I was fortunate that some of those who had invested in my business had also invested in the Arcturon Prime airport. They managed to put enough pressure on the companies to convince them to let me off with a temporary ban and payment for the pod I broke.
I got off very light.
As for Zauet Transportation, I improved the terms of their contract with an extra few percent pay increase. The president was very happy with that.
I signed a check for the agreed amount for the pod and was let out. My lawyer escorted me outside.
“Do you need a lift?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’ll give me some time to think.”
A figure stood at a park bench.
My eye was drawn to her immediately.
The simple dress did nothing to detract from her beauty. The simple necklace caught her eyes and made them sparkle like newly-discovered diamonds.
Bianca.
She clutched her S’mauggai bag in her hands and just looked at me.
“On second thought, I think I’ll take a cab,” I said.
“A cab?” the lawyer said. “I know I’m not the best driver in the world but surely I beat a cab?”
Then he noticed the figure I was staring at.
“Oh,” he said. “I… guess I’ll catch you some other time. Hopefully not too soon, though. You don’t get many Get Out Of Jail free cards with this kind of thing.”
I waited for him to leave before I spoke.
“I thought you hated that bag?” I said.
She tucked it under her arm.
“It grows on you,” she said.
“One thing’s for sure,” I said. “The skin won’t be growing on the creature it was taken from.”
My joke fell flat. Even I didn’t laugh.
“I heard what you did,” Bianca said. “It was… nuts.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t suggest it. You know, I was beginning to think you might be a figment of my imagination. I had a hell of a time trying to convince them you were real.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I changed my mind about leaving.”
“So, you didn’t bother getting onboard the ship?” I said. “Even after you checked in?”
“I couldn’t do it,” she said. “I went and had a cup of tea and thought about everything I’d been through. The best bits and the worst. And I realized I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want to go back to Earth. Not yet, anyway.”
“What was your plan?”
“Get another job as a governess, maybe come by and see Cleb now and then.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine.
“And you,” she said. “If you’d like.”
“I wouldn’t like it,” I said.
Her expression fell.
“Oh,” she said. “I thought after your crazy act of—”
“I would love it,” I completed.
I floated toward her on what might have been clouds. I took her face in my hands and looked deep in her eyes. She was desperate, as emotional as I was. I wrapped my arms around her and breathed her in.
“I’m so glad you didn’t get on the ship,” I said. “I would have preferred to have known you didn’t get on the ship, of course, but still, it was worth it. It was worth it just to see you again.
“The truth is, I love the person I am with you. I love the kind of man you make me want to be. Before you came, I was a workaholic and I didn’t even appreciate the one person in my life who loved me the most. Cleb. You made me see what a fool I’d been.
“You did that. You opened my eyes to these things because you see the world differently to the way I did. You give me a reason to be on this Godforsaken rock out in the middle of nowhere.”
I shook my head.
“I’m no good at these kinds of things,” I said.
“Keep going,” she said.
Her eyes pierced me to my soul, and I knew without a doubt I would never be apart from her again.
“What I’m trying to say, in a roundabout way is…” I said. “You complete me.”
Tears leaked from her eyes and peeled down her cheeks. Even crying she looked beautiful.
“I love you more than life itself,” I said. “I only love my life because you’re in it. And I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. I was wrong.”
She thumbed the tears out of her eyes.
“No, you were right,” she said. “It’s your job to worry about Cleb. That’s your responsibility. That’s why your sister left him to you.”
“I was wrong to think he was better off without you. It wasn’t your fault what the kidnapper did. You did what you thought was right at the time. In future, just let me know. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help you. You know that.”
She smiled.
“Yeah,” she said.
I took her hand and weaved my fingers through hers. She squeezed my hand back. I leaned forward to kiss her.
She pulled back.
“Not yet,” she said. “I need a little time.”
“Oh,” I said, a little disappointed. “All right.”
Bianca’s eyes sparkled.
“That’s it?” she said. “You’re not going to hijack a spaceship for me? You’re going to give up so easily?”
I grinned at her and pressed my lips to hers. I put all my love into it. It was passionate but without too much tongue.
“You know, there’s a hotel just across the road…” she said. “And you just got out of jail. I imagine you’ve got a lot of pent up aggression you need to get out of your system. I wouldn’t want to frighten Cleb or the servants with our shenanigans.”
“You’d better prepare yourself,” I said. “I’m feeling very hungry.”
She hooked her arm through mine and together we crossed the road and booked into the best room they had at the hotel.
Bianca might be Cleb’s governess, but tonight, I would be hers. There was a lot I wished to teach her.
I would push her to her absolute limit.
Every day of our lives.
Wondering
