Solution Taxi ride

They ran the experiment several times that week without any further issues.  Mark had worked on the experiment application that ran on Sam's computer and had reduced the run time by half. Sam had grudgingly admitted his changes were beneficial to her experiment process, allowing them to run several more tests per day. However, Sam still took time out to go the lobby for a drink of water or work on her designs on paper. Even though the computer could analyse the report data faster, Sam still took a break between each run to ponder the experiment after each run.
During the last run of the week, Mark said, "I wonder if I can leave early today? I need to get to the airport before the break."
Sam nodded. "Where are you going?" she asked out of boredom rather than actual curiosity.
"Nassau," Mark said. "My dad owns a timeshare company there."
"Must be nice," Sam said.
"It is nice. There'll be a lot of sweet coeds down there partying. You're going to Geneva?"
"Yes," Sam said. "There will be a lot of smart old euro trash men there."
Mark laughed. "You'll pick up a lot of old white dudes I bet."
Sam said, "It helps that I'm fat and ugly."
"You're not fat," Mark said. And then, a moment too late, "Or ugly."
"Nice try kid," Sam said. "Why don't you take off right now? I can close up by myself. I don't need you anymore."
"That's cold, Ms. Griffen," Mark said and grinned.
After Mark left, Sam finished collecting the data from the last run. She turned off the laser and hit the big red button labelled STOP. She cleaned up the room and closed the door to the lab while the screen asked anyone if was sure or not.
Sam walked back to her apartment and gathered her luggage and research papers. She left her apartment and waited downstairs for the taxi to arrive. A greyish taxi with a crooked roof light passed as she waved. She couldn't tell if the light had been on or not. Another taxi with a triangular advertisement for pizza passed. She waved again, but the taxi didn't stop.
She waited for a few more minutes and saw another grey taxi with a crooked roof light. She waved and jumped up, leaning out into the street. Her safety goggles nearly fell off. She realised she had them on, so she took them off and was surprised to see the world jump into full colour. The taxi that was grey was actually yellow and the light was clearly on but nonetheless had passed her by.
Sam yelled in frustration, "I hope that you find a lot of customers who tip poorly and go on sub-optimal routes!"
Behind her she heard someone calling her name. "Ms. Griffen! Ms. Griffen!"
Sam turned and saw a yellow taxi nearby at the sidewalk with a triangular advertisement for pizza on the roof. The rear window was rolled down and a young man wearing a hoodie was leaning out the window and waving at her.
"Mark?" she asked.
"Ms. Griffen!" he called and got out of the taxi. He pulled down his hoodie to reveal his large headphones. He took the headphones off and put them around his neck. "Ms. Griffen," he repeated. "My taxi took a long time to get here and I saw you waiting. Let's share a ride, my treat."
"No thanks," she said distractedly, looking for her taxi to arrive.
"No, really, it's okay. My dad owns the taxi companies. They're corrupt and will probably never come to pick you." Mark grabbed her luggage and walked around to the back of the taxi. The taxi driver jumped out of the car and ran around to pop open the boot. The taxi driver lifted the luggage into the rear of the car.
Sam nodded and said, "Thanks. I guess." She crawled into the open passenger door. Mark tipped the taxi driver and got into the cab with her. The taxi started driving to the airport.
"Thanks," Sam repeated to Mark. "I don't know how long they make people wait for a taxi. It's like when you make a reservation at a restaurant. They never hold the seat for you. They just pretend to save a table and just hope they have an opening when you arrive. Then, when you walk into the restaurant fifteen minutes early as is polite, they make you wait for an opening. It's very frustrating."
Mark laughed. "You don't seem like you go out to restaurants a lot," he said.
"No, it's too expensive," Sam admitted. "Although I do go on dreadful dates."
Mark laughed. "You go on dates? Your cats must miss you when you go out."
"I don't have cats," said Sam.
A grey van in front of the taxi stopped abruptly at an amber light. The taxi cab stopped and honked.
"You meet the dates on Elderly Meet dot com?" Mark asked.
"It helps being old and short," said Sam. The taxi continued through the intersection on the green light.
"You're not short," said Mark. Then, to ease the sting, he said, "How do you get ready for your dates? Put on a nice clean lab coat and spray some bee pheromones from the biology lab?"
