Valerye Read online

  “Well this actually does feel somewhat supportive, I guess. It’s interesting how you were able to figure out that you could do that, though,” he said.

  “Would you like me to rub your back?” she asked.

  “You can do that? Sure!” he said.

  He could feel the sensation of her hand caressing his back. The contact was not to the level of the gloves, due to the design of the bed, but it did feel similar to a massage.

  “Could you try to massage the shoulders a bit? I know the bed helps me sleep, but it is still a little tight this morning,” he said.

  “Sure, Tom,” she said as he could feel the hand moving up toward his shoulders.

  “I know this bed does have some massaging modes, but you have figured out something great here, Valerye,”

  “I am glad you like it, Tom. Is there anywhere else you would like a massage?” she asked.

  “I guess not right now. I’m actually starting to get hungry. Can you start some breakfast for me, Valerye?” he asked.

  “Anything specific you would like this morning?” she asked.

  “Nothing specific. Just surprise me,” he said.

  “Okay, your breakfast will be ready in ten minutes and coffee in five minutes,” she said.

  “Great, Valerye. Thank you!” he said as he sat up in bed.

  “Let me change and I’ll be out in the kitchen in a few minutes,” he said.

  “I will be waiting, Tom.” she said as he dropped his feet to the floor.

  He turned back to see that Valerye was sitting in the bed ready to get up as well.

  VI

  After taking a sip of coffee, Tom said, “oh, Valerye, can you make a reservation for two people tonight at Serena’s for 6 pm.”

  Sure, Tom. Would you prefer a balcony or indoor table?” Valerye asked.

  He could no longer see her, since he had removed the glasses when he had changed clothes.

  “I believe the weather should be nice tonight. So please reserve a table on the balcony,” he said.

  “You are correct about the weather this evening. One moment, Tom,” she said.

  “Your reservation has been confirmed for 6 pm at Serena’s,” she told him.

  “Great, Valerye. Thank you,” he said.

  “Will you be meeting someone at the restaurant, Tom?” she asked.

  “No, I told Pam that I could pick her up and take her there. Do you need her address?” he asked.

  “I found the address on your phone. I would recommend picking her up at 5: 38 pm at her residence. Would you like me to contact her about this scheduled time, Tom?” she asked.

  “Wow, that was quick . . . and no, I will call Pam and let her know the plans,” he said.

  “Very well, Tom. We should leave here at 5:27 pm. Will that be okay?” she asked.

  “Okay, Valerye. I will be ready at 5:27 pm tonight,” he said.

  “Is there a reason your comment sounded sarcastic, Tom?” she asked.

  It took him a moment to respond and say “Well, it just sounded a bit funny to be so exact about the time.”

  “Point taken, Tom. I will try to use more general times in these types of situations in the future,” she said.

  After starting to stand up from the table, he said “I’m going for a short run. I’ll pick up the dishes later after I return.”

  “Thank you, Tom. Helping move things around the house is not something I can do,” she said.

  “Well, you still do help me quite a bit anyway. I’ll be back in a while,” he said as he walked toward the front door.

  “Tom, we are less than one minute away from Pam’s Condominium. You did tell her when we will be arriving, didn’t you?” Valerye asked.

  “Yes, I called her after I went for the run this morning. I may have still been outside when I called. So, you may not have heard me do it,” Tom said as the car pulled up to the curb of Pam’s condo.

  “Will she be coming to the vehicle or would you like to go to her door, Tom?” she asked.

  “I’ll go pick her up from the front door, Valerye,” he answered.

  The car door opened and Valerye said, “okay, Tom. I will be awaiting your return.”

  “Thank you, Valerye. Hopefully, this will not take long,” he said as he stepped into the street and the car door shut.

  Looking toward the front door, he could not see any sign of Pam.

  As he neared the door, a male voice said, “hello, may I help you with something this evening?”

  “Yes, my name is Tom and I’m here to pick up Pam for dinner tonight,” Tom replied.

  “Okay, Tom, my name is Kevin. I will alert Pam that you have arrived and that you are ready to escort her to dinner. Please wait here for a moment,” Kevin said.

  Tom could hear the muffled voice of Kevin talking within the condominium, but could not fully understand what was being said.

  After a little less than a minute, Kevin said, “Hello, Tom. Pam is still preparing herself for this evening. It should not be much longer, though. Would you like me to play some music while you are waiting?”

  Tom chuckled briefly and replied, “no, Kevin. I’ll be fine just waiting here, thank you.”

  “Very well, Tom. I will alert you when she approaching the front door,” Kevin said.

  “Great, thanks,” Tom said as he turned to look back toward the car.

  Tom waited for what seemed to be about two to three minutes.

  “Hello, Tom. Pam is approaching the front door now,” Kevin said.

  Tom turned back toward the front door as it started to automatically open. He could see Pam nearing the door. She was smiling at him.

  “I like the green dress, Pam. You look beautiful in it,” he said.

  After making an even wider smile, Pam said, “Well, thank you, Tom. You look handsome, too.”

  “Are you ready?” Tom asked.

  “I sure am. Let’s go,” she said as she stepped out onto the sidewalk next to Tom.

