In the end, because of Grandma Jeanie’s holo-call and her mother’s endless comments on it, Lizzie was late going to the cafeteria. Would Jamie still be there? When she walked in, she saw him immediately, sitting in a corner, looking glum in front of a half empty Latte.
She rushed up to him. “You won’t believe what Grandma Jeanie told me this morning. I can’t believe it myself, it’s too much!”
“What is?” he muttered, looking angry. She noticed he was wearing one of those awful false APP watches, how gross. But she didn’t mention it, there was too much to tell him. Then she hesitated. After all, he wasn’t a “forever”. His APP watch was the usual stunt. His chances of ever making it into the APP program were…well, zero. Maybe this was the sort of thing one didn’t share.
Now she didn’t know how to go on. But he insisted. “Well, what is it, what did Grandma Jeanie say?”
How to tell him? She saw he was nervously playing with his new watch, twisting it around the wrist as if he really wanted her to notice it. So she decided to mention it, just to please him. It was also a neat way to draw his attention to something else while she pondered the question whether she should share her news or not.
“How come you’re wearing one of those awful APP watches? I thought you considered them in bad taste,” she said with a frown.
Unexpectedly his face turned red.
She was taken aback. How could a tough, dark-haired guy like Jamie suddenly flush like a teenager? It just wasn’t his style. He had that confident, open approach to people that she associated with clever journalists. He was still writing small stuff but he was young, time was on his side. He had talent, one day he’d be a big media guy. She just knew he would.
If only he would cover her own golf tournaments. It would be so neat to have him write them up, but he wasn’t interested in sports. He was obsessed with politics. It was the only thing that separated them.
“I…I don’t know,” he stammered.
“What do you mean, you don’t know? You always kidded your friends who wore them, and now you have one too?”
“I thought I should try something fashionable for a change…” He attempted a smug look and failed. He just looked foolish.
That was rather endearing, so she insisted. “That’s not like you at all. What’s happened, tell me the truth, why are you wearing that watch?”
He took it off without a word and handed it over to her.
She was amazed by how light it felt. She turned it over and looked at the back. It had some tiny black spots. She peered closer. They appeared to be minuscule drill holes in the metal.
“Look at that, Jamie, what is it?”
He hesitated. “If I tell you, you tell me what Grandma Jeanie said this morning.”
She frowned. “Okay, I will.”
“Look, it’s the real thing,” he said, flustered.
She stared at him. He had never acted embarrassed before. This had to be the morning she was seeing a whole new Jamie. “You mean this is a real APP Life Watch? How did you get that?”
“The only way you can get one. I was co-opted in the APP.”
She was wowed. “When?” was all she managed to say.
“This morning. An hour ago. My great-grand aunt left me her place. Emma, the one who lived in Switzerland. She had no other relatives.”
Silence. Lizzie stared at him and he stared back, the air was thick between them. She could see he wanted to reach out to her but couldn’t. She couldn’t move either.
He cleared his throat and that sound alone broke the spell.
“Lizzie, I love you!” He lounged forward across the table, catching both her hands in his. He pressed them hard and repeated “I love you”, as if to make sure she understood him.
“I know,” she whispered. “I love you too.” That was barely audible but she knew he heard her because a sudden smile illuminated his face. It was strange – how many times had they made love to each other and yet, never used that phrase ‘I love you’? Lizzie felt like she was walking on a cloud. She barely heard what he was saying, something about not wanting ‘this to stand between us’.
He sounded vehement. “Not ever, not now, not later. There was no way I could inherit Emma’s money without accepting her place in the Age Prevention Program. The two go together.”
“You asked?” She was surprised. That sort of question would never have occurred to her.
He nodded. “I did. I talked to the APP attorney. I insisted he explain it to me. There’s no way out. Believe me, I wanted us to age together, that’s all I have ever wanted.”
“How romantic!” She smiled at him. “But now you’re rich. We can get married right away.” Then it was her turn to flush. She feared she sounded a little boorish, so middle-class. Had she stepped beyond the acceptable? She knew marriage should be proposed by the man. And it was inevitably delayed by their so-called ‘strained economic circumstances’, as the standard phrase went whenever a journalist talked about struggling young 99Percenters. She had better correct that impression.
