Chapter Nine
Toni
I thought I had it together, but as soon as my sister appeared on the picto-phone, I burst into tears.
“Oh my god, Toni, what’s wrong?”
“A-a-a-ton left. We had a fight,” I sobbed. “I said and did all the wrong things. Now he hates me.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sure he doesn’t.” She motioned at Darak who hovered in the background. “I need to speak with my sister,” she whispered before turning her attention back to me. “He went to cool off. That’s what men do. Didn’t you and Phillip ever fight?”
“Phillip and I rarely talked.”
“No Dakonian would abandon his mate,” Darak said.
“Please? Could we be alone?”
He shook his head but then lumbered off.
“What did you fight about?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you. It’s better if you don’t know.” I buried my face in my hands. “I screwed up, Lexi. He surprised me with…with some…information, and I didn’t react well.”
“He doesn’t have another mate, does he?”
“No!”
“Did he get fired?”
“He doesn’t have a job to get fired from.”
“Right. Dakonians are independently wealthy.”
They might have only a set of buckskins to their name, but due to the planet being loaded with illuvian ore, every single Dakonian was filthy rich.
My sister widened her eyes with mock horror. “His mother’s not coming to live with you, is she?”
Despite my anguish, I laughed. “Most mothers aren’t like ours,” I said.
“Thank the Fates!”
Her usage of the Dakonian phrase brought my mind around to my screwup again. “I’d asked him to move in with me, and then we got into a fight. Now, he probably doesn’t want to.”
“Toni, Darak is right. When Dakonions meet their mates, they bond. It’s forever for them. Whatever you did or said you’re afraid might cause him to leave—well, it won’t. He’ll be back, and you’ll work this out.”
“I wish I could believe it. I hurt him, made him believe I cared more about my job than him.” I’d lost perspective for a few moments, become preoccupied by the legally awkward situation his revelation had created, but I’d never considered not being with him.
“All couples argue. Look at it this way—you got your first fight out of the way.”
“What should I do now?”
“Give him a little space. He’ll come back soon on his own. If he doesn’t, then call him.”
“He doesn’t have a phone yet.” I should have set him up with one. With my head in the clouds, practical matters had fallen by the wayside. Maybe this fight had been a wake-up call that we needed to pay attention to practical matters, too.
“Go to his apartment.”
What if he didn’t want to see me? What he slammed the door in my face?
I wished I could confide more in my big sister, but it was better she remained ignorant. I wouldn’t want to implicate her in anything illegal. Besides, when you’ve committed a crime, the fewer people who were aware, the better your odds of getting away with it. The stupidest thing you could do was shoot off your mouth.
With a start, I realized I had decided how to handle this development: do nothing. Provided he forgave me, Aton and I could continue as if nothing had changed. I was pretty sure I’d never mentioned him by name when I’d surprised Jessie with the news of my date’s premature arrival. I realized now, she’d assumed I meant Caid.
Caid had seen Aton, but I hadn’t introduced them. He’d relay to the IDA I’d hooked up with somebody, but he might not mention he was Dakonian. If Aton’s origins came up, I could say I’d gotten tired of waiting and met a guy on my own. Other organizations besides the IDA were bringing aliens to Earth.
Immigration, obviously, had no idea Aton was here. So, why alert them? All we had to do was keep our heads down and our mouths shut.
I felt a little better about the situation, and I couldn’t wait to make amends, but when he’d stormed out, he given the impression he wasn’t going straight home.
“I’ll go see him in the morning before work,” I said to my sister, taking reassurance from the insistence Dakonians bonded for life. Darak had said Aton would find a way to get here, so maybe he was right about this, too. “Thanks for listening. You helped me to clarify what I need to do.”
“Hey, what are big sisters for? Besides, I owe you. You got your friend Maridelle to hook me up with the macha flour from Dakon. Customers love my macha muffins. They’re selling like hotcakes!”
Maridelle! Why hadn’t I thought of her? She’d worked with a few women who’d gone to Dakon through the Terra Dakon Goodwill Exchange Program, and had been taking on immigration cases. It wouldn’t hurt to bounce this situation off her for a reality check and advice—in case I came to need her services.
“No big deal. All I did was make a phone call. Your cupcakes are delicious. I’m glad this new flavor is a hit. Thanks again for listening. Tell Darak he can come out now.”