  “Sorry I wasn’t quite ready when you arrived. Hopefully you didn’t have to wait too long,” she said as they walked toward the car.

  “No problem at all, Pam. That was pretty quick, actually,” he said.

  “So, others have made you wait much longer?” she said looking at him with a smirk.

  “Let’s just say you have nothing to worry about, Pam,” he answered as both car doors opened.

  “Good answer, Tom,” she said, then turned to step into the car.

  Tom walked around to the other side and got into the car.

  “Hello, Tom and Pam. I must inform you that due to the delay of the start of this trip, we will not arrive at Serena’s until after the 6 pm reservation time,” Valerye said as the car doors shut.

  “That won’t be a problem, Valerye. We will still be there in plenty of time,” Tom said

  “Very well. I just wanted to let you know in advance,” Valerye said as the car began pulling away from the curb.

  Pam looked forward and said, “I’m sorry again for not being ready when you got here.”

  “Hey, Pam, like I said, it’s not a problem. Let’s just have a nice evening,” Tom said.

  “That sounds good. Thanks, Tom!” Pam said.

  “Would either of you like some music?” Valerye asked.

  “Sure, Valerye. Let Pam pick the type, though,” he said.

  “How about easy listening music?” Pam suggested.

  “Okay, Pam. Here is an easy listening channel,” Valerye said and soon afterwards the music began playing in the car.

  “That works. Thanks!” Pam said.

  “Yeah, I remember this song from about eight years ago, or so,” Tom said.

  “That’s right it was about eight years ago, when this song came out. How did you remember?” Pam asked.

  Tom looked forward and did not answer.

  “Are you okay, Tom,” Pam asked.

  “It was at our wedding. This song was played at our wedding,” he said then looked downward.
r />   “Oh, I am so sorry, Tom. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you,” Pam said.

  “Would you like me to change the type of music, Tom?” Valerye asked.

  “Did you want to suggest something else, Pam?” he asked.

  “I’m okay if we just turn it off,” Pam suggested.

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he said.

  “The music will be turned off,” Valerye said as the music gave way to the sounds of the road.

  “So did you hear that Salim found a new job?” Pam said.

  “No, really. Where’s he going?” Tom asked.

  “I think it some place in Illinois. Symtron or something like that,” Pam said.

  “Symtron? I haven’t even heard of the company. Well, do you know if it’s a better job for him?” Tom asked.

  “I don’t know the details, but it must be, if he was convinced to leave the company,” Pam said.

  “True. We’ll be busy filling in after he leaves. Do you know how much longer he’ll be around?” he asked.

  “I think next Friday or so. I’m not exactly sure,” Pam said.

  “Shame to see him go, but it sounds good for him at least. Has anyone talked about a going away party yet?” he asked.

  “Not that I know of yet, but I’m sure there will be one. Thinking about that is kind of making me hungry,” Pam said.

  “I don’t think the restaurant is too much further at least,” Tom said.

  “We should arrive in less than five minutes,” Valerye said.

  “I can make at least that much longer,” Pam said as she looked at Tom and smiled.

  After finishing his dinner, Tom took a sip of wine. Pam finished her dinner about a minute after Tom.

  The android waitress approached the table and asked, “will either of you be ordering any dessert tonight? We do have our special carrot cake available.”

  “No, I’m quite full, Anna. Would you like any dessert, Pam?” he asked.

  “I’m full too, Anna, but thank you for asking,” Pam said.

  “Very well then. You may pay your bill on the table screen when you are ready,” Anna told them.

  “I will be doing that soon, Anna,” he said.

  “Thank you, sir,” Anna said before turning to leave the table.

  Tom looked back toward Pam.

  She looked at him and asked, “is it just me or did your assistant seem upset with me that we were going to be late for the reservation tonight?”

  Tom thought for a moment then replied, “The assistant technology has come a long way. It does seem like Valerye can appear to have some type of attitude at times.”

  “So, she’s done other weird things?” Pam asked.

  “Well, there are times when I question her motivation for certain actions or things she says,” Tom said.

  “Anything specific?” she asked.

  “I’ve stumped her. I asked what she was doing after the chores were completed once and it took a few seconds before she replied,” he answered.

  “Do you think she’s trying to hide anything?” she asked.

  “I can’t imagine what she would try to keep secrets. She’s just a type of computer code that interacts with me through various devices,” he said.

  “Well, they do learn, remember,” she said.

  “Does your Kevin do anything weird like this?” he asked.

  “So far nothing like that. Just the normal quirks for a computer system, I guess,” she said as she took a sip of wine.

  Tom took another sip of wine too.

  After Tom had paid the bill, he took one last sip of his wine.

  “This has been nice, Pam. Thank you for the suggestion to come here,” Tom said.

  “I thought you would like it, Tom,” she said with a smile.

  “Are you about ready to leave, Pam?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m full and I’ve had enough wine. Thank you for paying, Tom,” she said.

  “Yeah, it’s probably good we don’t have to drive ourselves tonight,” he said.

  “Automated cars are a drunk’s best friend,” she said as she started to laugh.

