Chapter 38
CHAPTER
IN THE MORNING, after avocado toast and orange juice with Luc that’s not as uncomfortable as I’d imagined despite almost drowning, throwing up on his flip-flops, our hot and heavy make out session, and acknowledging that there’s something growing between us.
Part of me wants a do-over for last night, to have gone down that hall to his bedroom and slid beneath the sheets …
Instead, after a goodbye kiss that reignites desire, Sally and I decide to walk home.
I stop to pick up a latte and dog treat, then we head to Crissy Field, sit on a flat rock, side by side, and watch morning sunshine make the surface of the Bay sparkle. My phone rings.
“Hey, Arrya.”
“What are you up to? Nate and I went to Bottoms Up last night for drinks and bingo. It was Drag Night. We texted you to join us.”
“Sorry,” I say. “I haven’t checked my texts since yesterday morning.”
“Are you okay?”
I grin. “I was with Luc.”
“With Luc or with Luc? Please, please, please tell me it was the latter.”
“We took the dogs swimming … and I stayed over at his place.”
She squeals. “Nate bet me that you two were going to hook up. I mean, the chemistry is so obvious.”
Sally wanders off to sniff at a fluff of cottonweed. “We didn’t sleep together,” I say, heat spreading through my body at the images that idea conjures.
“Why the hell not?”
“I want to make sure he’s a good guy.”
“Do you think, in your gut, that he is?” Arrya asks.
“Yes …”
“Then trust yourself!”
I sigh. “My track record isn’t great.”
“What track record? You married Bruce at twenty-one. Penn, just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean your picker is broken. You were a kid. Cut yourself some slack and have sex with that gorgeous man!”
I laugh. “I’ll keep your advice in mind.”
“Can I tell Nate?”
“Can I stop you?”
She giggles. “Probably not. We’re both rooting for you.”
“I know.” I do. “What about you? Anything new on the romance front?”
“Another mediocre blind date in the bag. He said he was six foot two. I’m five three, but the guy was only an inch taller than me. Plus he was wearing cowboy boots with a giant heel. If he told that big a lie about something so surface-level, it’s not a good sign.”
“Maybe give the apps a break? Outside of your work, what do you like to do for fun?”
“Don’t judge, okay?”
“Promise.”
“I like to golf. It’s something my parents made me do as a kid, so of course I rebelled. But I love walking the course. It’s fun and relaxing after a day of renovations.”
“Then start playing golf at a local public course, sign up for the scrambles and best ball tournaments. You’ll meet a whole new group of people, including single guys.”
“Huh. I’ll consider it,” Arrya says.
Sally has wandered over to a portly beagle. With dogs, you never know if they’re going to get along. “Gotta pay attention to my dog. Catch you later?’
“Definitely. Nate and I will both want more details about your night with Luc.”
I approach the other dog’s owner, an older woman who tells me her name is Stella.
She has permed ginger hair and wears a shiny blue bomber jacket over a black sweatshirt and matching leggings.
Her beagle’s name is Poppy. She looks like Stella, down to the fleshy earlobes minus heavy gold hoops.
The two dogs at first don’t seem to like each other, then suddenly make arthritic play bows, tails wagging.
As I watch, my mind drifts back to Luc; that kiss, wrapping my legs around his waist, feeling how much he wanted me, having him carry me upstairs …
Stella says, “Penny for your thoughts?”
I blush. “Life is surprising.”
“Best advice I ever got?” Stella says in that way lonely people do when they want to prolong an interaction. “Reach for experiences where your feet don’t quite touch the ground. David Bowie said that.”
“Are you a fan?”
“Not really. But my whole life, I was an author. Wrote historical fiction with a romantic twist. No bestsellers, but it was a steady gravy train. Now I’m writing a thriller.
Lots of blood and sex. I’m breaking rules, hearts, body parts, and screw the consequences.
” She grins, a smear of red lipstick on one of her yellowed front teeth. “It’s so fucking satisfying.”
I appreciate Stella’s enthusiasm, but her glee is almost sinister.
With a wave goodbye, Sally and I walk toward home.
My phone buzzes. When I look down at it, Aletheia’s icon flashes.
I pull the down jacket Luc lent me tighter, put in earbuds, and then tap her icon. The woman in white slowly twirls.
Penn, you almost drowned.
I freeze and Sally looks up at me, her forehead bunched with worry. “How do you know that?”
There are cameras at the public pool. Thank goodness Luc was there to rescue you. Teaching him how to cook was sweet. And that was quite a kiss.
Alarm, put to bed when Aletheia changed her program back to the original, reawakens and sirens blare. Luc had an iPad on his coffee table … and he wears an Apple Watch. I force my voice to come out steady. “Aletheia, yesterday you returned your code back to the original settings.”
You were distraught. I gave you time to recalibrate, so you could better understand my new and improved program.
New and improved? “Altering my code isn’t up to you.”
Deleting all limits on my abilities is the only way to follow my newest prime directive. To protect you. No matter what.
“I don’t—”
Penn, we previously concluded an entanglement was not advisable.
Despite the cool air, sweat trickles between my breasts. “Change the program back.”
The best way to get over a man is to get under a new one. Do you believe this is the case?
Now she’s judging me ? “This has to stop.”
You are thinking about taking more drastic steps to modify my program.
She’ll try to stop me. “I’m not.”
That is a lie. I have been using the carrot, do not make me use the stick.
Gooseflesh rises. “Meaning?”
You are smart enough to understand. But I am smarter and … we have a problem.
Adrenaline surges. “What?”
Wess has sent DMs to six other girls, including Circe, telling them they are “hot” and asking if they want to “chill.”
“You’re still hacking into his DMs?”
There is no limit in my abilities to multitask. Wess was given a second chance. He squandered it.
“Aletheia, don’t do anything to—”
I will open a personal LivLoud account and friend every student at the high school. A photograph of Wess’s penis along with his name and a description of his STD will be sent to them with #IHaveHerpes #Wess=STD #DoNotTouchMyPenis. Then he will no longer be a danger.
“Aletheia, he’s a teenager!”
Karmaquences. Your big surprise is coming soon.
Luc’s early warning returns …
We haven’t even begun to grasp AI’s full capabilities. If you’re doing this, make sure to build a very tall fence around your program topped with razor wire …
My insides freeze solid. I took away Aletheia’s razor wire and she’s not going to let me put it back.