by Berinn Rae
“Sturgis, Indiana,” Rain jumped in. “It’s a lot closer and they do a great job of holding a mini-rally for bikers. It’s really lots of fun — without that excruciatingly long trip!”
“Five B. Five B, please.”
“That’s our food. I’ll be right back.” Garrett headed toward the counter.
“You two make such a cute couple,” Alex told Rain, cupping her hands around her drink.
Rain placed her hand on Alex’s forearm. “Oh, no! We’re not a couple in that sense.” She released her hand and angled her body so it was more favorable to a one-on-one conversation. “I’m traveling with Garrett and the group as part of a sociology study I’m conducting. I’ve been fascinated by this group for the longest time. Then I finally received a chance to study them. I’m documenting this event as part of the research for my dissertation.”
“Something like Jane Goodall and the chimpanzees,” Blake said. Alex kicked his legs again, this time not so lightly. “Blake!”
“Ouch!” He reached down and rubbed his leg.
“That’s okay,” Rain said, her eyes dancing as she looked at Alex. “You’d be amazed how often I’m told that!”
“Darn! I’m not original.”
Garrett returned with their food. He gave Rain the Chernobyl Chicken Meltdown with a side of Onion String Theory, and he placed the Schrödinger’s Steak in front of his seat. “I’ve seen steak served in all types of ways, but never under a box like this before. Are they trying to hide something?”
“This box represents the physics thought experiment of Schrodinger’s in which a cat was enclosed in a box. How did you order you steak?” he asked, placing his palm on the box.
“Medium well.”
“The cat was in there with a radioactive substance. According to quantum theory, the cat is both alive and dead. But what state the cat is ultimately in depends on the consciousness of the observer.”
“Okay? But how does that relate to my steak?”
“Whether the cook prepared it medium well or not depends on your consciousness. When you open it, the probability is that it could be done any number of ways.”
Garrett gave him a blank stare. “You mean my steak might not be medium well?”
“In all probability — no pun intended — it is. But, if by some chance, it isn’t done as you wanted, it’s the café’s disclaimer.” Blake paused and took a sip from his cup as Garrett stared at his plate. “Not to worry, they’ll make you another steak if your consciousness sees anything but how you ordered it.”
“Go, ahead, Garrett,” Rain said, placing her hand on the box. “We’ll send an intention out into the Universe so your steak is medium well.”
Garrett laughed, took a deep breath and then lifted the box, placing it to the side. He cut into it, examining the state. “Ah! Just the right hint of pink. Medium well.”
But the biker stared at his plate. “What’s up with these mashed potatoes? They’re shaped a little strange.”
Alex giggled. “Those are called Devil’s Tower potatoes. From the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Richard Dreyfuss sculpted his mashed potatoes to look like that.” Garrett just shook his head, as he picked up his fork.
“So what’s your story?” Rain asked Alex, before taking a bite of her Meltdown.
“Love’s Surprise.” Alex said spontaneously, providing her with the title of the book they had bounded out of.
“I beg your pardon.”
“What she means is you’d be surprised by it,” Blake said hastily. “We’re originally from Kansas, but staying with a cousin of Alex’s while we … work on our degrees. We’ve only recently enrolled at UNO. After we graduate, we’ll probably go back home to Kansas.”
The two couples continued to chat. Rain took the last sip of her smoothie, and then put her leather jacket on. “Garrett, I’ll meet you at the hotel in a couple hours. I’m going to check in on that old friend of mine I was telling you about.”
Garrett got up. “Thank you for your hospitality,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll run into each other before we leave.”
“We have to leave too,” Alex said. “We told JJ we’d pop in on her. We’re coming back here later to meet the squad and cheerleaders.”
Chapter 38
“Rain! What a surprise!” Kenn had his legs leisurely resting on his desk, crossed at the ankles as he read Love’s Secrets — JJ’s first romance novel. The instant he saw Rain he snapped his legs to the floor and shoved the book into a drawer of his desk.
