Whatever Next
Created | Updated Jun 30, 2008
Here is the next entry in the modestly anticipated series called... Well I never actually came up with a catchy name for it. Anyway, if you need to see the rules or any explanation, see May I Conduct an Experiment?. The series will be ten episodes long, so bear that in mind with plot development and such. The entries referenced in this episode come up as linked entries wherever your skin usually puts them, and the Post Team have included the next five entries to be used to continue this story at the end. The first person to follow up by adding their name will take on responsibility for the next episode.
Please keep up the challenge of...
Whatever Next
Episode Five
'Hello,' he said, 'haven't we met before?'
Lisa looked at the man who had wandered up to her. He was in his thirties, perhaps, with just enough wrinkles round his eyes to make it clear that he'd lived a bit. The pleasant drawl in his voice sounded southern States.
'I saw you at Saint Mungo's this morning.'
It was embarrassing to admit that she didn't know the guests at her brother’s party.
'I suppose that must have been it. I'm Craig. I'm a friend of Jerry's. We met at his office.'
This was quite likely, thought Lisa. Mungo Jerry was an outgoing bloke, who met a strange mix of people through his job as a planning officer with Glasgow City Council.
'Are you a planner, too?'
Craig smiled. ' Me, no. Guess you'd say I’m a businessman. I left school with hardly any qualifications, found myself working at a Steak and Shake restaurant in Arkansas. Flipping burgers. That taught me two things. First, I didn’t want to do that all my life. Second, you don't get anywhere without hard work. So I studied and qualified as a medic. Now I'm going round setting up clinics.'
'What kind of clinics?'
'Cosmetic surgery. It's in great demand. Among men as well as women. And the range of treatments we offer increases all the time. If you're interested...'
It was just then that a wave of sound hit Lisa. Someone had turned up the CD player until it was playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons at full volume. It wasn't her favourite music at the best of times.
'Just a minute. I must go and turn that down,' she gasped.
She made her way through the crush, to find Jerry opening his presents, while his beautiful Malay girlfriend Ayu fiddled with the CD player.
Ayu smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry, Lisa..'
As Jerry opened the present Lisa had given him and saw the copy of Euclid's Elements, a look of puzzlement spread over his face.
'Er, thank you, Lisa.'
'Dave thought you would like it. He said that, as a town planner, you would be interested in geometry.'
'Are you sure he didn't mean geography?'
Ayu saved Lisa further embarrassment by changing the subject.
'I've brought some Malay fruit to add to the food.'
She rummaged in her bag and took out a plastic bowl of almost translucent white fruit.
'What are they?'
'Rambutan. They’re very nice.'
Lisa thanked her and placed the bowl of fruit on the table. As she looked up, she caught sight of Craig watching her across the room. He was really quite attractive, she thought, and perhaps he fancied her.
'This won't do,' she rebuked herself.
She had a boyfriend. But what had happened to Dave? Her mobile phone rang.
'Hi, it’s me. It's important.' Dave's voice sounded strained.
'I'm in the middle of Mungo Jerry’s party.'
'Look Lisa, don’t go south again just now.'
'Why ever not?'
'I’ve just found out that somebody might be trying to kill you.'
'What? ... Are you kidding?'
'No, I'm deadly serious. Look, can you go somewhere private where we can talk?'
At that moment, Craig wandered towards her. 'Is there a problem?'
It occurred to her that his smile left his eyes untouched. Realising that she needed to get away, Lisa cast round wildly for an excuse. She suddenly bent double, clutching her stomach in apparent agony.
'Oh no, I've got the most awful pain. It must be something I ate. I hope it's not e-coli.'
'Have you got anything you can take for it?' asked Craig.
'I just need the loo!' gasped Lisa and dashed for the door.
Safely installed in the toilet, Lisa listened to Dave's story. It didn't make much sense: the mysterious American called Buckeye, the mad professor, the sinister clinic. When Dave started talking about her third nipple a horrible suspicion formed in her mind.
'Have you been telling people about me, Dave?'
'No, I wouldn’t do that, Lisa. They’ve been spying on you.'
'Spying? How could they spy on me?'
It occurred to Lisa that one of their sessions of alfresco sex might have been observed. She thought of an evening in the woodland near Symonds Yat. Dave had been gently running his hand up her thigh when a party of tourists walked past on the path.
'They had a camera at the gym you go to,' said Dave.
'A camera? But I thought you said this Professor Garbenstein didn't understand anything remotely technical.'
'We think he’s got an accomplice.'
Suddenly, Lisa's heart gave a lurch, as Dave's story hit home for the first time. Craig had talked about clinics. So here she was, sitting on the loo in her flat, while this mad professor was trying to murder her. And could Craig be his accomplice...?
The next episode will be based on the following five entries, selected by the Post Team with the Infinite Improbability Drive:
- Jeremy Thorpe - Former Liberal Party Leader, UK.
- How to Build a Snowman.
- They.
- Plas Newydd, Anglesey,UK.
- Bucyrus, Ohio, USA - Bratwurst Festival.
If you want to write the next instalment, sign up below.
