MOAB

Chapter 4i

Chapter 4i

The doorbell rang.

“Well, go on! Let’s not keep her waiting,” said Thalia.

Yanni stood up reluctantly and walked towards the entrace. He felt anxious, as if waiting for a date. He bit his lips and opened the door to his house.

On the porch stood a lady in a blue dress. Hands shyly clasped in front of her body, black hair in a simple ponytail, plain shoes matching her dress. Tiny in figure. She was neither too pretty nor too sexy, but certainly had an appealing face.

Yanni thought that would fit right in the Ellipsis ideology. After all, too pretty a face and too hot a body and you are talking about a serious distraction, not a source of inspiration. No, she was exactly right, a pretty girl when smiling, but ordinary enough to let you concentrate on work while having her around.

She smiled at him. She was carrying a tiny purse, more like a blue soft rectangular container than a fashion accessory. It reminded Yanni of the zippered case that his car’s keys came in when he bought it.

She looked young, somewhere around 25, but that was a number without meaning since it was something immutable.

He stared.

It was hard to believe that this woman was not real. Her manners, her stance, her skin, everything was lifelike. Yet, he had a weird feeling that she was the one, the muse he was expecting to come back.

“Um - I’m staring. Sorry,” he said.

“It’s OK, Yanni,” she said, swinging her body playfully left and right. She seemed excited to meet him, if that was at all possible. “I’m staring too.”

“Come on in…”

She came up next to him and casually, almost sensually brushed his neck with her delicate finger, while smiling at him. A gentle gesture, one seriously inappropriate for first impressions but which made Yanni feel relaxed.

She walked inside gracefully.

Until she met the stare of Yanni’s wife.

The two women scanned one another, one with squishy eyes, the other with remarkably similar but surprisingly inferior artificial ones.

Yanni thought of that staring contest and how technology could not compare to the results of natural evolution yet.

The lady in blue smiled at Thalia and softly said to Yanni, “I thought you had started the Ellipsis method. I didn’t expect your wife to still be here.”

Thalia stood up. “It would be rude not to welcome you myself. This is my house after all.”

Yanni stepped in between them. He couldn’t blame his wife for being defensive, but he couldn’t let anything jeopardize this. He was out of options.

“Okay, let me explain. Yes, Thalia is here because I could never convince her to follow through otherwise. And to be honest, seeing how life-like you are I’m glad we are all together right now,” Yanni said. “Oh, by the way, this is Thalia, my wife. Thalia, this is…”

Yanni turned to the muse and realized he had no clue.

“Ourania,” the muse said, smiling and walking towards Thalia to shake her hand.

Yanni’s wife seemed to tone down her defensiveness and greeted her properly. “Well, please, sit down. Should I get you anything? Water? I have no idea what to offer you.”

Ourania said, “I don’t need anything, thanks. But I’d rather use a chair than sit on the couch.”

Yanni pulled up a chair from the dining table and offered it to her like a gentleman. She sat down, her knees too tight, gripping her little purse, almost looking shy. Yanni thought she looked like a teenage nanny auditioning for a married couple. Only, this time, the baby to be taken care of was him.

The couple sat on the couch. Yanni said, “So, yes, we will start the Ellipsis method tomorrow. The gen-two laser is expected to arrive, my wife is packed and she will leave with the kids first thing in the morning.”

Ourania turned her glance towards Thalia and said, “That’s fine. I was merely concerned about the method. But it’s OK, we can begin tomorrow and readjust. It is best to minimize distractions, you see.”

Thalia held Yanni’s hand and said, “Of course. There’s nothing I want more than to see Yanni finally get the proof finished. If this is something that will help him do that, I’m happy to… cooperate.”

“Perfect,” Ourania said and unzipped her little purse. She took out a globe, small enough to fit in her palm and did just that.

“I’m sensing a theme,” said Yanni. The whole thing conjured in his mind the image of the Muse Ourania in mythology. Muse of Astronomy, wearing a light blue dress, holding a rod and pointing to a globe. The only difference being that the ancient Greek version would no doubt be chubby and staring at the sky. This one was petite and staring directly at him.