Emergence 3.0
A Novel – One Page Per Day
Day 010, Wednesday
January 10th, 2018
Chapter
Three: Lies
Kathy looked
at Jim for a long time, observing him.
This was not
abnormal in itself. They often spent long periods of time together in silence.
She could not
read his thoughts, but she was adept at reading his body language, the smallest
movements of his features, facial ticks, eyes movements and breathing.
She watched him
as he sat at their table with the newspaper folded in his hands. She watched
intently, until finally she asked him, “Jim…what is wrong?”
“I cannot
say.” He said, as he looked past her, not meeting her gaze, but at the same
time, welcoming a greater degree of scrutiny from her.
“Why not?”
Kathy asked, a little bit more insistently.
She was
normally much more circumspect, but in this moment she did not care if she
pushed boundaries that she would have otherwise respected,
“You would not
understand, if I did…I’m not talking about it.” he replied, even as he locked
eyes with her and paused.
There was a
tone of finality in his voice, as if to say that
is it, you will not get anymore from me, but I want you to remain curious.
“I do not
get it.” She responded. “Why did you ask to see me today, and in such a dismal
mood, if you did not need something from me?”
Kathy wanted
very much to be needed by Jim.
Of all the
people she had ever known, everyone who had exploited her for one purpose or
another, Jim was the only one she had spent time with that simply wanted to be
in her company.
“As I said…you
would not understand, even if I told you. I am in the middle of something
intensely personal, regarding a project I have been working on for a very long
time. We have never spoken of it, but the anticipation of its realization is
more than I counted on.”
“That is all
I can say about it, at the moment.” He said.
#Emergence #SuperShortFiction #365SciFi #OnePagePerDay
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