"No," said Sam. "I just make sure my underwear don't have any skid marks. That's about it."
Mark sat uncomfortably, not sure if she was joking or not. Ahead of them a taxi cab with a crooked roof light was stopped behind a grey van at a red light. The taxi in front of them honked.
"I was just kidding," said Mark.
"I know," said Sam. "I have a sense of humour but it's not the same as normal people."
"I know," said Mark. "So, you're single I guess. Were you ever married?"
"No," said Sam. "My father was professor of astrophysics at LYU and my mother was professor Emeritus of mathematics at Illinois Technology. I never got to meet qualified men."
Mark whistled. "That's where you got your brains from," he said.
"No, I was adopted," Sam said.
"Oh," said Mark. The grey van was now in front of their taxi. It rushed through the amber light. The taxi stopped as the light turned red. The van indicated left and turned, revealing a similar grey van turning right. After both had turned, another grey van continued straight.
"I was dating a single dad who was professor of... I don't want to say because you were there at LYU," Sam said. "I pestered him until he finally agreed to have sex with me." Mark laughed. "What? It's not that funny. He finally agreed to take me to his house after a date. We were in the middle of having sex when his son came into the room and caught us."
Mark laughed louder. "What did he say?"
"He said something like, 'Daddy, you have a teddy bear!' He was six or so at the time."
Mark laughed. Sam continued, "I was humiliated and we broke up that evening. We broke up after having sex. That's the last time I'll do that."
Mark stopped laughing. "Aw, that's not funny."
Sam said, "No, it's not. I figure I'm not very good at anything else, so I try to do my best in science. I'm not very good at that either, so I just give up on the rest."
"You're good at science!" exclaimed Mark. "You are the top theoretical physicist in the nation. You have an IQ of like 160."
"I have an IQ of 130," she corrected. "I couldn't even get into LYU with my father's help. We're not rich like your family. My father had to beg your grandfather to let me get a position at his private labs."
"You couldn't get into LYU?" Mark asked.
"No, I worked in your grandfather's labs for ten years before I got an honourary degree from LYU, but my dad was embarrassed by then and retired. I only got a 1700 on the SAT. The dean at LYU said she didn't care who my father or mother was. She said they turn down people with 1800s for the SAT. With a 1700, I could work at McDonalds and be the manager."
Mark laughed. "I only had a 1900 for the SAT," he admitted.
"The new scoring system, out of 2100?" Sam asked.
"Yep," Mark said. "My father got me into LYU. I didn't know it was that hard to get in." The taxi stopped at a red light and a grey van behind the taxi honked. Mark looked back.
"Did you have any kids?" Mark asked.
"I had a son," said Sam. "From that one night encounter with the single dad."
"Oh," said Mark. "You should have had him use a condom."
"He did," said Sam.
"Oh," said Mark. "You should have been on the pill then."
"I was on oral contraception," said Sam.
"Oh," said Mark.
"They didn't have Plan B at the time," she said. "I also didn't even realise it until it was a month later. My parents were upset with me. I was barely working through my bachelors at LYU part time. As far as they were concerned, I might not even make it to graduate school. My father told me to get an abortion."
"You didn't?" asked Mark.
"No, I kept the baby and put him up for adoption. My therapist says I re-enacted my birth-parents' actions to try to connect with them."
"What about the father?" asked Mark.
"I never told him," Sam said. "I don't think it's his fault, and he's just a single father on a professor's salary so I didn't want to bother him."
"Man," said Mark in disbelief.
"It was an open adoption and I visited my son on and off through the first few years of his life."
"Okay," said Mark.
"One day he ran away from me and ran into the street. He was hit by a bus and died. The universe is a cold and cruel place to kill children, and it doesn't care what we do or say."
"What the fuck?" asked Mark wiping something in the corner of his eye.
"He would be your age by now," Sam said. "I'm glad I told this story. I've never told anyone about this before. Now I feel like I've let it out and no one is listening."
"I can hear you," said the taxi driver. "My two sons are 25 and 27. I lost my third son to leukemia. We're almost at the airport."
"Thank you driver," said Samantha.
When they arrived at the airport, Sam got out at her terminal and tipped the driver for her fare despite Mark's objections.