I pick up my coffee and sip, stayingoutof this.
Taking a deep breath, Kita dips her head until she meets his eyes. “Ask me to go on a date with you.”
His voice is unsteady when he manages, “Will you go on a date with me?”
“Yes.”
“Really?” His posture changes and his eyes might sparkle.
“Did you think I told you to do it just so I could deny you?”
“Maybe?”
“I will go on a date with you.” Kita tells him. “You will plan it. Whether or not you get a second one is completely up to you. Don’t mess it up.”
He nods, snatching the pad off the table, and hurries away without saying goodbye… without waiting for his food.
“What do you think he’s going to plan?” I ask as Kita quickly flags down the waiter to cancel his breakfast.
“No idea, but it got him to stop thinking about who you’re seeing.”
“Did you agree to go on a date with himjustbecause he was going to ask about—” I pause because I’m not sure what to call him in this moment. I settle on, “My love life?”
“Smooth catch.” She laughs and then shakes her head. “I’ve been thinking about interactions we’ve had over the past monthor so. It’s been pretty obvious that he wanted to ask me out. I mean, you know that. You’ve been here for half of the things.”
“I had noticed, yes.”
Brows raised in an all-too-human gesture, she changes the subject and we finish our food.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, but I want to remind you, I am absolutely horrible at this kind of thing. Honestly, if you make me do anything where I have to move my hands in separate patterns or swing at things, you may get punched.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I let her take my hand and lead me away through the corridors, but I catch a glimpse of someone and turn.
In the shadowy corner, leaning against the wall, watching… I don’t even know what, is Agan.
His lips are twisted in a sneer, but he doesn’t follow us, so I don’t mention it to Kita. I’m determined not to let him ruin any more of my days.
CHAPTER 4
Idon’t think about Agan again until I get out of the lift on one of the lowest levels of the station the next day and he’s there. Luckily, he’s notrightthere and I’m able to hurry down the hall away from him before he sees me.
He was leaning on a railing, talking to someone whothankfullykept him from looking at the lift when it opened.
I don’t know what else is down here, so I wouldn’t have been able to make up a convincing lie and I am not about to tell him the truth.
Luckily, the bath entrance is not that far away, and I slip inside through doors that open like they’re breathing.
It’s warm and cozy and the lights are low… Like a new-age spa in an Earth movie.
Bubbles of warm light roll across the floor, pile in the corners, and inch up the walls.
“Welcome,” a soft voice says as a Trulavian woman pushes past a curtain. “You must be Cherry.”
I didn’t expect her to know me by name—either of them. “I am.”
