“I know what you mean. I get lost in my work sometimes and it’s hard to come back to the real world. Have a good day and see you at lunch,” she said, and saluted Doris with her mug as she left.
With hours to kill, Kiya headed to the chamber to check on the cave-in progress; not to see Aarik, she told herself. Diego looked up when she entered the hallway and headed in her direction. She looked around for an escape and when she found none, she nodded towards him politely and said, “Wasn’t expecting to see you here this morning. I thought you bailed when I didn’t see you return yesterday.”
“Ah, someone missed me. Don’t worry I’m still here. Company sent me on some errands after my call and I stayed in town for dinner and drinks,” Diego replied in a sweet tone.
“Speaking of the company, what did they say?” she asked in curiosity, ignoring his insinuation.
“Something along the lines of what we discussed yesterday. Figure out what you did and basically do what you were hired for,” he said in a know-it-all tone.
“I was hired to do research in the field of acoustics, which is something that will require time. We’ve only been here for a couple days,” she said in defense, putting her hand on hips in defiance.
“They say, time is money,” he said with a tsk. “I happen to agree. Did you work out a schedule with the doctor?”
“Yes,” she replied in a flat tone, as she tried to control her temper.
“Good. I’m anxious to see what new discoveries you encounter,” he said light-heartedly, acting like his encouraging statements would make up for his prior rudeness.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Kiya said, as she brushed passed Diego and headed towards Luke, who was in conversation with Aarik. “Hey there. Need any help?” she said when she got close enough.
Luke smiled up at Kiya and said, “Yes. Dr. Landon was just explaining to me the proper way to use my legs while lifting. I need you to remind him I’m young and unstoppable.”
“Ha. You’re on your own. You might think you’re unstoppable, but an injured back is no joke. I’m pretty sure you should listen to him,” she replied, and looked over at Aarik to see him preen.
“Told you,” Aarik said, and stuck his tongue out at Luke playfully.
“Real mature there, Doc. Real mature. I’ll lift with my knees but it makes me look like a ballet dancer,” he grumbled and walked away.
“Hardly. More like you’re taking a dump in my opinion,” Aarik called after him.
“That’s hardly professional,” she said, and laughed out loud as Luke squatted dramatically to pick up his next load. “But true it appears.”
“I never lie. How’d you sleep?” he asked earnestly, as he turned to face her more directly.
“Could have been worse. Took me forever to fall asleep, couldn’t get my mind to shut off,” she replied averting her eyes. She was afraid if he saw her eyes, he’d know she knew about his secret and she wasn’t ready to confront him yet.
“I know what you mean. We have an equipment delivery scheduled for tonight, so we’ll probably call it quits around three, will that work for you?” he asked, stepping in front of her line of sight trying to establish eye contact.
“Sure. What can I do to help in the meantime?” she said, clearing her throat, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
“Taylor could use your help, I’m sure, unless you’re interested in manual labor,” he offered politely, with a small smile that revealed his dimple slightly.
“I could use some stress relief, so manual labor for me, please. Point me in the right direction,” she replied truthfully, hoping she could burn off some of the built up tension that happened whenever she was around the man.
“Alright but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Follow Luke, you can either operate the wheelbarrow or fill it,” he said, and walked with her to the back of the cave. “Which will it be?”
“I’ll fill, thanks. One rock many times sounds more appealing than many rocks many times,” she joked, while she pulled out some work gloves and put them on.
“Do I need to counsel you on proper lifting techniques,” he asked, in his deep voice that seemed to touch her very soul.
“No sir. I’m old enough to know better,” she said and saluted him with her hands and her nipples as they stood at attention with arousal.
The crew worked for two hours before Aarik called them to a halt for lunch. Kiya wiped the sweat from her eyes and stretched her aching muscles as she walked back towards camp. She was surprised how little damage they did to the cave-in after all the rock they hauled away. Diego worked quietly and kept to himself for the most part, except every time she looked his way he was staring at her. Which only creeped her out, because instead of looking away when she caught him staring, he continued to stare as if what he was doing was perfectly natural until she forced herself to look away in frustration, not wanting him to think she was flirting.
Luke caught up to Kiya when they entered the buffet line and asked to sit with her. “Up for some company?” he asked nervously.
“With you, anytime,” she said, and filled her bowl with steaming beef and barley stew. She grabbed a couple rolls and headed for the nearest table. “What? I’m starving,” she said defensively, when Luke stared at her loaded bowl with his mouth open.
“I won’t stand in your way. Ever heard the saying your eyes are bigger than your stomach?” he joked, sitting down next to her with his own heaping bowl.
“Trust me, I have. I’ll finish it. I skipped breakfast and who knows if I’ll end up missing dinner. This could be it for today, so I need to make it count,” she said and dug in. After a few bites she asked, “Still loving your choice of career?”
“Yes. The thrill of discovery is addictive, maybe akin to how some people get gold rush fever. I have the itch for sure. Will you need my help this afternoon?” Luke said, before he shoveled in a large spoonful of meat chunks he gathered for one bite.
