Oowatanite!
AAAHHHH! Okay, so he might be shy, but holy cats he rocked the room. Although we’re still on very different time schedules, last night we were absolutely in sync.
Three or four times.
Just before I fell asleep in a glorious haze of after-sync, Aiden asked to use my computer. I don’t remember answering him, but I would have given in to anything right then. The next thing I knew, the sun was shining. It was just after 7 already.
Aiden pointed out that I was singing while making french toast. I denied it, but couldn’t stop smiling.
He told me the french toast was beautiful, and I looked delicious. Or something. I told him that he was delicious too.
He made some suggestions as to what to do after breakfast. We returned to the bedroom to follow up on some of those.
However, before long it was about noon, and Aiden had to leave, to take care of some things at the bar before the evening crowd. I reluctantly kissed him goodbye; he said he’d call me later.
I was puttering about when Caitlyn called.
“There’s a flea market going on in the downtown market. You want to go hit it up?” I hadn’t been to a flea market in years, and hanging out with her is always fun.
“Sure!” I couldn’t wait to tell her about last night!
“OHMIGOD!” She high-fived me. “Tell me all about it!”
I wasn’t subtle. She’s my best friend! I told her everything as we wandered through the market. There seemed to be a lot of lamps, but some funky furniture was out for sale as well. It was after 2 by then, so I grabbed some pho for lunch.
I’m getting much better with the chopsticks, but I wasn’t quite prepared for…
… the spice! Gah! It was yummy, but wow it was hot.
Caitlyn pointed out the basketball court nearby, and “challenged” me to some throws. Balls? Basket drops? We sportsed for a bit.
Of course she’s way better than I, and in way better shape. I think she was just trying to get me out exercising a little more than my 6 or 7 days a week of nothing.
I’m sure I totally would have won though, if Trisha hadn’t taken that exact 10 or 15 minutes to walk out on the court and talk to me.
“Have you tried this soup? It’s really hot, isn’t it?”
We spent hours at the market, checking out the stalls, laughing and hanging out and failing at basketball. When the sun began dropping behind the mountains, I invited Caitlyn out to dinner. I was hungry.
She might be right about this exercise stuff.
Naturally, we headed over to the Chowder House.
Caitlyn disappeared to the washroom, and came back with a complete change of clothing. We’ve been out since lunch time, and this is her third outfit. She didn’t see anything weird about it.
Anyway, we ordered a couple of glasses of wine and some dinner, but before the wine ever arrived at the table, my phone rang.
It was Aiden, asking me out on a date.
“Go! Go, for heaven’s sake!” Caitlyn laughed and made shooing motions. “I’ll pick this up and take it home.” I thanked her multiple times, and I’m certain she may have heard some of them as I ran out.
I met Aiden down at the old ruins. I spotted a bonfire near the centre, but there didn’t appear to be anyone there. It certainly wasn’t the dance party I was used to down here.
The fire was mesmerizing. It was deserted, and romantic. And since we were all alone out in the vacant ruins …
We set fire to each other again, and nearly this bush.
The stars were out, the moon high, and I knew I had to call it an evening. It was nearly 2am again, and since it was Monday already, I had to get some sleep.
I had to get some food too, since Caitlyn had the dinner I’d ordered.
I made a quick sandwich with leftover french toast (I’d left it out this morning. I was distracted.) and some … ham? I think? I fell into bed.
He did, as he was waiting outside the restaurant when I arrived.
The waitress showed us to our table, and Aiden all but ran off to the washroom.
I ordered for the both of us. It was nearly 3AM, I had to be at work in 7 hours or so, and I was ordering a glass of wine, and a beer for Aiden. This might take some getting used to. I wonder if the lab would let me change my hours.
Aiden returned, and told me how great I looked, and how much he appreciated me coming out for dinner.
Aiden kissed me goodnight, and kissed him good morning in return. I was blissful and exhausted. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, but I could barely keep my legs moving. Eventually I found my way home, but I don’t remember much of the trip.
