Immortal Stories: Eve Read Free Page B

got stranger.”
    “Is there?”
    He coughed.  “No, no there isn’t, it’s just… are you for real right now?”
    “I’m real, yes.”
    “I’m not spoken for or… no, I’m single, Eve, but I’m not real clear on what you’re saying here.”
    “I did think that part was obvious.  I find you attractive.  I don’t believe I’m mistaken in your attraction to me.”
    “Um… no, you’re not wrong.”
    “You have a place with privacy?  I understand public intercourse is poorly taken.”
    “This is a joke, right?  There’s a camera somewhere or something?  Am I being punked?”
    Eve didn’t know what being punked was and had no idea why this was all so difficult.  She’d only decided to stay tethered to this dirty, smelly part of the world a few hours earlier, and already she was experiencing all the old aches and needs she remembered—fondly and less so—from when she lived in this world all the time.  There was hunger, and thirst, and the baser bodily functions that came with food and drink.  Soon there would be a need for sleep.  And when she saw Rick, she remembered lust.
    “This is the simplest thing imaginable, Rick.”
    “No, it’s really not.  We hardly know one another.”
    She laughed.  “I’m not asking for a life mate.  I have a biological need, and you look nicely compatible.  But if I’m mistaken, I apologize.  I may have more to understand about… about being here than I thought.”
    He didn’t say anything.  He just stared at her as if expecting something to happen that would explain the matter to his satisfaction. 
    “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” she said, getting to her feet.
    He caught her by the wrist.
    “Wait,” he said.  “Just a second.  If you’re completely serious… like I said I only live around the corner.”
    “I am completely serious.  I don’t know how else to say that.”
    “Well all right.  Then let’s go.”

TWO
    The coffee shop was at the edge of a small parking lot primarily meant for use by a food market and an electronics retailer.  The main entry to the lot was from the roadway with the cars driving far too quickly, but there was a small entrance/exit in the back behind the market.  Past that small tributary of a road was a neighborhood.
    Eve was always fascinated by the variety of humanity’s living space choices.  She’d seen everything, from standalone portable huts, to permanent interlocked structures that were vertically independent of one another, to freestanding, uniquely designed buildings.  Sometimes it looked as if the architects were having a quiet argument with one another via structural design and color palettes.
    At least we got out of caves .
    She recalled an entire city in an underground maze of caves and tunnels and caverns that, for all she knew, still existed.  The memory made her shiver. 
    Rick walked as though he was still confused.  He didn’t appear to know whether to travel ahead of her or beside her, to touch her or keep his distance.  She wanted to see the man that first strode into the shop with an arrogance of superiority, but what she was getting was a confused child, and it was only making the entire matter more frustrating.
    There had been changes.  Eve understood this well enough.  The kind of warrior mentality she was aching to tap into was the same mentality that too often resulted in violence and rape, and that was not what she wanted to revive, in anyone.  But she’d offered herself as clearly and obviously as she could while still adhering to the ground rules of public behavior, and he still acted as though she was going to run off or scream for help.
    “It’s right up here,” he said, pointing to an indistinct tomato-colored house.  “I’ve got the second floor.  Used to be one of those big one-family places, but they converted it to condos a few years back.  I think they’re trying to make the attic into a one bedroom space, but I don’t know if there’s a…