“I don’t mean marriage,” she said. “We can live together, we can be life partners. That’s what everybody does, right?”
Jamie nodded. She added with a big smile, “At last, I can leave my Mom’s house.”
Jamie laughed. “Lizzie, you’ll never change, will you? You’re spot on. Of course, we can live together as partners or get married, whichever you prefer.”
Her smile was radiant. “We’ll be able to afford the best home and the best schools for our children.” She stopped and turned red. “I mean when the time comes! We can all join my golf club too.”
“Your dear exclusive golf club, of course the whole family will join. But I don’t play golf. You know I don’t like the game. I’m sorry but that’s one thing I can’t share with you.” He grinned. “Nobody’s perfect.”
She blew a kiss at him across the table and he moved around and sat down next to her, taking her into his arms. They embraced and for a long moment, they no longer knew where they were. Lizzie was like a little girl in his arms. She made him feel strong. And to think she could hit a drive longer than most men and almost any female champion on this planet. Jamie was proud of her.
They were interrupted by a harsh sound above their heads, a loud clearing of the throat. They drew away from each other, stunned.
A fat waitress stood immobile in front of them, e-pad in hand. “Would you like to order something, Miss?” The voice was studiously neutral, but you could detect a tone of disapproval. Kissing was not something 99Percenters were allowed to do in public. Kissing should take place in love-relax rooms. The trouble was that love-relax rooms were only found in expensive restaurants frequented by ‘forevers’ – not here in a Caltech student cafeteria. Too bad.
Lizzie was annoyed. She hated to be caught in public doing something she shouldn’t.
Jamie stood up and took a step as if he intended to go back to his seat on the other side of the table. “Another two latte, thank you,” he said in a cool voice. When the waitress was gone, he sat close to Lizzie again, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He whispered in her ear, “Your turn.”
She pretended not to understand but he would have none of it. “I told you. Now you have to share with me whatever Grandma Jeanie said.”
True enough, she had promised. And on reflection, now that she knew he had become a One Percenter, there was no reason anymore to feel shy about her own news. “I’m not sure it will work out,” she said, “but it looks like I could become an APP member too.”
Jamie’s normally serious face broke into a wide grin. “No kidding, that’s wonderful news. Tell me more.”
She told him, how her mother had woken her up with Grandma Jeanie’s phone call, how Grandpa Jonathan was coming, how surprised she had been. “I wasn’t in line to inherit. There were plenty of relatives before me.”
“You’re right,” said Jamie, frowning. “I have no relatives but you’ve got plenty. Why would Grandpa Jonathan pick you?”
“He wouldn't. There’s no need for him to do anything except pass away. Then his place automatically goes to Grandma Jeanie.”
“That’s assuming he doesn’t designate someone outside the family.”
Lizzie’s eyebrows shot up. “Sure, but why would he? He's a surgeon. We’re all doctors in our family, my sister June is in medical school. And I know doctors, they are very altruistic people, believe me. Grandpa Jonathan is not going to by-pass his own daughter.”
“Okay, I get it. But why you?”
“Grandma Jeanie could have picked my mother or my uncle Ernie, but he’s a bit of a hot head. He’s been in the army a long time, now he’s holding some sort of security job I’m not sure where – and he has no wife, no kids. But Mom and Uncle Ernie are older, both in their mid-forties, so I suppose that’s why Grandma Jeanie bypassed them in favor of my generation.”
“And now at last the pressure will be off, you can enjoy playing golf till the last day of your life, I’m so happy for you!” He squeezed her hand.
She smiled, squeezed his hand back and wondered whether he had ever realized how driven she was. Barely twenty-three, and already feeling like time was running out on her. As a 99Percenter, you couldn’t expect to be and stay a champion more than twenty years in your life, especially when you were competing against those who were always fit and at the top of their form. They regularly won all the tournaments, damn APP members! Her goal was to win at least the ten majors in women’s golf before she retired, in particular the US Women’s Open. To make it to the top, that was a must. But she didn't elaborate, Jamie wasn't interested in golf.
