Mid March

Invitation

Aelita looked at the "UPLOADED" prompt on her computer screen with a wide grin. Her melancholy mood had really gotten her creative side going and she'd been at the mixing board almost constantly since getting home from England. Having music as an outlet had been really therapeutic, and had really helped her cope with the loss of her grandfather. She'd even managed to put the finishing touches on her album after only a couple weeks, even if at times it seemed like it was mixed by two different people! She'd self-published it hoping that she might be able to contribute financially, even if just a little bit. She'd chosen the stage name DJ Stones, thinking it was both catchy and generic enough for her purposes.

She was beaming with pride when there was a knock at the door. She hummed to herself as she headed to the front room, but the moment she opened the door her heart plummeted and her good mood left immediately.

"Good afternoon," greeted Dr. Schmidt.

"Uhh... hello..." she replied meekly. For a second she stood there dumbly, but eventually remembered that she should inform any of her friends in France! "Sorry to be rude, but could you give me a minute?" She said before going to retrieve her phone far more quickly than was polite. She sent a quick message about needing a return trip if she wasn't heard back from before going back to the door.

"Can I h-help you?" Aelita asked nervously. It was several moments before Dr. Schmidt replied. It was almost as if he was just as nervous about their interaction as she was!

"Actually, yes. I-I was hoping I could invite you to lunch to discuss a business matter," he said in his light accent. Aelita's breath caught in her throat at the thought of going anywhere with him, especially alone! The elderly gentleman gave the young woman a look that almost seemed to understand her trepidation. "I was hoping you were free this weekend and that we could meet somewhere in town," he added quickly. Aelita breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I guess we could do that," she mumbled, figuring that not only would Jeremy be able to come, but that there was a limit to how much Dr. Schmidt could do in public.

"Wonderful." Aelita almost felt comforted by the warm smile that suddenly came over the man's face, but it turned to worry again when he reached inside his waistcoat! She gripped the pepper spray in her pocket and was about to slam the door in his face until she saw that he was only retrieving a business card to hand to her. She took it from him with another small sigh of relief. "I look forward to hearing from you." With that he turned and left.

Aelita shut and locked the door before flopping down on the couch, staring at the business card. A million questions ran through her mind. Most of them were the same ones she'd had for some time, but a few of them were new. 'Why did Dr. Schmidt seem so nervous?' and 'why did he seem to want to meet in public as much as she did?' were amongst the foremost of them but the biggest question was what sort of business proposition did he have in mind!? The man was an enigma, that much was sure.

Her phone buzzed several minutes later, pulling her out of her thoughts. As it turned out she had a couple recent messages. The first of which was Odd saying that he was able to execute the return trip if needed, and the second was Yumi acknowledging it.

The last message was Sissi asking if she was alright, and that they were going to move in twenty minutes if she didn't give a response. Figuring that she should probably call off the Return trip Aelita called Sissi back.

"Are you ok?" She said immediately after answering, not even bothering with a greeting.

"Yeah, I'm getting really tired of this, but I'm alright," Aelita replied with a sigh.

'She's ok,' Sissi's voice said, seeming somewhat muffled. Aelita figured she was talking to Odd.

"I'll bet," Sissi said, talking to Aelita again. "So, what happened?"

"Dr. Schmidt came by. He wanted to meet with me about a 'business proposal' of some kind this weekend."

"Wait, you're not thinking of actually going, are you!?" Sissi sounded a little agitated by the idea.

"We can't keep going on like this. Jeremy can come with me, and I was hoping that one of you could be on standby in case we needed you to execute a return trip." Sissi could be heard groaning over the phone.

"I guess that makes sense, but I don't like it, and neither will Jeremy."

"I know, but I have to do this..."

"Alright..." Sissi said reluctantly. "We were gonna double date with Ulrich and Yumi this Saturday, but maybe we could push it..."

