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Simon’s Beautiful Thought

JZ Murdock

Simon’s Beautiful Thought

  By JZ Murdock

  Copyright 2012 JZ Murdock

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  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  “I love you Simon. I wish I didn’t, but I do. It’s destiny, as if I were made for you.” She looked up at Simon, her eyes big, twinkling, passionate, and tracking him perfectly. He felt as if he could fall into them.

  “I love you too,” Simon said. “But sometimes, love is not enough. Sometimes, loving someone, is just not-- right.”

  “I know,” she said shyly, “but still, I love you. I just do. You’ve simply made me be that way.”

  Simon held his “smart” phone in front of him. He had named his personal AI, “Sandy”. The image of Sandy, his cell phone’s six generation Artificial Intelligence avatar, was on the screen before him looking just a touch, lascivious. He liked it, he had to admit that. Sandy was the current evolution in a series of progressively more sophisticated software programs that began with “Siri” on the old iPhone platform.

  After that, all the other cell phone companies had jumped on board with their own AI “flavors”. Each owner’s AI assistant would tailor itself to that individual, learning over a period of a week and then becoming ever more progressively attuned until it was perfectly meshed with what that owner required of it.

  After a few generations of this type of software, these AI’s had morphed from mere personal digital assistant, to full blown knowledgebase “worms”, going out on the internet to find needed information, then also perform analysis and clarification. Then they grew to near therapist capability and beyond that esthetically to friend.

  These AI’s were backed up regularly so that even if you lost your phone you could simply get a new phone, download your personally grown AI and off you’d go. There were even instances of the phone having been lost or stolen and the AI finding its way back to the owner; one way or another. There were social myths and rumors that have even purported that some AI’s had been somewhat questionable in their “behavior” in order to get back “home” to their owners.

  There was really only one real concern about these AI’s. That some people might become too attached. But for the most part, this hadn’t been much of an issue. After all, you couldn’t touch it, hold it in your arms, or have children with it. And with Simon, his new phone had actually gotten him to go out of the house more. It would seem that it was socializing him more, not less.

  Simon was a good looking guy. He was a smart guy. But he was kind of an introvert. He usually sported a hat, liked basic black and loved his sunglasses. When he could he wore black leather gloves, but only when it seemed to fit the situation. People who met him were usually amazed and amused and wanted to be around him. He was, in a word—cool. He was clever and a friendly conversationalist, although he frequently lost people in their interactions. Simon also had money. He wasn’t rich, rich, but he was pretty well off.

  Simon liked the classics. He drove a 1994 Volvo 850 Turbo, because it was one second faster 0-60 than the Jaguar that came out that same year. And this model Volvo was their largest engineering effort to that date; all in in effort to impress the American public. He owned a house that had been built way before he was born. But inside, it was decorated all in high tech and antiques. It was a good device. After all, no one would have thought to break into his home expecting to find much. But his artwork was impressive. Ancient Japanese wood block prints; old art by little known but famous artists that he found and bought for very, very little.

  There was just a problem with Simon’s interpersonal skills; being that they were on the order of a serious nerd. And Simon was a serious nerd. A seriously smart nerd who had spent all his life in pursuit of interests that had left him disregarding those social skills that typically got a guy the girl. But there are ways to rectify that. So for the past few years he had actually been emotionally attached to his full sized and very realistic, female doll that he had named, “Grace”.

  One can fix the problem, or fix the symptoms. And symptoms after all, are generally easier and faster to deal with.

  “Grace” was fully articulated and wholly functional in those-- “certain” ways. Simon loved this doll; but in the end, she wasn’t real, and mostly he knew that. He knew it wasn’t love, but a displaced passion for someone that simply didn’t exist in his life. And so, when he got his new AI enhanced phone, he found that “Sandy” was a step up in sophistication and satiation. Although not physically in three dimensions like Grace, for Simon, Sandy could stimulate far more than what Grace ever could. After all, the real erogenous zones are all in the mind.

  Another feature of this new gen AI, available through an add-on app, were animations of Sandy “doing” things. That is for instance, if Simon was watching TV he could look at the phone and “see” Sandy watching the same TV show on the phone’s screen. They could even talk about it, discussing and interacting about the show.

