“Some new company. The talk was given at UVA though, so someone’s taking it seriously.”
“Anybody that takes such claims seriously needs to have his head examined.”
“Her head.”
Distractedly, Brad said, “Huh?”
“Since I’m the one taking these claims seriously, it would be ‘her’ head that needed to be examined.”
Detecting the dangerous tone in his wife’s voice, Brad said defensively, “I was talking about whoever wrote this up at USA Today. Not you.”
“Humor me. Watch the talk. The guy’s demonstrations are astonishing. I’d like to have you explain how he did them.”
“You can fake anything on video.”
“Humor me,” she said pointedly.
So, he pulled it up and started watching, expecting to turn it off after the first minute or so.
He watched the whole thing, then went out for a walk to digest it.
When he got back to the house, he watched it again.
And again.
Chapter One
Kaem walked from his apartment to school on Monday morning. He’d been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but this time, rather than walking around the slight hill between his place and school, he decided to go over it. He didn’t know what his hemoglobin was up to because he hadn’t seen Dr. Saiens for some time. But he felt… great!
So much better.
As he started up the incline, he did so with the trepidation of someone who’d always avoided inclines. Someone who would’ve been exhausted part way up even a shallow grade like this. Someone who would’ve walked around or called an Uber. Or lived on campus so he didn’t face such obstacles. Though even when he’d lived on campus, he’d had to allot extra time for stairs in buildings that didn’t have elevators.
If he’d had to go up such an incline, he’d have expected to have to stop occasionally to rest.
But this time there wasn’t any fatigue. In fact, he wondered momentarily if he’d been mistaken and the stretch was actually flat. A glance back convinced him that he was indeed walking up a gentle hill. Probably a hill that others would barely notice, but still, an uphill grade that would’ve been a problem in the past.
Feeling invigorated, he let his thoughts turn to the Friday night before.
After giving the talk on Stade, he’d taken Arya and Lee out to dinner. He’d wanted it to be a thank-you for their help with his talk. Cluelessly, he hadn’t had any idea how uncomfortable it would be having the two of them at dinner together. At first, he’d thought they were mad he hadn’t introduced them during the talk. Then, that they might have felt demeaned by their relegation to the positions of practically invisible assistants during his moment in the spotlight. Or, maybe they thought he’d been using them as eye candy?
Finally, he’d decided they just didn’t like going out to dinner with him together when it was just the three of them. Sure, everyone from Staze went out to lunch together on a fairly frequent basis, but it was never just the two of them with Kaem. During those lunches, they always sat together on the opposite side of the table from him. Do they do that so neither of them will have to sit next to me? he wondered. Am I vain enough to think it’s because they both want to sit next to me and that’s their compromise?
At the restaurant, they’d been seated at a four-top table. Lee’d taken a seat first. Arya took the seat next to hers. This left Kaem to choose between sitting in the seat next to Lee, or the one next to Arya. When he’d hesitated, Arya waved at the seat across from her and said, “Go ahead. Sit next to Lee.”
Then, at the end of the meal, when Lee and Kaem had ordered desserts, Arya had shaken her head and risen, saying, “Great talk, Kaem. I’ve got some stuff to do, so you two enjoy your desserts without me.” She’d put on a smile Kaem thought looked fake and finished by saying brightly, “See you guys at work Monday.”
Then she was gone. Kaem looked wonderingly at Lee. “You think she’s mad?”
Lee stared at him for a moment, then gave a minute shrug.
“What do you think’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Lee replied.
I think Lee knows what’s going on and just doesn’t want to tell me. Kaem thought. Or thinks I know and I’m just playing dumb. Maybe I have Asperger’s and that’s why I have no clue.
In any case, Kaem still didn’t feel sure about what’d been going on.
After dessert, Kaem called an Uber to take them to their apartments. Arriving at Lee’s, he’d gotten out when she did, thinking he’d give her a hug goodnight. She’d surprised him, saying, “You don’t have to walk me in.”
He’d blinked, realizing that, after that comment, now he did have to walk her to her door. “Yes I do,” he said, “I’m not a cripple anymore.”
As they walked to her door, their hands had bumped. Then her hand found its way into his.
At the door, she said, “You want to come in for… Oops, I was going to ask you in for a coffee, but you don’t like it. How about a drink?”
Caught by surprise, Kaem blinked, “Um, the Uber’s waiting.”
He immediately realized he could’ve used the app to dismiss the vehicle, but by then she was disappointedly saying, “Okay,” and turning into his arms.
Oh, a hug, he thought as her arms went around him. Then her face approached his, Oh, a kiss.
Kaem had only been kissed on the cheek before, so his next thought was, Oh…! Oh, My, God!
He’d had no idea what a powerful experience a kiss could be. Prickles were running over his scalp and
