Megan's Cure by Robert B. Lowe Read Free Book Online

Richard III or the Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
     
    “I see,” she said.   “For you or for me?”
     
      “Umm.   Both?”
     
    “You know,” she said.   “That would be pretty funny, if politically incorrect.”
     
    “Yeah, I know.   We’d have to wear masks for the video.”
     
    Carr laughed.
     
    “You’re just trying to put these images in my head so nothing erotic can get in, right?” she said.
     
    “You got it,” said Lee. “At least until you hop off the plane.   Speaking of which…when are you flying in?”
     
    In her half-second delay, Lee knew he would be spending the weekend alone again.   Carr had been his boss as city editor at the San Francisco News as well as his lover for almost a year when the last round of layoffs hit the newspaper.   She hadn’t been dumped unceremoniously as had so many others, but Carr received a clear signal from her superiors that her best move was jumping off the sinking ship while she still had a choice.
     
    So, she had taken a long-standing job offer from the Wall Street Journal.   The problem was that her position was covering East Coast high tech companies from New York.   She and Lee had been trading monthly trips back and forth.   But his grandmother’s illness holding him in San Francisco and Carr’s incessant travel up and down the East Coast had taken its toll.   They hadn’t been together in six weeks.
     
    “I’m sorry, babe,” she said.   “I’ve got to be in Munich on Monday.   A big Siemens announcement.   Fiber optics breakthrough or some such nonsense.”
     
    “Aarrgh,” said Lee loud enough to get a few stares in the newsroom.   He put his face in his hand and took a couple of deep breaths as his emotional state cycled quickly from anger to desperation before settling into self pity.
     
    The weekends they had together now – usually stretched to three days – were incredibly intense.   But just when they were getting back to their old rhythms – past satisfying the pent up passion and the celebration of reuniting – Carr was gone again.   The emotional rollercoaster was getting old.   Each time Carr slipped away, Lee could feel the gulf between them widen a bit more.  
     
    “Are you still there?” said Carr.  
     
    “Yes,” said Lee with a heavy sigh.   “This is getting a little ridiculous.”
     
    “I know,” she said.   “Look.   I will try, try, try to be there next week, okay?   Meanwhile…I don’t know.   Maybe we should resort to phone sex.”
     
    “ Phone sex ,” said Lee, drawing a few more glances.   “Then I’ll have no idea if you’re faking it.”
     
    Carr laughed and then switched to her seduction voice – low and purring.  
     
    “I never fake it,” she said.  
     
    “Okay,” he said.   “You can convince me of that the next time we’re in bed.”
     
    “The pleasure will be mine,” she said.   “And hopefully yours, too.”
     
      They both laughed.
     
      “Listen,” said Lee.   “Before you go I need to ask you something...non-sex related.   It’s about my grandmother.   Her doctor was telling me about some new drug…some big breakthrough that seems to have vanished mysteriously.”
     
    “Okay.”
     
    “I’m trying to track it down and see what I can find out,” he added.   “There are a few mentions of something that looked pretty exciting a couple of years ago.   I don’t know if it’s the same thing or not.   Maybe there are some trials going on somewhere.
     
    “I came up with a guy’s name, but I’m not finding much when I Google him,” Lee added.   “You have access to the scientific journals, right?   There must be a huge database of that kind of stuff.”
     
    “You have no idea,” she said.   “You’re right.   There are services that have all that.   We have access.”
     
    “Okay,” said Lee.   “Maybe you can run this guy through them and see what turns up.”
     
    “I’ll do it tomorrow,” said Carr.