“No, but thanks for asking. I’m just running small experiments today and don’t plan on needing your skills,” she said honestly and when she saw the disappointment flash across his face she added. “Probably tomorrow. That is if you’re not that tired after your back-breaking workday.”
“Tired? Me? Never! I have stamina you know,” Luke said, in mock defense, while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and flexing his muscular arms dramatically.
“Save it kid. Work your charms on somebody more your age,” she snorted out, as she ripped a piece of her roll and dipped it into the stew.
“Okay, okay. I gotta go call my Mom and check in. If I don’t see you at dinner, I’ll bring you some,” Luke said, as he got up and left the table.
Kiya was pleased to see the kid had manners, when he offered to help Doris with the dishes but the old girl refused, like usual. She looked around the canvas tent, searching for Aarik and noticed Diego sitting at the table next to him. It looked like he was trying to eavesdrop on Aarik and Taylor as he leaned closer to them unnaturally. She didn’t hesitate as she jumped up to interrupt their whispered conversation.
She walked to the head of the table and slapped both of their shoulders and said, “You guys ready to get back to work?” When they jumped back in surprise she said, “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“You didn’t. We were just talking about the lack of progress we made today and how manual labor is for the birds,” Taylor replied as he rubbed his back and groaned.
“What are you complaining about. I don’t recall you lifting a thing,” Aarik huffed out, and slapped Taylor on the arm jokingly.
“Sitting on a stone floor with my bony ass is enough to cause pain for me. I was commiserating with you about the manual labor,” Taylor said in defense, as he rubbed his arm dramatically.
“I can relate, Taylor, hurts like a bitch. Might I recommend a pillow, doesn’t bring you manly points but neither does walking funny,” she replied jokingly.
Taylor laughed and said, “You have a point.”
>
“You still up for more?” Aarik said.
“Not this round. I’ve got some programming to do before I start. You’ll have to make do without me. Oh shoot! I completely forgot about my car. I should probably take care of that first,” she replied in thought.
“Guess you haven’t checked the parking lot?” replied Aarik, with a know-it-all grin.
“No. Why would I?” questioned Kiya in confusion, as she studied Aarik’s expression for where this conversation was going.
“I called AAA last night and had someone here this morning. They changed your tire and towed it to the parking lot since I didn’t have your keys and you weren’t up this morning,” Aarik responded nonchalantly, as he dropped his smile and looked at her for approval.
“Wow. Really? I don’t know what to say,” she stammered out, smiling up at him in thanks.
“Thank you is the usual response. I didn’t want you to worry about your car. I have AAA so it was no big deal,” he replied, with a slight blush forming on his cheeks.
“Duh! Thank you! Really. Thank you. I’ll pay you back somehow,” she said gratefully, as she stepped forward and placed a quick peck on his cheek.
“I’m sure we can think of something,” he said quietly, as he held still and waited for her to retreat. Kiya pulled back slowly and watched Aarik’s eyes flare with desire before he gentled his expression with a tender smile that reminded her they were not alone.
“Uhh. I’ll be at the dolmen, swing by when it’s safe,” she squeaked out before fleeing. Kiya mentally chided herself, as she walked back to her tent, for kissing him even if it was just a peck because for the briefest of moments she forgot that anyone else was around. His last statement was like an electric charge to her nether region and she wished she knew how to focus that energy to her brain because she had a lot of work to do.
Chapter Eighteen
Aarik
Aarik watched Kiya scamper away and congratulated himself on surprising her with kindness. His gesture was twofold, he wanted to impress her and make her happy; and for some reason she loved that car. He hardly slept a wink the night before, disappointed and intrigued by their discovery, but hopeful they would find another clue quickly. He felt that everything happened for a reason and his being there had to mean something. There were too many coincidences to be otherwise.
Taylor was chomping at the bit for more hieroglyphs and when Kiya interrupted them he was in the middle of complaining about Larissa. The poor girl was infatuated with him and Taylor didn’t have the heart to tell her she wasn’t his type. He wanted to be able to tune her out and without new things to study he wasn’t able to tune her out. He offered Taylor a way out on the walk back to Vos’rok, “You can always join us, if you’re so anxious to get away from her. Would be hard for her to trail you while others worked around her.”
“Ha! My luck would be just that. Where’s some wood when I need it?” he said in frustration, as he stomped toward the cave-in at the back of the hall. Taylor pretended he wasn’t superstitious but he never failed to knock on wood when he felt the need, and if there wasn’t any wood around he would find something like paper and use that. He claimed that as long as you believed it would work as wood it would work. Aarik used to knock on his head and chant, “I believe it’s wood,” to Taylor’s annoyance when they first met. It still amazed Aarik that Taylor put up with him.
Aarik picked up a shovel and tossed it toward him, yelling “Catch!” After Taylor caught it, surprisingly, Aarik said, “There’s your wood!”
“Funny,” Taylor replied sarcastically, but knocked on the handle of the shovel anyway.
“What? Thought we could kill two birds with one stone,” Aarik replied with a sly smile, before he added, “Didn’t want you to have to use your imagination.”
“Alright, alright, already. When is the equipment supposed to get here? I can go out and meet them, if you want?” Taylor pleaded, as he stared at the shovel like it was a snake.
