by K. D. Jones
“Boy, arguing with the captain will land you in the brig,” Captain Lee stated calmly. “Learn to hold your tongue on my ship. We will wait and take them down once their ship is fixed.”
*****
Emily worked like hell trying to serve drinks as they flew through the asteroid belt. She had several drinks spill on her clothes but didn’t have the time to change, luckily she didn’t spill much on her white shorts. Then suddenly Zor’s voice came over the intercom.
“We are going to be landing in fifteen minutes for emergency repairs to the ship. Please enjoy yourselves while we are there.”
Henry glanced at Emily. “Zor never needs repairs for the ship, but then again he’s never really been hit by asteroids. What’s going on with him?”
“I don’t know,” Emily answered. “I bet he’ll be in here as soon as we land though and he gets the repairs going,” she added as she took an order of drinks over to one of the tables.
*****
Zor walked in just as one of the customers was shoving a tip down Emily’s shirt. Zor wanted to rip the male’s hands off. When Emily caught his angry snarl, he quickly looked away. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him, but watching other males touch his woman was getting to be too much for him. He didn’t want to act this way. His father was a crazy, possessive asshole and he never wanted to be like his father.
He knew Emily enjoyed working with her friends and being independent, but it wasn’t necessary for her to work. He had mentioned several times she could quit and that he wanted to take care of her, but she would refuse each time. She didn’t want to be a burden to him as Jeremy had been to her. Zor didn’t like it but he respected her decision.
“Henry, I’m taking my break now,” she stated as she set the tray down at the bar. She walked up to Zor and kissed his cheek quickly. She had seen him snarl and that wasn't a good sign.
“Wasn’t your break an hour ago?” Zor questioned.
“It was busy, so I volunteered to take a late one,” she answered, smiling lovingly as she sat on the barstool next to him. “I figured I can sit with you for ten minutes or so before you go to bed.”
“I’m not sure if I’m going to get to sleep tonight, love,” he answered.
Silence filled the room then. Neither of them had used that word 'love' with the other yet. They both knew their feelings were there, it just hadn't been voiced by either of them. Emily smiled and stood from the barstool, choosing to ignore the word and said, “I’ll grab you some coffee then.”
“I’ll buy you one too if you want.”
She brought out two cups of coffee and sat next to him sipping from the warm liquid. It was awkward to everyone around that knew the couple. Finally a large crowd started swarming in, trying to check out the best feature of the spaceship.
“I had better get back so the other girls aren’t too overwhelmed,” she said, smiling nervously as she kissed only his cheek.
“Yeah, I need to see how the repairs are coming along,” Zor stated as he walked out of the room as calmly as possible. Zor hadn’t meant to say that yet, even though he knew she was his love. She held his heart in her hand and was just about the only person that was able to hurt him. He had closed off his emotions a long time ago, but then he fell in love with Emily. He couldn’t go much longer without telling her how he felt and he knew it. It was as obvious as the color of his skin. He’d never called anyone ‘love’ before, but it just rolled off his tongue so easily.
*****
Emily went back to work just as Zor left. She knew she loved him, but she wasn’t sure if he felt the same since he just froze after he called her 'love'. Was that something he called one of his exes? Or was it just her? She was dragged out of her thoughts by a conversation at one of the tables near her.
“We lost a slave named Jeremy,” one alien, a Soto, said to another sitting across from him who was a quadruped. “I got fired over the damned human and had to come home.”
“Oh? What happened?” the quadruped asked.
“We paid seventy-five for him, then he disappeared,” the Soto answered.
Jeremy? Are they talking about the Jeremy, her ex that was supposed to be in the brig? It couldn’t be, but she thought it was strange the crew wouldn’t let her down to the holding cells.
“Emily, we need six beers over at table five,” Talia said breaking her of her thoughts.
That was exactly the table the two aliens were sitting at that she needed to talk to and could overhear more of their conversation.
“Well, what did he look like?” the quadruped asked.
“He had blond hair and blue eyes, tall, human, would have sold great with the ladies, but he got away,” the Soto answered.
Emily set down the drinks in front of them. “If you need anything else, just let me know,” she said with a huge, fake smile. She turned and walked back over to Talia.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Talia asked.
“I need to get down to the holding cells,” Emily answered.
“You’ll have to wait until the end of your shift, sweetie, we are too busy for you to be spared,” Talia answered.
Emily’s shift went by oddly slow that night. She was too anxious to see if Jeremy was the slave the Soto was talking about. She needed to know. Finally it slowed down in the last ten minutes of her shift and Talia let her go early as Henry was gone helping Zor with the repairs on the ship. She went down to the brig expecting to have to sneak past a bunch of guards but there were none there.
She walked down into the dimly lit area and searched all the cells, but there was no Jeremy. That must have been why Zor was trying to keep her away from there. He sold Jeremy as a slave.
She wasn’t sure why but she felt the sting of anger then, followed by hurt. She looked through the cells one more time. She was pissed at Zor, it had taken her so long to come up with the nerve to even think about pressing charges against Jeremy, but he was gone now and she had no way of finding out where he was. Angry wasn’t a strong enough word for what she was feeling then.
