Written By Brad Harness
Annie decided she’d do what had worked most of her life with troublemakers: She’d stare them down. It usually worked, she thought.
Lila Jenkins watched as the diminutive restaurateur went nose to nose with the mountain that was lumberjack Kevin Hanson.
He frowned at her, more baffled than worried.
“Gee, Annie, I guess…”
“You guess what?!” she replied.
“I guess I didn’t do what you asked me to do the last time I came in for a meal…”
“An’ what did I ask you to do?”
He snorted, collecting his thoughts. “You told me to leave the axe outside and clean my boots before I came into your place.”
“Exactly.” she continued, in a softer tone, “So it’s not asking youse too much to help keep my business safe and clean, now, is it?”
“Yer right…yer right…” he nodded, as Lila looked on.
Lila had spent her career studying human behaviour. That was precisely why she had - in the end - created the Emotion Leveller. She had wanted to find a way that ordinary people could all keep calm rather than letting their emotions run away with them, and get themselves into trouble.
And as amazing and seemingly effective that her new drug was, she could not deny that Annie, in her particular way fending off aggression, had an equally successful way of healing with such emotional people.
At that moment her mobile phone rang, and she swiped the screen, typed in her password, and took the call.
“This is Michael Foster, at GTK Pharmaceuticals. Have I got Professor Lila Jenkins?” asked the caller.
Lila turned away from the others in the diner and spoke quietly.
“Yes, this is Lila. To what do I owe this pleasure, Michael?”
“Well, we have been looking over the proposal you sent us about the Emotion Leveller.”
“Oh?…And?…”
“I want to get together with you to discuss all this. Have you pitched to any of our competitors, Lila?”
“Uh…no, not yet.”
“Excellent. Then how about we meet tomorrow, here in my office?”
She was unable to hold back an ever-growing smile.
“That would be fine.”
“The address is…” he began.
“No need. I know where you are and I’ll see you tomorrow at 3pm.”
NEXT WEEK: PART 5
