Project D

She has known the dark. She has lived in the dark but she refused to stay in the dark. She has fought her way out of the darkness before and today was no different than before. 

Lydia met him two years ago. She knew the minute she saw him that it was love at first sight. At least for her it was and later she learned that he felt the same way. She needed him. She needed him to tell her she was beautiful again and needed to feel wanted. He did that to her and so much more. He was everything her ex husband wasn’t. She was what he needed and she knew that he needed her too. 

It would not be too long before she and him were inseparable. They did everything together. People used to joke that they were attached by the hip. Lydia loved being attached to him. Daryl Harmon was her dream come true. He was very tall. She liked that because she was tall too and with him she could always wear heels if she wanted to. He had a smile that would brighten up the darkest days and when he smiled she smiled too. It was like his dark green eyes could see right through her, to her soul. She saw his soul through his kindness, his generosity, his loyalty. He was all those things and more. So, it was no surprise to anyone when after 6 months of dating they moved in together.

Lydia had a small cottage looking house which was steps from the beach. She loved the beach. She often would just go to the beach with a good book, slather on some suntan lotion and lie on the warm sand dressed in her favorite pair of shorts and tee shirt. She wasn’t much for bikinis or bathing suits because she didn’t swim. She preferred to stay out of the water and on the warm sands. Daryl lived in a penthouse on the other side of town.  He was at first hesitant about moving to the beach but he knew that Lydia loved the beach and her house so he agreed to move there with her. Eventually, he learned to love the beach almost as much as he loved Lydia. 

For the next year and a half Lydia was hysterically happy. This was the best relationship she had ever had with a man. She loved the scent the pillow held of him long after he was gone to work. She drank in the smell of the silk sheets that he had to have on the bed. Every morning when they had their coffee together she thanked God for sending her this perfect man.

“Lydia, phone call on line one.” Lydia’s assistant said when she entered her office. 

Lydia hated Monday mornings. Monday mornings  were always very busy for her at the law office. She was working on a big case and she knew that this Monday like every other Monday she would not get home until late. She braced herself for another ten hour day. She sat behind her desk in the custom made black office chair and picked up the phone.

“Lydia Barnes speaking.” 

“Hey, girl. Where have you been?”  The voice of her best friend, Tina asked.

“Just been working a lot. What’s up?” Lydia asked while flipping through some papers on her desk.

“Want to go to lunch with me tomorrow. I have some news to tell you.” 

“Good news or bad news, Tina?” Lydia asked, still looking at her notes on her desk.

“Good of course. So, I will pick you up from your office around noon and we can go to that new place around the corner from Gigi’s house. Does that sound good?” Tina asked.

“Sounds good. See you later.” Lydia said, hanging up the phone. 

Tina and Lydia had been friends since the third grade when Tina transferred to the same school that Lydia was going to. They became instant friends when Tina was assigned to sit at the desk across from Lydia. Tina’s grandma even lived a few blocks from Lydia’s grandma. They thought that was so cool. They had gone to high school together and even college together. When Lydia went to law school Tina went to medical school. Tina later dropped out of medical school and opened her own business, a healthcare agency. Lydia always teased Tina about fainting at the sight of blood and always said that is why she dropped out of medical school. They would have  a good laugh because in part that was true. Tina couldn’t stand the sight of blood or anything else that had to do with bodily functions. She definitely made the right decision.

She had another decision to make though. This decision was harder to make because it involved her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend. Tina was eating at her favorite dive. She lovingly called it a dive because it was like a hidden away place that had the best double cheeseburgers she had ever eaten in her life and the greasy french fries that she shouldn’t be eating but loved anyway. Nobody she knew ever came there and she liked to talk to Vinny the owner. They would talk about everything and nothing at the same time. It was nice and a break from her “real life” at work and home. Once a week she went there to “Vinny’s Place.” 

Tina was chatting to Vinny as usual when she noticed Lydia’s boyfriend walk in. She made a waving gesture towards him but he looked preoccupied and didn’t notice her at all. She thought that was strange. Daryl was not the type to miss anything. He was never looking down at his phone all day like most of us do. He was always aware of what and who was around him. He would even comment sometimes about things he saw that nobody else paid any attention to. Once he pointed out a squirrel at the top of a big redwood tree that was happily eating. Neither Tina nor Lydia had noticed. Tina waved again and again he didn’t notice her. 

“Hey, Vinny. Does that guy come in here often?” Tina asked.

“Who?” Vinny turned his head around to look at the people sitting at the tables. 

“The one in the blue suit who is sitting at the second booth near the kitchen.” Tina said as quietly as she could.

“Oh him. Yeah, he comes in about once every two or three weeks. He always orders the same thing. A large coffee, no sugar, cream, a jelly donut and a small fry.”  Vinny said.

“Does he come in alone?” Tina asked, trying not to be seen now.

“He comes in alone but someone meets him here. A tall blonde woman who always wears a black pantsuit and flats. She always orders a black coffee. They talk for a little bit and leave.” 

“Vinny, do you know the woman’s name?” Tina asked. She knew that he probably didn’t know but asked anyway.

“Not really, I think that I heard him call her Barb or Barns or something that began with B once or twice. But, you know it gets busy here at lunch time and dinner time so I didn’t pay much attention. Just cooked their food and gave it to Wendy to take to the table.” Vinny said, nodding to one of the servers.

“Why do you know them?” Vinny asked.

