Capítulo 16: Chapter 16

It's a thirty-minute walk to the house where the Goldstein family is staying. We could get there in a fraction of the time if we took a boat, but I prefer dry land. It's another beautiful summer's day in Esperanza. The lake is filled with boaters, either fishing or just relaxing and enjoying the day.

The Goldsteins are going to be among them. They're renting our speedboat for the afternoon. The shoreline is quiet, except for the occasional group of teenagers, who're sunbathing and swimming. I enjoy people watching. It's one of my favorite things about my job. But most of the time I work alone. I like the solitude, and it's disorienting having Dirk with me.

"You don't have to hold my hand," I say. "Nobody can see. You can give it a rest."

"I'm a consummate actor, Raine. I don't break the illusion for anything." He gives my hand a squeeze. I'm almost getting used to the skin contact. My urge to scream has left altogether, and I only giggle occasionally, now.

"I love it here," he says. "Beautiful. Peaceful. No paparazzi."

"Paparazzi? They wouldn't know where to find us. Nobody knows where to find us. We are the last secret in America."

"I hope it stays that way. I'd like to spend a lot more time here."

"But you have to fly to Iceland at the end of the week to start shooting Speed Freaks IV."

Dirk looks at me and grins. "You know more about me than I do."

"Subscription to People magazine. I'm not stalking you. Honest."

"If I had a dollar for every time somebody said that to me, I'd be a very rich man."

"You are a very rich man."

I'm late, again. The Goldstein family set me back a full hour. Normally I hand off the food to the guests, and then I'm gone, letting them enjoy their vacation. I do the shopping, I bring the groceries, and then I'm all like the wind. The invisible woman.

But being escorted by America's treasure is slowing me down. No, not slowing me down. Making me come to a full stop. Period.

"Does that happen every time?" I ask Dirk as we walk into town.

"Every time. Every stinkin' time."

"I think you may have impregnated Mrs. Goldstein."

"I think Mrs. Goldstein may have impregnated me," he counters.

It was a free-for-all when we arrived. Mr. Goldstein recognized Dirk first. He ran out to us before we even got to the house. Just like my brothers, he wanted to arm wrestle Dirk, and Dirk complied. With the whole family looking on in the kitchen, Dirk threw Mr. Goldstein's arm down on the table within two seconds or less.

"You didn't have to sprain the man's hand," I tell Dirk. "He's a pianist. How's he going to play the piano?"

"Look, I've learned not to let the fan win the arm wrestling. It disappoints them. They want me to win. They want me to be Jake Storm. Me spraining his arm just fulfills his fantasy."

"It's a shame you couldn't fulfill Mrs. Goldstein's fantasy."

"Mrs. Goldstein is a freak. I wasn't about to fulfill her fancy. There aren't enough antibiotics in the world to do that."

The University of Esperanza is a beautiful Adobe-style group of buildings, laid out a lot like Stanford, in long rows with a center plaza for students to mingle in.

"Are you in college?" Dirk asks.

"Oh God no. High school was bad enough. I'm not the academic type. We're here to hedge my bets."

"Huh?"

"I'm getting science on my side. Wade isn't going to stand a chance."

"You're not going to try and clone me, are you? They tried that before, and it hurt."

I stop walking. "You shouldn't joke about things like that. A lot of people would like to see you cloned."

He lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me close. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"My hand was getting sweaty. And I like it better this way, anyway. "

Dirk Adams is a mystery to me. I don't know if he's bored and just playing with me, or if he's really into this act, but one thing's for certain, it sure feels good to have his arm wrapped around my waist.

It takes us a while to find Marie's lab. It turns out it's a windowless cavern, full of mysterious machinery. There are four scientists working hard, so focused on their work that they don't even look up when we enter. Marie is in the back, hunched over a pad of paper and furiously marking down rows of equations.

Math. Blech.

"Hi, Marie," I say. "Sorry we're late."

She looks up and pushes her glasses up on her nose. She's blank-faced, disorientated, and it's obvious she has no idea who I am.

"Remember me? The fountain? The chemistry experiment?"

Marie slaps her forehead as she remembers. "Oh, yeah. I'm ready for you. I've asked around, and I think I have something that'll work. Is this your boyfriend? It looks like you already have an active chemical attraction going."

I laugh. "You think that he's my-" I start and become hysterical. I snort and clutch onto my side, as I laugh harder. "He's Dirk Adams. He's not my boyfriend," I say, finally.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Adams," Marie says. There isn't a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. She has no idea who he is.

"We really are boyfriend and girlfriend," Dirk says, winking at her.

"That's what I thought. There's some definite mating posturing going on, not to mention flushing of the skin, showing that you are in a constant state of arousal."

"Of course I'm in a constant state of arousal," I say. "He's Dirk Adams. But he's not my boyfriend." Sheesh. She's supposed to be some kind of genius, but she can't figure this out? "You can tell her the truth, Dirk. She's part of team Raine."

Dirk shrugs. "I don't know what she's talking about," he says, his voice deadpan, and his face unreadable.

"Well, he's not the target of my experiment," I tell Marie. "There's no mating posturing going on with my target. You understand? This is urgent."

"Right. So, here's what we came up with." Marie opens door of her desk and pulls out a small metal cylinder.

"Deodorant?" I ask.

"Close," she says. "Pheromones. A mixture of several animals, reputed to work very efficiently. Highly potent. All I ask is that you carefully note the amount of sprays that you apply and the time of day and the outcome."

She hands me the container, and I take it, greedily. For the first time since I found out that Wade was coming back into town, I'm optimistic that I'll make him fall in love with me and we'll live happily ever after. Science is on my side. I know this will work.

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