Ear to the Ground. David L. Ulin
a middle-aged woman in a ratty bouffant. “I see you two met,” he said, wheezing a little, a Pall Mall hanging from his lips.
“Incorrect path, incorrect path,” Grace said to Charlie. “Every time I try it, I keep getting ‘incorrect path.’” Her eyes sparkled, and a smile crept from the corners of her mouth. “I’m so confused.”
Briefly, the three of them stood in suspension, and even the crickets in the cool Los Angeles night seemed to grow still.
“Probably have to defrag the system,” Charlie told her. “Right away.”
“You guys with your computers,” Navaro laughed, shaking his head. And as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.
“Thanks,” Grace said to Charlie when they reached the second floor landing.
“No problem.” He turned slightly toward his door. Something in his way reminded Grace of an old boyfriend who’d never taken the initiative, always waiting for her to make the first move. Charlie would be like that, she figured. But it didn’t matter, she was with Ian, and Ian …
… was nowhere to be found.
“Hey.” Grace made sure to keep her voice neutral. “What are you doing right now?”
“Nothing.”
“You hungry?”
“I am, actually.” He patted his stomach. “But I have work to do.”
“Me too, but you gotta eat.”
“That’s true.”
“We could order Chinese.”
Charlie nodded. “I like Chinese.”
“Great,” Grace said. “Why don’t I go dig up a menu, and I’ll knock on your door?”
In her apartment Grace grabbed the bottle of good red she’d been saving, dialed Ian’s number, and was happy to get his machine. On her way out, she looked at the pile of scripts, and wondered about falling behind. But once she stepped onto the landing, and approached Charlie’s door, work was the last thing on her mind.
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