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“In two miles, merge onto County Road Fifteen,”came from her truck’s navigational system.
Nisha engaged her blinker, checked her mirror and merged into the right lane that would take them from the highway and through a town. The route would’ve been quicker if she stayed on the highway, but as discussed, they were taking the scenic route to their destination.
“Just buy a Tiffany’s lamp if you want one so badly.”
“That’s not the same.Wait. Are you in your car?”
Shit. In planning for the trip, she’d forgotten to come up with a story to tell her mom. “Yeah, I’m going on a small road trip.”
“Road trip? Why am I just hearing about this?” Where are you going and how long are you staying? You really should tell me these things. What if something happened to you and I didn’t know? Does Tasha know at least?”
One perk in her life, was being an only child with a mother who wanted to know every detail of her life. Next to Tasha, her mother was also her best friend. She didn’t mind that much.
“It’s no big deal, ma. I just decided to get away for a few days to relax. Tasha knows.”
“Hm...Your location is turned off. Why is that?”
Nisha exchanged a glance with Kien. Before leaving Tasha’s place, they’d decided she should turn her location off for the trip so she wouldn’t be easily monitored. They’d also decided to keep the contacts between them short and infrequent in case their phones were being monitored.
“It’s on,” she said, cringing because she hated lying to her mom. “It must be the area I’m in.”
There was no way she could tell her mom that she’d turned her locations off or why. Nisha didn’t know which reason would upset Sakaya more. That she didn’t want Sakaya to track her locations or that she was driving around Minnesota with an alien. For now, at least, the lie was justified. After Kien and the guys were safely in outerspace, then she would tell her mom everything.
“Oh, well, you still haven’t told me where you’re headed. Do you need any company? I could meet you. The way the accountant has been nagging me about my spending habits lately is making my shoulders’ tense. I could use a massage. We could go to a retreat. Oh, better yet, spa day!”
“Rerouting,” came from the navigation system.
Kien thumbed over his right shoulder. “I think you were supposed to merge onto that road back there.”
Nisha rolled her eyes. With all the chatter from her mom and being flustered because she’d lied to her, which Nisha had rarely done in her adult life, it was a given that she would totally miss her exit. “Thanks, Magellian,” she muttered to Kien.
“Who is Magellian? I’m called Kien.”
A reply was on the tip of her tongue but the sharp intake of breath coming through the truck’s speakers brought her swiftly back to the situation. Her mom couldn’t know about Kien. She held her breath, hoping Sakaya was sidetracked about something else and hadn’t heard their exchange.
“Is that a man’s voice?” Sayaka asked slowly.
Nope. That was too much to ask for. Nisha groaned.
“Anisha Tabitha Jones!”
Nisha sent a glare Kien’s way as she merged onto the next exit. “Mom, it’s no big deal, but yes. I’m with a...friend.”
“Boyfriend,” Kien interjected to Nisha’s horror. “The term is boyfriend and girlfriend.”
While navigating the road, Nisha sent Kien a death look to shut him up.
“You have a boyfriend!” Sayaka screeched. “When did this happen and why don’t I know about it? Margarine told me that when girls reach a certain age, they wouldn’t want to share their lives with their moms anymore.” Sayaka sniffled. “I didn’t want to believe that would ever happen between us because you’re my only baby, my little miracle child, my one and only love. We used to be so close, now here you are, dallying around Minnesota with a man I know nothing about. You’re shutting me out of your life.”
Another sniffle.
Nisha wanted to bang her head against her steering wheel. She could only contend with so much at one time. Rampaging emotions about the alien next to her and enduring one of her mother’s guilt trips didn’t mesh.
“A miracle child?” Kien asked.
“You. Shut up,” she warned him and to her mother, she said, “Mom, I have you on speaker. I’ll call you back and tell you all about it when I get some privacy, okay?”
The hints of sniffling suddenly stopped. “Promise?”
