Between the Lanterns(24)
August stroked her hair, kissed her forehead, and said, “We should know soon. The Fire.Response Team is usually pretty fast with their investigations. Two days from now we should have some answers.”
Samantha looked up, kissed her dear husband, then lay her head back against August’s shoulder, and began to cry again.
“Take me to bed, won’t you, sweets? I need to lie down,” she murmured.
August once again gathered her light frame into his arms and walked her to their room where he lay Samantha down on her side of the bed. He kicked off his shoes and climbed in next to her. They held each other for the rest of the night, going back and forth from crying on each other, to telling stories about the diner and Tara.
The sun came up quicker than expected, and August noticed that Samantha was finally asleep. He quietly climbed out of bed and lowered the shades so she could sleep. There would be no going into work for her today, and he was going to call out, for obvious reasons. She might need him to be there for her, just in case she needed help with anything. And so, he would be there.
Later that afternoon, a call came in on their Home.Phone. It was the Insurance Rep from Montek.Claims, who said, “Mr. Lurie, may I speak with Mrs. Lurie?”
“I’m sorry, sir. She is still asleep. It was a long night, and we didn’t get much rest. She’s very upset by all of this, you understand.”
“Upset?” the smooth voice replied. “Oh, she won’t be when she sees the payout y’all will be receiving. It’s quite large. Due to the loss of the antiques, the damage to the state-of-the-art Montek.Automaton, the need for repair of the Nutricator, the loss of an employee…”
August cut him off and said sternly, “She wasn’t an employee, sir. She was a business partner and a friend.”
“Yes, well, be that as it may,” the man replied, “she is listed on the Insurance Contract Agreement as an employee and as such will be covered that way. I’ve been in contact with our Law Division, and it seems that Ms. White had put your wife as the sole beneficiary of her belongings. So, with that and the insurance payout, you both will be receiving a check in the next couple of days with enough Credit to buy a dozen restaurants that size. You could probably both just retire on this much Credit. I’m positive of it!”
“That’s fine, sir,” August said, not giving a shit about the Credit. “Any word on what started the fire? And would it be possible for me to come down there and find out if there is any of the old equipment I might be able to salvage?”
“We spoke with the Montek.Fire.Response unit and they seem certain that the investigation will show that a Montek.Credit machine malfunctioned, causing the fire. And I see no problem with you going down there from our side of things, but I would check with the Chief of the Fire.Response team just to be sure.”
August’s mind flashed back to the first time he ate in the diner. He had bought John a meal on Credit he had saved up for a new workbench. The machine had malfunctioned and sparked on him, causing August to catch fire a little bit before Sam doused him with coffee. He should have fixed it back then. If he had…
“Alright, thanks for your help, sir,” August said, now feeling worse than before, despite the amount of Credit they would be receiving.
“No problem, Mr. Lurie. My name is Sidney Cobb,” the man replied, “and I’ll attach my number to the documents I’m forwarding you now. If you have any questions, just give me a call. We appreciate your business and congratulations on your big payday.”
“Sidney, please,” August begged, hoping that, for once, someone in the world could show some compassion. “My wife’s best friend just died. This is not a happy time for us, do you understand?”
There was a brief pause on the line before Sidney continued, saying, “Well, I guess I can see how that would be disappointing. Maybe she activated her new BrainSave before she died. Then you could keep Ms. White around, talk to her through an automaton.”
“There was a BrainSave there with the automaton?” August said hopefully. “Was it damaged?”
“No, the BrainSave was installed, so it escaped damage from the fire,” Sidney explained. “You’re welcome to take a look at it when you go to the diner. We’ll be paying out on the Montek.Automaton, though, so I’m afraid you won’t be able to take the BrainSave.”
“But what if she did activate it, sir?” August asked, his heart rate soaring. “Let me take the chip, just in case! What do you care?”
“Well, I guess it can’t hurt,” Sidney said. “If you don’t tell, I won’t… you can keep the BrainSave as my way of apology for your loss.”
“Ok, thank you, sir. Bye-bye,” August said, disconnecting the call before Sidney could change his mind. August hoped Tara had time enough to activate that chip, for Samantha’s sake at least. She may hate those automatons, but he bet she’d be glad enough at the chance to say goodbye.
Chapter 10
EMPTY
Samantha couldn’t go to the diner again so soon. She was too distraught, and the sight of it would more than likely send her into an emotional fit again.
“Please go, sweets,” she said to August. “Don’t let me keep you from going. I just can’t bear the thought of seeing it like that again... empty… and broken. I want you to go, though. Maybe there’s something there you can bring me back that will remind me of the place… and of Cheryl … and …Tara.” Samantha broke off, fighting off the cry, but knowing it was a battle she was soon to lose.