By Trynia Merin and Jade

Disclaimer: KISS, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are real persons, and this story is not meant to harm or demean them in any manner. It is a work of fiction. Terri Mason and other characters are property of the author, © Trynia's Journies. Veronica is property of Paulswomyn, Shannon is property of Lady Demon, and Melissa is property of Jade. Rated R for sexual content and language, so no readers under 18 please.

Chapter 1

AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science was holding it's semiannual conference right in Los Angeles, taking up at least six hotels around the city. Chartered busses shuttled patrons and guests among the centers to the large convention complex downtown. Onboard one of the busses rode Terri Mason, anxiously checking her watch for the time.

"Can't be late," she muttered to herself. Among the other business suited patrons she trundled along downtown LA. Till the bus halted with a hiss and electric whine of the doors opening. Everyone politely got up and waited to file off the bus to enter the large convention center.

Once inside she picked up a brochure and her namecard badge. Among the guests, she was not recognized immediately, and this both surprised and delighted her. With the exception of some of the conventioneers few people gave her a second glance, other then noticing how attractive she looked in the dark blue business suit, one piece with the above the knee skirt. She pushed a strand of hair from her face that had slipped free of her updo of spiral curls and mahogany highlights.

She happened to walk by one room with a placard outside of it labeled "analytical chemistry lectures this way." Glancing at the brochure she scanned for just who was slated to present today. There was Beth Price from the Philadelphia Museum of art on the subject of GC/MS used to date paintings from the Renaissance at 1 PM. Most surely she wouldn't want to miss a good Beth lecture, for this middle aged scientist and she went back a good ways to when Terri volunteered in the Conservation Lab at the PMA. There were the usual other chromatography lectures slated for earlier, but it was the one going right now that jumped off the page.

Title of Lecture: Factors in Determining Method Detection Limits for

Chromatography Instrumentation.

Presenter: Leo Malcolm, Ph.D., Chromatographic Separations Research, Merck Sharp and Dohm Inc.

"Holy shit," she muttered to herself as the patrons filed past her. "It's been a long time…"

Grabbing her briefcase she filed in with the new line headed for the Bellingham room. This was a lecture she had personal interest in for a change, never mind the subject content.

She just made it to a seat in the back as the speaker droned on, "Knowledge of signal-to-noise ratio is essential in determining method detection limits for individual instrumentation. Analysts must be confident that they have sufficient statistics to back up their reported detection limits. Normally, seven replicates of a known standard are analyzed consecutively; the standard deviation of these results is used for detection limit calculations based on T-Factor. These limits should be verified yearly and variations should be logged accordingly. ."

For a moment the eyes of the person next to her glazed over, and they snapped their head up. Terri nudged her, and the two women exchanged a smile. It was Beth, of all people, there from Philadelphia.

"Terri," she whispered. "I'm so glad you could make it. Are you going to stay for my lecture?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Terri smiled. "Hope you like mine…"

"It's probably more scintillating then this person, no offense…" Beth smiled. Lines creased her attractive face, framed in a short dark haired bob. She was in her upper forties, divorced and dressed strikingly in her navy blue dress slacks, white shirt and blue blazer. Just as Terri remembered her from those five years ago.

The lecture thankfully ended, and the two women exchange a knowing glance as they rose. It had been a long flight from Philadelphia, and Beth was more likely jetlagged from the trip then from the lecture. She thoughtfully considered the flush on Terri's face when she caught sight of Dr. Malcolm up front.

"Hey, didn't you and he…" Beth asked.

"My lecture's soon," Terri interrupted slowly. "I've got about thirty minutes to sort my slides out…"

"I'll be there. Save me a seat in the front," Beth said knowingly. "I have to meet someone at the national gallery before…"

Before Dr. Malcolm could notice whom the two women were talking in one corner of the emptying room, he only caught site of Terri's profile as she moved quickly out of the room in the opposite direction of Dr. Price. Could it be? Or was he hallucinating?

Dr. Malcolm excused himself from the other chemists and moved quickly after her. He strode into the busy hallway of the Marriott, scanning left and right. In his hand, he glanced at the brochure, and his eyes widened. One name jumped out above all others under "Science and the Media…"

"Lecture topic: The depiction of forensic science in popular culture; accurate portrayals?

Speaker: Terri Mason, MS, Villanova University."

He had plenty of time to make it to the Crystal room, one of the larger areas of the hotel. Swinging his briefcase onto his shoulder, he set off in search of the room, and a piece of his past he thought had long passed him by.
 
