said.
“Do you…” Jeremy made a vague gesture at the side of his head.
“No, sorry, not a thing. But I’m ready to try, so let’s just have some lunch. An early lunch… hope I didn’t pull you away from anything important?”
“Nothing as important as this.”
Tables were available both inside and out, the latter quickly filling up due to the weather and what I assumed was a usual lunchtime rush. Jeremy and I secured one of the few remaining spaces and offered to go in and order.
“Wait, I haven’t seen a menu yet.”
“Let me surprise you.”
“You know I’m supposed to avoid stress,”
“C’mon, I’m not going to order you a lit stick of dynamite. Chicken sandwich, banana muffin, orange juice with lemonade. Sound good?”
Despite my best efforts I couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. “OK, yes, sounds good.”
“Great. Not going to be much of a surprise now, though,” he said with a smile and went inside.
I settled myself in a chair and looked around nervously. Nobody seemed to be paying us any attention, and more importantly there weren’t any men lurking with cameras. I guessed as far as celebrities were concerned, Jeremy wasn’t a Hollywood star. It wasn’t lon g before he returned with a tall and thin metal stand holding a card that said ‘73’ on it, which he placed on our table before sitting across from me.
“Jeremy, I want to apologize for the… uh… outburst that day. It wasn’t your fault, I just felt like I was backed into a corner all of a sudden. I needed my space.”
“You don’t need to say sorry for anything, Bea. It’s… strange times, I understand that.”
“Thanks. So here we are. What now?”
“Well, first we have lunch and enjoy the weather. After that, I’ve got an idea. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I thought, let’s go back as far as we can, to as close to where your memory cuts off as possible.”
“How?”
“Seattle.”
“Go there, you mean?”
“Yeah. Right back to the boardroom of Bloxhamtech Ltd. That’s where we met.”
“What was I doing there?”
“You worked there.”
“Oh. The boardroom? You can do that?”
“Sure, I own most of it now.”
A man wearing an apron and carrying a tray walked up at that moment with an almost fanatically huge smile on his face and began talking to us as he set down item after item on the table.
“Hola! Jeremy, Beatrice, so good to see you again. Where’ve you been? You haven’t been cheating on me with that hussy down the street, Bella’s Café, have you?”
“Haha! No. Good to see you too, Konrad. Life’s thrown a few curveballs and we’ve been pretty busy. Rather than offend you, I’ve chosen to just go without food in general.”
“Ah, good. I trust you’ve done the same, Beatrice?”
“Uh… yes, of course,” I smiled, the good spirits of the man with the Scandinavian accent was infectious.
“Good to hear. So, chicken sandwich, banana muffin and orange juice with lemonade for the lady. Ham sandwich, chocolate brownie and a Coke for the gentleman. Anything else I can get you?”
“Not for me. Bea?”
“No, this all looks fantastic.”
I picked up one half of my sandwich and had a good look at it. It was a sandwich that meant business, an impressive distance between each slice of bread was full of a nice crisp looking salad in addition to the obvious pieces of chicken. I bit into it with a satisfying crunch and began chewing, it was delicious.
“Mmmm,” I swallowed, “this is fantastic!”
“You’re telling me. I’ve told him his talents were wasted on sandwiches, but he says this is the business he always wanted to have.”
The meal went quickly (my banana muffin was spectacular) as Jeremy and I talked. I mostly told him about how my physical recovery was going, and how my daily walks had led to the discovery that I was living near
“Do you…” Jeremy made a vague gesture at the side of his head.
“No, sorry, not a thing. But I’m ready to try, so let’s just have some lunch. An early lunch… hope I didn’t pull you away from anything important?”
“Nothing as important as this.”
Tables were available both inside and out, the latter quickly filling up due to the weather and what I assumed was a usual lunchtime rush. Jeremy and I secured one of the few remaining spaces and offered to go in and order.
“Wait, I haven’t seen a menu yet.”
“Let me surprise you.”
“You know I’m supposed to avoid stress,”
“C’mon, I’m not going to order you a lit stick of dynamite. Chicken sandwich, banana muffin, orange juice with lemonade. Sound good?”
Despite my best efforts I couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. “OK, yes, sounds good.”
“Great. Not going to be much of a surprise now, though,” he said with a smile and went inside.
I settled myself in a chair and looked around nervously. Nobody seemed to be paying us any attention, and more importantly there weren’t any men lurking with cameras. I guessed as far as celebrities were concerned, Jeremy wasn’t a Hollywood star. It wasn’t lon g before he returned with a tall and thin metal stand holding a card that said ‘73’ on it, which he placed on our table before sitting across from me.
“Jeremy, I want to apologize for the… uh… outburst that day. It wasn’t your fault, I just felt like I was backed into a corner all of a sudden. I needed my space.”
“You don’t need to say sorry for anything, Bea. It’s… strange times, I understand that.”
“Thanks. So here we are. What now?”
“Well, first we have lunch and enjoy the weather. After that, I’ve got an idea. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I thought, let’s go back as far as we can, to as close to where your memory cuts off as possible.”
“How?”
“Seattle.”
“Go there, you mean?”
“Yeah. Right back to the boardroom of Bloxhamtech Ltd. That’s where we met.”
“What was I doing there?”
“You worked there.”
“Oh. The boardroom? You can do that?”
“Sure, I own most of it now.”
A man wearing an apron and carrying a tray walked up at that moment with an almost fanatically huge smile on his face and began talking to us as he set down item after item on the table.
“Hola! Jeremy, Beatrice, so good to see you again. Where’ve you been? You haven’t been cheating on me with that hussy down the street, Bella’s Café, have you?”
“Haha! No. Good to see you too, Konrad. Life’s thrown a few curveballs and we’ve been pretty busy. Rather than offend you, I’ve chosen to just go without food in general.”
“Ah, good. I trust you’ve done the same, Beatrice?”
“Uh… yes, of course,” I smiled, the good spirits of the man with the Scandinavian accent was infectious.
“Good to hear. So, chicken sandwich, banana muffin and orange juice with lemonade for the lady. Ham sandwich, chocolate brownie and a Coke for the gentleman. Anything else I can get you?”
“Not for me. Bea?”
“No, this all looks fantastic.”
I picked up one half of my sandwich and had a good look at it. It was a sandwich that meant business, an impressive distance between each slice of bread was full of a nice crisp looking salad in addition to the obvious pieces of chicken. I bit into it with a satisfying crunch and began chewing, it was delicious.
“Mmmm,” I swallowed, “this is fantastic!”
“You’re telling me. I’ve told him his talents were wasted on sandwiches, but he says this is the business he always wanted to have.”
The meal went quickly (my banana muffin was spectacular) as Jeremy and I talked. I mostly told him about how my physical recovery was going, and how my daily walks had led to the discovery that I was living near
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