I need to tell someone about this before I talk myself out of it. This happened in January of 1996. Middle of winter, freezing cold. I was living in Pinewood Falls, Ohio, working auto insurance claims. Regular life, nothing special. I'd been single about a year after my divorce, and my buddy Greg kept saying he knew someone I should meet. Her name was Jennifer. Greg showed me a photo. Gorgeous woman. Blonde hair, these incredibly green eyes. I mean bright green, almost glowing. I figured it was just the camera. He said she was his wife's coworker's cousin, new to the area. We set up dinner at the Italian restaurant on Route 7. I was actually looking forward to it.
I got there first. Waited in my car because it was bitter cold out, maybe 25 degrees. When she pulled into the lot, I noticed something odd right away. She had a heat lamp in her car. One of those industrial warming lamps like you see at buffet restaurants, mounted on her dashboard and aimed at the driver's seat. It was glowing orange. We met at the entrance and I understood why Greg had been so enthusiastic. She was stunning. Tall, maybe six foot two. When we shook hands, though, her skin was cold. Not nervous-cold. Actually cold, like touching something that had been in a refrigerator. Her grip was strong too. Stronger than mine, and I'm not a small guy.
We sat down and started talking. She told me she worked in climate control consulting. I asked what that meant and she got vague, said it was technical work helping clients maintain thermal environments. Then she changed the subject, asked about my job, normal first date conversation. When the waiter came to take our order, she asked for the chicken parmesan. Then she leaned forward and asked him, completely serious, if they could prepare it rare. Rare chicken. The waiter looked confused. I was confused. She held eye contact with him and said she preferred her poultry undercooked. He explained that wasn't safe and she just nodded and said that was fine. During dinner I started noticing things. She barely blinked. I counted at one point, she went almost a full minute without blinking. And when she did blink, it was slow and deliberate. The movement looked wrong somehow.
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