Before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived. It was almost scary how time flew when I was in my element. The trek to the lunchroom we'd made the day before was repeated. I decided to mix it up by having a chicken Caesar salad and some lemonade.
I sat by Kim, leaving the seat to my right open for Nate. Hank was the only person I'd had a chance to interact with that day, so I needed to catch up. They talked about the plans for the test on Vinnie Monday morning.
Hank explained the procedure of uninstalling the current software and then reinstalling the new, while the rest of them interrupted when they thought they had something important to say. Sometimes they just did little patches that didn't require a full uninstall, but since it was a total system redo, the process was more detailed.
As we were talking, Nate settled in beside me with a quick kiss on my cheek. "Hey, sweetie, how has your day been going?" I asked him.
After our big talk, I felt more comfortable acting affectionate without him taking it for advancement in his attempt to woo me. I didn't doubt he still had fantasy ideas of where we stood, but at least he knew without a doubt my take on things.
"So far, so good, and now that I'm with you it's even better."
We were supposed to act like a couple, but we didn't have to be dripping in maple syrup, so I nudged his foot, trying to indicate to him he needed to tone it down. He put his hand over my hand and traced my fingers. I really hoped that was his indication that he understood.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys we're having a house warming party tomorrow. So if you don't have any plans, just show up anytime from noon to four. We'll have tons of food, so make sure to tell anyone else in the community," I said after taking a sip of my lemonade.
I heard Nate chuckling softly. I supposed it was at the fact that I'd let half the day go by before making the announcement. I couldn't help it if I had better things to do.
"You won't want to miss whatever Peggy mixes up in the kitchen. She's a stellar cook. For our first real date she cooked us a mess of appetizers to eat during a hockey game on TV. I'll have to make sure she makes her stuffed mushrooms for the party. I could live on those alone," Nate said, subtly moaning as he thought about one of his favorite treats.
Kim immediately went to work spreading the word around the other tables. It seemed liked my work was done, which I appreciated. I just had to start planning what to actually make and hit the store on the way home. I hoped Katie didn't mind me showing up with a list twice in one week instead of using Tabby.
Our conversation turned to what everyone liked and disliked as it related to food. I was making mental notes just as my nose started to itch, indicating I was getting ready to sneeze. I tried to stop it, but its will was stronger than mine, so I closed my eyes and sneezed into my elbow. When I reopened my eyes, I wasn't in the lunchroom surrounded by my new friends.
I'm being led around a dance floor by that Lord Eldridge fellow. Yuck, I hate dancing, make it stop. Looking down I see I am again showing too much in the cleavage department. I'm wearing a lilac color, tight bodice, and big flowing skirt dress. I even have matching evening gloves that go up to my elbows.
"So, Lady Catherine, may I call on you tomorrow?" my dance partner asks.
"But of course, my lord. I look forward to seeing you." I reply. Even the body I inhabit is actually repelled by the thought of having him stop by. I'm glad that, even though I can't speak my mind, we share that sentiment.
"And how did you enjoy the opera last night? I heard you attended." Isn't it bad enough I have to dance with the guy, he also expects me to have a conversation. Just one of these times I would really like to be in total control.
"Sadly, opera is not something I enjoy. Mother made me go and it was absolutely dreadful. If she takes me again I will be forced to find a way to sneak out before my eardrums rupture." Well that's good to know. If I'm somehow brought back to this weird world I am already making plans to get away from opera.
As the song is coming to an end, I'm glancing around the room for places I can hide. I really don't want to have to dance anymore. Maybe I can sneak out a side door or something. When the song is done, he bows to me and is about to say something when a voice behind him asks, "May I have this dance?"
I look around him and see Rick standing there. Wow, this is the first person I actually know in real life who has made it to my hallucinations. That must be a sign that my mind has finally broken.
"Lord Calloway, I was not aware you were making an appearance tonight," my body says.
"Lady Catherine, you are here, so where else would I be?" he asks as he moves Eldridge out of the way. He takes my right hand into his left and wraps his other arm around my waist as he leads me into a waltz. He is dressed in a suit like outfit that isn't too crazy looking, but the jacket is really short in front with long tails.
I laugh out loud, well in my mind it's out loud, my body doesn't actually laugh, when my shared brain tells me in this alternate universe Rick's name is still Frederick and he does go by Freddie amongst his friends.
"So Freddie, what are you really doing here?" I ask. "This is not your usual scene."
"Just doing a favor for a friend who couldn't make it tonight. We didn't want that Eldridge chap to get any wrong ideas."
"No one needs to worry about anyone getting any wrong ideas. I can take care of myself. You might want to let your friend know that."
?"You know he never listens to me. We are lucky on the days he listens to you," Freddie replies.
