the San Francisco skyline, and Alcatraz. The ambiance was romantic but I knew that Rick probably wasn’t romantically involved with me because of what I saw in my recall but I certainly didn’t let on. I’d decided that I was going to make Rick dump me. The plan was to be as needy as I could be and see how he handled that before I forged a relationship with his secretary.
The conversation was easy. Actually I just listened as was the nature of our communication. In the right setting Rick was talkative and comfortable. He talked and talked. At one point I reached over and touched his hand just to have physical contact of some kind.
Back at my house by 11 o’clock, I invited him in for a night cap. I poured us each a scotch and nearly downed mine with the first drink. The burn was wonderful and kind of took my breath away. After the drink, Rick took me into his arms slowly to get my permission; I think he was concerned that I’d slap him. It felt nice. We kissed a long and passionate kiss. My recall would later show Rick kissing me but wanting someone else – the story of my life.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”
Rick was gone by 11:30.
“Helen,” Michael answered the phone.
“Is everything ok?”
“Can I come to you guys tonight?”
I didn’t beat around the bush. I wanted them and I had to ask; the worse they could do was say no. Nothing ventured and all that.
“Baby, are you alright?”
Michael was instantly worried.
Telling him that I didn’t feel loved was out of the question but I went with the truth.
“Yes, baby, nothing’s wrong except that I need human contact; I need you.”
His response came slowly and after some thought.
“It’s probably not a good idea for tonight.”
“Ok,” I said trying not to sound as disappointed as I was.
“Tell me how the date went.”
“It all went fine. He isn’t even into me. I think he’s trying to make his secretary jealous. He said he’d call tomorrow. He kissed me good night and the kiss made me miss you so much that I could hardly wait for him to leave. If I thought that kiss would go anywhere I would have taken it there.”
Before I consulted my recall, I was thinking about having sex with Rick, as a matter of fact, I was planning it. Feeling a bit let down that I wasn’t truly the center of Rick’s world I wondered if sex would be out of the question for him.
‘What are you telling me; that you would have sex with him?”
Michael sounded stunned.
“Yes,” I simply stated.
“I haven’t had sex for a long time and want to find out if it’s changed. Maybe I can get your permission. In the past few hours I’ve become ultra frustrated and not being able to come to you feels so wrong.”
“Oh Baby, I’m sorry.”
Michael didn’t like it that I was so uncomfortable.
An idea took shape in my puny brain and from it a flash of hope.
“Michael, maybe we can meet up in the universe. You can show Lu how to travel and we could all meet up on the current. I gotta do something or I’ll go insane.”
“Let me talk to Lu to see if we can do it. I’ll call you back in an hour or less.”
During that hour I completed all of the household chores that were on my Saturday list of duties, said good night to my little buddies in the garden, completed the walk through and the lock-up procedure before I completed the evening’s personal maintenance. The last thing for the evening was to check the web business. There was another hundred orders; I sent them on through to the lab.
I took the new phone with me to the lab. The expected call from Michael could have been at any moment and I couldn’t miss it. While in the lab, I started the process of separating the orders into categories relating to how difficult the object was to complete. That’s as far as I got before the phone rang.
“Hello Helen; it’s Michael. We’re going to give it a try. Hopefully we’ll meet you in the universe.”
“Before you go Michael know this, I am coming to you one way or another.”
Another few minutes in the lab and I had everything ready for a good start in the morning if I didn’t get back to them later on that night. I wasn’t sure what the night would bring me. If I missed Michael in the universe then I would get to him physically some way.
Ricky was practically yelling at me with her dancing particles to join her and travel. I closed my eyes and jumped in and that was all the effort it took. I was soaring into the universe attached to the current, the current of our combined flavors, our current. Soaring and waiting for Michael and Lu was pleasant on the current because it constantly charged me with a reconnect. Maybe I didn’t need them to keep from dying; maybe the current could save me if I took nightly trips. I didn’t want to put the connect into hibernation because that move took all of the passion and life out of me.
I was alone on the current until I was spent and the particles brought me back to my bed. I woke up feeling disappointed. A look at the clock told me that it was 2:30 in the morning. My body felt jumpy and the frustration was finally the impetus that got me into gear.
Throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I grabbed my keys and purse and headed to San Francisco and the Embassy Suites where Michael and Lu could be found.
Before I knew it, I was knocking on the door to their room. They didn’t answer so I went to the lobby and asked for room 414 for the night. Once inside, I went to the connecting door and knocked several times very loud before Michael came to the door in a bad mood after being awoken from a deep sleep.
His reaction was good; he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into his room and wrapped his arms around me. The reconnect was so sweet I nearly cried from the relief. It was good for Michael as well.
“I told you I’d come to you. It just wasn’t possible for me to be without you. I’m sorry if I put you in danger. No one followed me. My hair would be coming out soon if this were not available to me. I need you.”
“I know Baby, I need you, too. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. Should we wake Lu?” He asked me.
“Yes,” I said as Lu interrupted me.
“I’m right here.”
Her sweet accent came from behind us.
Michael and I turned and opened our arms to include her in our reconnect. Again, we smiled and took pleasure in hearing her endearing moans while reconnecting. In our odd 3-person hold I thought of how difficult the situation was for him. He needed me but he wanted Lu. Honestly, I’d rather be the wanted one.
The phone in my pocket rang. All of us froze with concern because we were the only ones who had the number to that phone. I slowly removed the phone from my pocket and there on the LCD screen was Rick’s number.
No, I didn’t answer it. We all waited to see if there would be a message, but there was none. Ruining my ‘would-be’ career was one thing but I’d not let him mess with Michael and Lu. Even though the phone thing spooked me a little I still didn’t think that Rick hated me or had strong feelings for me in any way. So, why would a few disagreements cause him to try and spoil my life? These things didn’t balance out. Within me a conflict raged until I remembered not to question my own recall.
Michael ordered coffee from room service and then the three of us got as close together as we could to discuss what to do. What I saw was that we had to protect Michael and Lu first which meant putting distance between us; so, it was a good thing they’d be in London. We each brought ideas to the table but realized that we could only take one step at a time. And then gage