"No, you go on your date," interrupted Aelita. "He seems to want to talk to me more than I want to talk to him anyway. He can wait."

"Ok," Sissi said. "I think we're free the following weekend."

"Thanks."

"I'll check the calendar and get back to you."

"I really appreciate it."

"Just... be careful."

"I will."

With that Sissi hung up.

Aelita took a deep breath to calm her herself before flopping down on the couch for a little while. She absently flipped through channels on the TV until it was time to get started on dinner. She decided to try a new recipe she'd read about online.

Jeremy just got home as Aelita was pulling a chicken-lemon-rice casserole out of the oven. Her stomach was doing flip-flops over the upcoming conversation about Dr. Schmidt. She knew Jeremy wouldn't be happy about it.

"Hi, Aelita. Something smells good!" He exclaimed, walking into the kitchen. Aelita put down the casserole down and Jeremy gave her a brief kiss.

"I hope so, I've never made it before. Could you set the table?" She was stalling and she knew it.

"Of course." Jeremy grabbed plates, silverware, and filled a couple glasses with water. Aelita took yet another deep breath and walked out with their dinner.

"How was your day?" Asked Jeremy, once their food was dished out.

"I published my album!" Blurted Aelita. More stalling, though she had been excited to tell Jeremy about it.

"That's great! I hope it's a big success for you!" Despite her nerves, Aelita couldn't help grinning. He'd come a long way from the boy who'd once called music a 'waste of time.' Still, Aelita knew that it was time.

"Dr. Schmidt also came by again." Jeremy gasped.

"What happened!?" He asked quickly. "Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine," reassured Aelita. "He said he wanted to meet for lunch over a business matter."

"And you told him to take a hike, right?"

"Well..." Aelita trailed off.

"Wait, you're actually thinking about going!?" Jeremy said Incredulously.

"Look, we can't keep going on like this. I can't keep going on like this!" Jeremy groaned. "Something's got to give!"

"What if you're playing right into his hands?"

"Then come with me!"

"What good is that gonna do? I'm not exactly Bruce Willis!" Snapped Jeremy.

"I know that! But we can also have one of the other's standing by to do a Return trip if something happens!"

"What if we don't get the chance to alert them!"

"Before we go we tell them to execute it if they don't hear from us within a few hours... or something like that!" Jeremy opened his mouth to argue, but said nothing when he didn't have a counterpoint.

"I still don't like it..." he mumbled.

"I know. I don't either, but I think we really do need to do this. We need to know what's going on, or at least what his intentions are." Jeremy groaned, but knew she was right.

"So when did you want to do this." He asked with a resigned grumble.

"Sissi said that her and Odd were probably free the weekend after next."

"Nothing against Odd, but Yumi and Ulrich were always better at running the supercomputer."

"Stop being ridiculous!" Scolded Aelita. "You know Odd is just as capable of doing a return trip as the others!"

"Ok, maybe, but I'd still feel better if there were two of them, and I hate to say it, but Sissi doesn't really count for something like this!"

"The we'll see if Yumi or Ulrich can go too!" Aelita shouted before storming off. She got as far as the doorway before turning back to grab her plate of food before leaving for the front room again.

When he was done eating, Jeremy put the food away. He headed to the front room to collect Aelita's plate. He stood there for a moment while she just stared forward, avoiding his gaze.

"I'm sorry I was being obstinate. I just worry about you," Jeremy said quietly. Aelita glanced at him and her expression softened.

"I know. But it's not like I'm just running off recklessly like I used to."

"Yeah. I still would feel better if there were two people who knew how to operate the supercomputer there though."

"Alright. The other's will all be asleep by now though, so we'll ask tomorrow before I call Dr. Schmidt. Deal?" Aelita stuck her hand out.

"Deal." Jeremy took her hand, and surprised her by pulling her off the couch, and into a tight hug.

While they were happy to have come to an agreement with each other, they both hoped they weren't making a big mistake.