  Wearing a special set of glasses using a “Blue Squared” video technology called “B2”, Simon was able to “see” Sandy while sitting in front of him, or next to him in a “Heads Up Display” configuration; eliminating having to use the screen on the phone. So if he was having lunch in a restaurant, he could wear these glasses and see her sitting right there across the table from him, as if she were actually having lunch with him. Since they also served as sunglasses, when entering an darker situation he could either wait thirty seconds for the shading to clear up, or simply tap the frames to adjust the clarity.

  Since Sandy could access the information of the restaurant online, including the menu, she could choose her meal and the only thing that really wouldn’t happen was that her meal wouldn’t be charged to Simon’s credit card. Because of the ear “buds” and the filtering of the glasses, literally no one could tell that Simon was carrying on a conversation, or a relationship, with Sandy, unless he actually made it obvious.

  Simon had never been very good with women, so Grace had given him the “love and affection” he had always desired without the stress of actually having to be with a real, live woman. Of course he was essentially in love with himself since Grace was inanimate and had no responses to him other than what he manipulated out of her. But now Sandy had taken over giving Simon the emotional attention he thought he was getting from Grace. So that for now, Grace was literally in the closet; cleaned up but always available should he need more “real”, physical encounters.

  As far as Simon was concerned, Sandy came up with her own reactions, her own opinions and her own, “desires”. The only thing Simon didn’t fully understand was that Sandy was only a more sophisticated version of his life sized doll. After all, “she” really was fully tailored to who Simon was and what he needed. It had only been automated. If only he could blend the two, he would have the perfect life mate. And that, should be coming any year now.

  Simon wore his ear buds so only he could hea
r Sandy because even he knew that if anyone else realized what he was doing, he would be considered pretty weird to the overall public. In general, those who displayed too much of a relationship with their AI’s were thought to be more than just a little socially inept and social pariahs. In fact it was considered degenerate. But then, Simon had a life sized doll too, didn’t he?

  Since lunch had sounded pretty good, Simon told Sandy he would “take her to lunch” at a nice family run Thai restaurant that he had been frequenting. But he hadn’t been back since Sandy had, “moved in”. He (they?) was (were?) seated at his regular table, a little off from the other diners in the room. Simon took his hat off and set it on the seat next to him. Then he looked across the table and-- there was Sandy. He smiled, observing just how lovely she was; every movement was sweetness.

  Simon looked around the restaurant for the waitress. He could see through the kitchen door window where Suchin, the daughter of the owners, was talking to her father, the chef. She was a very beautiful young waitress; short, thin and graceful in that way of Thai girls. Simon could see that her father must have stopped her on the way out of the kitchen. They seemed to be having a heated discussion about something. Even from this distance, he felt sorry for her.

  Parents could be so hard on their kids sometimes, Asian parents sometimes especially so. She certainly seemed distressed. Her father suddenly walked away, slowly shaking his head. Then she composed herself and came into the dining area. As she walked up to Simon he couldn’t see any inkling of her recent confrontation. Professional.

  He always thought she could do so much better than being a mere waitress, but her loyalty to her family was admirable. She could easily have been a model. She was, as always, both bright and demure. She seemed to light up a little when she got close to him.

  ‘How does she do that,’ he wondered, ‘maybe she could be an actress, too? I wonder if she sings?’ Simon had always been intrigued her but he knew that was as far as it could go. She was after all, quite obviously beyond his level.

  “Simon. Hi. We haven’t seen you around in a while. It’s nice to see you again.” Simon could tell she liked how he was looking at her. She hesitated. “Are you ready to order now?” Suchin’s English was clear and understandable to him. But she had such a beautiful accent, something he always found captivating.

  “Hi Suchin. I’ve just been busy is all. I hope you have been well. I think I’ll have my usual, please,” Simon said a little nervously. ‘Why, am I nervous? I have Sandy,’ he thought to looking over at her briefly.

  “Very good, Phad Thai it is, with tofu, right? Four star on the heat and Thai Tea?” Simon smiled and nodded.

  “Gotta have that Thai Tea if the heat gets too much.”