“Not for another hour, and we’ll all go out and meet him. I promised Kiya time in the afternoons to work. She insisted that everyone be clear of the mountain before she starts. If nothing else happens during her test runs, I don’t see why we can’t continue to work at the same time,” replied Aarik, as he put on his gloves.
“I think you’ll have a fight on your hands but I could be wrong. At least I hope you’re wrong. Time is ticking and before you know it our chance of a lifetime will be over. We need all the time we can get,” Taylor murmured softly, as he peered around to see who was in the vicinity.
“Speaking to the choir, my friend, but I totally agree. Let’s just put in the time and hope. There has to be something that would indicate how to turn those crafts on,” replied Aarik, as they entered the hallway.
Diego and Luke were already hard at work by the time Aarik arrived, and he could tell by the look on Luke’s face that Diego had said something rude to the kid. His usual jovial face was locked into one of concentration and disgust and when Aarik walked up the tension literally melted from his face.
“Luke, I can practically see your muscles bulging from here. Keep this up and it won’t be long before women will be practically begging you to take off your shirt,” Aarik joked, in an effort to lighten the mood.
“Feels like my arms are going to fall off and there won’t be anything left to show off.” Luke grumbled.
“Proof it’s working. We have an hour before the equipment arrives, let’s make the most of it,” Aarik said to the gathered men.
“How long do you think it will take to get through this cave in with the help of the equipment?” said Diego, leaning over his ax pick.
“Hopefully a few days, but not more than a week. I have more labor coming in to help, so maybe less,” Aarik responded. Diego dropped his shovel and pushed his fingers through his hair in obvious frustration. His eyes flicked about the room before he stood straighter and cleared his throat.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on Kiya,” Diego said with authority and walked out.
“Good riddance,” Luke said with vehemence, and looked around at the team’s surprised faces, “Sorry, that guy is an asshole.”
“Agreed!” the team said in unison.
Aarik wanted to stop him from interacting with Kiya but couldn’t think of a good enough reason to chase after Diego without creating a scene or making a complete fool of himself. Kiya was tough and even though he had no claim on her, the thought that he needed to protect her weighed on him. After Diego failed to return, Aarik barely stopped himself from leaving a half dozen times throughout the hour as multiple scenarios of Kiya battered and bruised flashed across his thoughts. Fifteen minutes before the truck was due he called everyone to a halt and stalked from the room in long strides as the urgency that something was wrong haunted his mind.
When Aarik reached the outside, his long stride turned into a full out sprint until he skidded to an abrupt stop near Kiya’s work area and searched frantically for any sign of her, or a struggle to validate his unwarranted fears. He swirled around wildly, and with each second that passed, a feeling of impending doom rattled his nerves and consumed his soul. His heart pounded madly within his chest and as he turned to leave it skipped a beat and hammered for an altogether different reason. Kiya walked up the slight incline surrounded in a halo of light, unharmed and completely unaware of his presence. She tucked her laptop into her shoulder bag and stopped at the bottom of the hill and grumbled to herself as she rummaged through her bag for something.
Aarik consumed by the intense feelings of dread just moments before was confused by the complete one-eighty his heart took the moment he knew she was safe. He stood there dumbfounded and wasn’t sure if he should scold her for scaring him, or hug her reverently. Kiya pulled out a Burt’s Bees lip balm and looked up in surprise when she noticed him standing there. “Oh, hey there. You guys all finished up? You still have ten more minutes,” she said, looking down at her watch and back up again.
“Thanks. I should be done before dinner. If I don’t have much success I might come back after dinner, if that’s alright with you?” Kiya replied nervously.
“Yeah, that should be fine. Let me know when you're done, though. If it’s early enough, I’ll head back in and do some more on the cave-in,” Aarik responded on auto pilot, as he tried to get up the nerve to question her about Diego. “So... on a different note, have you seen Diego?”
“Not since lunch. Why? Is he missing again?” Kiya said, scrunching up her nose in disapproval.
It appears so. He left the cave-in not long after lunch saying he needed to check on you and never came back. Do you know what car he drives?” questioned Aarik, catching himself melting at her cute antics.
“Weird. I was in my tent the whole time after lunch and he didn’t stop by. I have no idea what car he drives, but I imagine it is something new. I could check in with S&S Enterprises, and get ahold of my contact if you want,” Kiya said, and dug through her laptop bag for her phone.
“Wouldn’t hurt to send an email, I suppose,” he said, and watched as she thumbed out a quick email and when she hit send, she smiled up at him and said, “Done. I’ll let you know what they say.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna head over and meet up with the delivery drivers. Will I see you at dinner?” he questioned loosely.
“Yep. I’ll be there. Perhaps by then I’ll hear back from the company and can fill you in on the latest,” she replied with a bright smile.
“Do you need any help from Luke? I can send him your way if you do,” he said stalling his departure.
“Funny you should ask, as he already offered earlier. I don’t plan on moving anything but if I do, I know where to find him. See you at dinner,” she replied with a quizzical face.
Sounds of the Forgotten Page 12