"If he knew what was good for him, he would stop worrying so much. It isn't like anyone is going to change fate," I reply.
"You know he can't help it, it's just how he's built. I'm supposed to tell you to meet him in your usual spot after the ball, but I haven't decided if I will relay the message or not."
"You kind of just did," I say as my body smiles sweetly at him.
"That I did, but we can choose to wash that information from our memory if we wish. It might be fun to make him fidget." The song has come to an end and he leads me over to a punch bowl. Yuck. Why haven't they invented bottle water yet? He pours me a cup and hands it to me. I raise it to my mouth and close my mental eyes. Here goes nothing.
Opening my eyes, I was back in the lunchroom. Dang it. I thought when I'd missed the reactor test the craziness was over. I looked over at Nate and he looked at me like he was afraid I'd die at any second, which was a look I'd become used to seeing from time-to-time.
He leaned over and whispered, "Your nose is bleeding."
What? I picked up my napkin and held it up to my nose for a second. When I took it away, sure enough there was blood on it.
"Excuse me, I have to run to the bathroom," I said as I got up and jogged out of the room.
In the bathroom across from the lunchroom, I grabbed some toilet paper, held it up to my nose and tilted my head back. As I was standing there looking strange, I heard the door open.
"You want to tell me what happened?" Nate asked. I knew it was him without lowering my head to check.
"Not really. You'll think I'm a mental patient and have me committed."
"Try me."
"Fine," I said, deciding to go with the truth. "It started yesterday. Just after you left me with Hank, my vision dimmed and when I opened my eyes I was in another body in a totally different world. I was sitting in a park, knitting of all things. Talk about a hilarious idea.
"Some guy named Eldridge walked over and asked me about whether I was going to some ball.? I couldn't actually talk; I was just stuck going along with whatever the body was doing. After I got rid of Eldridge, I walked over to a pond and saw the body looked just like me, only in, I don't know, maybe Regency England dress." I stopped to take a breath.
Retelling the story caused my head to hurt a little. It seemed to want to continue processing parts of the park scene, but I didn't let it.
"So what just happened in the lunchroom? Did you have the vision again?" Nate asked. He still looked worried, but I couldn't tell wha
t emotions were behind his words.
"It was a vision yes, but not the same one. This time, I was at a ball dancing with Lord Eldridge," I started, but was interrupted when I heard him growl. "Oh wait, this one gets better. We're dancing along and he's babbling about wanting to call on me the next day. My body and I were both gagging in unison on that thought; Eldridge could find a bridge to jump off for all we cared.
"Right as the song ended, Rick shows up and asks for the next dance. We start waltzing around the dance floor. He tells me he's there because his friend couldn't make it and I was supposed to meet the said friend in some special place. I didn't really find out where that was though because I came back to my body."
"Are these the only visions you've had?" he asked.
I thought a better question was whether I'd been hit in the head while he wasn't looking. Nate was in serious mode, so even though I felt unstable by my words, he was taking them into consideration.
"No, there was one other one yesterday. I have no sense of when that one was, but I was in a kitchen making dinner when my body's daughter, Mirari came running in going on and on about some rock she wanted to show to her Papa. She wouldn't let me see the rock, but her papa eventually came home and she went running off right as I came back to myself." I finished my story and then added, "See, if that isn't certifiable, I don't know what is."
"I think we should head home for the day," Nate said. "I'm a little concerned about this turn of events."
I was pretty sure I'd warned him from the beginning of the relationship that I was a nut. I didn't expect he'd take it easily when it was finally proven to be true. I wasn't taking it great, and I'd known all along.
"Okay, if you think it's best, I won't fight you on that one. I can let Hank know that I got a bad headache or something and need to head out for the rest of the day to make sure I'm one hundred percent for the party tomorrow."
"Please do," he said. His mind was somewhere else and I started to worry crazy was catching.
When we got back to the lunchroom, we found everyone had cleared out, so we headed to the elevator. He followed me to Hank's desk and I gave my excuse. Hank was so happy that we were making progress on the new code that he just waved me away and said to feel better. After a quick trip to Nate's office, so he could let them know he was leaving, we were on our way to the car.
"I'm really hoping it's just a little stress. All the stuff that's been going on in my life eventually has to make an impact. I started my program today, so it won't be long before we have some candidates to target," I said as we left the parking lot.
"Sorry, Avery, but I think it's a little bit more than stress. I'll fill you in when we get home, but I think I have a way to help, so at least you won't end up with the bloody nose again. I don't know if we can stop the visions until they've run their full course, but I don't want to see you injured in the process," he replied.?
Great, not only was I certifiable, but Nate seemed to be in the same boat. The FBI really should do further testing on its agents, or at least not team two insane people together.
CHAPTER 12
Come on baby light my fire