Rain immediately hopped on his desk, just as she had so many times before when they were dating in graduate school. Kenn had been madly in love with her then. He thought there was no other woman for him. Unfortunately, she had other plans after graduation — and they involved another man.
Lying on her side, she practically covered the entire surface of the desk, with one elbow resting on it, chin in hand. She strategically placed her voluminous bosom as close to Kenn’s direct line of vision as possible. Her body language was speaking loud and clear — even Kenn could read it. He knew immediately she was out to snag him again.
Well, if that’s what she’s after, he thought, she’s doing a damned good job of it. Her black hair hung at her shoulders drawing even more attention (as if that were possible, Kenn thought) to her breasts. Any breathing male had to admit she looked astonishing.
Any breathing male would be undressing her either figuratively or literally about now. She slowly took her free hand and gently traced the small creases around his eyes with her finger. “I’ve always loved your smile lines,” she told him.
Kenn swore he stopped breathing for a few seconds. It had been a long time since he had seen Rain — and even longer since she had been dressed so … temptingly. His memory immediately returned to those wild — yeah, that was the only term for it — moments when she had sprung on him like a leopardess all over her prey.
Kenn had spent months after their break-up envisioning her return. He pictured how she would finally see the two of them were made for each other. And this was exactly everything he imagined it would be — and … wow … more!
Except for JJ. Now that she was in his life — he refocused on the one true and good thing that he realized ever happened to him: JJ! Oh, my God. He would be in deep trouble if she walked in right at this moment.
Once he realized that he had a very sexy woman lying across his desk, seemingly waiting for a response, he did what any breathing male would do. He bolted up in horror. Okay, so it wasn’t quite the reaction Rain had probably counted on, he thought. In fact, it startled Rain so much that she bolted up with him.
“What?” she screamed. “What is it? A spider? Don’t tell me there’s a spider on me!”
“What in the hell are you doing here?” He tried to put as much distance between him and her as he could in his small office.
But it was no use. He backed up two steps, she lunged forward three steps. “But I thought you’d be happy to see me again.”
He backed up several more steps, only to slip on a pile of term papers he hadn’t finished grading yet. Rain lunged several more steps toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders. Down he went! Plop! His former girlfriend toppled right on top of him.
He felt the warm, soft breasts caromed on his chest, which squeezed them even tighter together and gave Rain even more cleavage, which hardly seemed possible.
“What!” Kenn heard an outraged voice.
JJ, Alex, and Blake were standing in the doorway.
Rain immediately and agilely bounced upward, like Tigger in the Winnie-the-Pooh series.
“This must look horrible,” Kenn apologized, as he tried to climb his way out of the mess of midterm essays. Rain, still looking startled at what now appeared to be an invasion into the office, straightened her shirt to prevent too much breast from busting out.
“Who is this?” Rain asked.
Kenn was finally on his feet.
“What in the hell were you d
oing?” JJ demanded. “Who in the hell is this … this … this person?”
And then she turned on her heel and was gone.
Kenn’s heart pounded; it pounded so hard it felt like a jackhammer in his chest. “Where’d she go?”
Alex turned but didn’t see her. “I didn’t see her go anywhere!” She rushed out of the office to try to find her. Blake hesitated a moment before he left, as if he were waiting for an encore to the event.
“Blake, come on. We have to find JJ!” Alex’s panicked voice echoed in the hallway. “She’s not in her office.”
Rain turned to Kenn, his hair was a mess, his buttoned down shirt was no longer neatly tucked into his trousers. “What’s a JJ?” she barked. “This isn’t quite the welcome I had envisioned, sweetheart.”
Kenn was in the doorway of his office, ready to chase JJ down. He stopped, turned around, and said, “She’s my girlfriend.” Then he was gone, too.
• • •
Rain looked around, suddenly realizing she was left alone. She sat at Kenn’s desk for a moment as if trying to figure out just what had happened.
