Lara took a breath and swiped her hand across the keypad. The door slid open and she counted the seconds to herself. At six, her mother appeared in the entryway.

“There you are. Did you remember to post your request for the bioengineering internship?”

Lara struggled not to roll her eyes. “Yes, Mother. I posted my request. I’m in college now, I don’t need you to nag.” She edged past her mother and headed for the kitchen.

“I’m just reminding you.” Angie Scotsfield followed her daughter into the kitchen. “What are you doing? Dinner is in an hour.”

“I missed lunch, getting that request posted between classes.” Lara pulled open the cooler door. “I just need a little something to tide me over.”

Angie bustled over to the cabinets. “Fruit and yogurt,” she stated as she pulled a small bowl from the upper cabinet. “Light, good for you and refreshing.” She pulled a spoon and a knife from a drawer. “Sit. I’ll fix it for you.”

“Mom!” Lara closed the cooler door. “I can fix a snack myself.”

“I’ll have it done in a jiffy. Sit. Tell me about your day.” Angie retrieved a container of yogurt and an apple from the cooler and was at the counter cutting it up before Lara could sit down.

Lara ground her teeth but sat. “Professor Baird gave me an A on my paper, Bioluminescence in the Outer Planets of Sigma Delta Constellation.”

“Good. He should. You worked hard on that paper.” Angie scooped vanilla yogurt over the chopped apple.

Lara nodded. She had worked hard on that paper despite her mother’s constant nagging about getting it done on time. “And today, my puter froze up twice. I may need a new one.”

Angie put the bowl and spoon with a napkin in front of her daughter. “I just bought you that one.”

“No, mom. It’s two years old. You gave it to me for my secondary graduation.” She picked up the spoon and dug into the snack. She was ferociously hungry.

Her mother stopped wiping the counter and stared at her daughter. “Really? That long ago?”

“Yep,” Lara replied around a mouthful of yogurt covered apple. “I’m surprised it’s lasted this long.”

“I suppose. Do you have a model in mind?”

“The new ECO Twelve. It has a built in connection to all of the scientific databases. Research will be a snap.”

“Not the MRK17?” Angie dropped the knife into the sterilizer. “I heard it syncs with the news services and extrapolates your movements and calendar to give you suggestions on better use of your time.”

Lara suppressed a groan. Just what she needed, her mother with her twenty-six hours a day. “It’s too expensive,” she countered. “No need to spend all that money.” She took another bite of yogurt and apple.

Angie sat down at the table. “Perhaps.” She folded her hands on the plasmarble tabletop. “What about that nice young man, Daws, who picked you up to go winging last week? Is he still around?”

“Mom.” Lara sent her mother a sharp look. “Don’t push. We had a good time but I haven’t asked him out again.”

“Why not? He seemed nice.”

Lara shook her head. “I’m busy. I’m getting my degree. I don’t have time for a full time partner. Leave it be.”

Angie threw up her hands. “Fine. I was just asking.”

“Good.” Lara finished her snack and got up to put the bowl and spoon in the sterilizer. Daws did seem nice at first. Then he started getting possessive. She couldn’t have that. “I’ve got to study.”

“I’ll call when dinner is ready.”

Lara went to her room. She’d only just pulled up the study material on her puter when she heard her mother shouting in the entryway. She got up to go look.

“She isn’t accepting guests right now,” she heard Angie say. Lara came around the corner to find her mother blocking Daws.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

He tried to come around Angie. “You haven’t called me.”

“You’re right.” Lara crossed her arms and glared at him.

“But you’re my girl.”

“I don’t think so.” Never will be now, she thought.

“Don’t say that, Lara.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a stunner and tried to slide around Angie.

Angie spun counterclockwise and before Daws could react, she’d chopped his outstretched arm and knocked the stunner to the floor. He began to turn on her and she punched him in the stomach, doubling him over.

As he knelt on the floor, gasping for breath, Lara said, “Forgot to tell you my mom is the planetary self-defense champion in her age group.”

Angie pulled her puter from her pocket and tapped the screen.

“Law Enforcement,” the speaker on the other end said.

“I’m Angie Scotsfield.” She turned the screen to Daws. “This person attempted an assault on my daughter in my home.” She made sure to get Daws face in the screen then turned it back to herself. “I’d like him removed.”

“We’ll send an officer to your location immediately, Citizen Scotsfield.”

Daws remained on the floor until Law Enforcement arrived. Lara and Angie watched as he was led away.

“Thanks, mom,” Lara said as the door slid closed. “He gave me the shivers. That’s why I never called him back.”

“Good thing. He needs a mental review.”

Lara gave her mom a hug. “Good thing you’re quick. I’d have been stunned in another second.”

“That’s what I’m here for, dear. Dinner in 30.”

 

The End

923 Words

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