Zor had lied to her. That’s all that kept running through her mind and it made her furious. She had never lied to him, how could he lie to her so easily? She went up to the room, ready to yell, but he wasn’t even there. He had to check on the repairs of the ship but that was hours ago. It shouldn’t have taken that long. She was so beat and soaked with alcohol, she hopped in a quick shower, hoping he would be back by the time she got out. She dressed when she got out and since he still wasn’t there, she left their room.
She went back to the bar and on her way out, took her alcohol soaked clothing down with her to get them washed. She glanced around to make sure Zor hadn't come back there, but he hadn't and neither had Henry. She ordered a beer and handed her clothes to Sarn for washing.
“What’s wrong, sweetie, you’re downing that beer like there is no tomorrow?” Sarn asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” she answered, trying not to snap at her.
“I’ll get you another one,” Sarn returned and walked back behind the bar. She handed her another beer and took her clothes back to the laundry.
“Henry’s not back yet?” Emily questioned.
“They are still making some repairs on the ship, it took a beating flying through the asteroid belt,” Sarn answered.
“Why does Zor need Henry’s help for that?” Emily questioned, showing her frustration toward Zor unintentionally.
“He usually doesn’t. Everyone thought he was with you when Henry called,” Sarn said.
Emily felt terrible now and a little sick to her stomach. She chugged the rest of her beer and went down to the infirmary, barging in the door unannounced. She froze at the sight of Zor sitting on the bed in the infirmary. The nurse was wrapping up his arm.
“What happened?” she demanded.
“I just burnt myself while welding the ship,” Zor answered. “I told Curly I was fine. The ship is what needed the attention, but he didn’t like the blistering too muc
h.”
“Well why didn’t you come and tell me? The bar is on the way down here,” she said angrily.
“Because I knew it wasn’t that bad,” Zor returned, wondering why she was so angry over such a little thing. “How was work?” he questioned, trying to change the subject, knowing he would have been just as angry.
“It was work,” she replied.
Her response wasn’t normally the way she answered whenever he asked her that. She usually told him about all the stuff she and the girls spoke about. Was she angry with him, or was it just a really rough day? “Nurse, am I done here?” Zor questioned.
“Almost, Captain, just have to finish the bandage and then you are done,” she answered just as she was finishing up. “See? Now you are good to go.”
He stood and kissed Emily’s cheek and started out the door. She followed him, stopping him just as he got out of the infirmary door. “Where are you going?” she demanded.
“I need to finish overseeing the repairs to the ship,” he answered. “I’ll be back up in our room in an hour or so,” he added as he started walking away again.
“One question before you go.”
“What is it, beautiful?”
"Where’s Jeremy?”
Chapter Fourteen
Zor froze, then slowly turned to face her, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He had no idea what to say. “He’s in the holding cell,” he lied, hoping she hadn’t gotten down there yet.
“I was just down there. He wasn’t there,” Emily returned, trying to stay calm since they had no privacy. She was raging with anger, so bad she could feel it rising in her stomach. “Why are you lying to me, Zor?” she added as she crossed her arms across her chest.
Dammit, how the hell did she get down there? The guards were supposed to keep her out of there. “I have to go check on the repairs of the ship, we can discuss this later.” He hoped if he gave her time that she would eventually calm down. Besides, shouldn’t she be glad the asshole of an ex-boyfriend was gone?
“I’ll meet you back in the room in a half hour, alright?” He walked out without looking back.
He did not just walk away from her. She went up to the room and paced back and forth, waiting. She couldn’t sit down she was so angry. She wanted to scream at him for all his lies, she felt betrayed by him, and then he walked away, which was a typical Jeremy move. She had hoped things would be different with Zor. She had no clue what she was going to say to him when he got back, but she was fucking irate.
*****
Zor quickly walked out of the ship and went to see what was going on. He was furious when he saw the men that were supposed to be guarding the brig. “Why the hell weren’t you guarding the brig? You two had one job, to keep Emily out of the brig. She got down there anyway!” he yelled. “I should fire your asses now, get down there!”
“Sorry, Captain.” they both said in unison and ran back into the ship, scared, knowing that Zor couldn’t control his anger once he was already pissed.
“Did she find out?” Henry questioned, his eyes widening, knowing she must have been angry. He worried about what would happen between the two of them, he knew if it got too serious it would destroy both of them.
“Yeah, she is pissed,” Zor answered feeling sick in the pit of his stomach, he felt ready to vomit. Why did he have to lie to her for so long? She would probably have still been mad that he took matters into his own hands, but it wouldn’t have been this bad. It bothered him that she might still harbor feelings for the human scum. Whatever issues they had, he had to face them head on.
“I’ve got to get back to my room before she gets even angrier.”
He walked back up into the spaceship and quickly to his room. He had never felt so nervous before in his life. What would he do if she demanded he take them back to where he dropped Jeremy off?
