He had avoided eating to have dinner with Karen.He had avoided eating to have dinner with Karen. When the subject came up, he was prepared, "Beef fajitas with jalapeno cornbread or Tom Yum Goong?" Without hesitation, Karen proposed the hot and sour shrimp soup. The marvelous combination of tender shrimp floating in a rich broth, liberally spiced with chillies and tangy with lemon grass, lime juice and citrus leaves was Karen's favorite, as Drew well knew. Drew showed Karen around the walkup above the misnamed five- and-dime which was only minutes from the airport. "It's mostly an excuse for the BBS", he admitted. Sitting on the top shelf in a closet was a computer, a hard disk, and two modems. Karen noted the lack of a monitor and keyboard, assuming that Drew used a laptop on one of the serial ports to do his sysop thing. The remainder of the closet was stuffed with earthquake supplies. The motion sensors and the demon dialer enhanced the functional, yet unlived-in quality common to safe houses. Karen relaxed in the small living room following Drew's tour of the flat. The expectant look on her face prompted Drew to proffer the package that he'd picked up on his way to the airport. Karen opened the pharmacy sack and extracted the bronchial inhaler. The asthma prescription appeared genuine, but she knew better. The mouthpiece in place, Karen pressed the canister into the base. She inhaled deeply as the fine spray was discharged. Karen's initial suspicion that she hadn't gotten a hit was dispelled by a coughing fit. Drew declined her motioned offer. Thoroughly stoned, Karen rested the inhaler on the empty coffee table. Unwilling to succumb to lethargy, Karen arose and made for the kitchen. Drew had all the materials on hand for either meal, even the seemingly hard-to-find fresh lemon grass. The sixers of Singha and Dosxx in the fridge brightened Karen further. They quickly agreed on the division of labor and began preparing dinner. Drew juiced two small limes as Karen laid out vegetables from the crisper. She cut zest from the rind when he was through. Waiting for her to open up about their predicament, he heated a small amount of oil in a saucepan. |