AllFreeNovel
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"Why are you wearing the key to our house around your neck?" I don't know how I hadn’t noticed before. His perfect naked body is only adorned by his necklaces, one of which is the key to our house. I'd recognize the modern key anywhere, and it looks out of place among his Alliance jewelry.
He looks confused and then looks down at the key and touches it like he's never seen it before. "I never wanted to lose it. So, I put it in the safest place I could think of, next to my heart."
This sends me over the edge, and I start crying a little. My emotions are all over the place lately. "Why can't we just go live on Earth? Why does it have to be this way? I want you the way you were."
"I wish it could be that way too. We can have half of that, but we must jump through these small hurdles first."
"They are more than hurdles, Sem. Public sex, punishment, and lost eggs on a galactic station. I can't do this."
He pulls me close to him. His penis is still fully erect, and his body is sweaty, but I don't care.
"I'm overwhelmed too, but I'm not giving up. We are so close to having what we want."
"Are we?"
"Ivy," he puts his finger under my chin. "You're the strongest woman I know. You can do all of this, but you must trust me. Do you?"
"I don't know. You never told me the truth, and this still bothers me."
"I only lied about being a Swedish instead of Alliance. If Earth was a part of the GC, those two things wouldn't be so different."
"In your opinion."
"Grey skin is just another color our species can come in," he tells me, and I actually feel ashamed for what I said before. "What can I do?" he asks.
"I want to call Scarlett. I want to tell her we’re getting married."
We walk back to his single-man quarters, and he opens his computer and my social media account again.
"Do you want me to leave so you can talk privately with Scarlett?"
"No, I want you to put on your magic necklace that makes you look human. I want to tell Scarlett, with you by my side, that we’re eloping in Sweden, and that’s why she won’t be there for the legal wedding. I want to have a moment where my best friend on planet Earth says, 'Congratulations to you both.' She'd probably still like you if she knew you were an alien too, and for some reason, that makes it more difficult.”
“Because you can’t tell her the truth,” Sem says, looking for his necklace, and when he puts it on, I want to cry. That’s the man I fell in love with. But this is wrong.
"Take it off," I say. "It only reminds me that it's a lie. And I don’t want to have that same lie with Scarlett."
"It was never a lie to me, Ivy, and your lie to Scarlett won’t be either. She’s your best friend."
"Close the computer. I don't want to talk to her anymore. I don't know what I want."
“I think you should have a rest,” Sem suggests. I nod, and he walks me back to what will be our shared quarters. “I’ll go down to our house in New Orleans and grab some of your things. Had I been thinking straight, I would’ve done this immediately to make you feel more at home.”
* * *
Sem wakes me up with some coffee from home. It’s got a hint of chicory to it.
I take the hot coffee and then watch as he pulls out some things from my suitcase. First is my pajamas with tiny kittens on them, which he always made fun of me for, and second is my wedding dress from Greece, still in its protective plastic from the dry cleaners.
"It would make me really happy if you'd wear this for our marriage ceremony here."
I unzip the plastic case and touch the lace. "I don't know if I want to mix the memories."
His face looks deflated.
"I loved what we did in Greece. I don’t know if I’m going to be as comfortable remembering what I do here for you now. What would an Alliance woman wear?"
"A long black dress."