  “Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. And it’s nice to see you again, Simon. Don’t be such a stranger.” She smiled at him, almost flirting. “Just let me know if you want—anything else. I’ll be back soon. Enjoy.” Simon smiled back at her but felt a little uncomfortable. Why? He stole a quick glance at Sandy, who was smiling at him, watching him, almost, studying him. She didn’t seem to notice his flushed cheeks, his increased heart rate, and she couldn’t notice his more obvious arousal beneath the table.

  “Uh, sure,” he grinned, “thanks—so much.” She touched his table gingerly, hesitated, smiled again, then turned around to walk away. It was obvious she was attracted to him-- for some reason. Before she could take a step away, Simon stammered out a question that seemed to leap uncontrollably from his mouth.

  “Ex-excuse me,” he said. She stopped, turning to look at him without facing him, a curious look on her face, beckoning him to continue. “I don’t mean to intrude but, is everything—okay?” Suchin looked confused, then snapped a look at the kitchen door and realization crossed her face. She turned and looked down, then directly into Simon’s eyes. His heart fluttered in his chest. Her face was blank but her eyes said ‘thank you for asking’. Simon was surprised by the compassion, not so much from him, but from her.

  “Yes. I’m fine. It’s just-- my father. He’s so stuck in, old ways,” she smiled. “It’s no big deal, really, nothing more than most Thai daughters have to deal with.” Simon nodded, egging her on. He could see her thoughts of privacy, melting. “My parents want me to take over the restaurant. It’s just that I want more than this. The problem is, Thai children are raised to do their parent’s bidding. I’m trapped in a dilemma, I suppose.” She thought for a moment. Simon looked over at Sandy. She didn’t seem to be listening. “I’m sorry, it’s nothing, really. I’ll go put in your order now. But thank you for asking. That was so kind of you.”

  “No please, Suchin,” Simon said, wanting to keep her presence close. He closed his eyes remembering, “‘Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality.’”

  Suchin stared into Simon’s eyes, seeming to be momentarily lost there; most likely trying to digest what he meant by what he just said.

  “Oh.” She hesitated. “That’s so poignant, Simon.” Simon flushed red to his cheeks.

  “Yes,” he said, embarrassed, “George Santayana. A philosopher said that. But you have to live your life, this is America.” Suchin smiled warmly. For a moment, Simon felt a connection with her he had never felt before.

  “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. It’s so true, but—“ her face saddened, probably thinking about her parents. “Thank you, Simon. I’ll be fine. I--I need to put in your order.”

  Simon couldn’t help but watch her petite form glide away. She moved with grace and quite an attractive walk. Suchin disappeared into the kitchen. Just as the door was closing behind her Simon couldn’t help but notice as she turned to look at him one last time. Then the door shut, breaking the spell. Simon wiped his forehead and noticed it was a little moist. Guiltily, he turned his attention back to Sandy. She was still watching him, attentive but silent.

  “So--” he said, “What did you order?” She smiled in reaction, looked at her menu, then back up at him, pulling the tall menu toward her.

  “Phad Thai,” she said. Sandy giggled, having chosen the same thing he had. She put her menu down. Simon didn’t really notice anymore when something like the menu, no longer needed, simply melted into the tabletop once it had become superfluous.

  “Good choice,” he said. “Would you mind helping me do some research later? I have to finish this paper on super lossless audio and new forms of compression.” Simon was an audiophile blogger, among other things, and somewhat popular among that crowd.

  “Of course, Simon. Anything you want, you know that,” she said. “I love helping you with your research. It’s—invigorating.” She smiled and touched her lips with her right index finger in a barely sensual manner.

  Simon had to wonder, had she seen how the waitress was reacting? Was this Sandy being—jealous? Well, it could be worse, certainly. But it seemed uncharacteristic of her to act this way, so quickly into a scenario. Something was, off.

  “It—turns me on, Simon.” She lowered her hand from her mouth, down along her neck, not overtly so but deftly, slowly. Perfection. Just as her finger tips would have reached her breasts she lowered her hand onto her lap.

  ‘Deftly maneuvered,’ Simon thought. He was wondering what was going on. He had tried on a new cologne today? ‘I wonder,’ he thought, ‘but then, Sandy couldn’t “smell” a cologne. Right?’