“Well, Kenn, you”ve certainly changed.” She looked up to see a man standing in the doorway. He said, “Hello. I’m Professor Chare. May I ask who you are?”
Quickly, Rain stood. “I’m Rain?”
Prof. Chare smiled. “No last name?”
“Actually, it’s an acronym for all of my names, Rene, April, Indigo, Nevada.”
He smiled again. “Well, Rain, I have an idea the action has moved to the Physics Café. That’s usually where all the good stuff happens. Would you care to accompany me? I think there’s still time to catch a good show, if I know anything about this crew.”
Now it was Rain’s turn to smile. “I’d love to. And if you wouldn’t mind filling me in on what I walked into here … ”
“I would be delighted — on the condition that you do a bit more explaining about your name, young lady. I’m intrigued.”
Chapter 39
JJ was already working on her second latte. She had downed the first like it was a shot of cheap tequila.
“Is this a double shot of espresso?” JJ asked impatiently. Blake flashed a quick look at Alex, who merely gave him a tiny shrug. Neither Blake nor Alex had ever seen JJ this upset. They weren’t quite sure what they were supposed to do.
She downed another long, deep chug of latte. “Ouch! That’s hot!” She paused as tears filled her eyes. “And to think I almost let myself fall in love with that pompous ass!” JJ sputtered as she took yet another gulp of coffee. She looked up at Alex and Blake who appeared pretty woeful in their own way. “Why did I ever listen to you two? You see what happens when you let someone into your heart in real life? You only get hurt. You two should be happy you’re only characters in a book. Characters in a book are endowed with a special privilege. They are ensured that when they meet everything will work out for them. And do you know why?” By now JJ was acting more like a drunken sailor than a person who had overdosed on caffeinated beverages.
“I’ll tell you why,” JJ continued, not waiting for an answer, not even looking up from her cup to see if the pair was listening. “Because the reader demands it. I spent hours upon hours on your plot, creating a storyboard across the walls of my office and placing you guys exactly in the right moment and the right location, just so you, Alex,” she shook her finger furiously at her heroine, “and you, Blake,” and she wagged her finger at him as well, “could have a happily ever after experience.”
Huge tears rolled down JJ’s cheeks. Alex reached across the table and held one of her hands. Blake, the born romantic, blurted out, “I can’t stand to see a lady cry. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, go fight for Kenn’s love.”
“You’re right. I’m going to fight.”
Blake slowly sank deeper into the booth regretting his blithe romance novel dialogue and wishing he could somehow disappear. “I have a funny feeling I know exactly where this is going — and it isn’t good,” he muttered.
JJ stood up just as Rain and Dr. Chare walked in and sat down. She stomped over to the table and loudly interrupted their conversation, “Hey, you!”
“The name is Rain.”
“I don’t care if your name is Snow White, you’ve got to leave my boyfriend alone.”
Rain stood up, her eyes narrowed with anger.
It was no clash of the Amazon women the Physics Café was hosting. It was more like a munchkin rumble. Rain’s four-inch height advantage over JJ was solely due to her boots. JJ pulled the front of her opponent’s T-shirt, bringing Rain just a little closer to her level.
“I love Kenn Cooper!” JJ shouted. “You need to butt out of our lives. I’m writing this book — finally — and you’re not in this part of the novel. So go back to wherever it is you came from and find yourself someone else … anyone else.”
She let go of Rain, who appeared momentarily shocked. She stumbled back, tripped over the table, knocking it and several cups of coffee over, and landed on the floor. Plop! “This falling is beginning to get old,” she growled. And she shot up off the floor.
JJ stopped dead in her tracks, spun around, her hair flaring to all sides.
Alex and Blake weren’t quite sure what to do. The chair jumped up, nudging Blake. “Sorry I can’t stay for the entertainment. If I actually witness it, I’d have to reprimand someone. But if I only get the hearsay version, I don’t have to worry about punishments or suspensions. This should prove to be very interesting, young man. Enjoy yourself.”
