Lay Down Your Hand by Cherie Mitchell

Author:Cherie Mitchell [Mitchell, Cherie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-09-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Ramona had asked Elliot to meet her at a fast food burger bar alongside the river to discuss the outcome of his second test run. He parked his car in the parking space behind the heavily sign-written building and walked over to the door. He could see Ramona from here, her long hair gleaming blue-black under the artificial lights and a tray of wrapped and packaged food on the table in front of her. He was suddenly glad to see her, pleased to have the opportunity for a conversation with someone who knew a little about him. 2020 was an oddly isolating era for a man to find himself in, despite the vast number of people who crowded the streets.

“Hi.” He slid into the booth seat opposite her with a grin.

“Hey, you. How did the assignment go?” She put down her phone and pushed the tray of food towards him. “I hope you’re hungry because I ordered something of everything. Take your pick.”

“Coffee?” he asked hopefully.

“Ah, everything but coffee. There are a couple of sodas here though if you want to sample some.”

He took one of the plastic cups from the tray. “The assignment went well. Lani didn’t notice me and I followed her until she boarded her train. I’ll assume she arrived safely home from there.”

A smile twitched at the corner of Ramona’s mouth. “She did notice you. I received her report this morning.”

Elliot’s earlier confidence evaporated. “She did?”

“Yeah. Apparently sprinting past her on the pedestrian crossing was a bad move. You called too much attention to yourself. It might pay to delete that trick from your repertoire.”

“And here I was thinking that I’d performed well.” He started to unwrap one of the warm, domed packages from the tray. “What’s this?”

“Cheeseburger. By the way, she mentioned that she liked your coat.”

He left the cheeseburger where it lay and leaned forward eagerly to tell her his news. “The coat! The coat is my own, the one I left hanging on Darcy’s coat stand. How is that possible?”

Ramona looked doubtful as she unwrapped her own burger. “That’s highly unlikely, Elliot.”

“I swear it’s true. There was small, personal item in the lining, a gift from Annie. It was still there.”

“That’s crazy. I could tell the coat was vintage but I didn’t know it was that vintage. It just goes to show that they used to make things to last. Wait until I tell Darcy.”

“So do you think it was merely a coincidence that I saw it in the charity shop?” He’d hoped for something more extraordinary than that.

“How could it be anything but a coincidence? No one has yet invented anything smart enough to propel individual items of clothing through time.” She took a bite of her burger and nodded at his untouched food. “Eat it while it’s warm. This heavily manufactured food doesn’t hold its heat.”

Determined to be contrary and not to do precisely what she told him to do, he poked a straw through the lid of his plastic cup and slurped at the liquid, feeling faintly repulsed by the lurid sweetness.

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