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“A table for one, please.” I follow her through the room, winding around tables with happy couples and families savoring their meals.
“Will this do?” the Breelagon asks, pointing to a table near a wall of glass.
“Yes, thanks.” I sit and unroll the napkin, and the silverware clinks when it hits the table.
“Coffee or tea?”
“Coffee. Make it strong.”
After giving me a smile utilizing both of her double set of lips, she hurries away. I turn to stare out the big window. Stars gleam, and a bright pink planet glows in the distance. Our destination today? If I remember correctly, tours to Civar 5 depart at about nine. Perhaps I should take a day trip. Escaping the ship for a while might help me find perspective.
“Cream?” the Breelagon asks, pouring coffee into a glass mug.
I shake my head, and she leaves. My gaze follows her as she stops at another table to fill someone else’s cup.
Jarrn sits there, and I don’t believe he sees me, because his attention is locked on the gorgeous Viakair female sitting opposite him.
Her head tips back, and she releases a low, sultry laugh.
Jarrn joins in, chuckling along with her.
Chapter9
Jarrn
I’m having trouble following this conversation with Kressida. It makes sense. Between the endless stream of people passing by and the hard surface of the deck chair I lounged in all night, I got very little sleep.
Even after the artificial lights brightened, mimicking sunrise, I still didn’t want to face Delia, so I thought I’d fortify myself with a few cups of coffee, a pound of bacon, and some carbs before I returned to our room. Now my boss, Kressida, has buttonholed me in the breakfast buffet.
She’s trying to be nice, but she’s opened her computer pad and is giving me detailed notes on every gaff I made during last night’s performance. It’s not exactly fair to fault someone who hasn’t yet been to one rehearsal.
“Your thrusting is perfection, your side-to-side hip movement could be improved, although by the decibel level of the audience screams, they had no complaints. Get some rehearsals under your belt and get over your aversion to smiling and you’ll be good to go.”
My aversion to smiling? Could it be because the burns on my face still make my skin feel like stiff shoe leather when I grin? I bite back a retort.
Perhaps she realizes she overstepped, because she throws her head back with a tinkling laugh and says, “And that kiss at the end, Jarrn. If only you hadn’t hurried out of the venue you would have easily pocketed an extra one or two hundred credits in tips.” She laughs again as she repeats the word “pocketed,” because, yeah, my tiny loincloth didn’t sport much pocket room.
I glance around the busy dining area, hoping she’ll take the cue that I’m over this conversation, when I catch sight of Delia. At first, my body reacts with relief at seeing her, like a drowning man spotting a life preserver. Then I see the bitter expression on her face: compressed lips, clenched jaw, and slitted eyes. By the look of things, my new roommate isn’t happy to see me.
“Excuse me, Kressida,” I say, not bothering with eye contact as I toss my napkin on the table and rise from my seat. “I need to…” I’m hurrying toward Delia without waiting for my boss’s response.
I’ve known Delia long enough to read her pretty well. I’ve only seen this level of anger on her beautiful face a few times before and it was never directed at me. I definitely don’t like being on the receiving end of that look, which, if it was weaponized, would kill the recipient without a warning shot.
I quicken my pace when she rises from her seat. If I’m any judge of these things, she’s about to sprint off and attempt to get lost on this ship that holds over ten thousand passengers.
“Delia!” I don’t mind raising my voice. After what I did last night on stage, in the spotlight, wearing nothing more than a scrap of sparkly fabric, making a fool of myself in this dining room won’t even faze me.
It fazes Delia, though, as I knew it would. Not wanting to cause a scene, she slows, then stops and turns to face me. Although she’s not running, she’s still shooting me I-hate-you laser beams from her eyes.
“Good morning, roomie.” I tuck her against my side and escort her from the area in search of a quiet cul-de-sac where we can have at least a semi-private conversation on this enormous ship.
It’s the breakfast rush, with hordes of people coming and going. I can feel Delia gently trying to tug her arm from my grip, but it’s clear she doesn’t want to declare all-out war, because it would call attention to us. Her urge to stay unnoticed works to my advantage.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, though I know the answer. It was the kiss. The hideous monster ogre kissed her in front of hundreds of people last night. If that wasn’t bad enough, it wasin the spotlight.
“What’s wrong?” She turns on me, stopping so abruptly we almost cause a ten-person pileup in the crowded hallway.
I maneuver us over to the wall and batten down my facial expression, waiting for her to scold me for my terrible behavior in the venue last night.