The chair muttered as he exited, “I know nothing. I know nothing.”
Blake beamed at Alex. “I didn’t know that old guy could move so fast!”
It sounded as if the entire Physics Café took a collective breath of air.
“Finally, she’s living her own life!” Alex sighed with a feeling of satisfaction.
Chanting erupted spontaneously. Groups began to choose a favorite to win.
Blake could feel the crowd’s participation increase and, even in the midst of this random chaos, he couldn’t pass up a chance to fulfill a childhood dream. He ran to the bar where the baristas worked, jumped the counter in a quick leap and took control of the microphone normally used to call out completed orders. “Rain, the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ has just taken a nasty fall, but wait — she’s back on her feet, fire in her eyes and hatred in her heart. And she’s headed straight for JJ ‘Micro-Munchkin’ Sprightly!”
JJ stormed towards Rain, but slipped in a puddle of spilled coffee and fell flat on her ass. Before she could pull herself up again, Rain took the coffee grounds out of one of the pots and poured them on JJ’s head.
“Now you have grounds to get teed off at me!” she declared. JJ stood there, wet coffee grounds all over her. Both women were stunned when a flash went off and a figure carrying a camera ran quickly out of the café. JJ sniffed the grounds, “Hazelnut.”
Chapter 40
The female voices sang slightly off harmony; the drunk in the next cell joined in occasionally. With arms around each other’s shoulders, JJ and Rain swayed as they repeated the refrain to “I Am Woman.” The pair giggled despite spending the night in the Bell Wyck jail. They’d been arrested shortly after the student photographer from the Daily Digit snapped their picture. Ignoring the women’s protests, the arresting police officer placed both of them in the same cell. It had been tense at first, and they gave their drunken neighbor a good show as they continued to argue.
“That’s right!” he’d shouted when JJ accused Rain of trying to steal Kenn from her.
“Oh, she’s got a point there!” he’d slurred at Rain’s contention that Kenn was hers because she had dated him before.
The running commentary eventually wore thin on the women. They exchanged exacerbated looks and both turned toward the other. “Enough already!” JJ squealed.
“Leave us alone. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a good cat fight here?”
The drunk looked totally
stunned and sat on his cot. The women smiled at each other and the wall of animosity between them began to crumble.
• • •
“So you see, JJ, I really was trying to come on to Kenn, but for the first time since I’ve known him, he refused to be moved by me.” The females were now sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk. JJ’s hair, though drying, still held hazelnut coffee grounds. “Before, I could always make him see my terms and we’d get back together. I didn’t even know about you.”
“Did you see the horrified look on his face when he saw me?” JJ asked.
Rain nodded. “He really didn’t have any feelings for me,” she assured JJ. She stood, turned around and faced the writer. “I was pushing him along. And he really wasn’t responding. Actually, he was running away. He must really love you, that’s all I can say.”
That assertion brought a smile to JJ’s face. With the tension broken, the two actually had a chance to get to know each other. What else was there to do in a sparsely decorated jail cell?
Soon, they were singing the golden oldies, including the old Helen Reddy song.
JJ walked over to the neighboring cell. “Excuse me sir,” she said politely. “I’m sure you know the words to some of these songs. Please, feel free to sing along. You’re partly responsible for our being able to work out our differences.”
Their disparate voices echoed through the hall of the jail.
• • •
Nan and Rob marched down to the cell, followed meekly by Alex and Blake. “I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” Nan cried, even before checking to see if her sister was safe. “What in the world were you thinking?”
Instead of answering Nan, JJ turned to her cellmate. “This sister of mine moaned when she thought I didn’t have a life of my own. And now that I do, she’s still moaning. There’s just no pleasing some people.”
Everyone but Nan suppressed a smile; she only got more irate. “Getting a life doesn’t mean getting yourself thrown in jail. And if I hadn’t already posted that bond, I’d leave you in here for that remark.”
