The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

probably whacked someone on the head with a microscope for
mislabeling peptide samples. “So it is something criminal.”
“What? No. The department suspects that I’m making
plans to leave Stanford and move to another institution.
Normally it wouldn’t bother me, but Stanford has decided to
freeze my research funds.”
“Oh.” Not what she’d thought. Not at all. “Can they?”
“Yes. Well, up to one-third of them. The reasoning is that
they don’t want to fund the research and further the career of
someone who—they believe—is going to leave anyway.”
“But if it’s only one-third—”
“It’s millions of dollars,” he said levelly. “That I had
earmarked for projects that I planned to finish within the next
year. Here, at Stanford. Which means that I need those funds
soon.”
“Oh.” Come to think of it, Olive had been hearing
scuttlebutt about Carlsen being recruited by other universities
since her first year. A few months earlier there had even been a
rumor that he might go work for NASA. “Why do they think
that? And why now?”
“A number of reasons. The most relevant is that a few
weeks ago I was awarded a grant—a very large grant—with a
scientist at another institution. That institution had tried to
recruit me in the past, and Stanford sees the collaboration as
an indication that I am planning to accept.” He hesitated
before continuing. “More generally, I have been made aware
that the . . . optics are that I have not put down roots because I
want to be able to flee Stanford at the drop of a hat.”
“Roots?”
“Most of my grads will be done within the year. I have no
extended family in the area. No wife, no children. I’m
currently renting—I’d have to buy a house just to convince the