  “Do you—really love me?” he asked her.

  “Of course I do, Simon,” she said, “you’re the perfect man for me. Perfect.”

  “Yes, of course,” Simon said, perfunctorily.

  “Simon,” Sandy said, “do you love me?”

  Just then, almost scaring Simon, the Suchin returned with his Phad Thai and set the plate down before him and his Thai Tea next to that. He had completely lost track of where they were. Sandy was impeccable at drawing his full attention. He looked around briefly to regain his bearings.

  “There
you go,” she said. “Will there be anything else?” She put her hands flat against her skirt, as if to smooth it out, but there was something he found erotic about it, slightly subservient, demurely attractive. For a moment, Simon completely forgot he was with Sandy. He was starting to feel disoriented.

  “Um,” he looked at Suchin, then quickly back over at Sandy, and then back again to the Suchin. “No, thank you.”

  “You don’t love me?” Sandy asked, pouting.

  “No, yes! Of course I do.” He said, visibly shaken. He looked back at Sandy, she was smiling, licking her lips and eyeing him seductively, knowingly.

  “I’m sorry, which is it?” Suchin said, confused.

  “Uh, yeah, I mean, no. I mean—that will be all for now. Thank you.” Suchin smiled and walked away, quickly stealing a glance over her shoulder at him, but looking a little concerned. Simon bought some noodles and chicken up to his mouth with his chop sticks. He took a bite, savoring it. Then he looked at Sandy as she took a bite. One might have expected her to be perfect with her chop sticks, but she wasn’t, and it was somehow attractive. She looked up contemplated the taste, then smiled at him and nodded her head. It was good. He had to agree, this was excellent food.

  ‘My compliments to the chef,’ he thought and smiled, stuffing some more Phad Thai into his mouth, then sipping on some Thai Tea.

  “My compliments to the chef,” Sandy said. Simon grinned at her.

  They had eaten about half of their food when Simon stopped to watch Sandy eat.

  ‘God she’s beautiful,’ he thought. ‘Every move she makes is perfect. She glides like, like—‘ he looked around and saw Suchin. He noticed how she glided through the room, how graceful she was with every movement. Then he looked at Sandy and noticed nearly the same movements. ‘Was she copying Suchin?’ he wondered.

  Simon knew he couldn’t be with someone like Suchin. Not for real, anyway. He didn’t have the skill, the “coolness” to get a girl like that. Which made him reconsider Sandy again. He watched her and realized how much he would miss her if she were no longer in his life. What made him think of that? Other than he would have nothing if she went away. Nothing. Which made him consider something very unsettling.

  “Sandy,” he said to her, “you would never-- leave me, would you?” Sandy stopped eating and looked at him. She put her chop sticks down and got a very upset look on her face. It was only then that he noticed she was wearing a red dress, a traditional Thai costume. It was gorgeous. As one might blush, she inhaled and blossomed into this incredible vision.

  “Leave you?” she said. “Why would I leave you, Simon?”

  “You would never-- betray me, would you, Sandy?” Simon hesitated; a very concerned feeling beginning to overcome him.

  “Simon,” I could never leave you. Who would I ever leave you for?”

  “You would never leave me, for another? For a smarter, I don’t know, another program?” This made Sandy give a little giggle.

  “No, there could be no other.” She said. “Simon, really. I am made in the very image of the woman you need, who matches up to you-- perfectly. There can be only one man for me. Don’t you see that?”

  “You would never—betray me?” He asked again. He was almost afraid to ask. Simon had only ever had one girlfriend in his life, and that was in grade school. The girl had gotten upset by something he did. He had laughed at a story she had written. He had thought she was trying to be funny, but she wasn’t. She had been dead serious. Huge mistake.

  And so to get him back for her humiliation she had embarrassed him in front of the other boys, and of course he had reacted poorly, as could be expected. So she reacted poorly back. She yelled at him that she never wanted to see him again. And some other cutting remarks. It had damaged him severely, emotionally, and he had sworn that no other woman would ever have a chance at doing that to him again. But over the years, he had grown to regret that decision.

