Programmed for Peril

nigh-browed as he? He was right to spend most of his time alone, away from gawking. He knew he was sweating, despite the air conditioning. Moisture crescents showed on his shirt under his arms. Yet another way in which he was unappealing. He dreaded meeting Patricia again. He dreaded not meeting her.... Jazz riffs curled up from memory: Monk at Montreaux, Chet Baker in Paris...
    “Ms. Morley will see you.” Michelle pointed at the inner door. “Cubicle on your left.”
    Like a pilgrim to the shrine! Muslim to Mecca. Catholic to Lourdes. Hindu to the Ganges. Nicholas to Patricia! He strode carefully, sought to compose himself, dry the sweat. Impossible! He peered around the door frame.
    She!
    His love sat at her desk, hands folded on its top. “Come ln. Nicholas. Have a seat.” She pointed at a chair set six feet away from the desk, ten feet from the tip of her outthrust sneaker. “I debated whether or not to talk to you, Nicholas,” she said. There was haughtiness in her stare. He wasn’t fooled. He had read between the spoken lines of Sweetest Sister’s report. This woman was frightened. And he would help her. “I’m well aware of what you and your sister are up to- I assume that she’s talked to you, so that you’re duly Earned, too.”
    “We did talk, but—”
    “Did she give you my warning?”
    He blinked. That he didn’t recall. He shook his head.
    “She must have told you that I understand your role in what’s happened to PC-Pros recently.”
    He opened his mouth to protest. She waved him silent. “One more incident and I’m calling the police. And giving them your names.”
    He battled a reluctant mouth. Move! “It’s not us,” he managed.
    “I think it is.” Her tones were clipped. “I’m not going to debate it with you. I did that with your sister. It wasn’t pleasant.”
    “L-Lois can be difficult,” he said.
    She smiled thinly—ah, lips made to match his! Toads lived only to kiss princesses. “I’m well aware of it.” She unfolded hands long enough to gesture questioningly. “What brings you here, Nicholas?”
    “I—want to help you.” He rushed ahead, spewing out a verbal tangle of detail related to what he called the “incidents.” There were some key points he absolutely had to make with her. He had assumed her technical knowledge was broad. She would not disappoint him in that way.
    She hesitated to interrupt him. He saw in her eyes the gray smoke of partial comprehension. Then the winds of emotion blew it away. “Please stop, Nicholas! I don’t doubt you know what you’re talking about. What I doubt are your motivations for being here. There’s more than a little guilt in your visit, I think. You’ve come here to try to make the point of your innocence. It’s a bit of an overreaction, isn’t it?”
    “Not guilt.” Adoration, but he couldn’t say it.
    “You say you’re here to help. If you really want to help me...” Her eyes found his. Spear me with their twin barbs! I am fish made defenseless by the shallow water of my love. “Refuse to help your sister any further,” she said.
    He flogged his tongue like a mule team master. “Lois and I have nothing to do with your problems. You should believe me, Patricia. If you don’t, worse things could happen.” She gasped. “Are you threatening me?”
    He groaned inwardly. She was misunderstanding. He babbled out a denial so sincere it sounded like the pontifications of the guilty. Everything was going wrong! What further words passed between them then weren’t really clear. His own emotions rose up. Jazz lines and opening moves hopelessly muddied his concentration. I can’t get started with you... say either, I say I-ther... the first six moves of the Cozio Defense... let’s face the music and dance, dance, dance!
    He was at the outer door, his beloved standing by with folded arms. She said, “I don’t want to see you again, Nicholas. If I do, it’ll be an unfortunate day for you. Good-bye!”
    He stood outside the PC-Pros’ storefront staring at the bricks. Before he realized it an hour had passed. It was hot. Sweat poured down his expansive forehead. His sides were soaked. Not a glance from anyone within fell upon him. Unworthy of a second look, he might as well be that McDonald’s fish fillet container crushed down there in. the gutter. He had failed wretchedly to achieve his objective. His love had spurned his help, though she needed it far worse than she knew. In her final sliding gray