CHAPTER SEVEN
WHAT IS LOVE?
For her first night as a mother, Twyla and the twins all slept well. She knew this wouldn’t last long, so she enjoyed that quiet night’s sleep.
Chloe’s group grew to five for her morning run. Joining Wayne and Michael on the run were Robin and Marc.
In Washington, a new factor came into play regarding the use of the power pumps. Executives from BP, Exxon and Chevron pleaded their case to not use the pumps. Using them would cause most of the major oil corporations to go bankrupt and put them out of business, which would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs, only making the unemployment rate soar to new highs.
As President Sinclair presented the issue to the Qadarians, they offered their next olive branch to restore order to Earth. They unveiled their economic reform plan.
On Qadaris, they had a similar problem with greed. Those who had wanted more and more, while those who had not lost what little they had. It wasn’t until their great leader Abraham was made king that this problem was fixed.
First of all, all currency would be united into one form. There would be no more dollar, yen, euro or peso. That singular unit of money would be used worldwide.
Next, there would be no rich or poor. All on the planet would be given an equal amount of the wealth. None would receive more or less than another.
“That will never be accepted in this country,” President Sinclair said. “Our Congress would never approve of such a drastic change, especially how it would affect them. CEO’s like Bill Gates and Donald Trump would never give up their wealth willingly.”
“Not to mention those who are now poor who would have money,” President-elect Wheeler added. “They would feel the greed that the rich now do, or they would spend their newfound wealth thinking that more was coming.
“This would also kill employment rates. Those who are unemployed would choose to stay unemployed. They who are employed wouldn’t feel the need to work hard, thus producing inferior products. I’m sorry, but this is the worst thing we could do to the world.”
As word of this hit the internet, Howard added this to his blog.
“Now, the Qadarians are trying to turn us against ourselves. If we accept their economic plan, we are killing the rich and our workforce. If we don’t, the poor will continue to suffer and Congress and the rich will only get more powerful.
“The aliens need to leave now before they destroy this planet. Join my cause. Just say no to the Qadarians.”
Inside the cube, Levi addressed the group as they finished lunch.
“Good day, all. I trust all are doing well, even our two newest additions. Since we are on that subject, we would like to know about what you refer to as love. You say this is what leads to reproduction.”
“No, sex leads to reproduction,” Luisa said. “You don’t need love to have sex, but it helps.”
“Then, tell us about someone you have loved.”
“I met Rhonda after I returned from my first tour in Iraq,” Brody said. “She was a singer at Circus Circus. She had the voice of a nightingale. She had me at her first note.
“I asked her out after her show was over. She had a two-year-old son from a previous relationship, but I didn’t mind. The two of them were the missing pieces of the puzzle that was my life.
“The hardest thing I ever had to do was leave them when I was called to a second tour. If not for them, I would never have made it back.”
“I met Fiona Manteau at a party on campus,” Travis said. “I saw some guys messing with her, trying to make her drink something she didn’t want to drink. Probably trying to slip her a roofie.
“I walked over and pulled her away. They were upset, but I didn’t care. We talked for the rest of the night and really hit it off.
“We have dated a few times. I don’t want to call her my girlfriend yet, given my whole fear of commitment, but I honestly think she may be the one, the woman I have searched for all my life.”
“I met Jack at the Gallery Hop,” Barbara said. “It was an event on the first Friday of the month that showcased artists and their work.
“He took a real liking to one of my abstract paintings and offered to buy it. At first, I was overwhelmed at the price he offered. I told him it was too much. He only agreed to lower the price if I agreed to go out with him. The rest is history.
“We had our moments in our fifteen years together. In the end, I saw what he truly loved was money. When it was gone, so was he.”
“I met Tracy when I was just a teller at Household Bank,” Benjamin said. “She had come in to open a new account. I was really taken with her. She just blew me away. I was nervous to ask her out, so I wrote my number on the back of her receipt.”
“I didn’t know what to think of him,” Tracy said. “He didn’t sound interested as he filled out the paperwork. I almost didn’t see his number. I was about to throw it away.”
“Thank God you didn’t. I couldn’t picture my life without you.”
“After seventeen years, neither could I.”
“I met Vanessa Cutsinger on my route,” Christian said. “She came running out one day in her robe carrying two big bags of trash.
“Even with curlers in her hair, she still looked so beautiful. She wasn’t married. I knew I had to ask her out.
“A few weeks later, she came running out with her trash again. This time, she was dressed. After she handed me the trash, I asked her if she would like to go out for coffee later.
“She told me not if I was the last man on earth.”
“We are supposed to be telling stories about love.”
“I did love her. She just didn’t love me back.”
“I met my husband Yukio while in grad school,” Akiko said. “We were interning at the same hospital.
“He comforted me after I saw my first compound fracture. It grossed me out. I know, a doctor isn’t supposed to be grossed out, but seeing the bone sticking through was sickening.
“From that moment on, we were inseparable. As we received out doctorates, he dropped to one knee on stage and proposed to me.
“Twenty-three years later, we are still as much in love as the day we met.”
