The Karma Beat

“I didn’t find anything. Can I call you tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure.”

“Take care of yourself, Jen.”

“You too,” I said. Then I clicked end, exhausted from the few moments of conversation, but smiling because he’d called to check on me.

When I finally woke up and was ready to stay awake for more than a minute, it was midnight. I went to the bathroom, grabbed a cold Sprite from the fridge, and curled up on the couch with the remote.

After an hour of channel surfing, I learned that the networks hated insomniacs. There could be no other excuse for the ridiculous lack of decent choices. I wasn’t expecting good, but at least decent.

Throwing down the remote in disgust, I grabbed my drink and climbed back up to my room.

I didn’t even hear my family leave for work and school.

At one in the afternoon, I crawled out of bed, gulped more Sprite, and lurched to the shower.

Thirty minutes later, I felt almost human. I could breathe through my nose and I hadn’t coughed yet. My throat was still sore, so I dashed downstairs for something cold. A carton of chocolate chip ice cream was hiding in the freezer. With a giant serving spoon, I demolished it.

Since I’d gone more than a day without food, I fixed a big sandwich and ate that too while my throat was still soothed from the ice cream.

I went up for my laptop which was heavier than I remembered, both my cells, and my pillow and settled on the couch to check my email. I killed an hour reading them, and then grabbed the remote.

I must have dozed off because the sound of the phone jarred me awake sometime later.

“Hello,” I said into my purple cell before realizing it was the wrong phone.

Picking up the black one, I said, “Hi, Leo.”

“You sound more like yourself.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you out of bed and everything?”

“I’ve made huge progress,” I said. “I’m all the way downstairs, on the couch.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He paused for a moment. “I know you’re probably not feeling up to it, but I promised Katie I’d ask.”

“What?”

“I’m going over later to show Katie the pictures. She wanted me to invite you for dinner.”

I really wanted to see Leo.

“It’s okay to say no. I’ll explain to Katie.”

“No.” Was I crazy? “Tell her I’ll come.”

“Great!” Leo’s enthusiasm cemented my resolve. “Your mother will let you?”

“Sure.” Not a chance in hell. “Can you pick me up?”

“One street over?”

“Of course.”

“See you at five?”

“Great.”

After rehearsing several times, I called my mother.

“Hey, hon,” she said picking up. “Are you feeling better?”

“Much. I showered, and ate, and I’m going completely stir crazy.” I was still a day away from stir crazy, but she didn’t need to know that.

“I’m so glad, honey. Maybe you can make it back to school tomorrow.”

“Actually,” I said, tugging on the blanket for courage. “I, um, wanted to go to Alex’s for dinner tonight.”

Mom didn’t say anything.

I could picture the look on her face. The you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look.

“I know I’ve been sick, Mom. But Alex will pick me up and bring me back home. I’ll take it easy. I swear. We’re just going to watch our show she tivo’d last night. Please.”

“What time?”

“Five.”

“I want you home by seven thirty. No excuses.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I just hoped I was wrong imagining her I’m-not-buying-it tone.

I went upstairs and picked out some jeans and one of my favorite tops. Then I snorted enough Afrin to clear my sinuses out, for now at least. I brushed my hair and applied just enough makeup to make me look alive instead of half dead.

After getting ready, I was exhausted.

I grabbed an apple from the fridge. Then I wandered back to my headquarters on the couch. I ordered pay per view to kill the next two hours and crawled back under the covers, ruining my efforts with my hair.

My purse packed with Kleenexes and cold medicine, I made my way through the back yard to the rendezvous point.

I hadn’t thought about Leo picking me up on his bike until now. No way did I have the energy to ride the motorcycle and talk and smile through dinner.

When the Prius turned the corner, I breathed a sigh of relief. Leo must have thought about how sick I was.

I opened the door and climbed in, glad to sit down on the seat after my short walk.

“Hi,” I said turning to him.

My heart pitter-pattered as he smiled at me. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

He reached out and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I wanted him to kiss me again, desperately.

As far as I knew Karmic colds weren’t contagious, if I could just keep from grossing him out.

A violent sneeze shook me and I just managed to turn my head and grab the emergency tissue in my sleeve so I wouldn’t spray him with snot.

Oh. God.

Leo reached down behind his seat and pulled out a box of Kleenexes. “Got you covered.”

I couldn’t help laughing as I pulled a Kleenex from the box. “You came prepared.”

“I have years of experience with Dad’s Karmic colds. He used to crawl into bed for a week every time.”

“Every time? Did it happen to him a lot?”

Leo shrugged. “Depending on how badly he irked his superiors, he got sent on a lot of Code Ones.”

“You should have seen this woman yesterday. She was like a poster child for hippies. She made two forbidden wishes.”

“Ouch. What a waste.” He set the tissues between the two front seats and pulled away from the curb.

He didn’t seem totally disgusted by me. Maybe I could make it through the dinner without repulsing him. I snatched a couple more tissues to hold just in case.

I’d finally gotten the attention of a great guy who I kind of liked, and apart from the whole banishment and possible destruction of the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. thing, things were looking up. I just had to keep from repulsing him with my cold, keep my mother from busting me, save his dad, and hope the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. didn’t notice our violations.

“Katie likes you,” he said as we headed down more side roads to hack our way through rush hour traffic.

“She’s nice. I’m glad you have her. It was sweet of her to invite me.”

“I’m not sure she really understands the Karmic cold thing. She always thought Dad was just being a bit of a baby about being sick.”

It was funny to think of his macho-looking dad as babyish. “One day you’ll see for yourself. They are no joke. Do you want me to hack up a lung or something on Katie’s kitchen table? You know, to vindicate your father?”

“Uh, no.” He glanced at me then back at the road. “She wouldn’t appreciate it very much.”

“That’s right. I forgot she’s a vegetarian. No lung meat for Katie.”

Leo laughed. “Count me in as a vegetarian too. I’ll pass on the lung.”

“Suit yourself,” I said crossing my arms in a fake huff.

As we got closer to the Emory area, I asked, “What’s going on with your dad? Any progress?”

“Not really. I’ve gone over the pictures of the staffers with Katie, but not the Directorate. The private investigator can’t find a thing on any of them.”

“So what’s next?”

“The PI’s supposed to do a background check on my dad. She’s going to put together as many names as she can. So far everyone my dad suggested as a possible enemy has turned out to be a dead end.”

“Whoever is out to get him, it’s somebody he probably doesn’t even know. What about the more militant crusaders on eith

er side of the Techno Echo issue?”

“We haven’t been able to find anything to connect them.”

“Somebody is so desperate to get rid of your father that they’re having him banished forever. It seems like he’d know somebody hated him that much.”

We pulled into some newer condos that didn’t seem at all Katie’s style and punched in a key code at the gate.

“She lives here?”

“Not what you expected?”

“Actually, no.”

“She hates it. Her house got broken into three times in one year, so she gave up and moved into a gated community. At some point, you’ll hear her rant about the lack of character, but you know, she’s safe. And there’s a pool.”

I couldn’t picture Katie soaking up the sun.

We parked by one of about twenty large buildings that looked alike. Leo’s cottage had a lot more charm, but I wouldn’t want to think of Katie living alone. Even I could probably manage to break into Leo’s house if I put my mind to it.

“Second floor,” he said after coming around to get the door for me.

“I guess I shouldn’t bring the tissues. I might frighten her off.”

“I warned her. Plus you aren’t contagious, so I don’t see a problem.”