled, the encounter leaving a sour taste in his mouth. It was the downside of the award, it brought his work to the attention of vultures like Wickers and Summers. That was the thing about events like these, beneath the glitter was always the quiet war of ideology. Some had come to celebrate knowledge. Others had come to shop.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted Summers and Wickers talking passionately. It came as no surprise to him that two people so committed to making money off war would hit it off. It, however, soured his mood as he thought of the fact that they both had at least tens of millions invested in their labs right now, while he was hoping the cheque for three hundred thousand dollars would keep his lab afloat until his research produced results.
Despite all that, he still managed to have a good night. There were other scientists for him to speak with, and learn from.
He spoke with Dr. Anneka Vos, whose team had developed a biodegradable microchip. He also spoke with Professor Hanson, the aged professor who was Robert's first mentor at the University. He had watched Robert go from his student to his lab assistant, to his colleague.
"Scientist of the year, I'm proud of what you've accomplished." Professor Hanson said to him as he shook his hand. It was perhaps the most significant compliment he had received that night. Every handshake reminded him that the years had not been wasted.
Nicole excused herself briefly to check on the kids and returned with Daniel in tow, who announced with great solemnity that the blueberry cake bites were "better than" her homemade cake. Robert laughed as Nicole turned to her son and glared at him.
"Stop laughing, I'm sure he thinks it's better than your award too," Nicole shot back at Robert who was laughing so hard that he had to hold his stomach.
"I can't eat his award, can I?" Daniel quipped.
"Well, I guess your dad's award is second place to the blueberry cake then," she said.
"Obviously, can I go back? I want to have some more before Gabriel finishes it all," he asked.
"Okay, just… don't make a mess," Nicole laughed as she spoke. However, her laughter was cut short as she looked over her shoulder, replaced by a look of pleasant surprise.