“I met Serena Wolfe when I was a junior in high school,” Michael said. “She was the only other Native American in our school.
“We dated for half of our junior year and all of our senior year. We were voted Best Couple by our class.
“But we weren’t meant to stay together. While I embraced my heritage, she tried to distance herself from our traditions. After high school, she went to school as far away from Arizona as she could.
“Since then, I haven’t found a woman that I could love as much as I did her. I hope she finds everything she is seeking. My only wish for her now, as it was then, is that she be happy.”
“I met my current boyfriend Brett Mulroy at a PETA rally,” Robin said. “We were protesting the way chickens were treated, exploited for their eggs, and then slaughtered for their meat.”
“He was a vegetarian, just like me. He taught me how to cook some of the tastiest vegetarian meals I have ever eaten. That was what he went to school for, to become a vegan chef.
“It’s great to finally meet someone who doesn’t try to change me into their ideal woman. Brett accepts me for who I am. I hope to become his wife one day.”
“I met Patrice Lemieux through a mutual friend,” Marc said. “My best friend set me up on a blind date with his girlfriend’s best friend.
“We hit it off instantly. Blind dates have gone horribly in the past for me, but Patrice was everything I could possibly want in a woman.
“On our one-year anniversary, I took her to a Canadiens game. She was a huge hockey fan. I wasn’t as much, but she was teaching me the game.
“I arranged for the scoreboard to show ‘PATRICE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?’ at the first intermission. When they flashed it, I stood up and dropped to one knee. I had the ring in my hand. She, of course, said yes.
??
?These past few days have been torturous for me, not being able to see her or know that she is okay. I would give anything to see her again.”
“I went to the gym to blow off a little steam one day,” Neveah said. “As I started on the treadmill, I looked over and saw him. His name was Maurice Thomas.
“I don’t normally flirt with men, but he was so fine. I smiled at him. He smiled back. I tried talking to him, but my voice couldn’t carry over the music blaring into his ears from his iPod.
“Somehow, though, I think he got the message because when he was done, he asked me out. From that moment on, I had a new spotter at the gym.
“What I love most about him is that he knows I can’t have children, and he still wants to have a future with me. He doesn’t feel threatened dating a judge. To him, I’m just a woman, no different than anyone else.”
“I originally met my future wife Dolores as she was redeeming a coupon for a free flying lesson,” Wayne said. “I knew there was chemistry between us when I walked her through takeoff. There was a spark the first time we touched hands.
“After that initial lesson, she came back for another. I hoped I would see her again. I was thankful when I did.
“We started dating shortly after that second lesson. A year and a half later, we were married.
“I thought we would be together forever. Then, I had the accident that paralyzed me. I thought our love would overcome any obstacle. I never lost my love in her.
“Apparently, she lost hers in me. My needs and medical expenses were too much for her to bear. Six months later, she left me.”
“I met Andrew Biales on the set of Final Exam,” Jessica said. “He was the romantic lead opposite me. We were required to be passionate on screen.
“I never expected to take the passion off screen, but it happened. I never fell for a co-star before.
“After this, I hope I never do again. The relationship lasted as long as the filming of the movie. When production stopped, so did our relationship. He wanted to pursue other interests.”
“Alice was the first and only woman I ever dated,” Francis said. “She asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance. I had no interest in her before then, but since no one else had asked me, I said yes.
“I definitely had an interest in her after the dance. I didn’t like the Beatles; she did. After a few dates, I saw what she liked in them.
“After high school, we went to swing dances. This was the early sixties. There weren’t a lot of options.
“We were twenty-one when we got married. Last month, we celebrated out fiftieth wedding anniversary. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if she hadn’t asked me out. I don’t want to imagine my life without her.”
“I met my ex-husband Emilio when he fixed my car,” Luisa said. “He was a mechanic. He tried to jack up the price on a brake job. He was trying to rip me off. I called him on it. I fought with him until he actually cut twenty dollars off the price of labor.
“He saw I was a strong woman who didn’t take shit from nobody. He liked that and asked me out.
“I was young and naïve, so I said yes. I knew he was no good, but he was a charmer. I was lonely. Put two and two together and it spells trouble in the long run.
“In the short term, he was great. We fought every now and then, and I always won. I think he got turned on by it.
“But after eleven years, I saw him for the scumbag he truly was and left him.”
“I met David Christopher on a night out with the girls,” Bella said. “He came over to us and introduced himself. He didn’t spout some cheesy line to get our attention. Just gave his name and offered to buy us a drink.
“He then pulled me aside from them and told me I was the most beautiful woman in the bar. Naturally, I was flattered. Again, he said it with a sincerity few guys there would use.
“We started dating that weekend, and have gone out every weekend after. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word. If you looked up perfect in the dictionary, his picture would be there.”
“I have seen that before,” Twyla said. “My baby daddy Gary Pratt was the exact same way. He charmed me in a way no other man had.
“After three months, it was all about sex with him. He was always trying to get into my pants. And when I finally let him…” Twyla held up her children. “Well, you see the result. He ran out of there faster than Usain Bolt. Love is overrated.”