 

Chapter 2

Terri was nervous, not as nervous as she was when she gave her dissertation defense, but nervous enough. She had given presentations before in university settings, and delivered script proposals in more recent past before a group of executives. Why was this so much different? In the last six months she had given a few guest lectures at universities about the portrayal of science in popular media like movies and television, not to mention how useful scientific advisors were when it came to shows like the Practice and ER.

She faced her audience, clearing her throat. There were many people crammed into the ballroom, some seated in folding chairs while others were still slipping in from the back. Clearing her throat she took the small remote for the slideshow projector in hand, and faced them. She took a moment to swig a sip of water from a cold glass before she started.

"As you may have guessed, science in the media has not always been given its due portrayal. As a scientist who writes now for major production companies, I have found that a little translation goes a long way…. Take my recent work on the Practice…"

So far so good, she told herself mentally when she found the eyes of the front row had in fact not glazed over in the first five minutes. In fact, she saw a few leaning forward in their chairs, while others crossed their knees and leaned back. Still more people were filing in the semi dim room. Slide after slide clicked under her control as Terri continued her lecture.

Who was that who suddenly took the empty seat in the front row? It wasn't Beth, but someone else. Behind glasses a pair of eyes fixed directly into hers, and she saw the familiar dark curly hair cropped short, but not too short, and the metal framed glasses. He set his briefcase down and listened intently.

For a moment Terri hesitated, shock filling her. He knew it was she, and he knew she was here. Grabbing her water glass she swigged down a gulp in an effort to chase the lump from her throat that had just formed.

************************************************************

"Good lecture," Beth said to Terri at the refreshment suite. Sandwiches and fresh soda were brought in on large platters, placed on the long rows of tables to the far end o the room. Tables were draped with a shrimp pink tablecloth that brushed the brown plush carpet. Crystal glasses held water, which seemed in unlimited supply when compared to the coffee and tea, which was always consumed by the time they managed to get to them.

"Thanks," Terri smiled with relief.

"Are you all right? There was one moment where you seemed distracted," Beth asked her, concern in the blue eyes.

"I must congratulate you on a most interesting lecture," came a voice that made Terri shiver. Beth glanced over her shoulder to see Terri's face flush shortly at the newcomer. He stood about five foot nine, only an inch taller then Terri in her platform loafers, with brown curly hair short on the sides and slightly spiked on top. A pair of hazel eyes took Terri's form in, behind gold framed glasses. He carried a slightly worn briefcase, with the initials LLM on the flap.

"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm," Terri smiled, regaining her composure. She looked him right in the eyes, confidence surpassing and delighting Beth. Indeed her friend had changed since last they met, for before now Terri would have been shy, almost reserved to the point of rudeness at such a blast from her past.

"Please, we have no need for formalities. I must admit I didn’t' expect to see you here," Dr. Malcolm said, extending a hand.

"Dr. Malcolm, meet Dr. Beth Price, Philadelphia Museum of Art… she's giving a lecture relatively soon, aren't you, Beth?"

"We have been introduced already," she nodded, but shook his hand anyway. "Look I have to go set up. Why don't I see you two there later?"

"Beth I thought…" Terri said.

"You've got a lot to catch up on," Beth said, shooting an apology to Terri as she rushed off.

"It's been a long time, Leo," she said slowly.

"A very long time, T," he said to her, taking her hand. "How have you been? You delivered that lecture like a pro."

"Thanks. I've been well. I see that you're an associate senior scientist at Merck now. How long have you been there? As I recall you took a post doc at NYU…"

"Well Merck in Rahway New Jersey was very impressed with my dissertation, so they had a position in one of their Chromatography development groups. I've been there ever since. And what about you? Your job at Orphan Pharmaeucticals didn't work out?"

"I left because of conflict of interest…"

"I had heard about them when we bought them," he said. "I looked for you, but they had said you'd left. I even got in touch with Crystal…"

"I'm surprised you tried to find me," Terri said evenly.

"As I recall, you were the one that stopped emailing me," he said smoothly. "Why?"

"You made it clear you didn't want a relationship," Terri cleared her throat.

"I never said that…"

"Not in words, Leo. But the way you were. I didn't want to come between you and your career. If you had stayed at Villanova, focused your attention on me, you wouldn't have gone the route you would have… worrying about when I'd finish…"

"I cared about you, I still do. Terri, can't we leave that in the past for now? That was five years ago… and we've both gone quite far. I want to know what you've been up to, that's all."

