Lauren regretted not turning on the bathroom vent. She reached for the remote next to the tub and checked for a button for the vent. She found it and opened the vent.
Michelin was sitting in a small inflatable boat, trying to chase the foams in the tub. It was a good idea to take a pleasure bath before lunch and nap. Lauren moved her bent right knee, and Michelin moved towards the knee that was moving under the foam.
She was clapping her feet to go where she wanted to go. It was a pretty successful act for a nine-month-old baby. For a while, she tried to catch Lauren's swaying knee with cheerful voices. When she caught it, she was happy and tried to hug what she caught, but she could not balance it. Lauren caught her just as her four-seater mini-boot was about to topple over. This made Michelin laugh even more.
It was August and Lauren's school was on summer vacation. Taking advantage of Lauren's stay at home all day, they sent Margaret, who had been taking care of them all year, to rest. Lauren spent most of the day dealing with Michelin.
She was often reading a book while she slept. She was not bored at home because she could access many data banks thanks to the private internet at home. Sometimes, in the afternoon, when the coolness fell, they would go down to the garden with Michelin.
Today, when Michelin woke up, she planned to take her into the park and stay there longer. She could make dinner with a few leftovers from yesterday. Often there was no need for dinner, as Brendon was on a week-long business trip.
Brendon always called once a day. This usually happened at bedtime. "He said he'd be home tomorrow night." thought Lauren. She was nervous again. She wanted it to come as soon as the occasional hallucinations subsided when Brendon was with her.
She hadn't slept properly for a week. Sometimes she had nightmares. Although she didn't remember much, she knew now that she was seeing these delusions and nightmares in French, as far as she could remember.
She had learned not to rush into these delusions that had lately driven her into harmful behavior. As soon as she found out, these nightmares started. Sometimes she felt like she was being watched. When Brendon was at home, she hadn't experienced such things and with one more night of perseverance, she would be able to sleep soundly.
She planned to cook some nice meals for tomorrow night. She didn't know if there was a dish that Brendon particularly liked. It would be nice if she could somehow ask him as soon as possible. She didn't know much about him.
The fact that she was married to a man she didn't know had never seemed real to her before. Over time, she began to get used to this strangeness. Despite having a cold character husband for two months, she started to see this house as her home. Moreover, they really seemed like husband and wife for a month. They were chatting, exchanging ideas, laughing at many common points. They even made love regularly.
Sex and making love can be two different things, Lauren thought. Then it occurred to her that there was no condom left at home. She rolled her eyes in embarrassment, "Is it okay if I take it?" she muttered.
The first time they did it about a month ago, he was so pissed off that he said to Brendon, "Your dick is already tiny." She had chosen the smallest size in the apartment's home delivery vending machine to mean it. They were too tight for Brendon, of course.
Lauren remembered the first time he tried to wear it. His charisma, which deteriorated when he couldn't place it after tearing the package with his mouth... Lauren started to laugh. The phone ringing at that moment made her startled.
She had forgotten her telecomputer in the living room. She didn't go there, thinking she'd look at it later. Then the house phone started to ring. She found it strange to be called again and again. She got up and left the bathroom, wrapping Michelin first and then herself in a towel.
At that moment, the answering machine activated, and she heard the voicemail. The voice belonged to Brendon. "Hello, I need to ask you something. I have an envelope to get at the Astronautical Society. You can easily find your location from the location app. Can you get that envelope and bring it to me?" he was saying.
Lauren first dried the Michelin thoroughly and put her in a diaper. Then she left it on the play mat. When she was done with Michelin, she checked the phone without getting dressed. The missed call on her own phone belonged to her friend. It wasn't Brandon.
Lauren pressed the button and listened to the answering machine again. Then, she called Brendon on her telecomputer. Brendon's phone was off. She couldn't understand. "Can you bring it to me?" Did that mean Brendon was back early from his business trip?
Lauren thought for a while as she dressed. She decided that it wouldn't hurt to stop by the association. She dressed for the outside and then fed Michelin and dressed her as well.
She preferred a taxi to go, not the car in the garage. She didn't even want to think about the possibility of having a delusion while in the car with Michelin. When she checked the navigation on her backseat trip computer, she realized that they were pretty close to the association Brendon was talking about.
Lauren tried calling Brendon again on the way out, but Brendon's phone was still off. When she got into the taxi, she called Brendon's office. Brendon's secretary had to drop in because she was calling directly from the extension number, but no one picked up.