* * * *
Maridelle was on vacation and not due back for another week, so I left a message for her to call me about a “professional matter,” but didn’t go into details. When you were contemplating breaking the law, attorney-client privilege didn’t hold up, so it was best not to leave any written or verbal recordings that could be subpoenaed.
The next morning, I left early so I could stop by Aton’s apartment. My stomach churned with nerves. Would he have cooled down enough to speak to me? I hoped Darak and my sister were right about his level of commitment. I’d entered uncharted territory; I’d never been in love before, never had a relationship that mattered as much as this one, never fought with a lover. Aton marked a whole bunch of firsts, and I hoped, onlys. I prayed I hadn’t screwed up our relationship too badly to fix. An apology would be the first words out of my mouth when I saw him.
I rode the elevator to the eleventh floor of the swanky high-rise. Often poor immigrants tended to crowd into decrepit tenements. Not so, the illuvian-ore rich Dakonians. If the building had been a hotel, it would have rated five stars. I breezed by the doorman who must have alerted Aton’s roomie, because Rojak was peeking out of the apartment as I approached.
“You just missed him, Toni,” the Dakonian said. “Aton left a little while ago.”
“How do you know who I am?” I’d always dropped Aton off outside, so Rojak and I hadn’t met.
“I recognized you from his description. He talks about you a lot,” he said.
That gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling, although after yesterday, Aton had probably told him what a coldhearted bitch I was.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Maybe I could still catch him. I didn’t have anything on my schedule until 9:00 a.m.
“He didn’t say.”
“Do you have any idea where he went?”
“Didn’t say that, either. He just said he was going to ‘make it right.’”
What did that mean? Make it right with me, maybe?
“If he comes back, please tell him I was here. Tell him—” I’m sorry. The apology needed to come from me, not via his roomie. “Ask him to drop by my office.”
“Will do.”
If Aton had decided to seek me out, would he have gone to my house? I glanced at the time on my phone. I couldn’t drive home and be back in my office for a nine o’clock—let alone have a heart-to-heart in between. Hopefully, Aton knew enough about my schedule to go to my law firm.
I called Megan. “I don’t suppose Aton is there?”
“No, I haven’t seen him.”
“If he shows up, tell him to stay put. I’m on my way.”
“Got it—don’t have him Tasered.”
“Right.”
“Did you two watch Sunny Weathers’ Excellent Adventures?”
Watching the reality show together had been the start of a perfect afternoon—until I’d ruined it. “We did. We both enjoyed it—for different reasons. Thanks for suggesting it.”
I ended the call, dropped my phone in my bag, and got on the elevator. The doors closed. My phone rang. I dug it out, recognized the number, and my heart rate went through the roof.
“This is Toni,” I answered formally, buying time to devise a response.
“This is Jessie. Aton is here. So is Caid. We need to talk.”
“I can be at your office in ten minutes.” This level of damage control would require a face-to-face meeting.
“Perfect.”
“Could I speak to Aton for a moment?” If Jessie was smart, she’d refuse.
“Uh…yeah. I can get him. He and Caid are in the waiting room. Hopefully, they’re not punching each other out. Hold on.” Music played in my ear.
The elevator opened, I exited to the lobby, and moved off to the side.
The music quit. “Here he is,” Jessie said.
“Toni?” Aton sounded so glad to hear from me, it soothed my fears I might have irreparably damaged our relationship. We’d survived our first fight. We were okay.
“Yes! Oh, Aton. I’m so sorry for everything that happened last night. I didn’t react well.”
“I’m sorry, too. It was my fault, and I want to make it right.”
“Yeah, about that…I’m going to ask you some questions, and I need you to just answer yes or no. Is Jessie standing right there beside you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you say anything to her about not having a visa or about how you sneaked on board the spacecraft?”
“No…not yet.”
Oh, thank goodness, the Fates, or sheer luck. “Don’t—don’t say anything to her. I’ll be there in a few minutes. We’ll talk to her together.” And by we, I meant me.
The best chance for a positive outcome was to keep everything under wraps.
I called Megan and had her cancel my morning appointment and ran to the parking lot. Aton had promised he wouldn’t speak to Jessie, but what if he let something slip? She didn’t seem conniving, but what if she tricked him?