  “Well, I don’t think either of us are really that drunk on the couple of glasses of wine we’ve had, but still happy I’m not driving,” he said as he started to stand up.

  “I actually never learned to drive. I’ve only used the automated cars or other types of transportation. I do not even own a car,” she said as she stood up too.

  “Yeah, I drove for a few years, but I find I can get more done by letting the car handle everything,” he said as he motioned for her to lead the way to the entrance.

  “There really aren’t too many people driving their own cars anymore, right?” she asked as she started walking.

  “Well, it’s usually the people that drive their own cars that get into the accidents anyway,” he said, following behind her.

  “Have a nice evening,” the hostess said as they passed by.

  “We will, thank you,” Tom said.

  As the two of them walked out of the entrance, Tom tapped his watch to signal Valerye to bring the car to the entrance.

  “Other than being a little darker now, it’s still a very nice evening,” he commented.

  “Yes, it’s pleasant out here. Not much wind either,” she said.

  “Did you have anything else that you would like to do now?” he asked.

  Pam thought for a moment and then replied, “Oh, probably not, other than just taking me home.”

  “Oh sure, we can do that. Are you feeling okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine, but a little tired. Maybe it’s the wine,” she said as Tom’s car pulled up to the sidewalk in front of them.

  “Here we are,” Tom said as he stepped forward closer to the car.

  The doors opened to the car. Tom watched Pam get in and then he walked to the other side and got into the car himself.

  As the doors shut, Valerye said, “hello, Tom and Pam. I hope that you had a nice evening. What destination should I set for you now?”

  “Please take Pam home first, and then, well, to my home,” Tom said.

  After the doors latched, Valerye said, “Sure, Tom. We will go to Pam’s house first and then home.”

  The car started to leave the restaurant.

  “Would either of you like some music?” Valerye asked.

  “How about some dance music?” Pam suggested.

  “Fine with me, other than there’s not really much room to dance in here,” Tom replied.

  “Well, even though I’m strapped in, I’ll see what I can do!” Pam said with a smile.

  “You did enjoy the wine, didn’t you?” he said.

  The music started to play and Pam’s head began to sway.

  “Yep, I sure did enjoy it!” she said as she continued to move in her seat.

  Tom just smiled.

  “Here’s my condo up ahead. Just pull up to the walkway in front of it,” Pam said.

  “Sure, Pam. I will have the car stop at the sidewalk,” Valerye said as the car pulled up to the walkway.

  Pam’s car door opened.

  “Valerye, you can open my door, too,” Tom said.

  “This is not your residence, Tom,” Valerye said.

  “I would like to escort Pam to her door, please,” Tom said.

  The door opened on his side and Valerye said, “Very well, Tom. I will await your return.”

  Tom stepped out of the car and walked to the other side to greet Pam, who had just exited the car. Tom held out his hand at his side. After noticing, Pam grasped his hand and smiled as they started to walk toward the condominium door.

  Pam whispered, “I guess Valerye doesn’t know about dating etiquette, huh?”

  Tom lightly chuckled and replied, “Trying to make me seem rude, I guess.”

  “Do you think she would do that?” Pam asked as they continued to the door.

  “No, she probably just didn’t know what to do,” Tom said.

  Pam turn
ed to Tom as they stood just before the entrance.

  “I had a lot of fun tonight, Tom,” she said gazing into his eyes.

  “You made this evening fun, Pam. I would like to see you again, if you would not mind,” he said.

  “Definitely, I should be ready for something again next weekend,” she said.

  He smiled and said, “Sounds great! We can make the plans during the week at work.”

  “Yep, we can do that,” she said and then she started staring into his eyes with a slight smirk.

  He returned the smile and moved in closer to her. She tilted her head back slightly and closer her eyes about halfway. Tom put his hands around her waist and closed his eyes as he lowered his face so that their lips met. Her arms were over his shoulders. The warm kiss lasted for several seconds before Pam slowly pulled away. They both opened their eyes and held onto each other.

  “That was wonderful, Pam. As you may imagine, I’m filled with emotion now, but I do feel ready for this,” he said.

  “I know, Tom. I’ll take my time to make sure you will be ready,” she said.

  She could not suppress a yawn.

  “Well, I better let you get to bed, Pam. Have a good night and feel free to call anytime if you want,” he said as he loosened his grip from her back.

  The front door unlocked and started to open.

  “Thanks, again for a wonderful evening, Tom. I’ll at least see you on Monday, if I do not talk to you before then,” she said as she let go of Tom, but still looked him in the eyes.

  She then turned and went inside the house, turned back around and waved. He returned the wave as the door started to shut.

  Tom spun around and walked back to the car. His door opened as he approached it.

  As he stepped into the car, Valerye asked, “are you ready to return home now, Tom?”

  “Yes, Valerye. I’m ready to head home,” he answered.

  “How was your courtship with Pam?” Valerye asked as the door closed.

  “You mean date? People haven’t used courtship for years, Valerye,” he said as the car started to pull away from the curb.

  “You are correct, Tom. I did chose the incorrect word for this situation, but did this date with Pam meet your expectation?” she asked.