Kas sat in silence for a while, staring at our interlocking hands. Then he finally spoke, looking me straight in the eyes.
“And what about us?”
I looked away for just an instant, but Kas retracted his hands from mine.
“Right." His face hardened.
“Get me the damned papers. I'll sign them and I'll be out of your hair.”
“Kas?" I started, but his reply was icy.
“Don't, Eliza. I don't want to hear it. We'll talk when you're back. If that ever happens.”
He turned to Zack.
“Please, give me the contracts and please let me drive home. No one will ever hear of any of this, I swear.”
Zack phoned for Zaphire to take care of it and moments later she appeared and took Kas. He threw me one last look, but made no effort to come over and say goodbye. I moved towards him, but Zack stopped me and gently pushed me towards the door.
“Leave it." he whispered.
“You've done your job here.”
Before I left I glanced over to Kas once more, but he'd turned away from me. I felt a mixture of sadness, relief and shame. I hated having to lie to him. He'd always been my rock and I had deceived him. But I was relieved he had chosen to sign the contract so he could carry on with his life. I resolved to somehow make it up with him after the mission, though I would never be his girlfriend again. I knew that much.
CHAPTER 40
I felt Eliza's despondency as if it were my own. She emitted such strong signals they were hard to shield. She wasn't making any effort to mask her feelings as she'd probably forgotten what impact they had on all of us. We'd learned from a young age to cloak our feelings or at least take the edge off them, as we knew how debilitating it could be if everybody had to feel everyone's else's emotions all the time. We can tune out and shield of course but sometimes the feelings are so intense it's hard to, or they take you by surprise.
“Let's go. I want to show you something you haven't seen yet, one of our little hidden treasures.”
I suddenly felt quite excited, pleased with myself to have come up with something which might help Eliza feel better. Her curiosity was piqued.
“What little treasure would that be, then?”
She glanced sideways at my face, her eyes still showing the hurt from what happened just minutes before.
“Just follow me." I smiled and took her hand.
“See if you can control your curiosity!"
We had to walk for a few minutes to a part of the building I hadn't shown Eliza yet. I was taking her to our Room of Tranquillity. It was a simply beautiful space, full of plants, flowers and butterflies. Spread around were some gorgeously ornate fountains trickling water at a steady pace, giving the whole room an air of serenity. It opened out into a large balcony, full of colourful flowers and luscious plants. Tucked away in several places were some benches where you could just chill out, on your own or with company. The room was a sight to behold, and one of my favourite places to go whenever I was feeling overwhelmed.
I absolutely loved the look on Eliza's face when we entered the room. She was enthralled and her eyes shone with wonder. It stirred up my feelings for her again, which I found harder and harder to ignore and stow away.
We strolled around for a bit before Eliza decided to pick a little bench to sit on. I could feel her relaxing and in better control of her emotions. Slowly but surely I could only detect a little spilling over. She hadn't put it behind her, but she was working on cloaking it better.
“Wow, this is an amazing place," she whispered, still in awe.
“I would like to show my mum later."
She noticed me stiffen a little at her request.
“If I may?" she added hastily.
“I'm not sure if that's possible, Eliza. I like your mum, but she's still regarded as an outsider in our community. I don't want to antagonise those who weren't totally convinced she should even be involved.”
I tried to say it tactfully, but I knew what I said was right. Markus already had had to defend his decision several times and stamp out some dissent as some of the Sensorians had been quite vocal about their disapproval. I didn't want to give them another excuse to stir up trouble again.
“Shame." she conceded reluctantly.
She sank back into a state of contemplation and I let her be.
We spent another half hour or so just enjoying the atmosphere and sounds of the room, before we headed back for some lunch where we met up with Zaphire. She'd seen to Kas and made his arrangements. She organised a driver to take Kas home as she didn't trust him to be in the right state of mind to drive the long distance on his own. He would then also help explain his 'disappearance' to his parents. Zaphire came over and gave Eliza a big hug, something I wished I could have done. She stroked Eliza's face tenderly and looked her deeply in the eyes.
“That must have been hard for you, my sweet," she whispered softly.
A tear rolled silently down Eliza's face, which Zapire gently wiped away. Seeing them being so intimate gave me the acrid burning sensation of jealousy. I had to do something quickly before it showed.
“I will get us some baguettes." I said, gruffly marching away to the food counter.
To my relief, when I returned they were sitting opposite of each other, leaving a space for me between them. Zaphire had managed to make Eliza smile somehow and the mood was much lighter now.
“Really? I leave you two alone for two minutes and you are giggling like two naughty school girls!" I jokingly admonished them.
They both looked at me, then back at each
