“My ID?”
“You’ll get it when you check out.”
“Oh. Right.” He pauses. I can feel his eyes on me. At least on the top of my head. “Excuse me.” He pauses. “Do I know you?”
“Nope.”
Now, I’m pulling out a bunch of junk from beneath the counter like I’ve got a job to do. It’s gross. I wonder when the last time someone cleaned this out. I’m pretty sure I see papers from the turn of the century.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I know you.”
“Nope.”
“You haven’t even looked at me so how do you know we haven’t met before?”
“I just do. Saw your ID card.”
Wow, I spy something ancient in the back of the cupboard. Reaching in, I can’t believe my eyes. “Is that an original MacIntosh?” I’m talking to myself but loud enough for the guy to hear.
“Let me see.”
Ignoring the voice above me, I wrap my fingers around the small, tan box and slide it forward. “It is.” I’m sort of in awe. Once I’ve got it to the front of the shelf, I wrap my arms around it and lift. Setting it on the counter, I stare. “Wow.”
“That’s from 1984,” says the guy I wish would just run along to his study room. His head leans forward as he reads something on the back of the tan computer. “A 128K.”
“Yeah?”
“Apple’s first personal computer.” He reaches out and turns the thing to face him. “Is the keyboard and mouse down there?”
Dropping back down, I end up halfway in the cupboard. “Yep.” I drag those out with me. Setting them on the counter, I smile up at him and regret it. Because it’s then I realize I’ve given myself away.
“You’ve got…” He points to his nose.
“What?” I wipe at my nose quickly.
“And…” He points to his forehead.
“What?”
“You’re all dusty.”
Crap on a cracker.
“You’ve also got something crawling in your hair.”
“What?” I shriek. “Is it a spider?” Holy crud. Aspider?That’s all I need to hear to make me freak the heck out. So what do I do? I scream. I scream and then grab at the top of my head. I’m running from side to side in front of the counter, yelling, “Get it out. Get it out.”
Full disclosure. I have an intense fear of eight-legged critters.
“Hold still,” Eli says, chuckling.
“It’s not funny.” A tear slides down my cheek. “Get it, get it, get it.”
“If you hold still, I will.”
I stop moving, but my arms are stiff, and my hands are in fists at my side. The single tear that escaped has multiplied.
“Got it.”
