one parameter that escaped me.
I looked up when people started toward the ferry after the cars were loaded. I followed along, crunching the numbers on multiple iterations of my adjusted formulae as we boarded. In my distraction, I was a little slower than usual and wound up behind the woman I found so fascinating.
She insisted on using the stairs instead of the elevator that would make things so much easier for her since her leg was not functioning at optimal levels. Even though she had to stop a couple times to rest on the way up, it made me appreciate her more for some reason. It wasn't about efficiency for her, and she seemed determined.
I moved into the passenger cabin as she continued to the upper deck. I idly wondered what she did up there. Even in cold weather, she would sit up there in her wheelchair. Then I went back to my research when I sat on one of the chairs inside the large open room. I paused and looked back out the doors to the stairs, maybe one day I'd go up to see what drew her to the observation deck each day.
I sighed to myself and muttered, “Don't get distracted Liya, you have a problem to solve.”
I hadn't had any success, and I had, like every day in the past six months, exhausted all of the numerous possibilities for that particular attempt for resolution. I'd modify the parameters yet again once I arrived at the University lab and try again.
I looked away from my work when the chime went off, signaling the ship docking, and noted my shoe was untied. I smiled and reached down and tied it. Seeing another hole in its side, I sighed, their structural integrity was being compromised more and more each day. I had to find the answer for my research soon. I had made a promise, and I meant to keep it. I rested a hand on my shoe a moment then stood.
I was the last one out to the stairs, and I jumped in surprise and made a squeaking sound when the grey-eyed woman landed in front of me with a thud. She put her cane down to steady herself to arrest her forward momentum to stop from running into me.
I just stared up at her as she smiled in an odd way and said in a voice full of confidence and I think amusement? “Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I thought everyone had already gone below deck.”
My cheeks felt hot to me. I was coming down with something, wasn't I? When I combine that with my earlier feelings, it was the only logical conclusion. I looked down as my belly fluttered and I pushed my thick hair out of my face and said, “It's alright. As my father would say, no harm, no foul.” Why was I babbling?
I chanced a glance up and was startled, she was gone, I turned to see her at the other end of the landing a couple steps away. She was looking back at me, and she said with a smile as she laid her arms on the stair railings, “Good to hear. Have a great day Miss.” Then she winked at me and fell forward.
I gasped and ran forward a step to look down the stairs as she landed on the lower deck. I found myself smiling hugely. She had slid down the banisters. Gravity assist, how ingenious. My heart was beating rapidly at the scare. I stepped to the stairs and reached my arms out to touch each rail. Even if I wanted to, my arms didn't have the span of hers, and I wouldn't have been able to duplicate the feat.
I chastised myself for being silly and headed down. I had a schedule to keep. I felt like a rat in a maze as I scurried off the ship and headed toward Pike Place Market five blocks north. I tried to get some light reading in on string theory, but I noted that at three separate junctures, my path seemed to parallel the one taken by the woman with her cane.
As I got off the elevator at the main arcade level of the Market, I saw her arrive at the top of the stairs. She rested a few seconds, breathing hard, a pained look on her face, then she pushed forward. I idly wondered if she had always taken the same path as me and I
I looked up when people started toward the ferry after the cars were loaded. I followed along, crunching the numbers on multiple iterations of my adjusted formulae as we boarded. In my distraction, I was a little slower than usual and wound up behind the woman I found so fascinating.
She insisted on using the stairs instead of the elevator that would make things so much easier for her since her leg was not functioning at optimal levels. Even though she had to stop a couple times to rest on the way up, it made me appreciate her more for some reason. It wasn't about efficiency for her, and she seemed determined.
I moved into the passenger cabin as she continued to the upper deck. I idly wondered what she did up there. Even in cold weather, she would sit up there in her wheelchair. Then I went back to my research when I sat on one of the chairs inside the large open room. I paused and looked back out the doors to the stairs, maybe one day I'd go up to see what drew her to the observation deck each day.
I sighed to myself and muttered, “Don't get distracted Liya, you have a problem to solve.”
I hadn't had any success, and I had, like every day in the past six months, exhausted all of the numerous possibilities for that particular attempt for resolution. I'd modify the parameters yet again once I arrived at the University lab and try again.
I looked away from my work when the chime went off, signaling the ship docking, and noted my shoe was untied. I smiled and reached down and tied it. Seeing another hole in its side, I sighed, their structural integrity was being compromised more and more each day. I had to find the answer for my research soon. I had made a promise, and I meant to keep it. I rested a hand on my shoe a moment then stood.
I was the last one out to the stairs, and I jumped in surprise and made a squeaking sound when the grey-eyed woman landed in front of me with a thud. She put her cane down to steady herself to arrest her forward momentum to stop from running into me.
I just stared up at her as she smiled in an odd way and said in a voice full of confidence and I think amusement? “Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I thought everyone had already gone below deck.”
My cheeks felt hot to me. I was coming down with something, wasn't I? When I combine that with my earlier feelings, it was the only logical conclusion. I looked down as my belly fluttered and I pushed my thick hair out of my face and said, “It's alright. As my father would say, no harm, no foul.” Why was I babbling?
I chanced a glance up and was startled, she was gone, I turned to see her at the other end of the landing a couple steps away. She was looking back at me, and she said with a smile as she laid her arms on the stair railings, “Good to hear. Have a great day Miss.” Then she winked at me and fell forward.
I gasped and ran forward a step to look down the stairs as she landed on the lower deck. I found myself smiling hugely. She had slid down the banisters. Gravity assist, how ingenious. My heart was beating rapidly at the scare. I stepped to the stairs and reached my arms out to touch each rail. Even if I wanted to, my arms didn't have the span of hers, and I wouldn't have been able to duplicate the feat.
I chastised myself for being silly and headed down. I had a schedule to keep. I felt like a rat in a maze as I scurried off the ship and headed toward Pike Place Market five blocks north. I tried to get some light reading in on string theory, but I noted that at three separate junctures, my path seemed to parallel the one taken by the woman with her cane.
As I got off the elevator at the main arcade level of the Market, I saw her arrive at the top of the stairs. She rested a few seconds, breathing hard, a pained look on her face, then she pushed forward. I idly wondered if she had always taken the same path as me and I
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