Green snot could drip from my nose at any moment. Then he’d see the problem.
Please God let whatever is in my nose stay in my nose.
I left the tissues in the car. Then I followed him up the stairs to the second floor. He knocked on the door and seconds later, Katie opened it.
“Leo! Jen! I’m so glad you came. Leo said you weren’t feeling well. I made you my special vegetable soup.”
“Great!” Please don’t let there be tofu in it.
“Come on in.” She stepped back and motioned us in.
The room was full of rich color from rugs, wall hangings, and decorations. Much more like what I expected from Katie.
“Sit on the couch, kids. I don’t want to tire Jen.” She turned to Leo. “Where are those pictures?”
Leo groaned. “I left them in the car. I’ll run down and get them.”
Katie held up her hand. “Just wait until after we eat. I invited Serena Sutherland for dinner. She’ll be here any minute. I can see the pictures afterwards.” Turning back to me, Katie said, “Serena teaches philosophy at Emory. She lives across the hall. Joe and I run into Serena and her boyfriend, Mark, both here and at university functions all the time. We’ve become good friends.”
I smiled because Katie seemed so excited, but I really had no desire to meet anybody today. Sitting upright and staying awake was a big improvement over yesterday. I didn’t want to push myself too hard, and after going out tonight, my mother would never let me skip school tomorrow.
“Katie?” a voice called from the door.
“Come in, Serena,” Katie said.
The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in real life walked into the room. I thought I’d felt pale and sickly before, but this woman had the most beautiful golden tan skin.
“Hi, Leo,” she said with a bright smile. “And you must be Jen.” Her exotic green almond-shaped eyes drifted over me, her curiosity evident.
She was the woman from the University Center that day. That must be why something about her eyes seemed so familiar. “Hi,” I said with a little wave. I probably should have gotten up to shake her hand. I always felt awkward in these situations. Especially when I had cold symptoms. I mean what if she shakes my hand then watches me have a coughing fit. She’ll totally hate me.
“Let me check on dinner,” Katie said. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll help,” Serena said, giving us an amused glance.
Leo came around to sit by me as they disappeared around the corner into the kitchen.
“Wow,” I said. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Dad says she’s wicked smart, too.”
“I figured Emory professors were probably not dummies.”
Leo scooted closer to me on the couch. He lifted my hand and placed it in his.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” I didn’t want the couch to combust.
With a mischievous grin, he said, “I think holding hands might be okay. We didn’t blow up the bike, and more than just our hands were touching.”
He was right. A lot of parts had been touching.
“How long is this cold going to last?”
“Ten days maybe. Usually the first few are the worst.”
He stroked my hand with his thumb. “Ten days is way too long.”
I squirmed under the intensity of his gaze. I’d never been in a situation like this before. I didn’t know how to deal with it. Instinct told me to just kiss him.
But I had the cold.
And Katie could come in any minute.
And then there was the itty bitty issue of burning down the place.
“Look at me,” he whispered, his breath caressing my ear.
My eyes met his and the heat seared through me. The glow in his eyes turned into a blue flame.
I broke eye contact again, glancing around desperately for signs of fire. The rapid movement triggered a sneezing attack, which I barely contained by jerking back my hand and covering my nose.
Katie and Serena came back in the room as I jumped up to run for the bathroom. Luckily, the first door down the hall was the room I needed. I shut the door and grabbed a ton of Kleenex. Then I washed my hands and face.
Roasting the sofa would have been less embarrassing! I left the bathroom and forced myself to rejoin the others. I probably would have considered transporting home, but Karmic colds disturbed genie magic. Besides feeling too sick to grant wishes, we really just were not capable of granting wishes.
Two minutes ago, Leo had definitely been really into me. That was good to know. It may be all I ever had. Okay so I got a little gloomy when I was sick.
Chapter Fourteen
I walked back to the family room where Leo and the two women were setting the table.
“You okay?” Leo asked.
I nodded even though I knew my bright red nose told a different story.
He winked at me.
Maybe I hadn’t totally grossed him out after all.
I winked back.
Serena saw me and grinned.
“I made some veggie pasta. There’s enough for everyone. Jen, you can have soup and pasta. I would like you to try the soup. I think the herbs I used will help your cold.”
“Thank you.”
Leo pulled out a chair and seated me.
Katie and Serena shared an aren’t-they-adorable look.
I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks.
Leo sat next to me. Katie brought me a giant bowl of soup. Then she served the others and herself.
I couldn’t smell the soup at all, but steam rose invitingly from the bowl. I took a tentative taste. No matter how bad it was I couldn’t let it show. Luckily, it tasted good.
I looked up to find Katie watching me expectantly.
“It’s delicious,” I said.
She smiled.
Serena may have been smart, but she didn’t seem to be able to talk about much more than her boyfriend Mark.
Serena and Katie carried on most of the conversation, so I got to relax and just concentrate on my soup.
Until Leo finished eating and held my hand under the table again.
I could so get used to this.
When we all finished, Leo started helping clear the table.
“No need, Leo,” Katie said. “Why don’t you run out and get those photos, and I’ll take care of this. We don’t want to keep Jen out too much longer.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said.
Katie gave me one of those stern motherly looks. “You’ll rest on the couch. You’re a little pale.”
Darn that golden-skinned Serena.
“Okay,” I said. The idea of total relaxation held some appeal. “But just for a minute.”
“I need to run,
Katie,” Serena said with an apologetic frown. “It was nice to meet you, Jen.”
“You, too.”
“Thanks for dinner, Katie. Mark will be home any minute.”
“Send him over to meet the kids,” Katie said.
Leo followed Serena out.
Katie took care of the dishes in under two minutes. Then she came out of the kitchen and said, “Jen, I’ve got some herbal tablets that might help. I’ll get them for you. Echinacea, garlic, goldenseal, redroot. Oh, and grapefruit seed extract. Just the old standbys.”
My mother would freak if I took anything she hadn’t approved. “Oh, thanks, but—”
“No pressure,” she said as she headed down the hall. “But you’ll have them in case you decide to try them.”
When Leo got back with the pictures, he spread them out on the dining room table. “Where’s Katie?”
“She went to get me some herbs.”
“Oh,” he said with a pitying glance. “She must have a thousand bottles back there. Maybe she won’t find what she’s searching for.”
I peeled myself off the couch and went over to the table.
“It’s hard to believe these eight people have so much power,” Leo said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I pointed to Maximillian’s picture. “This guy especially. He wasn’t anywhere near this hot when he was alive. And he still snagged a beautiful girlfriend. I don’t know why he went for this extreme when he joined the Directorate.”
Leo snorted and picked it up. “He does have a wanna-be movie star thing going on, doesn’t he?”
“I found most of them,” Katie said, walking back into the room. She came over to the table and set down the nine bottles as best she could. “Now I just need to find some little baggies,” she said.
“Katie, you can’t send her home with bags full of unidentified pills.”
“Of course not. I’m keeping some for me, and I’m sending her home with the bottles.”
Leo set down the picture of Maximillian and started righting the bottles of herbs and vitamins.
Katie glanced down at the photographs. “Why do you have a picture of Mark?”
“Mark, who?” Leo asked.
“Where?” I added.
Katie reached out and picked up the photo that Leo had just set down. “This Mark,” she said. “This is Serena’s boyfriend. The one you are going to meet tonight.”