“No, I was just wondering. You know how I like to watch people.” Tina said finishing her tea.

Tina picked up Lydia at noon a few days later and they drove to the new place, “Barney’s and Red’s Chicken Shack '' near Lydia’s grandma’s house. 

“How do you like this place?” Lydia asked Tina as they made their way across the room to a table in the far right corner of the restaurant. 

“It’s pretty nice. I hope that food is good.” Tina responded.

“Lydia. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it? Can I order first?” Lydia laughed.

Lydia flagged down the server and they both ordered the same thing, burgers and fries with diet coke.

“Okay, now that you got your food. I have to tell you something. I know that I said it was good news and I do have some good news to share with you but I also have some not so good news too. The not so good news involves Daryl.” Tina said, taking a deep breath.

“Oh no, you aren’t having an affair with Darryl are you?” Lydia asked, almost choking on her fries.

“No, it is nothing like that. You know that I would never, ever do something like that.” Tina said.

“Relax, girl, I was just joking. I know you wouldn’t.”

“But, Lydia, I think that he’s having an affair with someone else.” 

“Tina, stop it girl. I told you I was just joking.” Lydia said, sipping her coke.

“I am serious. A few days ago I was eating dinner at Vinny’s and I saw Darry. I waved to him but he didn’t see me. He was preoccupied I guess and when he sat down at his table a few minutes later a woman joined him.” Tina explained.

“What? Wait. Are you serious? You saw Darryl with another woman?” Lydia asked.

“Yes, she was a tall blonde woman. I have never seen her before.” Tina continued.

“Maybe it was a client. He has met clients for dinner in the past to discuss business.” Lydia said, taking another sip of her coke.

“Maybe but it looked like more than a client. I think that it was more.” 

“Tina, why do you think that?”

“I didn’t see anything but it is just a gut feeling. And you know how you always told me to trust my gut? But, I am not one hundred percent sure. I am just telling you what I saw. You are my best friend and I don’t want you to be hurt.” Tina tried to explain.

Daryl came home from work and dropped his keys and briefcase on the white couch in the living room. He took off his jacket and laid it beside his keys on the couch. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair and walked to the kitchen.

He sat at the kitchen table and sipped some stale coffee from the coffee pot on the counter. He waited and waited. He knew that once she came home he would have to tell her.

“Daryl, are you home?” Lydia shouted from the front door. 

Daryl emerged from the kitchen holding his stale and now cold cup of coffee in his hand. Ironically it was in a coffee mug Lydia had given him for Christmas a month after they met.

“We need to talk.” Daryl said motioning for Lydia to have a seat on the love seat across from the couch. 

“I know.” Lydia said.

“I know that Tina saw me in the restaurant the other night. I know that she probably told you that I was with another woman.” Daryl said, sipping his coffee.

“Yes, she told me.” Lydia said, looking straight into his eyes.

“Well, it is not what you or she probably thinks. I am not having an affair.” Daryl said.

“Okay, so why were you with her? Was she a client?” Lydia asked.

“No, not exactly. She’s my boss.” 

“What? But, your boss is a man. I am confused.” Lydia said, shaking her head.

“Let me start at the beginning. Remember when we met? Well, that wasn’t the first time I had seen you. Well, it was not the first time my boss saw you. Her name is Karen. And Karen is a scientist who works for the government. She was working on a special project. The project was top secret. Until now.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lydia said, looking like he had lost his mind.

“Karen was working on a special project called Project D. She was working on it with her partner, Fred. She and Fred were working to develop artificial intelligence, trying to see if they could make it better.” Daryl said.

“And what does all that have to do with you?” Lydia asked.

“Well, Karen did some research on you and found out that you were getting divorced from your ex husband around May of the year we met and you were the perfect subject to try to experiment with, for lack of a better term, and you met me about three months later. Everything had to be right. I had to meet you at exactly the right time and on the right day. I had to do all the things that you liked. In other words I had to be your perfect man. “

“This is crazy. What exactly are you saying?” 

“I am saying that Karen invented the perfect man for you and if she could invent the perfect man for you then she can invent the perfect man for all women. But, she had to start somewhere and you were it.” 

“Darryl, this is confusing. There is no  human being who is perfect.” Lydia said, still looking confused.

“I know. That’s why this…” 

Darryl stood up and carefully removed the life-like mask from his face underneath the mask was the face of a robot. He was not human.

Lydia didn’t remember what happened after that. She woke up and was lying in her own bed. There was no sign of Daryl. It was like he never existed. Her home was empty and void of anything that said he was ever there. She almost believed that she was in a dream for the last few months and that none of this was real. How could this be real? How could her perfect man not be real? How can this all be true? 

She walked into her kitchen and there was a note on the kitchen table which was handwritten in Darryl’s handwriting. 

“My Love, Lydia,

I won’t say that I am sorry because I am not sorry. Even though I was not real I know that your feelings for me were real as mine were for you. I know you are thinking how can someone like me who is not real have real feelings? That is the beauty of it all, my love. I was made to have real human feelings. I did love you. Although, I can’t be your perfect man now and I know that you feel that once again you are left in the darkness of heartbreak just know my love that the darkness shall pass and a new light will shine on you one day and on that day you will truly meet your perfect man and that man won’t be manufactured in a laboratory. Until then my love believe in that the impossible is possible.”

Lydia burned the note and never thought of Darryl again.