Unexpected Encounters [B.H.M.]

15

"We'll see about that," I told him when I could see Will coming back with the dictionary in his hands.

"You will, I know that," Brian said confidently and stood beside me.

"Which word are you looking for?" Will asked, holding the dictionary out for me.

"Quarks, apparently," I said and browsed through the dictionary.

"I keep telling her that it is a word but she doesn't really believe me," Brian informed my neighbour, making me shake my head.

"Oh, isn't that something physics related?" Will asked, giving Brian an impressed look. "Are you also a teacher?"

"Oh no, I'm... uhm, not a teacher, but I do have a degree from Imperial in Physics so I do know a thing here and there. Which is something Frida doesn't seem to believe." He placed his right hand on my back gently, making me turn my heaed surprised.

"Well... I've almost found Q so just wait and see," I told him, shifting my weight onto my left leg. Chewing my lip I skimmed through the entries. "Quantity... quantum.. - leap, mechanics, theory, quarantine, qua-... quark...," I sighed and looked at Brian. "I cannot believe it... 'a very small part of matter. There are several types of quark and it is thought that Protons, Neutrons, etc. are formed from them.' And quark is also a type of cheese apparently, similar to curd cheese. Great." I was a bad loser, I knew that, but I couldn't help it. "Fine, fine, you win," I muttered and closed the dictionary.

"Thank you," Brian said smugly. "See, you should just have listened to me. I don't cheat, keep that in mind."

"Yeah, fine. I don't have a choice, do I?" I asked and gave Will back his dictionary. "Thanks, Will, it didn't really help me but I still appreciate it."

Brian chuckled. "No, you don't have a choice."

And Will took the dictionary back and smiled at me. "You're welcome. Are you sure you don't want to borrow it for the evening if you have any other questions?"

I glanced at Brian. "Should we borrow it? How much longer will we be playing for?"

Brian shrugged. "I don't know, I can play for hours. We don't have our pizza yet, so... you know? I think if we had a dictionary that would be helpful."

"Okay, well then, yes, Will, it would be really nice if we could borrow it. I'll bring it back tomorrow, I promise. I'll come over in the evening if that works."

"Yes, I'm not in a rush to get it back. I hope you enjoy your evening, and that the dictionary helps to settle any difficulties without a fight," Will said, smiling at us. I really hoped he wouldn't make any allusions because that would be embarrassing.

"I hope it will, thank you. You enjoy your evening too, Will," I told him and handed Brian the dictionary, but didn't look at him. I still was a little annoyed with him that he had been right, he was a little too smug for my liking.

Will wished us a lovely evening once again before he closed the door and Brian followed me back into my flat, the smug smile still on his face when he placed the dictionary on the chest drawer in my hall. "You could just have believed me, you know? I'm not cheating," he reminded me and slipped off his shoes.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled and took the dictionary from the chest drawer and walked into my living room, Brian following behind me.

"You are such a sore loser, wow," he continued, sounding more amused than I would have appreciated.

"It's only because you're an annoying winner. I feel sorry for your kids you know?"

Brian chuckled a little, sitting back down across from me. "Well, they're not adults yet, sometimes I might let them win. But they also learn that you can't always win."