“You know what would make me happy?” she said, a wistful look in her green eyes.
“What?”
“If sometime you would find the time to come and follow me on the golf course when I play.”
“I certainly will,” said Jamie, smiling and squeezing her hand. “And I shall loudly applaud all your victories.”
“I might not win every time,” said Lizzie, wanting to sound modest.
“Oh, but you will, you’re the best! And becoming a One Percenter and APP member levels the playing field for you. I think it’s cool, I’m so happy for you.” That was just like Jamie, he loved old-fashioned terms like ‘cool’. That’s the way people spoke two hundred years ago. Nowadays, ‘mag’ would have been more like it. Then he added unexpectedly: “Your Grandma Jeanie must be a very nice person.”
“Oh, she is, I’ve always loved her. Even though she worked all her life and had little time for us. She made special efforts to be with us, she’d tell us stories at night when we stayed at her place. She’d organize egg hunts at Easter in her garden. She was a great Grandma! Now, she’s very old and frail but I still try to visit her regularly…”
He squeezed her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. He buried his face in her hair. He loved her hair, unruly and so thick that it looked like a lion’s mane. At night, when they slept together – and she didn’t allow him many nights in a month, only when she was sure her mother was too busy to think of erupting in the room – he’d fall asleep with his nose buried in her hair. She responded, pressing herself hard against him, enjoying the warmth of his body, the way he played with her hair – she always made a point of washing it before seeing him. For a long moment, she wallowed happily in his love, imagining their perfect future as two ageless APP members, he busy with his writing and she with golf.
His Life Watch beeped.
The sound was barely audible but unmistakable – a metallic beep-beep, a stop, then another beep-beep.
They both looked at it, paralyzed.
“What’s wrong?” She croaked.
Jamie shook his head, “I don’t know”. He swiped his fingers across the face and a message appeared.
They both peered at it: “November 27, 2213 - Meeting APP Attorney, 2 pm”.
Lizzie was puzzled. “What does it mean? Do you have a legal problem?”
“Not that I know of, I don’t think so. I can’t imagine why I’m wanted at the station, I was just there. Perhaps they need me as a witness. Maybe someone has to make a declaration…”
“Wait a minute!” she cried. “Let me look at the time of your meeting. Yes, that’s it: 2 pm. It must be Grandpa Jonathan. That’s the time I’m supposed to be there with Grandma Jeanie.”
Jamie looked astounded. “What do you mean? Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
“I didn’t think it was important.”
“But it is. That’s not normal practice at all. When an APP member has passed away, you receive a message that you’ve inherited. Full stop. You’re not called to a meeting by the station’s attorney when your relative is still alive.”
“Why not? Isn't that what happened to you?”
Jamie shook his head. “I was simply informed after the fact. That was all. No attorney involved. I only saw him because I wanted to reject the offer. I didn’t want to belong to the APP. So he agreed to meet me...”
“I see. So you think this spells trouble?” She looked crestfallen.
“It could mean Grandpa Jonathan is thinking of someone else. Is he into a relationship with some Swiss beauty?”
She shrugged. “He’s a doctor, how can that be? He’s a serious, responsible individual, for sure. I know he’s lived away from us most of his life but I don’t think he ever stopped loving his own daughter. Not that I know of…”
Lizzie frowned, no longer sure. Come to think of it, she didn’t really know Jonathan.
Jamie stood up. "Sorry Lizzie, I’ve got to go – must clock in at the Library. I’ll see you later at the APP Station. I’ll be there, no fear, I’ll be rooting for you.”
He saw she looked troubled.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong. Let’s face it, neither of us knows how the APP functions, we’ve always been outsiders. Yet one thing I do know since this morning, it’s all very legal. Everything will work out in the end, you’ll see...” He smiled and bent down, leaving a long tender kiss on her mouth that did a lot to restore her good mood.
But not quite enough. Now she was really worried about what might happen at the station this afternoon…