"Will we be able to wipe his memory?" Lissianna's mother asked with concern.
Martine turned to peer at Greg and he felt a brief ruffling in his mind. That was the only way he could think to describe it, it was like a creeping across his scalp. After a moment, she glanced to the notepad he'd left lying on the coffee table, and said to Marguerite, "You'd better take a look at this."
"You haven't had your lunch break yet. You must be hungry."
Lissianna glanced up with a smile as her coworker Debbie James walked into her office. Fifty years old, with salt-and-pepper hair and a mothering attitude, Debbie was Lissianna's favorite coworker.
"No, I haven't, and I am hungry, but I think I'll wait till later to--"
"Did I hear someone say they were hungry?"
Lissianna glanced to the door as Father Joseph walked into the office. She immediately glanced in question toward Debbie, but the other woman looked just as bewildered as she felt at the sight of the man. Father Joseph often worked long hours in the shelter, but usually left as they arrived to start their shift. Lissianna had never known him to be in the shelter at this hour... Unless there was an emergency that needed tending. That thought made her ask, "Is there a problem, Father Joseph?"
"No, no. Why would you think so?"
"Well, it's so late--" she began.
"Oh, I see," he interrupted, then looked away, his gaze shifting around the office before he blurted, "insomnia. I occasionally suffer insomnia." He smiled brightly, then held up a plastic food container. "So I was cooking to pass the time, and I made a batch of soup, then I thought I couldn't eat the whole batch myself so I brought some over for you girls." He beamed from her to Debbie.
"Oh, wow, that--I've already eaten," Debbie said abruptly, as he opened the resealable plastic container, and garüc immediately permeated every corner of the room.
"But Lissianna hasn't," Father Joseph smiled at her brightly. "Have you?"
"Er..." Lissianna peered at the soup dubiously. It was white and creamy, and could have been cream of potato, but it reeked of garlic. Lissianna rarely ate food anymore, and the smell of garlic was pretty strong, not that she didn't like garlic. She did, but the smell coming from the Tupperware was really strong. On the other hand, she didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Thank you. That would be nice."
"I just finished making it. It's still warm. Here." He held out the container, then reached in his pocket and retrieved a spoon and handed it over as well.
Lissianna accepted the soup and spoon and forced a smile. When Father Joseph stared at her expectantly, she realized there was nothing for it and scooped out a spoonful. The moment it hit her mouth, she regretted her innate politeness. The scent of garlic had been strong, but that was nothing next to the taste. It was almost as thick as mashed potatoes, but it wasn't cream of potato soup. If she were to hazard a guess she would have said it was straight pureed garlic, warmed up. At least that's what it tasted like, and it was so strong it burned her mouth and throat as she swallowed.
"Lissianna!" Debbie shouted with alarm as she began to choke. Rushing around the desk the other woman took the plastic bowl from her and began to slap her back.
"Debbie!" Father Joseph cried. "Give her some room to breathe."
Lissianna was vaguely aware of Father Joseph grabbing the other woman's arm to pull her out of the way and she was grateful for it as she rushed past them, into the hallway, and straight to the watercooler. It seemed to take forever to get to the cooler, grab a plastic glass, and fill it with water. Lissianna was almost tempted to kneel before the bloody thing, stick her mouth under the spout, and let the liquid pour straight in, but managed to restrain herself. She gulped the water down with relief, then filled it again. It took three glasses before her mouth stopped burning.
Starting to feel a bit better, Lissianna grabbed a fourth glass and turned to walk back into her office, pausing at the sight of Debbie and Father Joseph in the doorway.
"Are you okay?" Debbie asked with concern.
"Yes, yes. It was just a little... er... strong," she said delicately, not wanting to hurt Father Joseph's feelings.
Debbie peered down at the bowl she held, lifted out a spoonful, and took a careful lick. Her face immediately flushed red, then paled. She shoved the bowl into Father Joseph's hand, then flew forward to snatch at the glass of water. Lissianna gave it up without a battle and immediately turned to fill a second glass as Debbie downed the first.
It had taken three glasses to put out the fire in Lis-sianna's mouth from the spoonful of garlic. It took four for Debbie's small lick. Once they were both relatively recovered, they turned to face Father Joseph. He was glancing from them to the soup with disappointment.
"I guess it didn't work," Father Joseph muttered.
"Didn't work?" Debbie asked.
"The recipe," he said on a sigh, as he put the lid back on the container.
"Well, it cleaned my sinuses," Debbie said with a wry grin. "Maybe you should save that recipe for when one of us has a cold."
"Hmm." Father Joseph turned away and trudged up the hall, looking terribly disheartened.
"That was absolutely the worst soup I have ever tasted," Debbie said as soon as the man had turned at the end of the hall and disappeared from sight.
Lissianna grimaced in agreement. "Remind me to never again taste test his food."