The Fountain of Youth

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It seemed as if work would never end. As she was sitting at her desk, working on her work desktop, her gaze would fixate on her laptop. This happened many times throughout the evening until it was time for her to go. Andy hesitated reaching for the laptop to put it in her bag. She had seen many movies in the past where they were able to take over any part of the computer, using the webcam to look around, using the microphone to hear what was happening around the computer. Was the same thing happening to her?

She knew she was going to have to be more careful, but leaving her laptop here was not the answer. She picked up the laptop and carefully placed it in her bag. As she was heading down and out to her car, Andy checked her phone one more time. Nothing. Lily had ignored her texts all day. She was still mad from last night.

Andy didn't want to go home. She needed to think. She hopped in her car and drove. She headed towards the mountains. The night sky became more and more clear as she found herself miles outside the city. She parked near the river. Andy got out of the car and found a rock ledge next to the river.

Andy laid down, looking up at the night sky, the sound of the river soothing her inner anxiety. She took a breath in and exhaled deeply, allowing herself to feel the cool mist from the river on her face. She wanted to give up. Was all this stress and anxiety really all worth it? Could she really be on the verge of the ability to stop the aging process? Obviously someone thought she might be. It was time for Andy to fight back.

Andy sat up and ran back to her car. If they wanted to track her progress then she would give them something to track. She went directly home to get to work on ensuring whomever took her laptop would get exactly what they were looking for.

When Andy got home, she hurried into the apartment to get to work. Once in the apartment, she was startled by what she walked into. The apartment wasn't dark like she had anticipated. There were candles lit throughout the living room, and she could hear someone grabbing some glasses from the cabinet in the kitchen. Andy slowly walked further into the apartment, peeking her head into the kitchen.

In the kitchen she found Lily in a tight, strapless, crimson red dress, wearing matching heels. Lily placed the glasses down on the counter and turned around, feeling Andy's stare. Lily's lips curled into a smile.

"Just the woman I was waiting for." Lily walked over to greet Andy.

"Well hello to you too gorgeous." Andy smirked.

Lily, although wearing heels, stretched up, wrapping her arms around Andy's neck and pulling her down into a passionate kiss. While their lips were locked, Andy dropped her bag, allowing both arms to wrap around Lily's torso. They kissed for a while until finally Lily dropped back down, her hands on Andy's neck, smiling up at her.

"As much as I would love to kiss you all night, dinner's getting cold." She pointed to the living room.

Lily turned, walking back into the kitchen to pour the two a glass of wine. Andy walked over to the living room to find two plates with metal covers set up on the coffee table with two long stick candles and a vase of red roses. Andy sat down on the couch in front of one of the plates, reaching for the handle on the metal lid. Lily walked around the couch with the two glasses of wine and shook her head.

"Hey hey hey, did I say you could uncover that yet?"

“Umm...” Andy smiled sheepishly and then leaned back, sitting on her hands so she would not be tempted to lift the lid again.

“Before we dig in, I wanted to apologize...” Lily turned towards Andy and placed a hand on Andy’s thigh. “I shouldn’t have been so hostile towards your friend. I just saw this attractive woman answer your door and my jealous bitch side came out.”