Free The Gravity of Anti-Gravity by Tim Blagge Page A

don’t you come over for dinner, tonight? I’m actually a decent cook.”
    “Where are you staying?” I asked. “I figured it would be in a hotel since you just got here two days ago.”
    “One of the reasons I took this assignment, aside from its extreme importance, is because my brother lives in the area. I haven’t seen him much in the last few years so for now, I am staying with him. He had a second bedroom, and even though I haven’t spent much time there yet, it’s really quite nice.”
    “That sounds great and thank you Stella,” I answered. “Let me call my grandparents and tell them I won’t be home for dinner.”
     
    I followed Stella in my car. Before we went to her brother’s place, we stopped at the grocery store where we picked up some steaks and other necessary items to complete the dinner. Then I followed her to her brother’s apartment, some place in La Canada.
    As we lugged the groceries up to the second floor I said to Stella, “Did you tell your brother I was coming home with you?”
    “No, but he won’t mind. He works mostly at night and he usually leaves right after dinner anyway,” she replied.
    Stella put her key in the lock and opened the door. The guy who I assumed was her brother was standing in the kitchen. If anybody could pass for a Greek God, I just found him. He had dark wavy hair; one of those squared off jaws and looked like he spent most of his time in the gym.
    “Hi Rolf, let me introduce Bill Burton,” Stella announced. “He’s one of my associates at JPL. He was nice enough to come and work with me on a Sunday so I thought I’d offer him a little pay back in the form of a free dinner.”
    All six foot six of Rolf strode over and reached out to shake my hand. That was my first mistake. I like a firm handshake but Rolf took firmness to a new level.
    “Ouch, ouch, ouch,” I squealed, as my knees began to buckle.
    Rolf turned me lose, looked at Stella and they both laughed.
    I shook my hand like I was trying to dry it after it got wet. “That’s quite an iron grip you’ve got there Rolf.” I said. “How many broken bones are you responsible for?”
    “Mr. Burton, I am sorry. I was just happy to see that Stella had made a new friend this fast. She’s usually studying or working and hasn’t spent the time needed to cultivate many friends in her life.”
    I couldn’t resist the next question. “With all due respect, who the hell are your parents, Adonis and Cleopatra?
    “Bill, I’ll take that as a complement,” Stella said with a smile.
    “Me too,” said Rolf.”
    “Are you kidding me? To recap the facts, and don’t forget the fact that I am a scientist with keen empirical skills” I joked, “Dr. Morton is definitely in the top three of my personal ‘most stunning women’ list and a solid contender for number one. And Rolf, I’m amazed that there isn’t a harem of women running around here vying for your attention.”
    “I work mostly at night and like Stella, cultivating relationships is hard for me as well,” said Rolf.”
    “Where do you work?” I asked.
    “Let’s just say that I’m an independent contractor doing independent investigations. I like it because my assignments are never the same.” Answered Rolf
    “As a private investigator, what kind of people do you investigate?” I asked.
    Just then Stella jumped in. “OK boys, how do you like your steaks cooked?”
    “Medium,” I said.
    “Rare,” said Rolf.
    That figures, I thought.
    Somehow, by her question right then, it sounded like Stella was trying to stop the conversation between Rolf and me. The barbeque wasn’t ready and she was still working on the salad. I thought I was just making small talk with Rolf. Maybe she thought I was prying.
    We ate what turned out to be a wonderful dinner. “My complements to the chef,” I said. “That was just what the doctor ordered; I was starved. Oh that’s right, you are the doctor, and you did order the meal”, I said with a