World Enough (And Time) by Edmund Jorgensen

Author:Edmund Jorgensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkwell & Often
Published: 2019-05-01T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

As he sat there trying to occupy his hands and mind with the bandora, Jeremiah could not help but mentally replay this latest encounter with Katherine, until he reached the conclusion that he’d been something of a jerk. More mystifying was why he had acted so boorishly. She had only asked him a question, after all—and one that he could have answered to her benefit if not her pleasure (yes, there still was such a thing as a quiet life on Earth, and no, unless the situation on Earth had changed drastically in the last 20 years, Katherine would never be able to afford to live one, especially anywhere near a lake or other body of water, with or without The Specimen’s income thrown into the mix). So why had Jeremiah needled her instead?

Of course Jeremiah was half in love with Katherine—he had fallen half in love with her the first night he sat at her table, despite the one piece of good advice his Uncle Leo had given him, which was never to fall in love with anyone who worked for tips. But that in and of itself was not sufficient to explain his recent bad behavior. Back on Earth Jeremiah had half, quarter, or eighth fallen in love with a handful of women on a daily basis, for an average of roughly 7.6 fancies taken per week, and markedly more in springtime. Many of these women had been waitresses, cashiers, or recruiters to political causes he met on the streets of Detroit, but some had been friends or acquaintances. In other words, Jeremiah was flush with practice at dealing normally and civilly with women he was infatuated with.

Neither could the fact that Katherine did not seem to share Jeremiah’s feelings fully explain the meanness of his mood. With rare exceptions, all the aforementioned fractional loves were completely unrequited, or at best exhibited an affection deficit that was not in Jeremiah’s favor. Even at the height of his relationship with Lana Peterson, when he had been a full 34/35ths in love with her, he estimated that her feelings for him had never exceeded the 7/8ths mark, and peaked that high only on birthdays and the odd Thanksgiving. He had managed reasonably well for years with that imbalance, thank you very much. So why the anger and sarcasm now?

Jeremiah could no longer pretend occupation with the bandora—he absolutely had to speak to Katherine immediately, though he was not quite sure what he was going to say. He put the bandora aside, walked up to her bedroom door, and knocked loudly.

“What,” said Katherine through the door. She did not phrase it as a question.

“Can you open up?”

“Why.”

“Because I need to talk to you,” Jeremiah said.

“You can talk through the door.”

“I want to apologize.”

“You can apologize through the door.”

“Please,” said Jeremiah, “would you just open the door for a minute?”

For about 30 seconds he wasn’t sure whether she was silently considering or had already silently refused, but then the door opened outwards a crack, from which Katherine’s left eye peered angrily.

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