by Lisa Lace
I couldn’t see my feet, so I chose a pair of sensible flats in the color of the dress. I had the program arrange my hair in an elegant French twist and smiled at my reflection. Perfect. Khellen’s mother wouldn’t know what hit her.
I sent my purchases to the household 3D printer. I would do my hair and then go down in a half an hour to see if they were ready. I was excited and felt a little like a princess going to the ball. In the back of my mind, I hoped Khellen would enjoy my appearance. Part of me was surprised that I couldn’t stop thinking about Khellen that way.
We’re just friends, I told myself. Get over it. It seemed much easier to think the words than act upon them.
An hour later, I was ready to go, pacing around my room, waiting for Khellen to come and get me. We were supposed to go down to the party together, and he would introduce me to everyone.
There was a knock at my door, and I stood up, taking a deep breath. Here goes nothing, I thought.
When I opened the door and saw Khellen standing there, my breath caught in my throat. His eyes swept down my body and back up, locking onto me with a heat that made me tingle. He looked unbelievable. I had never been so close to a man who was that handsome. He wore a black suit cut in the latest Biyaha style. The shirt under his coat was the same mint green color of his eyes and the sky.
I suddenly remembered how he had looked in the morning coming out of the water. And then I had a new image of his strong, hard body pressing me down into my bed. I drew in a ragged breath and attempted to gather my scattered thoughts. I thought I had only drifted off for a few seconds, but it made me uncomfortable to have such thoughts about a soon-to-be-married man.
Also, I was single for life. Had I forgotten about that?
It wasn’t a vow to forswear sex, but there was an unacknowledged recommendation at the organization that celibacy was probably for the best. It kept our primal urges at bay and ensured that no unexpected pregnancies occurred. Artificial birth control had improved by leaps and bounds over the years, but we had never been able to make it a sure thing. There was always a non-zero failure rate that meant somebody was going to get pregnant.
I had managed to abstain from sex since I had joined. Before that, there had only been one boyfriend in college. I had been sexually active for about ten months out of my adult life, and that was six years ago. Of course, I wanted sex sometimes. I didn’t need to have it. But I was starting to think it was because I hadn’t been around the right person before. When I looked at Khellen in his suit, seeing his eyes and remembering his body from the morning, I felt flushed with want and need.
I needed to say something before I embarrassed myself. “You look good,” I blurted out.
Was that the best I could do? I was drawing attention to how sexy he looked and how I was slobbering over him. I hoped I wasn’t drooling.
He swallowed, and I watched in fascination as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “You do too,” he said, looking dazed.
“Ready to go?”
And everything suddenly snapped back to reality. “Of course.” I followed him into the hall. “I see you found a dress, Soph. You look beautiful, but maybe too beautiful. You might have had some pity on the men at the party.”
He said the last sentence with a straight face, holding out his arm for me. I felt a bit like royalty as I hooked my arm through his and proceeded down the spiral staircase. “What do you mean?”
“Sophie, my dear, you are going to give all the gentlemen whiplash with that dress.”
I didn’t say anything, but I could feel my cheeks getting red. Wasn’t that the point? To give one man whiplash, at least.
I reminded myself to get my mind out of the gutter. He’s engaged. And you’ve vowed to be single for life. What was it about Khellen that made me forget everything?
We went out the front door, and when we arrived at the side of the house, there was a big pile of discs large enough to comfortably stand on. These must be the hover pads. Each disc had a transparent railing for safety. I stepped through the open gate of one and secured it behind me. Khellen did the same. I gripped the handrail tightly as the disc bobbed gently under my weight.
“I assumed you haven’t used one of these before, human.”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling anxious.
“It’s not difficult, but you have to trust the pad. To turn, all you need to do is lean into it.” He demonstrated by shifting his weight to the right, and he started drifting lazily in that direction. Then he moved his weight to his left foot and floated back to me. “To go up, you pull on the railing.”
“And you push on the railing to come back down?” I spoke up, trying not to look scared.
“That’s right. There’s an altitude failsafe, so if you go too high, the computer will automatically bring you straight back to the ground. If you have any trouble, press the red button with your foot. That will create a force field around you. If you fall, you’ll bump softly against the ground instead of crashing into it.”
“Okay,” I said, clinging to the railing of my hover pad.
“You don’t look okay.”
“Well, I’m not always good with heights. But I’ll figure it out.” I took a deep breath. Maybe this was going to be fun.
“Let’s go!” He leaned forward on his hover pad, and it drifted to the back of the house. I did the same, feeling my disc slowly floating forward. The ambling speed made me feel safe. The breeze in my face was welcome because it was turning out to be a hot night.
When we came around the house into the enormous field they called a backyard, I gasped in amazement. Khellen’s mother certainly knew how to throw a party.
There were five different levels in the air. A different color of floating lights set apart each level from the others. The ground level had food and drinks as well as comfortable seating for those who didn’t want to fly around in the air. There were also a solid dance floor and a band playing quiet music.
