The days turned to weeks and then to months. Nina stood out all the more doing nearly perfectly in all of her classes. She and Adrienne had even gotten closer spending much of their off time either studying together or just hanging out. Nina had even managed to take care of her problem with Austin Havoc. It appeared that he had taken her advice and had started talking to Julia quite often, but then nearly every time he had seen her lately she was with Adrienne so that couldn’t have hurt.
Nina had just finishing up with her Advanced Alchemic Principles class and was exiting the room when Dr. Rothstein came up to her. “Hello Nina,” he said with a smile. “Do you have a moment?”
Adjusting her bag so it wouldn’t fall off her shoulder she smiled and nodded. “Sure Dr. Rothstein, what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you had any plans for the evening?”
She looked at him confused. “Just last minute studying for the test in your Medicinal Alchemy class tomorrow, that’s all. Why?”
Rothstein grinned. “Well I was hoping you could come to my home this evening and have dinner with Adrienne and I. I’d like to discuss some things with you if you don’t mind.”
Suddenly Nina felt really nervous. He was asking her to come to his house to talk which was odd. Usually when he wanted to discuss things with her he just asked her to come to his office. “I don’t mind sir but why to your house? Why can’t we talk in your office like we usually do?”
Rothstein chuckled. “Normally I would but I thought it might be nice to have you at the house for dinner. Adrienne hasn’t had you over to the house once since you two started seeing each other and I thought it was time; I just think he’s too afraid to ask you. It just works out that there’s something I’d like to talk to you about as well. I also don’t know as talking about it here would be the best idea, prying eyes and over eager listening ears and the like, I’m sure you understand.”
Nina thought about it for a moment. “Alright, I think I do understand. What time should I be there?”
Rothstein smiled. “Excellent, how about six o’clock? I’ll send someone to get you.”
“Alright, then I’ll see you this evening Dr. Rothstein,” Nina said bowing her head a bit. “But if you’ll excuse me sir, I have to get to my next class,” she continued and then walked away.
Rothstein grinned to himself once her back was turned. The ball was rolling and this pleased him greatly.
That night Nina made her way outside after she had spent the last hour trying to figure out what to wear. She wasn’t sure what sort of dinner this was going to be so she thought she should at least dress up a little. It was starting to get a bit chilly outside so she decided to wear a jacket. She’d decided on the one her mother had given her, the one that had once been hers.
Once she was on the steps she looked around, Dr. Rothstein had said that he would send someone to get her but he hadn’t said who or what to look for. There was a car parked out front and when the driver inside saw Nina standing there looking he opened the door and got out.
“Miss Nina Elric?” he said as he approached her. “I’ve come to fetch you at Dr. Rothstein’s request,” he continued when she nodded her answer to his inquiry. “Please come with me.”
Nina followed the driver to the car and got in once he’d opened the door for her. She thought it was a little strange that he’d send a car for her since Adrienne had said he didn’t live far from the school but then who was she to question it.
The car took her just outside of Central City. It had actually taken a little longer than Nina had expected. As they approached the mansion Nina looked around in amazement, she had never seen anything like this.
When they stopped in front of the front door, the driver got out and then opened the door for Nina. “Here we are Miss Elric,” he said with a professional looking smile.
“Thank you,” she replied as she got out. Slowly she climbed the stairs to the door. Before she could even think of knocking the door opened and a young maid bowed her head.
“Good evening Miss Elric, we’ve been expecting you. Please, come in.”
Nina took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. This was far grander than anything she was used to and she wasn’t sure exactly how to handle this. She entered and stood in the grand entryway just looking around. Everything was so clean and polished and the woodwork was exceptional. She snapped out of her amazement when the maid closed the door. It was made from a heavy wood and made a heavy thud as it closed and latched.
The maid then walked over to Nina and stood very straight and proper but her gaze did not meet Nina’s. “Please Miss Elric, if you would follow me to the dining room. Master Rothstein and young master Adrienne are already there waiting for you. I’ll take your coat as well.”
Nina nodded and took her jacket off and handed it to the maid before followed after the young woman staying close so she didn’t risk getting lost. Arriving at the dining room, the young maid pushed open the door and then stood out of the way so Nina could enter. “Master Rothstein, Miss Elric has arrived.”
Nina hung back still feeling very nervous. The maid looked at her like she was doing something odd wondering why she wasn’t entering the room.
“Please Nina, don’t be shy,” Dr. Rothstein said with a laugh as he got up from the table.
Adrienne got up as well and went over to the door and took her hand in both of his smiling. “Don’t be nervous Nina, come on,” he said as he lightly coaxed her to take a step.
That was all she’d needed and she easily followed him into the room. “Good evening sir,” she said bowing her head a bit. “Thank you for having me.”