Lauren thought of calling Jason too, but thought she might be acting too suspiciously. It was an answering machine message from Brendon. All she had to do was go to the association and ask if there was such an envelope. It would have been a nice change for Michelin, even if they came out during the warmer hours.
When she saw that they were coming according to the navigation, she got out of the taxi. Navigation had brought her to the edge of a five-lane highway. First, she checked whether the Michelin in kangaroo bag was affected by the sun.
Laurene adjusted her slightly slipped hat. She walked around the reinforced concrete building right next to it. She could not see any building resembling the association's building. However, when she was in a taxi, it was showing fifty meters ahead.
She checked her telecomputer one more time, this time the navigation was showing the building across the road. Although Lauren couldn't see the opposite side clearly due to the middle band of the highway, when she saw green trees stretching into the sky, she guessed that the association in a forested estate she saw might be there when she searched the internet.
She was relieved as the navigation showed an underground passage if she walked a hundred and fifty meters ahead. Because with one of the delusions that the cars jumped in front of, there would be no salvation on this crowded road. Lauren started walking away from the road.
…
Brendon got out of the car, which had landed on the helipad at the top of the OTUC building, with a manager and two secretaries. After four hours of travel, his neck was slightly stiff. Stretching his neck, he entered the building.
Returning from the journey with him, the manager went to the elevators and said, "The other team will come tomorrow. I can't believe we finished the job earlier than they did. Ours was a tougher job."
"We were lucky," Brendon said, calmly. The fatherly manager, one of the president's old friends, laughed and said, "Your humble demeanor doesn't help me, Walker. In your heart, you must be celebrating because you came earlier than the other team."
Brendon laughed, "I'm glad I came early, but I don't see it as a business success, Mr. Dialo. Getting the job is a success, of course." he replied. Dialo continued to laugh, "Maybe you would have convinced me if I hadn't seen your impatient behavior over the last two days. You're a workaholic guy." he said.
"Should I take that as a compliment?" Walker showed off his professional business smile.
"Of course!" Dialo replied as he descended the elevator to his office floor.
Brendon entered his room and tossed off his jacket. The summer season made such business trips unbearable. Thinking about the secretary, he had lowered the temperature of the room by commanding the office computer before he arrived. He wanted to give him a raise just for that thought.
He threw himself into the chair. He should have written the travel report. He wondered if he should postpone it until tomorrow. He leaned back in his seat and fought himself for a while. Then he gave up. He had to admit to himself that he was burning to finish the job early and return. He missed the two girls waiting for him very much and wanted to surprise him. That's why he didn't let Lauren know that he would come early.
His secretary knocked on the door, asking permission. Then he informed him that Mrs. Walker's phone number was on the office's missed calls list. "Oh!" said Brendon when Brendon heard that. He put his telecomputer in online mode.
In the last meeting he attended, telecomputers were turned off as a precaution against situations such as voice recording and secret espionage. Brendon had forgotten to put his telecomputer online at the end of the meeting.
"As if we discussed top-secret company matters and they had them shut down!" he said.
"So you didn't talk about confidential company matters?" Jason knocked on the door. Then he added "Welcome." He sat down in one of the chairs. Brendon continued to check his telecomputer without answering him. "She called three times," he muttered.
"Hoho! Mr. Walker will sleep in the living room tonight." Jason said. Then he got up and added, "I'll come back later," as he anticipates that Brendon will call Lauren back.
Brendon looked up and said, "You might be interested in what I learned at the last job." "Walker is the old Walker again," as Jason realizes that Brendon won't call Lauren until he's done. He sat down again and began to listen to him. His secretary left the room, closing the door.
Brendon wondered why Lauren had called him three times from her own phone and once from the office. But right now, business came first. He needed to talk to Jason specifically about what happened at the last meeting.
"Yeah, I'm waiting." Jason said, moving his chair to his desk. He looked at his face. He thought for a few seconds. "Something Michelin…" he muttered. "Call now, you heartless man," Jason said, impatiently. All the while, he was pointing at Brendon's telecomputer with his gaze.
Brendon raised his arm. Before he could call Lauren, his phone began to ring. The number belonged to an official external error. The caller was a police officer, and he explained Lauren Walker's condition and gave the address of the clinic she was at.