Chapter 391

Between the time Sylvia left the office and I left for Helen's the next day the only thing I noticed was that my charging was taking less and less time each night. I also noticed that my brain seemed to work slower at times than it had before. I decided that it must be an automatic energy saving program of some kind. I could see that it would cut down on the charge time, if there was less energy expended, Less energy expended meant less energy needed to be replaced it. It was a working hypothesis. Since no one rushed up to replace it with a better one, I decided to go with it.

I went to Helen's for the big Cinnamon Roll Breakfast again. I got in at shift change time so the place was almost empty. After breakfast, I rode the bike to the mall. I wondered again about the charge time thing, since I was still doing all the same physical activity things. Surely it took more power to ride the bike all over town, than it did to sit at home using the brain for creative thinking, I believed it was called.

I walked the mall and found that I had the same energy level, but that I didn't need to force myself to walk at a human's pace any longer. It had become natural to walk at a reasonably fit middle aged lady's pace. In other words I could keep up with the dancer easily, but I no longer needed to fight to keep it down to her pace. The difference was that I didn't have to think about it at all. Maybe that was part of the new power saver thing. Some kind of auto control that saved energy by avoiding the constant adjustments required to pass for human. I gave up trying to figure it for the time being.

After my three mile walk at the mall, I was about to exit through the lower parking lot door for the short walk to my bike. I was headed out into what everyone else considered the cold, when my phone rang.

"Hello," I said to someone in Jennifer's office. I knew because it popped up on the screen. I have no idea why the phone thought I needed to know that. I never ducked calls.

"Ms Stone, the boss asked me to call and give you a heads up," the voice I didn't recognize said. She was obviously yet another new receptionist. Jennifer must really be a bitch boss. I wondered how Edsel had lasted.

"So what is the heads up?" I asked.

"She filed the restraining order at 4PM yesterday. It will most likely be served this morning, since it is a domestic violence with injuries requiring medical treatment at the emergency room, it will get a priority," she informed me.

"Okay I got it. Thanks for the heads up," I said even though I didn't need it. I was being polite.

"Also Ms Stone, she would like you to have Mrs. Timmons at the TV station in Tryon at 2PM. She has an interview at 2:30 and of course you are part of that interview," she informed me.

"I see, tell Jennifer it is nice that she consulted with me about the time. Tell her I might have been busy. I will adjust things for her this time, but I really don't appreciate her being so heavy handed. pass that along." I really didn't care all that much, I just wanted to voice my opinion. I found my reaction a little strong, since my programing should have caused my reaction to be 'since it wasn't going to make a difference, why bother'.

I clicked off the smart phone still a little confused by it all. Being confused wasn't right either, I should have just run the analysis program, then gone with whatever it said. I was going through some real changes. Someone had made some changes in my main operating system and I wasn't sure I liked that idea. I had been able to modify it somehow or had that really been me. There was way too much to think about, it was just going to have to sort itself out.

I almost beat the rain home, but it got me a block from my building. By the time I got in the rear door and parked the bike in the storage room, I was soaked. I hung the nylon jacket up to dry, then stripped off the tee shirt. I used it to dry off the bike. I probably ruined it the shirt with grease from the chain. If it had grease stains, I would just consider them a badge of honor and wear it anyway.

It was time to load up the dirty clothes for a trip to my favorite Oriental laundry anyway. I had a big hand in getting Susi the laundry, so she loved me, her mother not so much. Even so they both did great work for me. I went up the stairs in my jeans and panties nothing more. I didn't have big boobs to flop around, so I was good to walk around topless or go out braless.

I could have called Jerrod, but I wanted to see how he was handling things with Lydia. To see that, I needed to be there. So after I dropped off my laundry, with a promise to pick it up before 5PM, I drove the truck to the Bluebird Model Home. Since it rained on me all the way from my townhouse, I was wet again when I arrived. I wore the nylon jacket, so the water didn't get through to my clean, dry tee shirt. I wouldn't have cared except that people seemed to think I should be uncomfortable with wet clothes against my skin, I always tried to fit in and do what people expected. At least I did whenever it was possible.

Jerrod met me at the door. He wasn't carrying the shotgun but it was nearby which was acceptable. He presumably knew that it was me who was standing at the door.

"So was it a quiet night?" I asked.

"Yes it was. Since you disabled my cell phone, it was a very quiet night," Jerrod informed me.

"Good, I like quiet nights when we have a body to guard." I had chosen Jerrod to be primary caregiver, since I didn't think he would be instigating anything with Lydia. As for Lydia she had peeked out the bedroom door, but went back inside quickly. "How does the body being guarded seem to be taking it?" I asked.