When Wheaton had walked into their quarters, he had beentaken aback to find Poppy looking so miserable on the couch. Thinking she mightbe feeling unwell, he walked closer until he noticed that she was crying. Hisfirst experience with her tears had been when she was sad as she was leavingEarth and her sister, and his gut clenched to realize that maybe she was missingher old life. Walking up quietly so he didn’t startle her, he touched her face.
“What is wrong?” he asked. Since she still had herheadphones on she couldn’t hear him but was able to read his lips. Taking offher headphones, she tossed her player onto the table in front of her.
“I’m sad,” she whispered, wiping her face on her hands.
Wheaton might be dense when it came to humans but he couldtell she was sad. He wanted to know why she was sad. She had food,clothes and entertainment to keep her occupied in their rooms when he was gone.Unsure if he should even ask what was wrong, he did and braced himself for theanswer.
“What happened to make you sad?” Wheaton moved around thecouch until he was sitting beside her.
“Wheaton, I’m not happy. I don’t think this is going to workout…maybe I should contact Valerie and make arrangements to end our trialperiod early.”
Wheaton felt anger when he thought of her leaving. He hadnot seen her much during her stay so far, but the time that he was able tospend with her left him craving more. The only thing that had kept him back washis earlier idea of not becoming too attached.
“Tell me what to do to make you not sad. You cannot leaveme,” Wheaton said, reaching for her.
She shook off his hand and stood up. Poppy was annoyed hewas deciding now was the time to talk. Were tears the only way to get throughto the big lug?
“Do you realize this is the first time you’ve touched me inthree days? We barely talk and I think the last thing you said to me was whenyou asked me to move out of your way so you could leave yesterday.”
Deciding it was always easier just to rip the bandage offquickly, she spat out the thoughts that had been tumbling around in her headsince her second day of solitude.
“I don’t think we are a good match, Wheaton. You act likeyou can’t stand to be around me and I’m lonelier here than I ever was on Earth.At least back home I could still see my friends and Pixie…and visit dogs at theshelter.” With a sad smile she continued, “I’m totally isolated here and Ihaven’t been able to talk to her on that video thingy because our timingdoesn’t line up. I’m just really unhappy.” Craving some sort of physicalcontact, she leaned into him as she started crying.
Wheaton stiffened up for a second as if he were uncomfortablewith the contact and then reached over to hold her shoulders. Putting his armsaround her, he leaned his face toward the top of her head while she rested herface against his chest. After a few moments she stopped crying but didn’t moveaway. This was the only interaction she had experienced with another person inthree days and she was going to soak it up while she could. Tilting her face tothe side so she could breathe easier, she felt his arms tighten as he took inthe scent of her hair.
Wheaton felt the warmth of her body and relished thecontact. Even if her face was puffy and leaking, he had to admit this contactwas better than if she left and he had absolutely none. He had, unknowingly,made his bride feel unwelcome. Not having a human before, he had been unsurewhat their care involved. Realizing that something needed to change to convinceher stay, he thought for a couple moments.
“This is nice,” he whispered, his breath moving her hairslightly.
“This”—she stopped to swallow hard—“this is what I wasmissing. I need someone who will be present…someone who’ll talk to me and askquestions and just generally care if I’m there or not. I can’t be ignored…Irefuse to be ignored.” She looked up at him with a determined expression on herface, no matter how much it hurt.
He moved one of his large hands to her face and her cheek towipe a stray tear away. “This hurts me. Please don’t cry again. I don’tunderstand why, but it makes me upset to see you sad.” Wheaton comparedwatching her cry to being hit in the stomach. For some reason it made him feelsick and angry. He felt the need to make her stop and fix whatever was thecause. Realizing that he was the cause made him feel awful.
When Wheaton had originally been matched with Poppy, he hadquestioned the program. Sure there had been a glitch for it to say hispotential bride was a medical office worker when he was a diplomat, he hadasked the science sector to check into the matching algorithms and make surethey were working correctly. But Wheaton no longer questioned his match. Notone bit. In fact, he’d had no doubts shortly after they had met but hisprevious complaints had stirred up enough warriors so now an officialinvestigation was being conducted.
The last thing Wheaton wanted was Poppy to know he haddoubted their joining in the beginning and that he was the reason there was aproblem with the Bridal Pacts. Talking and laughing with her was the one thinghe had started to anticipate toward the end of the day. Prior to her arriving,Wheaton had thrived on government meetings and negotiations. And now, someCouncil members had even