He opened the door and saw Emily pacing the room. He had never seen her angry before, but she was royally pissed. He couldn’t help but smile at how cute she was when she was angry. He walked up to her quickly, startling her.
“Before you yell,” he said, then took her lips in a deep kiss, knowing this might be his last chance to feel her lips against his. He didn’t let up until she softened in his arms and returned his kiss. He released her and appreciated the dazed look in her eyes.
She had to shake off the fuzziness his kiss had caused. “Where is Jeremy?” she asked trying to remain calm, she was still angry with him.
“I don’t know,” Zor answered truthfully.
“Why isn’t he on the ship?” she returned, believing that he was still lying.
“I couldn’t stand to have him on my ship anymore,” Zor answered, hoping not to say anything to make her even madder, he fucked up big time when he kept this from her and he knew it. “I got rid of him.”
“What did you do with him?” she demanded, trying to control her anger, but shaking from how angry she was.
“There is a rule that says if he owes a large amount of debts, or has done damage to another person’s property, the captain of the ship can sell the person into slavery to make back the debts owed.”
“You sold him into slavery!” she yelled furiously, but not quite as loud as she wanted to scream.
“Yes and I am not sorry for it. He deserved it,” Zor answered, not wanting to fight with her, but feeling unremorseful for getting rid of the jerk.
“You lied to me about it, Zor, what are you going to do next, sell me?” she spat back, immediately regretting her words, knowing the words must have stung worse than it would have if she had just slapped him instead.
“No! Emily, I would never sell you!” he answered appalled, yelling at first but trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.
“I thought you would never lie to me either, but that’s what you’ve been doing for weeks now.” She was furious, but truth was if she didn’t care about him so much it wouldn’t have hurt her this much that he had lied to her.
Zor’s eyes widened by her extremely harsh words, did she not know anything about him. “I only did it to keep you safe. I wanted to kill him for the atrocities he did to you. If you really think I would sell you into slavery, then there is the door. You are free to leave at any time.”
“So what, now you want me leave?” She knew it was too good to be true, to finally find someone that wasn’t going to use her or hurt her like she had endured for years.
“I never said I wanted you to leave, but I won’t force you to live with someone that you have no respect for.” Zor didn’t want her to leave him, but he was not going to keep her prisoner here if she didn't want to be with him.
“How could you sell someone in to slavery, Zor?” she asked, holding back tears with everything she had in her.
“It was either that or kill him, which would have gotten me killed because of the stupid human protection laws,” he answered, still trying his hardest to remain calm and watch his tongue at the same time. “Is that what you want?”
“No, but you shouldn’t have lied to me about it. I thought he was still down there.” Emily felt the anger rise again at the thought of being deceived by the man she was falling more and more in love with.
“Why do you care so much about what happens to the human scumbag? He tried to rape you, Emily, left you in the infirmary, took all your money. Why the hell would you put yourself through more just to care when he obviously never did outside of the money and the sex? All he ever did was beat and hurt you.”
“Why does it matter?” she spat back, angry, feeling a burning feeling in her stomach.
“Because, Emily, it’s obvious that you still care about the human that treated you like dirt on his shoes. However, when I ask you to quit your job, you refuse.”
“What does my job have to do with anything?”
“I can’t stand watching every other male, and some of the females, shoving their fingers in your clothing. You are mine and I won’t share you.”
She was stunned
into silence, but Zor had more to say.
“It pisses me off that I have treated you with kindness and consideration and the only thing I ever asked of you was that you quit your job, but you refuse. I wonder if Jeremy had asked you to quit whether you would have done it because it seems that you did everything he asked of you.”
“How could you say that? I did what I thought I had to do to survive,” she returned.
“I can’t stand seeing people touch you,” Zor stated. “You would have done anything to appease Jeremy, but you can’t quit your job for me.”
“You think I still have feelings for Jeremy?” she questioned, her heart stopping.
“Well don’t you?”
Emily started packing up her suitcase then. Tears started flowing, she couldn’t believe he was trying to say she still had feelings for the man that was so brutal to her.
“What are you doing?” he asked, feeling his heart jump into his throat, he felt terrible for what he said.
“You don’t trust me obviously,” she stated, more hurt by that than anything Jeremy had ever done to her.
“You don’t trust me either.”
“I trusted you with everything, until you lied to me.”
“Everything except yourself.”
She paused and looked up at him for a second, what the hell did he mean by that? She zipped up her bag, ready to leave the rest of her belongings behind.
“See? You’re not even willing to talk this out with me, you’re willing to give up and never let us get anywhere. I’ve heard you and that human argue plenty of times. He did a lot worse to you than lie, yet somehow I have become the bad guy in this.” Zor stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind him.
Emily sat on the bed, tears falling from her eyes. She didn’t mean for the fight to end like this. She just didn’t want him to lie to her anymore. She took her stuff, walked back to her old room, and just threw herself on the bed, allowing herself to cry herself to sleep. She hated herself for what she said. He was always good to her and the only thing he asked was for her to let him take care of her.
