Zera and the Green Man Read Online Free PDF

“Our research has made acne a thing of the past. Our next goal is to rid the world of cancer.”
    Instead of the usual teenaged fast -food employees, waiters in black and white uniforms stood at attention behind the service counters. Conveyor belts under heat lamps moved forward while 3-D technology on the wall monitors showed pictures of the franchise’s offerings, glistening and sizzling. Zera didn’t see anyone under the age of twenty and breathed a little easier. It’s embarrassing enough to be seen in public in this dress, much less by kids my age. I’ll have to remember to avoid all TV cameras, though. S he fingered her green strand of hair and fidgeted, rocking on her heels as the strains of an old tune she recognized, Thank God I’m a Country Boy, drifted through the room. Zera groaned inwardly. Maybe I should go to the restroom and escape out a window.
    Tiffany noticed Zera squirming and shot her a look that carried an unmistakable warning — You’d better cool it .
    “Have you seen Mr. Cadger?” Theodore asked Harv.
    “Over there,” Harv pointed, “talking to the Burger Depot people and the reporters. Chet Wrangler is going to speak first, then Cadger. In fact,” Harv said, as he looked at his watch, which held a mini v-phone, “it’s about time. You’d better find a seat.”
    Zera followed Harv’s nod and spotted The Toad’s boss in the next room, a short man with close-cropped blond hair, in the middle of a crowd. The tables around them were set with linens, silver cutlery, and crystal — details that amused Zera — pretty fancy for burgers . In the far back of the room someone had turned off the band equipment and the walls glowed with large projections of ads from Americo. The ads showed medical advancements Americo had helped produce. One was a repeat of what the spokeswoman on the monitor had said about acne and possible cancer cures. Another explained that a bio-engineered smoking cessation pill was well on its way to making cigarette smoking a vice of the past. Zera wondered if Harv wished they would work on curing hair loss instead.
    Tiffany tugged on her arm. “Come on.” Zera was pulled away in the direction of Bob Cadger. Zera heard her uncle say behind her, “Chairs are filling fast. . . Tiffany . . . ?”  Zera looked back to see him follow them in his usual puppy-dog manner, until he was intercepted by another co-worker.
    Elbowing her way to the center of the fray, Tiffany interrupted the small man with dandelion-colored hair talking to a man with an electronic notepad. “Good evening, Mr. Cadger.”
    “Oh, hello,” Cadger said, turning from the reporter. A look of recognition flickered across his face. “You’re Theodore Green’s girlfriend, aren’t you? We’ve met before, at the company picnic, I believe.”
    “Yes.” Tiffany flashed her most winning smile. “I’m Tiffany Taylor.” Zera noticed that she brought a slender hand up to her double chin for a moment. Giving him a 1,000 watt smile, Tiffany shook hands with Cadger, then put a hand on Zera’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted Theodore’s niece Zera to meet you. She’s the youngest member of the Green dynasty. It’s so exciting that the opening is today. You see, it’s Zera’s birthday. Her fifteenth.”
    “Well, happy birthday, young lady.” Cadger shook Zera’s hand. “My goodness, what a lovely dress, you look like quite the princess tonight.” Zera stifled a frown. She guessed she was taller than Cadger by at least four inches. She smiled back half-heartedly. His eyes darted to her swatch of green hair, causing her to blush. Still, she stood straight and maintained eye contact. She’d heard a few things about Cadger from her uncle, mostly comments about how his boss didn’t know a lot about science, but made a hundred times more than the other employees, the ones who did the “real” work.
    “I imagine you’re quite proud of your uncle today,” Cadger said.