Rian reached out and briefly rubbed Harley’s forearm, as if to calm the redhead down, before her palpable anxiety really took hold.

“I know him, like I said. I spent a year in Cairo on a Fulbright scholarship, and I wrote a research paper while I was there about statues of the same period that this piece belongs to. He was working for one of the museums in Cairo, and he asked me a ton of questions after I presented my paper at the Alexandria Library … that’s a really prestigious institute in Egypt. Based on his questions, I knew that he had a lot of holes to fill in his own knowledge of this particular period of the Antiquities. He’s well known, deservedly so, in other areas. But not in this one…”

Harley didn’t respond. Rian saw brakelights flash in the cars up ahead, and soon, Harley had to slow down again. They came to a dead stop. Her redheaded companion slipped the gear into “park” with an impatient gesture, and blew another breath out. A few seconds later, she flipped her sunglasses up and looked at Rian. “Fulbright scholar, huh?”

Her hazel eyes were friendly enough. I see: change of topics so that we can talk about other things. “Yeah, and I was on scholarship the whole way before that… full ride from college to my graduate and post-graduate studies.”

Harley raised her eyebrows. “Post-graduate? You seem really young for that… and why don’t you use a doctor title in your professional life?”

Rian chuckled; she also flipped her aviator sunglasses up to her hair, so that it functioned like a headband. It kept her bangs from flopping over her brow, at least. “I get that all the time. I skipped a few grades while in grade school and middle school … they allowed that in the public school district I went to … and I finished college in three years, and worked quickly to get my master’s and post-grad done, too.”

Harley blew out a low whistle. Rian smiled back and then shrugged.

“As for the doctor title, I’m just one of those who find the use of the title pretentious. If you know your stuff, you know your stuff. You don’t need a title to establish that you know something. Besides, some of the smartest people I know only have a college degree … ”