On the second level, which was blue and offset from the ground level, was a hover pad dance floor in midair. Some people held hands and swayed to the music that floated up to them.
The third level — it was purple — had floating counters offering various activities for people to amuse themselves. Some people were already blowing bubbles. Others were tossing balls at a hoop. It reminded me of basketball, but the balls didn’t fall when they missed the target; they hovered in the air until someone picked them up.
Still other guests were stepping off their hover pads and onto an enormous invisible platform in the air. They were bouncing up and down on what appeared to be nothing at all, but it was probably a force field.
The next level up, which boasted yellow lights, had floating tables and chairs with board games. Two men were playing a game that looked similar to chess. Another couple lazily moved pieces on an unfamiliar game board while keeping their eyes glued to each other all the time.
The final level had green lights and what looked like puffy, floating clouds. There were only two people up there, and they were lying back gazing at the stars. Hovering near another cloud was a telescope.
Beyond the gathering, I could see the island in the middle of the lake. As the sun set and the two moons rose, the sky changed from light green to dark green, to blue, to purple. The colors were breathtaking. I took in the view with people floating around from level to level, the music playing, and the lights. I felt my mouth drop open. Khellen was watching me, and I glanced at him briefly and back to the spectacle before me. “You could have prepared me better.”
“Do you like it, then?” His eyes were warm, and a similar warmth filled my chest.
“It’s spectacular. I’ve never imagined anything like it.”
His mother appeared on a hover pad in a black, knee-length dress that showed off her trim figure. “Oh, Khellen, there you are. Hello, Sophie.” She looked me over. “I see you found a dress.”
“The stores on this planet are excellent.” The uncomfortable feeling I
got around her crept back into my head.
“That’s nice,” she said, but her face told me she was anything but pleased. “Enjoy yourself. Morda will be here any minute. I’ll message you to come and greet her.”
“Sure, Mom.” Khellen’s voice was carefully neutral.
She nodded and moved her hover pad away from us.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go up to the top level. You can get an unobstructed view of the stars from up there.”
I looked up. “I don’t know, Khellen, it looks pretty high.”
“Come on, trust me.” He held his right hand out and kept hold of the railing with the other.
“Do you want me to let go?” I stared at his hand as if it were a snake.
“Sophie.” His gentle tone made me melt. Trembling, I released my hand and reached out to him. He took my hand and held it firmly. “Now pull up with your other hand.”
I followed his instructions, and we rose slowly together. I looked around as we rose above everyone else’s heads. Khellen’s mother watched us from the ground with a disapproving look on her face. I didn’t care. Holding his warm, steady hand was pure pleasure. I felt the energy flowing from where our hands were connected, and it filled me with peace.
We arrived on the star-gazing level as the other people were leaving, so we had it to ourselves. He found a large, fluffy-looking cloud, and we nudged our hover pads until we were directly above it. A light breeze was blowing, pushing clouds across the two moons, so the lights flickered in and out of view.
“Open your door and step down onto the floater,” he said.
I bit my lip nervously at the thought of getting off the hover pad now that I was actually in a comfortable position.
“Never mind. I’ll get out first.” He let go of my hand and opened his railing, stepping down onto the cloud. “See? Nothing to be afraid of.”
I opened the fence and hesitated, still a little scared. “Come on.” Khellen held his hands out, and I took them, setting one foot down carefully on the cloud. But the surface was uneven, and I stumbled, falling into Khellen, who wrapped his arms around me and carefully caught me.
I closed my eyes and breathed in his aroma. I felt his arms and warmth around me. I knew then that I wanted him desperately.
I took a shaky step back, pushing away from his body. Down that road lay madness. I couldn’t have Khellen; he was getting married. You can’t have something just because you want it, Sophie. That’s not how life works.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“Don’t be,” he answered. “I’ll always catch you if I can.” His response made my longing worse. I turned away from him.
“I don’t know how I’m going to sit down here. This dress may look good, but it isn’t practical.” That was my best effort at a neutral topic of conversation.
“The floater conforms to your body shape. As long as you make yourself comfortable, it will support you in any position.”
“Really?” It was technology we didn’t have on Earth.
“Try it for yourself.”
I sat down awkwardly and leaned back. The cloud supported me as securely as if I were lying back in a comfortable chair. “This feels great,” I said, staring up at the stars.
“Earth is over there.” He pointed off to the right.
I looked where he indicated, but all the stars looked the same to me. To my surprise, I didn’t even feel the desire to be on Earth. I didn’t feel any homesickness whatsoever. “I don’t miss it at all, Khellen.” As soon as I said the words, my lack of feelings for my planet began to bother me. “That can’t be right. If you left here, you’d want to come back home, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would.”
“Is there something wrong with me?” I was asking myself as much as him. “It isn’t a paradise like Biyaha, but it is home.”
“We have a saying here. ‘A home is made where the heart is laid.’”
“There’s one like that on Earth as well. But we say ‘Home is where the heart is.’”
He held my gaze, and I swallowed. Was he implying something about us? No. We couldn’t be together. It did no good for either of us to imagine, because it was never going to happen. His hand found mine again, and he squeezed it. How could such an innocent gesture be so sensual?
