Chapter 19: Everything's fine... isn't it?

Morgan called an hour later.

"Miss me?"

"You sure you have to stay up there for two weeks?"

She didn't pick up on the undertone of urgency I hid beneath my bantering tone. "I wish I could come back earlier, but I've got too much stuff to do. How's work?"

"Same old, same old. I was nominated for the Nobel, got inducted into the National Academy of Science, you know the drill."

"I'll bet. How's Maddie?"

"We ditched today and went to the beach."

"Out to Delaware?"

"Yeah."

"She mentioned it before, about how gorgeous it is out there. Either of you get sunburned?"

"No, thank goodness--I have a call coming in. Hold for a sec?"

"Sure."

I clicked onto the other line. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jordan."

"Hi, Maddie. Could I call you back?"

"Someone on the other line?"

"Yeah."

"Kay. Talk to you later."

I clicked back. "Sorry about that."

"Anyone I know?"

"Just Maddie."

"Oh."

"Not much happening around here," I said in an attempt to change the subject. "We got knocked out in the first round of softball playoffs, but advanced in both volleyball leagues."

"You mean you guys actually won an A-league game?"

"Yep. After losing all our regular season games, too."

"Had to happen sometime. Too bad I wasn't there to see it."

"You're not the only one on vacation. Eric's gone for a week, Richard for three, and Marisa until the end of August. Lynn's out until Labor Day, you might recall. The lab is almost desolate, with just Yoav, Ellie, and I rattling around." A sudden increase of background noise from her end startled me. "What was that?"

"A few friends just came looking for me--we're going out together. I'll call you Wednesday, and I promise we'll talk longer then."

"All right. Take care, and I love you."

"I love you too."

After hanging up, I waited for the dial tone, then called Maddie. There was no answer, so I hung up again and went to make dinner. I tried again at eleven with no luck, then gave it up as a bad idea. She kept her cell in the car, so that was out.

Work the next day took some getting used to. Yes, I did get some work done, but it was by no means an impressive amount. There was an anomalous result in one of my experiments, which meant that I had to re-run the entire battery of tests. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Maddie called at around four. "Sorry about last night," she started. "My mom had a call that she just had to take."

"Business?"

"Yeah. Big teleconference call that lasted for hours and hours. So, getting any work done?"

"The usual stuff. What's up?"

"Tired out from yesterday?"

"Hey, I might be old, but not that old."

"In that case, what do you want to do tonight?"

"I was hoping for a quiet night at home."

"And you said you're not old."

"So I prefer to stay home, cook myself a meal, and catch a movie from time to time. You should try it."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Yep."

"When should I come by?"

"How about eight?"

"Sounds good. Should I grab a movie or two?"

"Just as long as you don't bring 'The Breakfast Club' or 'St. Elmo's Fire.'"

She laughed, and I was again reminded of ringing bells. "I'll see what I can do. See you in a few."

"Take care."

After hanging up, I stayed in lab for about an hour before leaving to do some shopping. I got back at around six to find that Maddie had left an apologetic message on my machine. "Mind if I show up at seven? My parents want me back by eleven." I called back to say that seven would be fine, and that I'd see her then.

She appeared promptly at seven with a videotape in her hand. "I found something you should like," she announced.

"Great. You can come help me with the other part of the evening."

She followed me into the living room. "Don't tell me, you haven't set the table yet?"

"Only because I was waiting for your artistic touch."

"Flattered, I'm sure. Is everything still in the top shelf by the kitchen door?"

"I think so."

A few minutes passed in silence as I made a few finishing touches on the food, and Maddie set out the silverware and other little decorative items. I suddenly thought of something, and started to say something. She beat me to it.

"Jordan, you're out of-"

"-matches. I know. There's a lighter underneath the bathroom sink."

"Why would you... oh. You still shower by candlelight?"

"Don't knock it until you try it. Besides, it's cooler than those two 100-watt bulbs I've got in there."

As she finished lighting the candles, I brought in the dishes. Lightly sautéed prawns in olive oil, with fettucine in a spinach alfredo sauce. Shittake mushroom and wild rice soup, with a touch of chicken stock. Coffee ice cream for dessert, which we took in front of the TV as Maddie popped the tape in.

I had seen 'Picture Perfect' before, but with commercials. The uninterrupted experience was a nice one, regardless. I liked Jay Mohr much better as a nice guy than his money-loving agent role in 'Jerry McGuire.' After the credits started rolling, we sat quietly for a few seconds before I broke the silence. "Maddie?"

"Hmm?"

"About last night-"

"What about it?" she said swiftly. After a brief pause to re-gather my thoughts, I said, "I wanted... to say thank you."

"You wanted to thank me?" she replied, looking somewhat startled.