Gabby and Markus stepped into the aisle holding their champagne while the woman squeezed more luggage than looked legal into the overhead and under the seat in front of her. When she settled into her chair with a large Ziploc bag of homemade popcorn, she introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Susan.”
“Gia,” Gabby said. “And this is George.”
Susan smiled. “Nice to meet you, Gia and George. Where are you two from? I live in Encino now, but I grew up in Reseda.”
Gabby said, “Encino is so pretty!” She didn’t add anything or answer the question, subtly hinting that this convo wasn’t going anywhere.
The captain came over the speaker and announced, “Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff.”
“I know you wouldn’t believe it to look at me now, but I was in a yoga cult,” Susan said, not taking the hint.
The flight attendant stopped at their row and said, “Ma’am, can you buckle up?”
“Damn it. I was hoping she wouldn’t notice. Can you maybe scooch up on a cheek so I can get this thing buckled.”
Markus flashed a conspiratorial look at Gabby.
“A yoga cult, you say?”
“I studied with Guru Jagat for a while, before she went off the deep end.” Susan proceeded to shut her eyes and inhale deeply. When she exhaled, part of a piece of popcorn flew out.
“Do you still practice?” Markus asked. Nothing about Susan said yoga or centered. Gabby loved that about her.
“On this trip, I’m going to try some yoga without the crazy.” Which is when she noticed that Markus hadPower Couplepulled up on his TV. “Have you seen that?” Susan asked. “I was going to watch it on the plane.”
Apparently, Susan was going to check out Inner-G too.
Gabby shook her head. It had been on her list of things to do before leaving for the trip, but she hadn’t gotten around to it. She pulled out her phone to read the plot summary on IMDb.
After reaching international success with movies likeG-Force, Genesis Love made his directorial debut withPower Couple, a story that he’d been working on since high school. Despite being largely snubbed by awards shows, it won the Golden Globe for Best Score and was nominated for Best Costume. Notably, Margo Martindale was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as G’s psychic advisor.Power Couplebecame an instant cult classic.
POWER COUPLE
G (played by Genesis Love) is a man who doesn’t know that he has been a Silicon Valley office drone. He lives in a condo filled with appliances, glued to his phone, checked out of real life. He is a slave to the machines. After a poignant moment in a garden, which has died on his watch, he realizes that the tech giants haven’t stolen his power; he has freely given it.
G declares war on the machines, quits his job, and moves into the woods, gathering his strength towake up the rest of society. After trying to defeat the machines with lasers, he realizes that he can’t win alone. He comes to the conclusion that he needs to join with an equally powerful woman to become a true Power Couple.
At their wedding, they ascend to the fourth dimension. He and his bride become so powerful they destroy the Facebook-esque company they used to work for and pave the way for a better world.
Gabby read it twice, and then a third time.
“What do you think?” Susan asked.
Markus said, “You know how sometimes a star gets too big, and then they make a movie and no one tells them ‘no,’ and it just turns into a big sprawling post-apocalyptic mess with lasers and too many monologues?”
Gabby nodded.
“That’sPower Couple.” With a smirk, Markus said, “It’s probably not true, but I heard that Kim Jong-Un is G’s number one fan.”
Kim Jong-Un was going to have to compete with Susan for the top fan prize.
Gabby couldn’t handle any morePower Couple,so she calmed herself with the flight tracker. At least that made sense. While she stared at an outline of a plane slowly making its way across the United States, Markus picked up his phone and texted someone.
It pinged with a response, and Markus looked at the phone in a way that made her wish it were her. Three more back-and-forths, and Gabby asked, “Who are you texting?”
“G.”
“G?” Her voice low and steeped in accusation, she pointed at Susan’s screen where Genesis was meditating so hard that a beam of light was coming out of the top of his head. Susan had put on her headphones and hopefully couldn’t hear. Gabby leaned in as close as possible and whispered, “You mean the same G we are investigating for abduction and running a freaky cult?”
