Page 79 of Space Daddy and a Boy Called Twink

“Oh yeah. Sorry.” I headed back to the convection oven and retrieved his warmed-up banana-nut bread, doing my best to keep my tears from falling onto it as I bagged it and handed it over to him.

“I…um…sorry,” he said.

“Thank you.”

He glanced around and rushed off, leaving me with Roger and Eric, who sat at the counter, exchanging concerned looks.

I probably shouldn’t have gone to work.

Before Daddy returned to his home planet, he’d warned me it would be a struggle because he’d bonded with me. The first few days, I was sure I’d be able to handle the emotions, but it really wasn’t until day five that I could feel the effects—searing emotional pain terrorizing me to my core. The sort of pain thatleft me feeling more sympathy for Sheila than I’d ever thought possible. I mean, she did try to kill me, after all.

“You know, maybe you could say you’re feeling sick,” Roger said.

“Then I’d have to cover for him,” Eric said bitterly.

“Well, it’s in your job description,” Roger argued. “And you don’t want to fill in for a friend?”

“Why don’tyoufill in for him?”

Their bickering brought up a new emotion in me. Anger. “If Monika would just quit, then maybe they would hire someone, and I wouldn’t have to spend all my time messing up orders and cleaning coffee grounds off this stupid floor.”

Several patrons glanced our way.

I crumbled, sinking to the floor and putting my arms around my knees as I sat in a fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably. This waswild. I didn’t feel such intense pain even after Carter cheated on me with Leo. This was a thousand times worse. I wouldn’t even wish this on Carter. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true.

“Hey, buddy,” Eric said, coming around the counter. He settled on his knees beside me and rested his hand on my shoulder. “You should call in sick. I’ll cover.”

Seeing Eric, who usually acted like such a prick, being nice to me, it was too much, and now I was crying for a new reason.

“No, I need to do this. It’s much worse sitting at home all day, not knowing when I’m gonna see him again. At least when I’m doing this, there’s some chance of a little bit of distraction.”

“Daddy will be back in no time,” Roger assured me, stepping beside Eric.

“You don’t know that.” I sounded more like a petulant child than my grown-ass self. “He said two weeks.”

“I thought he said it might be three weeks,” Roger said.

“That was when he was estimating. He ran the numbers before he left and said it should only be two.”

“Well, it’s been two weeks…and a day, exactly,” Eric reminded me, as though I didn’t know that. As if it wasn’t all I was thinking about. “I’m sure traveling across the universe can add a little time in there.”

The logical part of my brain appreciated what he was saying, but the dark ruminations that had been hounding me since he went away kept on, relentless. “What if they send him on another mission and don’t care at all about some creature he mated with on the other side of the universe? What if his ship didn’t make it all the way back because something went wrong? What if he changed his mind or realized bonding with me was a mistake and found someone else to bond with?”

I devolved into another fit of sobs. Oh, crying was the only thing that gave me relief.

“Well, if he does bond with someone else, maybe it releases you or something,” Eric said.

Roger shot him a look.

“What? I’m trying to be helpful.”

“Please stop helping,” I pleaded before hearing a cough from the other side of the counter.

Great. Another customer.

“You want me to get this?” Eric asked, and this was big for him. Eric never volunteered to cover for me on his break. I mean, I knew he would in case of an emergency. Hell, the guy had thrown himself in harm’s way with a damned alien, but God forbid he clock in when he didn’t have to.

“I’ll be fine,” I lied, sniffling.