“You are doing something wonderful,” she says.
I blink a few times. “Ah, sure. I don’t know what you’re referring to, but—”
“You’re willing to help the Novans, the Kurians. You’re helping to keep the peace between Earth and Kuria, and that’s what we need. I know the military is trying to do what they can to keep the peace, and we have peace here on Earth for the first time in forever, but we need to have allies when it comes to space. Thank you.” She grips my arms near the elbows. “Thank you for your service.”
I gape at her. “Service? It’s not a service. I’m not… We’re not…”
The woman gasps. “You mean you really love him? Well… Wow. That’s… That doesn’t change anything. You’re willing to overlook his skin color and—”
I slowly disentangle from her grasp. “Thank you. I’m a decent human being, and that’s what he is. He’s human too, so… It doesn’t matter if his skin is green, purple, if he has horns…”
“Next you wouldn’t mind a tail.” She gapes at me.
“It’s what’s inside that matters most,” I tell her firmly.
“Well, yes, o-of course. Of course! I… I must be going now.”
The woman rushes away.
I stare at her, scratching the back of my head at her brazenness. What in the world was that?
A snort has me glancing over to see a woman. She crosses over to me with a wide smile, and for whatever reason, I don’t feel defensive like I did with the first one.
“Hi. You must be Ava. I’m Opal. I’m a friend of Rix. He told me a lot about you.”
“He did?”
“Yes. He’s staying at the hotel I work at, and he’s not like a lot of guests. He made a mess and tried to clean it up, and that’s how we met.”
“He does like to do things,” I mumble. “Sorry. I must sound a bit—”
“Trust me. Anyone would be out of sorts after listening to that woman.”
We both laugh.
“You look like you could use a bite to eat. I was just about to get a bagel. Do you want one?”
“Thanks, Opal. Actually…” I exhale. “Why not? Sure, thank you.”
We eat, and when she finds out that Rix and I are going to go out on a date, that I had a few hours to find a dress, she just grins and takes me with her to the hotel.
"Lost and found," she declares as we enter a room. There are so many clothes in here it's insane. "Hotel policy states that if clothes are abandoned for over three months, employees can have at it. All of this has been over three months. Let's see if anything fits."
Nothing hits perfectly. I have some hips even if I have a flat stomach, but Opal knows how to sew and quickly at that. Plus, there’s a belt. Soon, I’m wearing a tailored purple dress with a deep neckline and a wide black belt. She even finds flats for me. Thank goodness, but I don’t think I can handle heels. The last thing I want is to make a complete fool of myself.
Opal asks if I want any makeup, but I don’t bother with any of that. She stands me in front of the mirror. She’s brushed and styled my hair even, and I don’t recognize myself.
“Opal, thank you,” I say warmly.
“I knew you wouldn’t feel threatened by me,” she says. “Rix says you don’t have a lot of friends, and honestly, I don’t either. When you’re a maid, you’re invisible. Well, the best ones are, and I’m one of the best.” She giggles. “But you make Rix happy, and I want my two friends to be happy. Pathetic, right? My other friend is my cousin, so she doesn’t even really count, but I work a lot of hours, saving up and—”
“Three,” I correct gently.
“Three?”
“You have three friends. I’m sorry for interrupting. What are you saving up for?”
At five on the dot, I’m ready and waiting for Rix. When he walks up and first sees me, his jaw literally drops.
“It doesn’t matter what you wear,” he says, “but you look absolutely ovian beautiful right now.”
"Hmm. Now that seems to be more along the lines of your father, isn't it?" I tease.
“Maybe.” Rix grins and holds out his arm. “Are you ready for our date?”
“I am.”
Arm in arm, we walk off, and I even rest my head on his arm since he’s too tall for me to lay it on his shoulder.
The owner, Jake Rusher, is more than happy to see me. The hostess knows about the arrangement Jake and I have. His store had been broken into, and the military never caught the thief. I happened to be nearby when he was screaming at them, and I volunteered to help set up new equipment to ensure it would never happen again. Because of my efforts, the greedy thief was caught because he returned to try to steal again. Jake offered to pay me handsomely, but I didn’t want money. One meal is hardly equivalent to what I did for him, but I just hated that he had been taken advantage of. I felt a kinship to him because Paul had done the same to me.
So Rix and I are given the best seats in the place, the finest drinks, wine, appetizers, soup, salad, entrees, dessert, the whole nine yards. Jake comes out to greet us, serves us himself, and it’s a magical time.
Afterward, we go to the movie theater, and we see that alien movie. Rix bursts out laughing and whispers about how the Kurian in the movie is one of his friends. Rix is so very relaxed and happy, and my chest is so very light. I’ve never felt this free before.
I’m happy too.
It’s a wonderful night, and we walk back to my place hand in hand. Once we arrive, though, I realize something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
I rush forward, almost tripping in my haste, and I gasp, a hand flying to