I spent most of the day at work fiddling with the wormhole generator, and only once did Malcolm give me grief about it. It didn’t last long, and he went away without having to hit him with anything. I don’t understand why he puts up such a fuss about the thing; surely the lab wouldn’t ask me to make the thing if it was inherently dangerous, would they? No, they wouldn’t.
But in the end, I left the lab with a promotion to Lab Leader, and a swanky new lab coat, complete with an interesting piece of bio-tech that I’ve never seen before, and highly suspect being alien in origin. I’ve no idea why I need the thing, but it glows warmly and vibrates slightly when in use. So … could be fun.
The lab’s transport system had also delivered a promotion gift, and left this amazing computer-controlled high-tech shower system in my front yard. It would be nice if they could schedule these things when I’m home, so maybe I can get some help moving the damn thing.
Luckily I knew where I could put this. I had my old shower taken out, and this beauty pit in place. I was about to check it out when Skylar called again, wanting to go out. This time I accepted, but made sure she knew it was just dinner with a friend. I wasn’t interested in dating her, but didn’t want to lose a good friend either.
We met down at the Chowder House, of course. People in this town sure do love their chowder. The place was already quite busy, and it filled up by the time we got a seat, off in the corner.
Caitlyn and Teagan were already here, out on a date it looked like.
Or, I think she did. I woke up at home, anyway. Maybe I was responsible.
Say… that’s a *much* nicer bed than it was earlier. That thing must be worth more than all the money I have in the world currently! I bet I could sell it and buy a kitchen. Oh, but it’s so much more comfortable than it was. I’ll think about it.
Nobody opened a breakfast place in the time since yesterday afternoon, so I returned to the Pelican, where grumpy Mr Kim led me to this table out over the pool. I couldn’t decide what I wanted this early in the morning, so I settled for a cup of coffee and a bowl of clam chowder.
I know what you’re thinking. Clam chowder for breakfast? And if I was going to just have chowder, why didn’t I go back to the Chowder House? I’ll tell you why; Bacon. The Pelican’s clam chowder is full of bacon. Bacon, cream, potatoes, and clams. That’s practically breakfast food anyway.
But for some reason, one of the waitresses collected all the dirty dishes, and left them on my table, and on the floor beside me. No, seriously; a big pile of dirty dishes, stinking up my breakfast.
Luckily, her co-worker came running over and cleaned them up, apologizing for the other’s incompetence. I asked if the other waitress’ name was Meagan and laughed. The waitress asked me to leave.
We played for a few hours, until I received a phone call from Caitlyn, who invited me down to the gym for a workout.
Caitlyn met me at the gym, and we headed in.
The workout felt great. Caitlyn coached me through a few things, then went off to the punching bags. I stayed at the machine for a bit, until …
… something just didn’t feel right. I was pretty sure I was about to throw up. Something about that breakfast chowder wasn’t sitting right.
I called the restaurant right away, letting them know that the chowder might have gone off. They assured me that everything was fine, nobody else was sick, and they were refunding the cost of my meal and another $300 to keep quiet. I should drink plenty of water.
Great.
Well, that certainly wasn’t pleasant. I cleaned myself up, and felt quite a bit better after … letting it all out. I may just survive this.
Out in the hallway, I bumped into a nice man who introduced himself as Bob … something-or-other. We had a great chat about the gym, and its patrons. I bragged a bit about surviving food poisoning, and he seemed honestly impressed.
Oh, look who it is. Meagan.
Hello…. Meagan.
(bitch)
Hungry again – finally – I took a trip to a local bar where I ran into Nancy Landgraab, who introduced me to … Sam. Samuel? Samuel Something. Anyway, there wasn’t any food available here, so we both – Sam and I – headed off to the Chowder House for dinner.
I ordered the fish and chips (I don’t think I could handle any more chowder), and Sam … Sven? Martin? … asked for a burger.
I see the Landgraabs eat here too. That’s good to know.