My heart beat faster, and I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. I pressed my legs together as a bolt of pure lust shot through my sex.
“Two people can make a home wherever they are.” His voice was low and rough, and his green eyes in the light of the two moons were mesmerizing.
But I couldn’t afford to be drawn in. Wasn’t I smarter than that? I smiled softly and gently pulled my hand away. “I guess I don’t miss all the mess.” It was hard to ignore whatever had happened between us a second ago, but I was trying. “Earth is an ugly planet now. That’s why I don’t want to go back there.”
“Sophie,” he started, and I wondered briefly what he was going to say. But his computer flashed through his jacket. “It’s Mother.” His eyebrows drew together. “Morda’s here.”
“You better go welcome her.” My smile became stiff and forced. “You should get to know each other better before you’re joined for all eternity.”
“Sophie, that’s not funny. I’m not going without you. When you meet her, you’ll see why.”
“I’m not your buffer.” Now I was beginning to feel irritated.
“Of course you are,” he said, pulling me up to a standing position and opening the railing of my hover pad. “Why else would you have come all the way across the galaxy, if it wasn’t to protect me from my fiancée?”
I snorted. But that impudent grin had me, and I couldn’t say no to him. I climbed back onto my disc, forgetting to be nervous. “I’ll just meet her and then drift away.” A half-smile played on my lips. “Literally.”
He laughed. “Sophie, what am I going to do without you?”
Just like that, the tension arose between us again.
“You’ll be happy with your fabulous new wife. She’s not me, of course. But everything will work out for you.”
He gave me a rueful smile and shook his head. Pressing down on his railing, he guided his hover pad down. I watched him go, beginning to realize my heart was longing for something it could never have.
Chapter Six
KHELLEN
My mind was spinning around. I had felt confused about my feelings ever since I saw Sophie on the beach, but whatever had happened between Sophie and me on the cloud floaters had thrown me for a loop. I had never felt like that before, and I didn’t know what to make of it. The moment I had shared with Sophie made me realize that something might be wrong with marrying Morda, and I wasn’t sure if I could go through with it.
After returning our discs, Sophie and I made our way to where my parents stood with Morda and her family. Sophie stood beside me, and I had an uncomfortable feeling as I stood between the two women. On the clouds, she had insinuated that it was a bad idea to entertain hopes of our relationship ever being anything more than friendship.
I wasn’t sure how she felt about me, but I knew her thoughts on marriage. Single for Life was her life. She had explicitly said so. And she certainly didn’t need a man in her life.
That was good, wasn’t it? It made everything simple. I was going to be marrying Morda. Sophie was merely visiting and then going home to a life of martyrdom.
Somehow it didn’t feel simple at all.
Mother made introductions all around, and Morda’s parents left after a couple of minutes of small talk to find some refreshments. The superficial conversation died down to a whisper until the four of us stood silently looking at each other. Uncomfortable didn’t begin to describe the atmosphere.
Morda wore a red dress that ended mid-thigh and showed a fair amount of cleavage. She had pulled her hair into a little bun — perhaps an attempt at elegance — but she still looked like a child. I remembered how aroused I had been by her and couldn’t
understand why. The image of Sophie had replaced any attraction I had for any other woman.
“So, Morda,” Sophie began, and she shifted slightly away from me. I belatedly realized we had been standing together on one side of the circle as if we were with each other. “What do you do for a living?”
I turned towards Morda, moving closer and making it look like we belonged together. I reminded myself that Morda and I were a couple.
“I’m a systems analyst,” she said. “I work for Jorgencorp, one of the biggest companies on Biyaha. Have you heard of it?”
My stomach began to tie itself into knots. I felt embarrassed. Sophie was nodding with a curious expression on her face, but she was avoiding eye contact with me. Morda was trying to impress someone. My mother or Sophie, I didn’t know who. I was embarrassed for her, even if she didn’t seem worried about anything.
Morda continued to brag about her job until my mother stepped in, bringing the discussion around to the wedding, which she must have considered a neutral topic. Or maybe she wanted to remind us all who I was going to marry. It’s not like any of us were going to forget it. The wedding was one of the worst topics she could have introduced, considering the way I felt.
“Has Khellen told you about what we’re planning, Sophie?” Morda gushed, taking my hand. I felt like wrenching it out of her grip.
Sophie’s smile looked false, and there was a spark of something in her eyes that I couldn’t interpret. “Not yet. I got in only this morning, and we haven’t had much time to catch up.”
My mind moved rapidly through a series of images of Sophie since she had arrived. Sophie on the beach, throwing herself into my arms. Sophie meeting my mother. Sophie on The Boat wearing that skimpy bikini. Sophie a few minutes ago in her maddeningly sexy dress telling me in no uncertain terms that we had no business thinking about anything other than friendship. Sophie trying to ignore my uncouth fiancée’s disturbing lack of social grace. Had she only been here one day? It seemed like I hadn’t existed before she arrived.