“I first saw Ruth singing in the choir,” Dennis said. “She won my heart with her solo one Sunday morning in church.
“After the service, I walked up to her to complement her singing. One thing led to another, and she gave me her telephone number.
“The next time we met was at a church group for singles. I knew after that meeting that she truly was a gift from God. I walked her back to her house that night.
“We started dating the next night, and we married two years to the day. Every night when I say my prayers, I thank God for my inspiration, my being, my wife.”
“I met my third husband Alan at a bingo game,” Helen said. “We both yelled bingo at the same time. We split the top prize.
“After the game, he asked me out. Enough time had passed since my second husband left me. I was ready to date again.
“We got married after a few months. Hey, at our age, we don’t have time left to enjoy. I don’t know why they call this our golden years. I feel more like rust than gold.
“The few years I had Alan were some of the best of my life. I only wish I had met him in my younger years.”
“Carol would make my coffee every morning at Starbucks,” Wyatt said. “I never had to give her my order; she knew what to make as soon as I walked in. A venti Sumatra coffee with soy milk and Splenda.
“One morning, she gave me a pumpkin scone on the house. She also wrote her number down on the receipt. I called her that evening.
“Normally, I take a first date out to a fancy coffee shop, but this seemed inappropriate in her case. We went to a Bulls game. Strangely enough, she enjoyed it.
“She was the yin to my yang. I knew she was my soul mate. We have been inseparable since.”
“I met my husband Shawn in the grocery store,” Chloe said. “I wanted some Greek yogurt, but the last one was way in the back, just out of my reach. As he walked by, I asked him to get it for me.
“Looking in his cart, all I could see were potato chips, pizza, and other junk food. I knew he had to be saved, so I asked him out.
“It took a bit of time, but I kicked him of his unhealthy habits. He started eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. Fifty pounds lighter and two pants sizes smaller, we were married.
“Whenever I have a client that doesn’t think he or she can drop the weight, I show them a before and after of Shawn, and they are inspired.
“As much as I changed him, he also changed me. I was wound up so tight. I was so stressed out. He taught me how to chillax, how to loosen up, how to have fun.
“Now, I have a craving for some Greek yogurt.”
“I met my wife Eleanor at a poetry reading,” Scott said. “She was on last to read her poem. I was mesmerized by her words.
“After the reading, I had to find out who her muse was. It turned out she had no muse. She just wrote whatever came into her mind at that particular time. Such spontaneity in a woman. I was attracted.
“I asked that she write one about me. She said she couldn’t because she didn’t know me. I used that as my way in for our first date.
“Thirty-one years later, she has two books of poetry published, just on things we have done together. I had long given up poetry. I couldn’t compare to her eloquent words.
“However, she was my inspiration for my novel which was released four months ago. A story with a very happy ending.”
“Randy Hough was my Prom date,” Cassidy said. “He wasn’t the most popular kid in school, nor the best looking. You could say he was quite average.
“The jocks knew he liked me, yet he never spoke to me
. They picked on him all the time. He didn’t care.
“Then one day, a few weeks before the Prom, he asked me to be his date. He was quiet at first. I could barely hear him. He asked me again, this time in a more confident tone.
“The jocks laughed at him when he asked me. They stopped laughing when I said yes.
“For a jock to ask me to the Prom was common nature, but for somebody like Randy to ask must have taken a tremendous amount of courage. He knew the consequences, yes or no, and he didn’t care.
“That is why I said yes to him. That is also why we dated for several months afterward.
“Summer soon passed, and we went our separate ways to different colleges. I still think of him every now and again.
“I received a letter from him a few weeks ago. He thanked me for changing his life. Since Prom, his confidence has skyrocketed. He has a new girlfriend. I’m happy for him.”
“I met Veronica on the side of the road,” Quincy said. “She had a flat tire. Her spare was flat, too. Her cell phone was dead. No one stopped to help.
“That was when I drove up. It had started to sprinkle. I asked her if she needed a lift to get her spare fixed. I loaded it into my truck and took her to get a new spare.
“After I helped put it on, she wanted to thank me for all my help. I said she could thank me over dinner.
“That was nine years ago. We were so happy back then.” He started to cry. “What happened that made her cheat on me?
“I never stopped loving her, and I never will.” Neveah gave him a hug.
The Qadarians presented a ham dinner for the night’s meal. A glazed ham with green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and glazed carrots.
After the meal, most of them left to go to their sleeping quarters. Travis felt the need to talk to Jessica.
“Jessica, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. That was very disrespectful of me to ask you to do something like that, especially since I barely know you as a person.
“All day long, I have tried to get this taste of foot out of my mouth. I really hope you can accept my apology. I would very much like us to become friends.” He extended his hand.
She could see he was genuine in his feelings. She accepted his apology, grabbed his hand, and pulled him in for a hug.
The smile on his face could have stretched from one side of the cube to the other. They parted company and went to bed.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Howard had assembled his team. Tomorrow, the cure-all would be made available to anyone who could show a need for it.
That would be when they would strike.