He wasn’t bitter about this role.Somebody had to do it.He was already dead to most of the world, but as he watched Rita checking through the belongings she’d left here, he realized he wanted to live.
Okay, he wasn’t dead, but he wanted to be alive and he wanted to be alive with Rita.
Was that even possible?Talk about a mixed marriage.The girl from the future and the guy from the past.He glanced around.He wouldn’t exactly call this meeting in the middle.
“I wonder what happened?”Con broke the silence, pulling Rita’s attention away from her past.Or was it her future?He felt his brain trying to go into a futile spiral and gave himself a shake.
“Something significant,” Rita said.She put her things back in the locker and closed it.
“Don’t you want to take them with you?”He asked.The action troubled him.
“The Butterfly Effect,” she said.“It seems like a small thing, but it is the small things that can sometimes ripple the furthest.”
She joined him, close enough for him to see the worry and tension in her face and eyes.Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.There was a small hesitation, then her arms slid around him and she clung as hard as he was.
“If I told you that I love you, would that make the butterfly mad?”he asked.
She looked up, startled and he had to kiss her.It seemed like a better option than waiting for her to give him the answer he didn’t want to hear.
The kiss was long, with a hint of desperation.When they came up for air, he leaned his forehead against hers.
“I suppose I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, though without regret.If a guy was going to be taken down by a butterfly, a kiss seemed in order.
“I’m glad you did,” Rita said.
Somehow they both shifted at the same time, so that they were cheek to cheek.If he closed his eyes, could he pretend they were somewhere else?A club maybe with soft music playing.
He lifted his head sharply.
Therewasmusic playing.
Rita stiffened, too.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of music you danced to with your girl.
Chapter16
Rita was grateful to hold onto Con’s hand as they made their cautious way back to the main launch room.
The light hadn’t changed any and the sound was coming from the check in desk.It was the last stop before one went home after a mission.
“It’s a radio,” Con said, crossing to the chair side and picking up a small device.
Rita knew about radios.She didn’t know about radioshere.
Con played with a knob and the sound faded to buzzing.He turned it the other way and the tinny sound returned.
“Do you recognize the music?”she asked.
“It’s high brow stuff,” he said.He turned the radio over in his hand, studying it with a frown.“Is it just me, or is this an odd thing to find here?”
“Very odd,” Rita said.She turned, then crossed over to the launch chambers.They were dark, silent, closed—and her touch didn’t unlock them.But then it wouldn’t.Only a tech could unlock a chamber.
She walked down the line, knowing it made little sense, but wanting or needing to see “her” chamber.She was aware that Con walked over to join her.
“You are one brave female,” he said.“These look more like a place to swap your brains or something.”
Rita was surprised into a chuckle, that turned into a gasp when she reached her chamber.