"I suppose that wouldn't hurt."

"Want to have dinner after Beth's lecture? They're having a buffet for the lecturer's tonight."

"Okay, but its just dinner," Terri told him firmly, yet politely.

*********************************************

They ate the chicken cordon bleu with the wild rice, facing each other at one of the long tables. He looked good in that tailored powder gray suit with the white shirt and red paisley tie, she had to admit. More then once she felt his eyes walking over her as they filled each other in on the last five years. Rather Leo was doing most of the talking at first. He still managed to make her smile with the way he told a story, "Well by the summer of 2001 we were working on a new capillary electrophoresis setup. You wouldn't believe how angry Dr. Foley was when he found out that we had played a little trick on him when he first had his lab setup…"

"What?"

"Well he was a newcomer. He had just left academialand at Drexel, and he was rubbing it in all our faces."

"Oh, the fact he was an academic chemist, and you guys were industrial chemists who hadn't seen a classroom in over 10 years, so you obviously needed a refresher course in basic chromatography?"

"He pretty much said that in so many words when he put up that flier in his lab window of basic chromatography equations. Well we decided to let him know we got the message. So we ended up labeling his whole machine with one word slang terms… all in multicolor post it notes! He was pissed!"

"Post it notes?" Terri laughed. "That's hilarious!"

"After that he fell into line… and peace reigned in our department!"

Terri and Leo laughed together, their faces wrinkling into mutual smiles of mirth. Leo took another sip of his diet coke, tossing the lemon onto Terri's plate.

"Hey," she smacked his hand. "Don’t dump that on me…"

"You never used to mind," he teased. For a moment his eyes fixed into hers, and he took her hand.

"You're looking very well lately. What have you done to yourself Terri? Tell me all about what you've been up to. Here I am being the center of attention… and I haven't taken the time to ask you about your last five years…"

"Well, I've actually been screenwriting," she admitted. "After I left Orphan that is…"

"Screenwriting?" he asked. "Yes that would explain the lecture. Don’t' you miss the chemistry lab?"

"I worked as a pyrotechnician for a major firm," she admitted. "This screenwriting job was a side line till recently, when I sold my first script to the Practice…"

"That's rather impressive. But have you ever had scripts rejected?"

"As many times as a scientific paper," she shrugged with a smile.

"Are you still in Philly, or somewhere else?"

"I'm local," Terri said slowly.

"Rolling blackouts and earthquakes included," he teased.

"Well it keeps life interesting," Terri laughed, pushing up her glasses a bit more. Leo caught a glimpse of the gold ring on her left ring finger, and pointed to it with a question in his eyes.

"Nice ring. Rather unusual. Is that a dragon?"

"That would be it," Terri said mysteriously.

"Where did you get it?"

"Well, my boyfriend gave it to me," she said slowly. She saw the look of momentary disappointment in Leo's eyes. On his finger, she saw no ring, except for the class ring on his right hand, heavy and substantial.

"Boyfriend? Hmm, what does he do for a living?"

"He's a producer in Hollywood," she said simply. "Are you married?"

"No, not yet," he said. "I was dating someone for a time, but it didn’t' work out."

"Oh, what a shame," Terri said.

"Well I am hopeful," he said slowly. "Who knows what could happen in the next few months? So, this man in your life, is he treating you well?"

"Of course," Terri said. "Is this the third degree?"

"Well I just want to know if you're happy. I mean screenwriting and all, it sounds exciting…"

"Well it is… oh crap I have to go… I have to get back home before too much later. Tomorrow's an appointment where I'm submitting my latest script and I don't want to be late…"

"I understand. Look, I would love to get together for lunch sometime soon. There are still a few days left for the AAAS, and I'll be in town for at least another week or so. Just to continue our catching up…"

"Well, I do have some appointments the next 2 days… but maybe we can meet for lunch here on Wednesday?" Terri suggested.

"that would be great. Here's my hotel phone number, and my cell phone number so we can get hold of each other."

"All right. Look, I have to be going. See you soon okay Leo. Great seeing you again," Terri said. For a moment they hesitated, holding out hands or moving forward to hug, stopping in their awkwardness.

Leo gave her an embrace quickly, and she shook his hand firmly. He held up her coat for her to get into while she got her pocketbook. She was rather surprised when he caught her by the hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Take care of yourself. Don't be a stranger…" he said before she quickly walked out of the banquet room. Her face flushed red hot as her heart pounded.