Read Online Birth of Adam (Artificial Intelligence Book 2) by Liza O'Connor - Free Book Online Page B

you have a tissue?” she asked, and realized he was already handing her one. “Thanks.”
    “Are you all right?”
    “Yes. I’m on the phone with Adam, the wonderful person who hired you, and he was telling me your son is playing at the recital and you couldn’t get a ticket.”
    The driver’s eyes widened as he stared at her through the rearview mirror. “Yes, ma’am, that’s true. I didn’t realize Mr. Adam knew that. I thought it was just divine fate that made him offer me the ticket. Will you tell him how grateful I am?”
    “Tell him to take good care of my girl, and we’re square.”
    “He says you are most welcome.”
    “That’s not what I said. Now tell him what I said!”
    “I can’t, it’s embarrassing.”
    Suddenly the driver’s phone rang. The driver answered and assured “Mr. Adam” he would do just that, then thanked him again for the ticket. When he hung up, he smiled back at Amanda. “I’m to keep you safe and happy tonight.”
    “Thank you.”
    “The name’s Andrew, ma’am.”
    “Thank you, Andrew. I’m Amanda.”
    ***
    Amanda was amazed at the crush when they arrived. Evidently string recitals were more popular than voice. But then she had always arrived hours early for her voice recitals, so she had no idea if they were just as chaotic. She liked Andrew driving her to the front entrance.
    Now safely seated in what Adam declared to be the best acoustical seat in the building, she opened the recital program. Mark Hammer had a two-page spread discussing his many accomplishments to date. She was astounded and impressed.
    Two older men eased by her and sat down to her right. They were arguing over the tempo in which a particular Bach fugue should be played. She smiled. Dr. Branson had raised the same question just last week. She wished she had heard these men’s conversation first. She would have sounded brilliant in class.
    The remainder of the seats filled in. The man to her left kept standing up and shaking hands with people. She wouldn’t have cared, except every time he returned to his seat, he slammed down so hard the shock wave would send her bouncing up a half-inch in response. While he was clearly popular, she thought him abominably rude.
    Suddenly Adam spoke in her ear. “Phones are strictly forbidden, so do not speak to me or bring attention to your ear piece. However, you should be aware that the two men to your left are Geoffrey Garner and Harold Tilman.”
    “They wrote The Science of Music,” she said, then remembered she wasn’t supposed to talk.
    Harold Tilman turned and looked at her. “I beg your pardon?”
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I just realized you were Harold Tilman and Geoffrey Garner. I’m in Dr. Branson’s music theory class and we study your book, The Science of Music.”
    “And how do you like the class?” Harold asked.
    “Very much. Your approach to music makes me wish I’d spent more time paying attention to math. I plan to correct that beginning this fall.”
    “Why wait? You could take a summer course,” Harold challenged her.
    “I would if I weren’t headed to Europe on a grant.”
    He stared at her. “Of course! You would be Amanda Carrington.”
    She nodded, surprised he knew who she was.
    He turned to Geoffrey. “Amanda is the freshman who is causing so much trouble for Branson and Wilson.”
    Geoffrey waggled his eyebrows playfully. “Well, I can see what got them into trouble. She hardly looks like a freshman. How old are you, if I may so inquire?”
    Amanda noticed everyone within several rows appeared to be waiting for her reply.
    “To begin with, I’m most upset by your implication there has been anything improper with my relationship to either Dr. Wilson or Dr. Branson! And my age is irrelevant to that objection, because the critical point of the argument is they are not the type of men who would allow such a thing to happen!”
    Both men appeared utterly shocked by her response. It took