Bugger! So, I have reached the point here where I have no idea how to end this. Writers block is my kryptonite. Any suggestions are welcome! (In other words, save me from myself)
Lily and her entourage spent the night in a collection of cabins further north, just below the border with Oregon. It had been a long day and they were all pretty tired, so they trouped into the bar next door for a few drinks. The bus driver would drive in the morning, so it didn’t even matter how many they had. This was a happy thought.
Lily sat at the bar while the students crowded around a pool table. She ordered a half-pint of beer and relaxed in a secluded corner, watching her students. They were all exceptionally intelligent people, good humored and funny to boot. All together, they were an enjoyable lot, but Lily didn’t feel like socializing tonight. She had been reviewing the diagnostics from Miss Edner’s scan and the results were not good. That meant that on this road trip, her students would get the most instructive lesson of all, giving a death sentence. As she looked at those happy people, really just kids despite what their ages were, she felt old and tired. In her career, she had handed out only four of these sentences; this would be her fifth and it probably wouldn’t be her last. So she let them have their fun, remaining alone to consider the wisdom of her career choice.
A young man walked in and ordered a drink at the bar. Lily noticed him because the bartender laughed as he gave him his drink. It wasn’t a friendly laugh either, it was “you didn’t seriously just order this here, did you?” laugh. Incredulous. The young man laughed back and said something; Lily thought she heard the word driving but couldn’t be sure, because the noise from the jukebox was deafening now. The young man took his drink good naturedly and turned to face the room, obviously looking for someone. Lily ignored him now, thinking that it would not be polite to stare if he was meeting a friend or a woman. She returned instead to her observations of her students.
Soon enough, however, the young man joined their group and set up a game of pool with on of the girls. He was a good player, but luck seemed to be on the girl’s side and he spent most of the game on the sidelines, speaking alternately with whomever happened to be standing nearest. He had an easy air about him, one that seemed to promote talking, but Lily thought it was somewhat studied. She could easily imagine that such converse with other people had been learned and that he was more comfortable somewhere else, though where that could be she had not a guess. After a little while, perhaps after the third or fourth game of pool, she saw herself pointed out to him. He walked over to her then, something which, uncharacteristically, made her a bit nervous.
“Hi,” he said, over the sound of the jukebox. “My name’s Liam.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” she said.
He smirked, noting that she didn’t offer him her name, or even a seat. “May I?” He sat as she inclined her head. He motioned over to the group of students, “They tell me you’re their teacher. I told them you look too young for that.”
“Maybe I’m older than you think, just well preserved.”
“You’re in your early thirties,” he said.
Lily was taken aback at the surety of his answer. “Do you go around bars guessing the general ages of women?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know that?”
“Why don’t we call it a lucky guess?” he suggested. “I really don’t think your age is important, do you?”
“No,” she said cautiously. From the look of things, he was just looking for a one night stand. “But I depends on what you want, Mister… Well, I guess I didn’t catch your last name.”
“No, you didn’t. I want to talk to you about Vagrans Disease in patients with the ISM implant. And my last name is DeGuin, if you want to know. Can I get you a drink, Miss Tossi?”
Lily stared at him for a moment with ill-concealed astonishment, then with even less concealed anger. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she said. “This is a bar for Christ’s sake.”
“You’ve been out of your office for the past two weeks,” he said. “I had to find you somewhere. Its not my fault you like to frequent bars more than your place of work. Now, will you talk to me?”
“No, I will not. This is highly inappropriate. Besides, Vagrans Disease is little more than a myth.”
“I can show that its not,” he said calmly. “I have more evidence that supports its existence as a legitimate syndrome than you do for the effectiveness of the ISM. And we all know that it is effective. What’s more important is that I’ve discovered that the higher the effectiveness of the ISM, the worse Vagrans gets. There are proportions here that we have only begun to discover.”
“That’s a load of rubbish.”
Liam shook his head. “I know what you think. I used to think the same thing. Just give me ten minutes to try and change your mind and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
She looked at him for a moment. Here was a prime example of a kook Organicist. She knew the story behind Vagrans Disease and as far as she was concerned, it was bullshit. Just another attempt by the opposition to scare people out of helping themselves and improving their lives. It was a shame he had fallen for it. He looked like such an intelligent type of person.
“I think not, Mr. DeGuin,” she said coldly. “Now of you will excuse me, I’m tired and I would like to get some rest. And I would thank you not to follow me any more or I will have a restraining order put in place.”
He stood with her and gave a slight bow. “I’m sorry, Miss Tossi. I can understand how you feel. I won’t bother you again, but should you wish to contact me, here’s my information.” He gave her a business card. “The website on the back is where you can view all my research on Vagrans. Just give it the last four digits of my phone number when prompted.”
She laughed sarcastically. “I’ll be sure and do that.” Lily walked to her cabin, stopping only to remind her students that they were leaving early the next morning. She went through her nightly routine, relieving herself of the last vestiges of irritation her short conversation with Mr. DeGuin, or whatever his name really was, had caused. Once she had relaxed a bit, she lay down in bed and went immediately to sleep.
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