"Great," said Maddie cheerfully, sitting on the other side of his desk. "Wilma and Fred are showing all the signs of being two mice in love. If all goes well, we'll start human trials later this month."
Miles shook his head. "We need to start sooner. I need results, Maddie." He passed a hand over shadowed eyes.
"It takes time, Miles, you know that. We need to observe Fred and Wilma's behavior for at least three weeks before we trial it on humans."
He tapped his pen on the desk. "Look, here's the thing." The tapping grew faster and Maddie sat on her hands to stop herself snatching the pen off him. "I need to give the Marketing Director at Fleur Elise something on Tuesday. She's coming to visit and she's made it clear she expects to see results."
"But today's Friday! No way. That's too soon. We need to thoroughly test the reaction between the mice over the next two weeks at least, and document every aspect of their behavior, otherwise—"
"I know, Maddie, I know." He slouched back in his leather chair. The dark circles under his eyes made it look as if he'd partied hard all night. But Maddie knew he wasn't the partying kind. He sat perfectly still, which was dangerous for Miles. Since his promotion, he'd developed every nervous habit going around. He fidgeted in meetings, played with his hair, his glasses, his tie, his pen. When his fingers didn't move, it meant something was wrong.
"Miles, we haven't got anything to show yet. Apart from two horny mice, that is. We need to trial it on people—"
"Then find some."
"Miles—"
"Maddie, listen. I shouldn't tell you this, but I think you need to understand the importance of Pheramour. This contract with Fleur Elise is vital to the survival of BioDerma. If we can't show progress by Tuesday, they're going to pull the pin. Where that leaves BioDerma..." He shrugged.
Maddie squeezed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. A big one. She really didn't want to do this. They should follow every procedure to the letter, analyze and re-analyze every observation, every result. Skipping steps could lead to disaster. It went against not just her training but her very fiber. She was not the sort of person to leave out a vital part of the process.
She chewed her lip and focused on Miles' face. He was tired, sure, but there was desperation in his eyes. This job, this company, meant everything to him. As far as she knew, he had no family in Melbourne, no friends outside BioDerma and no hobbies. If the company went under...well, she didn’t want to contemplate what might happen to Miles.
Still, allowing procedures to slip went against every instinct. Instincts that had served her well in the past. She never went for the long shot, never took risks to reach a goal sooner. She'd always done things correctly, never cutting corners, and she'd reaped the benefits of that philosophy so far. She was team leader for this project, in charge of five other scientists. After its completion, she hoped to move to a more senior level, then after six years in that role, she calculated she'd have enough experience behind her to do Miles' job.
But Miles was a determined man, but his haggard, vulnerable look tore at her. Poor Miles. He needed a break.
She sighed. "I don't think there are any dangerous side effects."
"Good. It's settled then. You can start tonight."
"Tonight? But, but there’s too much to do! I need to organize volunteers—"
"Do we need volunteers?" Miles leaned forward, picked up his pen again and drummed it on his desk. "Perhaps you and Beaker could do it."
Whoa. That went against every grain of her scientist's being. She and Beaker had a vested interest in Pheramour and might subconsciously skew the results in their favor. They needed to remain objective throughout the trials if they wanted to be sure Pheramour worked.
"BioDerma needs this, Maddie. Your career and that of your colleagues needs this." The look he gave her could have been straight off a tissue commercial. "Please."
Damn. Damn, damn and crap. He was right. For the sake of her staff she had to go ahead with human trials. Now. Otherwise all their jobs were on the line. There just wasn't any time to form a trial group. Since she'd already broken one rule by agreeing to proceed without further tests, why not another?
Next she’d be robbing banks.
"I guess that would be okay," she conceded.
The grin looked unnatural on Miles' face, but she was glad to see it. "Great. Let me know how it goes."
She returned to the lab but Beaker and the others had already left for the weekend. That left only her and she hadn't planned to see any men tonight, or tomorrow and Sunday for that matter.
Maybe she could call someone...