They somehow ended up leaving the
McDonalds
at the same time. They hadn't said much to each other. Only the comments about that particular McDonalds being oddly good compared to the rest. So it wasn't like they were having a conversation as they left. They walked in silence. Threw away their stuff. Headed outside. All without words. It just happened.
Outside the air hit them. Salt. Like from the sachets. But fresher. The breeze blew their hair and she had to grab her's to keep it from covering her eyes. He grinned a bit and she said "what?!" and then they both began to laugh. He hadn't laughed like that in so long. Probably the last time was when he was up in
Spacecity
. Marianna.
The thought prepared Keith to thinking he was going down memory lane again. About to get all emotional. But it never came. Marianna was just a thought now. And he was quickly back here. The wind. The salty air. The sea. This gal. Laughing. Was this what it felt like to be alive? he wondered.
Keith couldn't just let her go. It was special that he had laughed with her.
"Do you want to make like 60 bucks?" he said. Then regretted it. It sounded horrible. Sounded like he was soliciting her like some hooker.
"Sure?" she shrugged with her palms in the air. "Sure!"
"Okay. Follow me. It's just five minutes away."
He got into his beater. She got into her
Subaru
. She felt like in high school again. those occasions you ran into someone you knew out while driving. And they invited you someplace. A party maybe. And you followed them. Driven by excitement.
Imogen Howe
watched the way he drove. Smooth. No jerking around. It calmed her. Made it easy to follow him.
When he made a right for a strip mall, she knew finally what the man had meant. She didn't even know his name, she thought. How crazy was she being. But it was funny. Strange. But funny.
When she got out of the car he was waiting for her. Standing next to his.
"Plasma eh?"
"It's a good way to spend an hour," he said with a grin. "Plus I get a referral for bringing you. You can still back down now if needles make you--"