Rothstein just chuckled. “You don’t need to be so formal Nina. Now please have a seat,” he said using his hand to indicate that she should sit opposite Adrienne. He then sat back down himself.
Adrienne went behind the chair and pulled it out for her. He was being a perfect gentleman and Nina couldn’t help but think it was cute. She smiled and walked over to the chair sitting down. Once she was properly seated, Adrienne went back over to his chair and sat down as well.
Nina sat in her chair with her hands clasped in her lap still looking a bit nervous. Adrienne just looked over at her and smiled. When she saw him smile that sweetly it made Nina blush. He’d looked at her like that before but never in front of his father.
Rothstein decided to be the one to break the nervous silence. “Thank you for coming Nina, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get the reason I asked you here tonight out of the way. Business before pleasure I guess you could say.”
“Of course sir,” she said rather shyly.
“I wanted to discuss with you a unique opportunity. I was wondering if you would be interested in becoming one of my personal research assistants.”
Nina’s jaw nearly dropped. “Excuse me?” She couldn’t believe what he had just asked her. “I don’t mean to be rude or sound ungrateful but why would you want me for something like that? I mean, I’m only a first year student and there have to be others that are more qualified. Besides, don’t you not usually take on students as your assistants anyway?”
Rothstein chuckled. “Normally that is very true, but I don’t usually have students even half as intelligent and gifted as you are and with your certification as a State Alchemist, I think that makes you more than qualified. But now you see why I didn’t wish to discuss this at the Academy. There are many that would be very upset if they knew I was doing this and I know you haven’t exactly had an easy time of things considering your exceptional abilities. Plus with the other privileges you’ve been granted because of it, such as that certification, I didn’t want to add to the rumor mills and make things more difficult for you.”
“It really hasn’t been that bad honestly but thank you for your concern, I really do appreciate it,” she said trying not to sound like it was a big deal. He didn’t need to know that most of her peers had pretty much begun to ignore her. The only exceptions were her sister Amy, the Moron Squad, her roommate Julia and of course Adrienne.
Rothstein nodded though he didn’t point out that he knew she was lying. It wasn’t his business really. “So what do you say to my offer?”
Nina took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Her mind was racing with hundreds of thoughts at once. She still couldn’t believe he wanted her as his assistant. There was a part of her that was overjoyed. She had dreamt of one day maybe having an opportunity like this, she wouldn’t deny that to anyone, but she was also incredibly scared as well. What if she couldn’t live up to his expectations? What would she do then? For the first time since she was young, Nina was actually questioning herself. The last couple of months so much had happened. First there was the State Alchemist Certification from Fuhrer Mustang and now this too? Nina knew she was smart and that she had worked so hard forsaking many of the ordinary things people her age normally do but did she really deserve all of this?
Adrienne could see that she seemed to be really struggling with this. “Please accept it Nina,” he said gently. “If you do you’ll get to be here and I can…” Adrienne stopped himself realizing that what he was about to say was selfish. The last thing he wanted was to add to her burden and he thought telling her that they’d be able to spend more time together would do that.
Hearing Adrienne’s voice made Nina open her eyes and look at him. His crystal blue eyes looked so calm, hopeful, and encouraging. It made her smile and relax a bit. She then looked over at Dr. Rothstein, the look in her eyes solidified and her decision made. “You know sir; I’d be honored to be your assistant. Thank you for this opportunity.” She had decided that she had to take this chance and it didn’t matter if anyone thought ill of her for it. Nina knew that the people important to her would never turn their backs on her and that they would support her and encourage her as they always had.
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “I’ll be expecting you here three nights a week once your classes are completed for the day. It doesn’t matter what three nights unless I specifically ask that you be here as I don’t want to interfere with your studies. Of course I will also expect you to show the same level of dedication in my lab as you have shown in my classes as well. Plus, I will also be giving you additional credit for the time you spend here working in the lab. Does that sound fair?”
“Yes sir and don’t worry, I’ll give it everything I have,” she said. She then looked back over at Adrienne. He had a smile on his face that stretched from one ear to the other.
“Excellent, now let’s eat.” Rothstein motioned to a servant that had been waiting in the corner of the room. The man nodded and disappeared from the room.
When the man returned he had a group of other servants with him, each carrying trays. As they set them down, the servants removed the covers revealing carefully and skillfully crafted foods. Everything looked so delicious and exquisite.
“You didn’t have to go to all of this trouble for me,” Nina said looking a bit flustered.
Rothstein shook his head. “Nonsense! We have much to celebrate tonight. My son has a wonderful young woman that cares for him deeply and I have an exceptional new research assistant.”
Hearing Rothstein go on about her like that made Nina blush a deep red. “Thank you for everything Dr. Rothstein. You and Adrienne both are so kind to me,” she said as a single tear ran down her cheek.
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