As we waited for our meal, I took a trip to the washroom to freshen up some. I returned, to see that Maxwell, or Samwell or whatever was not there!
Seriously? I mean, it wasn’t a date or anything, but I did pay for food he hadn’t eaten … did he just grab all the food and take off!?
Ah. No, he’s just outside, chatting up a couple of women. Class act, Sam.
The food arrived, and Samwise was actually a decent conversationalist. However, it turns out he’s a “entrepreneurial music enthusiast”. An unemployed musician. Fine. Well, the meal was nice anyway, and I haven’t got food poisoning from it yet. I said goodnight to my new friend, and thanked him for a nice evening.
But, morning comes early, as mornings tend to do, and I really should sleep before Monday begins.
Damn, this transformed bed is *really* comfy. Maybe I’ll sell it tomorrow, but not … not, quite… well, maybe.
Aaahhh… Saturday. I slept in until noon, and probably wouldn’t have got out of bed then if I didn’t have to use the toilet and shower. I wonder what kind of mischief I can get in to in a town like … nah, I’m just going to hit the library.
I went to the bar, where I’d met Georgia initially, and asked about her. The bartender had never heard the name before, and didn’t know what I was on about. I ordered a quick charcuterie tray and a red ale, but insisted that I’d met a different bartender.
Dammit, what was going on here? I’ll have to call Georgia later.
I had decided to spend some time today at the library, reading up on the local history, studying some technical science journ… oh, who am I kidding? I spent six hours reading true crime novels.
I wasn’t alone though, there were quite a few other people hanging around on a Saturday afternoon, pretending to not read true crime novels.
I did notice though, that people here just never seem to put their books away. The librarians here spent a lot of time picking up after everyone.
And who do these tablets belong to? Why are people coming to the library, not putting books away, leaving their tablets lying about, and just …. go? Is everyone here that trusting? Or … forgetful? Don’t be like all those inconsiderate people, little girl, grow up smarter and better mannered.
Dammit. She just left her book where it was. And there’s two more tablets over there. I should take them home and sell them online.
With Summer’s assistance, I made another sample of SynthFood. And this one….
… worked! It looks like I can create this as viable on a regular basis. This could seriously solve my hunger problems. Heck, it could solve the world’s hunger problems. If I hadn’t signed that stupid proprietary information agreement, I’d market it and make a fortune. Or … you know … solve the world’s hunger problem. Whatever.
…plumbing! I have no roof over my head, nor walls to hold up said roof, but I have a shower of my very own, a sink, and – the best thing ever – a toilet. My own toilet.
We had a great time! The food was good, and came to the table without much delay. We had a few drinks, and some great conversation.
I made a great friend this evening. Yeah, she’s an alien, but I can’t hold that against her, can I? Isn’t my job as a scientist to discover new things, investigate every opportunity with an open mind? We joked and laughed well into the night.
The nap didn’t last very long. I was up at 3am with the sudden realisation that I had enough money to have that ancestral suit of armour brought over, with enough left over for …
A bed! A glorious, wonderful (slightly small, but private) bed. With no tvs on or dudes trying to talk to me.
I have some time to get some real sleep before work. Luckily it never seems to rain here.
Ugh. It’s going to be a rough day. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, nor did I have time to grab a bite on the way to work. I’m grateful that I don’t have to sleep at the spa any longer, but I’m going to need some time to adjust, I think. In the meantime, I’m starving.
Crap. That’s going to require some more experimenting.
I made another one, and while I had a further breakthrough while doing so, failed to make a viable serum. I’ll just grab a sandwich and coffee again.
Caitlyn told a few jokes near the end of the shift, but Meagan wasn’t impressed.
I spent the last hour of my shift collecting rocks. It seemed like an important thing to do. But I’m starving again.
Another shift ended, and I return home. I want to head into town again to visit the library, but I’m really going to have to eat something first.
I *did* make another sample of that meal-replacement drink, this time with basil and daisies. Maybe this one will work better than the last.
Dammit.