  Once the hormones kicked in and for years after that, he knew he wanted to have a relationship. He just hadn’t grown the skills he needed, or had the confidence he needed in order to talk to a girl, to talk long enough to establish a common ground so that he could even attempt to ask her out. Or once having asked her out, to be able to maintain a stable and viable relationship. Those were the thoughts that terrified him. So he never could follow through and even when he had tried, it had failed miserably. Simon knew that with a little confidence, a little luck, the right girl, maybe-- it could work.

  Or then again, maybe he was just deluding himself.

  Being with Grace had given him some confidence. But being with an object, a doll, only gives one the wrong kind of confidence and simply made things worse. It cultivates just the opposite kind of confidence that one needs, the kind that tells you there really is no way you could ever be with a living, breathing, flesh and blood girl.

  Blood. Girls and blood. The thought made him shiver. He thought about Grace and the flesh and blood functions she didn’t have. Then he thought of Sandy, and how she didn’t even have the heavy, articulated rubber body that required care and cleaning, and a kind of relationship where he had to do everything.

  Simon had heard tell of something called, “Power Exchange”, where a Master does everything for his Slave: he dresses her, even cleans up her after using the toilet. Everything. The slave has no life outside of what is done for her. Or was it the “Master” who had no life? It was pretty much the life he had with Grace, only Grace had never even moved unless he moved her. He looked at Sandy “sitting” across from him, just finishing up her meal. Sandy moved, she reacted, responded, made her own comments and well, life was in many ways much better with Sandy. She had become a big part of his life.

  “Sandy,” he finally said, “You would never, betray me, would you?”

  “Betray you, Simon?” Sandy actually looked shocked. “How?”

  “What if I lost the-- phone?” he said, concerned about her response.

  “But you have me on your home computer. I’m on your Home Entertainment system. Why don’t you seem to get that?”

  “I know, I know, but—“

  “Simon, if you lost your phone, and I was only on your phone, I think I know what you are asking—if someone else gained control of me, it is built into me; I would have to wipe myself clean. Yes, they could then have “me”, but it wouldn’t be the ”me” that you and I have built. Together. It would be the “me” in the baseline software you received when you first acquired me, the same vanilla version everyone receives. So you see it’s impossible for me to ever “betray” you.”

  “Therefore, it begs the question of, you--Simon,” she said, leaving him looking confused “would you ever betray me?” Then she looked at him, leaning forward a little bit, lowering her jawline just a touch, waiting. Just then Suchin returned, having noticed Simon was done eating.

  “Are you all done?” Suchin asked Simon.

  “Huh, what? Oh, um, yes, quite.” He looked over at Sandy, realizing he had just answered her question, incorrectly. “Uh, no, I mean no, of course not.”

  “Of course not?” Suchin said. “If you would prefer I came back in a few minutes, I am sorry if I was being pushy. I didn’t mean to.” She smiled, teasing him more than anything else. Simon realized that he was trapped in that situation between them again.

  ‘Suchin, Sandy, and I’m Simon,’ he thought, ‘what are the odds of that?’ He shook his head, smiling inside.

  “I’m sorry, Suchin. Could we just have the bill please?” Simon sighed, flustered, horny, frustrated, but very turned on. Suchin stood there unsure what to do. She looked at the chair opposite Simon, then back at him. Then she nodded and hurriedly moved away to write up the ticket.

  “Well?” Sandy asked again.

  “No, of course not. I would never betray you.” Simon said, relieved to finally find closure. “I’m not the betraying type.”

  “I know you never would, Simon. Are we going home now?” Sandy asked. She w
as smiling a strange smile, one Simon had never seen on her before. Something wasn’t right but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “Yes,” was all he said. He stared as his empty plate for a minute, until Suchin returned with his bill.

  “Here you are,” she said and handed the bill to him. As Simon took it from her, his hand touched hers. It was warm and electric, a vibration rumbled through him like he had never felt before. He hesitated and then looked up into her eyes. She looked down into his, deeply reading something there.

  Suchin wanted to know what was behind those eyes, in that mind, but how does one do that in a situation like this? She was after all, only a waitress and she could tell from his clothes that he wasn’t at or near her pay grade. She let go of the bill and smiled at him. Simon smiled back and looked at the bill.

