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“WHAT? Are you kidding me?”
Mia laughed. “I know, right?”
“What, does he want to marry you or something?” Jessie sounded as incredulous as Mia still felt.
“No, of course not,” Mia said, her mind boggling at the thought. “I think he’s just being nice. Maybe. I have no idea if meeting parents is a significant thing in K culture or not. Besides, he’s way older than my parents, so it’s not like he’s going to be intimidated by them . . .”
“Wow, Mia,” Jessie said slowly. “I don’t even know what to tell you –”
“You don’t have to say anything, Jessie. I know the whole thing is crazy, but I’m totally fine. Look, I actually wanted to ask you for a humongous favor . . .”
“Let me guess,” Jessie said dryly. “Rita is moving in on Monday, and all your wonderful new clothes are everywhere.”
“Yes, precisely.” Mia injected a pleading note into her voice. “Jessie, if you do this for me, I’ll be so grateful . . .”
She could hear Jessie sighing. “Of course. I’ll do it for you. But where should I put everything? In storage?”
“No, Korum’s driver in New York can pick it up and bring it to his place.”
“Oh . . . I see,” Jessie said, sounding oddly hesitant. “So does this mean you’re officially moving in with him?”
“No, of course not! It’s just for the summer, instead of storage, you know.”
“I don’t know, Mia.” Jessie sounded upset again. “Somehow, I don’t see you living here again . . .”
“Jessie. . .” Mia didn’t really know what to say. She couldn’t promise anything because so much was still uncertain. Would Korum want her to live with him in TriBeCa when they came back to New York? And would it be a bad thing if he did? She’d only known him for a month at this point, and it was difficult for Mia to imagine what their relationship would be like in another two months.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything,” Jessie said, sounding falsely upbeat. “We couldn’t stay as roommates forever, you know. This was bound to happen. Granted, it happened under some pretty strange circumstances, but I’m sure his penthouse is much nicer than our roach-infested building.”
“Jessie, please . . . It’s too soon to talk about that –”
“I don’t know,” Jessie said, a teasing note entering her voice. “You guys seem to be moving along pretty fast – already meeting parents and everything . . .”
Mia laughed, shaking her head in reproach even though her roommate couldn’t see it. “Oh, please, now you’re just being silly.”
They chatted some more, with Jessie asking about Mia’s experience thus far in Lenkarda. Mia gladly told her about the food and bragged about the intelligent technology she’d encountered, describing the bed in minute detail. As expected, Jessie agreed that there were some definite perks to having an affair with a K. She was also blown away by Mia’s newly acquired language abilities.
“Do you really understand me?” Jessie asked in Mandarin, a language she’d picked up from her immigrant parents.
“Yes, Jessie, I really do understand you. Isn’t that amazing?” Mia answered in the same language, and rubbed her ears again when Jessie shrieked with excitement.
Finally, promising to call Jessie again in a few days, Mia told the little device to hang up and disconnected.
Her parents were next on the list.
Her mom was happy to hear from her, even though she seemed concerned that Mia was not calling from her usual phone.
“Don’t worry, mom,” Mia explained. “My cell is malfunctioning, and I just got this temporary phone to use and haven’t figured out all the settings yet.” That was mostly true. Her cell phone was indeed malfunctioning in the K Center, and she hadn’t yet explored all the capabilities of Korum’s device.
“All right, honey,” her mom said. “Just don’t forget to call or text us, please.”
“I won’t,” Mia promised. “I’ll be busy for the next few days with the volunteering project, but I’ll definitely call you on Wednesday.”
“How is that going, by the way?” her mom asked, sounding a little irritated. Mia had told her parents she was staying in New York for an extra couple of weeks to help out her professor with a special program for disadvantaged high school kids. Naturally, her mom hadn’t been pleased with the delay in seeing their youngest daughter.
“It’s great,” Mia lied. “I’m learning a lot, and it’ll be phenomenal for my resume.” She mentally cringed at having to lie to her parents like this, but she couldn’t tell them the truth, not yet. Korum was right: it would be best if they learned about him in person and had a chance to talk to him to alleviate their concerns. If Mia told them where she was right now, her parents would be beside themselves.
Trying to redirect the conversation, she asked, “How is dad doing? Has he had any headaches recently?”
