“Look, there’s just no time,” Grom argued with Sarah early the next morning. The two were standing just outside of her old bedroom. She was holding her duffle and a few plastic bags full of her food.

“It will take me thirty seconds!” Sarah said. “I’ll just run to my new room and throw all my stuff in. Then we can go.”

“No, no.” Grom struggled to come up with an adequate argument. “The restaurant has weird hours, and they could close any minute.”

“Then we’ll go to a different one. I mean, honestly, I’m not even really hungry. We could just make a small breakfast here and not have to bother getting off the ship.”

“No!” Grom raised his voice. Lying to Sarah maddened him, and he wasn’t sure how many more incredibly convenient excuses she would accept. “We’re not discussing this anymore. Here.” He reached for some of the plastic bags. “I’ll carry these. Let’s go.”

Letting her lead the way, he watched Sarah walk out of his ship for what he was sure would be the last time.

“So where is this restaurant with the stupid hours?” Sarah cupped a hand across her forehead to shade her eyes.

“There is no restaurant.” Grom put the plastic bags on the ground.

“What do you mean?”

Grom pointed at the small Visitor’s Center to their left. “You can find a phone there. Call your family. I’ll leave you some money to get back home.”

A crescendo of emotions throttled Sarah as she began to piece things together. He was letting her go. She was going to see her family again. She was finally going home. Her chest tightened and she fell to the ground, sobbing.

Grom slowly approached her. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you for so long. I’ve been selfish, and cruel, and it’s about time I gave you back your freedom. I only hope you can forgive me for all that I subjected you to over the past few weeks.”

Sarah willed her weak knees to obey and stood up. Her body was urging her towards him, but she was afraid that if she sank into his embrace, she would never find the strength to pull away. She kept her distance. “Thank you, Grom.”

“It’s really the least I could do.” He smiled. “Here’s some pinches. That should be more than enough to get you home. Promise me you’ll get yourself a decent meal too, not any of that instant, microwave garbage.”

Sarah laughed. “Alright, I promise.” She surveyed her surroundings, just to give her an excuse to break eye contact.

“And one more thing.” Grom stepped closer. He lowered his voice. “Promise me when you get back you won’t let that Benny guy—”

“Bernie.”

“Right, Bernie, promise me you won’t let him keep you working as an apprentice. You’re better than that. Sarah, you’re amazing. And if he doesn’t see that, well, then you just tell him to give me a call. I’ll serve as a reference. Give you a glowing recommendation.”

“You mean you’ll scare him into promoting me?”

“Hey, whatever works, right?”

The distance between them had grown quite small. Sarah inhaled Grom’s slightly sweaty but pleasant smell, which reminded her of the previous night spent wrapped in his arms, and before she knew it, she was reaching for him. He pulled her in tight, one arm around her waist, and the other bringing her head to rest securely against his chest. He lovingly ran his hand through her hair a few times.

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered, barely audible.

Tears welled in her eyes, and Sarah quickly withdrew from Grom. “Stay in orbit.”

“What?”

“I need you to stay in orbit. Just for a short while.”

“I don’t understand.” Grom stepped back.

“I don’t either. This is all happening so fast, and I don’t know what to do, what to choose. All I know is that I’m not ready to make that decision right now.”

“You mean…” Grom’s downtrodden expression started to lighten. “You might want to come back with me?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Grom grinned like a schoolboy, and she could see his eyes were wet. “Okay.” He looked off to the side. “I think we can make that work. I’ll have to talk to the client, let her know we might be late getting her the latest shipment. I’ll probably have to do some finagling, offer some sort of consolation deal.”

“Will that be okay?” Sarah silently chided herself for not realizing how her request might impact Grom and the crew. “I mean, if you think the client will be mad, then maybe you should just—”

“No. It will be fine.” Grom took her hands in his. “I can stay in orbit for a week.”

“A week.”

“Yes. That should give you enough time to call home. Figure out what it is you want. Who knows, maybe the time apart will help you realize how truly horrible life is aboard my ship.’

“Oh, trust me,” Sarah smirked, “I realized that about two minutes after you took me captive.”

“So, I’ll see you in a week. I’ll meet you right here, in front of the Visitor’s Center, the morning on the seventh day.”

“Yes.”

“And if for some reason you change your mind, decide you want to go home before the week is up—”

“Grom I wouldn’t—”

“Just listen. If you decide you want to go, I’ll understand. I’ll be here, in seven days to the minute. But if you’re not here to meet me…then I wish you all the best.”

Sarah could see there was no way to convince Grom of her loyalty, aside from showing up in exactly a week, so she didn’t attempt to argue further. She nodded.

“Well, I better get back to the ship.” Grom let go of Sarah’s hands.

“Alright.”

“I guess, I’ll see you when I see you.”

“In a week,” Sarah corrected. “Grom. You’ll see me in a week.”