Alice decided to get some breakfast before the conference started and she wandered around in search of cafeteria that the lab had on the premises. The hotel where she stayed was just a few minutes away and Alice always preferred to eat there or at the small Cuban café down the street. Today she couldn’t afford to go away for even an hour in case she would miss something and the cafeteria was going to be her only choice.

She got in line that was moving pretty fast and her stomach growled in anticipation. To her surprise, the aroma of eggs and pancake mixture was quite delicious. She was about to order a plate of eggs when she heard a familiar laughter behind her. She risked a quick peek around her shoulder and her eyes widened in shock. Just a few tables away she saw Helena fucking Peabody having a coffee with professor Kroll. The cafeteria was mostly empty with just a few people wandering in and out. Alice quickly ordered a blueberry muffin that looked no more than a day old and a cup of coffee. She found a table right behind Helena’s but away from her sight and sat down, hoping that her disguise will keep her invisible.

Luckily, nobody paid her any attention and she sipped her coffee, tearing small pieces of the muffin and munching quietly, her hunger all but forgotten. The people at the next table were happily chatting away but Alice couldn’t pick out anything useful. It was mostly Helena talking, boasting about some influential people she and her mother Peggy met and Alice got a lot of good eye-rolling exercises. She was getting bored with their conversation but Helena’s presence at the professor Kroll’s lab was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise and she was determined to stick around no matter what.

“Coffee…” she whispered to herself and nodded. More coffee would certainly help and the cafeteria offered a surprisingly good and strong coffee. She got up to get a refill when she heard Helena saying smugly, “This donation is conditional, Professor. I don’t mind contributing to your research but the information I gave you is strictly confidential for now. I only want to be involved in the last stages when you get the confirmation of everything I told you but I want to be kept informed about everything else. Bette Porter is very intelligent and I doubt you will get a confession right away and she has a very protective group of friends.”