The Last JoyRide

Part 20

Thursday 8:40PM

Joy took the familiar route back through the little hidden industrial park and through the old neighborhood to the freeway. For the first time I think I realized why she chose the warehouse spot. It worked so well. In only a matter of moments you could access one of the busiest freeways in the country and on it travel to just about anywhere in the metro Atlanta area on short notice. It was also for all practicality invisible and even if being tailed you would disappear into the narrow street grid of the old neighborhoods maybe not even finding the row of old warehouses.

"So how often do you do this?"

"I come down here about once a month or so. I love it. I watch myself you know so I can pretty much tell what and when they can see things only their scope is a hundred times better than mine so it sees much more detail that what I can see from the roof."

She was smiling, easy and seemed content. Gone was any hint of animosity. It was like we had assumed a strange amenable course in our relationship after our near morning tryst. I was unsure how to feel about that. It was just untrodden ground with my limited experience in relationships. I still maintained that I liked her, that in spite of her sudden mood swings. No reason to upset the applecart. Only if it stayed upright I was going to miss those lips, no doubt about it, and the feel of her skin and the way her hips dipped out away from her waist and the green apple smell of her hair when she was close. Yeah, I was going to miss all of that.

"You're really something you know that?" I said probably not with the most pure of thought.

"Well, you are too Mr. Adams."

Before too long we were there. The Planetarium was surprisingly close to Little Five Points and the city itself, yet isolated, tucked away in a very old neighborhood void of even street lights. As we went inside and mingled around the museum I did recall going there long ago as a child on a school field trip. Joy was paying for our passes to the Planetarium when I noticed a scale model of Telstar, one of the first commercial communications satellites ever launched in the US.

Before I knew it I had wandered off rekindling more childhood memories. She found me standing in front of an Apollo Six command capsule leaning over the plexiglass barrier to peer inside the cramped and very rudimentary looking quarters. She walked up close behind me. She never touched me though. I wanted her too, but in fact at that point she just didn't seem interested.

"I've been here before, as a kid," I told her.

"Really?"

"Yep, there's a ton of little diorama type exhibits in here, a tornado forming, lightning striking in another. There's a Mars Viking mockup exhibit around the corner. This is really cool. I'm glad you asked me to come."

Well, there came a touch after-all. She instigated it. We bumped fists. Not exactly a caress or a hand on the shoulder or around the arm but it was better than nothing.

We still had a few minutes so I took her around the museum and we looked at as many of the displays as we could before taking the steps down to get inside the planetarium itself. It was just like I vaguely remembered it too. A giant black steampunk looking Zeiss projector garnered center room attention. It would soon simulate the night sky in astonishing detail especially for the pedestrian like myself. Rows of comfortable high-back seats ringed the room. I followed Joy as she selected ours.

The seats were naturally positioned back so you could see the inside of the towering dome over our heads. Something about a lack of solid or angled lines played with my depth perception as I stared up.

The room darkened to a twilight sky and Joy patted my arm from excitement. I looked over at her as the show began. Sure she made out like it was no big deal but I could see her face in the light and she was happy, content. That was a refreshing side to see.