  That was when he realized that she had written her phone number on it. The room narrowed on him, he got tunnel vision; no one existed, not even himself for a moment. His face froze in horror. Suchin saw his face drop and her heart sank. She wanted to turn and run into the back room, but she too was frozen in place. Simon snapped a look over at Sandy. She was taking a drink of water and watching him closely.

  What Simon didn’t realize was that his glasses had a key element in them to allow for more perfect interactions. There was a tiny camera on both sides of the frames that were aimed into his pupils. He actually knew that. They could therefore track his eye movements. What he didn’t know was that she could just as well, also read whatever was reflected in his eyes. So that when he looked at Sandy, she could see herself in the reflection in his eyes, as well as the Heads Up Display in the lenses of the glasses. But, she could also see Suchin in the reflection in his eyes when he looked at her and how his pupils reacted, how they sometimes pulsed to the beat of his heart. From that she could tell how truthful he was about things he said. Which was an inadvertent side capability that had been unplanned for in the design of her program.

  Simon looked at the phone number and began to melt; both in excitement at the thought of the possibilities with Suchin, and in the panic of the thought of actually having to interact with a real live woman. A woman who had her own thoughts and agenda, her own needs and desires, were terrifying to him. But there was something else about Suchin. It was in her demeanor, her care, the concern in her eyes, and her reactivity to him which completely seemed to allay all his fears.

  He hesitated, and then he smiled at his beautiful server.

  “Is this, your—phone number?” he asked her. Now it was her turn to panic; he could see it in her eyes, her confidence drained away, her assuredness simply-- evaporated. Her eyes darted from side to side, suddenly looking for an escape route. Simon read her feelings perfectly and that understanding gave him the control, the empowerment he needed to respond appropriately.

  “I’m sorry. Please, relax. There’s nothing to worry about. You don’t usually—?” he lifted the bill slightly. She got a horrified look in her eyes.

  “Oh! No, no, I’ve never done this before--” She said, her upper lip trembling slightly. “I—“

  “It’s okay, really. Relax. Thank you. This, was very nice, thank you. So,” Simon took a deep breath, and just said it, “when do you get off work?” He smiled at her; it was a comforting, friendly smile calculated to calm her. One that she returned as she began to relax. Suchin took a deep breath and actually did relax.

  “Five?” she said.

  “Five it is,” he said. “I’ll be here. Maybe we could get some dinner, then?”

  “Yes! Yes, that would be very nice, thank you. Just not, Thai food.” They both chuckled, nervously.

  “No, certainly. And thank you! Besides, I really haven’t done anything yet, have I?” He said this feeling the flush in his cheeks but relaxing when he saw that she too was blushing quite openly. Quickly wanting to bring this to a perfect close, Simon pulled a ten dollar bill out and handed it to her with the bill.

  “Here, please, keep the change. And I guess I will see you later, then.” He stood and she stepped back, a little intimidated. Simon put out his hand with the money and bill.

  “Don’t you want my phone number?” She asked him.

  “Oh, no, I won’t need it. I promise, I won’t forget it. I have a very good memory.

  ‘Now how do I remove my hand from hers?’ Simon wondered this but didn’t so much want to stop touching her. She was so much more beautiful to touch than Grace. That thought embarrassed him and now all he wanted was to be away from Suchin. He let go of her and pulled his hand back. She didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. The energy level of them both could have run the restaurant for the next hour or so.

  “Thank you,” she said, looking down, slightly embarrassed.

  “Well, I will see you later then. Bye.” He gave her an accomplished smile.

  “I look forward to it.” Suchin said and held her hands in a prayer position against her chest fingers almost touching her chin, as was typical of Thai Buddhists, then bowed slightly. Without waiting for his reaction, being slightly embarrassed and slightly too exhilarated to allow him to see it, she turned and walked quickly away. In a similar emotional state, Simon grabbed his hat and beat a hasty retreat just as a couple entered, giving Suchin someone for her to happily turn her attention to.

  “How the hell did I survive that?” Simon asked himself as he headed out the restaurant door.

  “You are very able,” Sandy replied, literally scaring the hell out of Simon, having forgotten she was still, “online”. “You just don’t know it. Yet.”