He let his hand drop, and she realized she’d better start paying attention. Maybe she was supposed to ask a question or feign interest.
Much to her annoyance, he continued to lecture.
“Another type of star is thewhite dwarf star. This star forms from a red giant that loses its outer layers, leaving behind mostly carbon and oxygen, then shrinks into a very compact star. It’s fairly cool, so it gives off a weak, bluish-white color. There’s one up there called Sirius.”
“Are you serious?” She winked.
“Ha. I see what you did there.”
* * *
Pan hid among the scaffolding, out of sight. He had hoped this date would flop on its own, but it didn’t seem to be failing. In fact, he was concerned about it succeeding!
Time for another teeny-weeny truth spell, only this time, I’ll put it on her!He almost laughed out loud and had to press his hand over his mouth as he considered the possibilities.I can’t wait to see this!
* * *
So far, this date seemed to be going pretty well. She really should ask a question or something. “That all sounds fine,” she said. “Now, how old is the universe?”
“About fourteen billion years old.”
“Correct. Do you know how I know that?”
He grinned. “No. Are you a scientist too? Or maybe a teacher? I never did ask what you do for a living.”
She laughed. “I’m Mother freakin’ Nature. That big bang that happened fourteen billion years ago? Yeah, that was me. I sneezed. Bet you didn’t know that.”
He took a step back. Then after a brief hesitation, he burst out laughing. “Oh. That’s funny. You’re making jokes again. Fate didn’t tell me you were so funny.”
“Fate? Oh, my sister, yes. Yes, she is the one who set us up.”
“Yeah, I had never met her before, but she seemed familiar. I thought it was strange that she would walk right up to me and ask if I’d like to go out with someone.”
“Is that what she did?”
“Yup. I was standing in Starbucks, waiting for my latte. She was right behind me, and she said, ‘Hey, you look like a nice guy. Are you involved with anyone romantically?’”
Gaia snorted. “She said she was going to do this the old-fashioned way since internet dating wasn’t working for me, but I didn’t know she was going to approach unsuspecting strangers. I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh! Don’t be. I’m enjoying our date. Are you?”
Gaia shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
The doctor’s face fell.
“Oh, don’t be upset. It’s just very, very difficult to find someone who can become an equal partner with Mother Nature. As you can imagine.”
Dr. Ned tipped his head and eyed her carefully. “You really believe you’re Mother Nature?”
Gaia laughed. “Of course, and I can prove it to you.”
“Okaaaayyy…”
“Follow me outside.”
The two of them tromped down the metal stairs, and Gaia took the lead, listening to his pants squeak behind her.Squeak,squeak,squeak.Yep, that would drive me crazy.She opened the door, and he followed her out hesitantly. It looked as if he might be thinking about slamming the door before he stepped through to the other side. But he eventually followed her out and closed it carefully behind himself.
“Okay, observe.” She swept her arm across the lawn, and nothing seemed to happen.
