“Whoa! Hey. Did you find Daniel?” Kal asked, thinking she looked marvelous with her eyes snapping in anger—especially when that anger wasn’t aimed at him. “Where are you going for lunch?”
“I lost my appetite,” she said shortly, purse in hand and her color high as she began walking to the lobby, her steps quick and short. With a last look at the greenroom door, Kal followed, catching up to her easily. Trisk glanced at him, her brow furrowed as she pulled two clips from her hair and the bun fell completely apart. “I don’t laugh too much, do I?”
Kal’s eyes widened. “God no. I love your laugh.” He put an arm around her, her hair pinched between them as he dared to tug her to him—a hint, nothing more. He quickly let go when she stiffened. “I’m sure he’s fine. It probably didn’t sit well that you got to talk about his virus and he didn’t. Let me take you to lunch. You want to go to Sander’s?”
He held the door to the lobby for her. Head down and hair hiding her eyes, she went through, stopping in the hushed quiet of glass and fake wood. It was a space of silence with the world of pretend on one side, the hard cement and blue sky on the other. Her breath shook as she exhaled. “I want to go to NASA,” she said as she looked up at him, her eyes soft in hope. “I want to go to NASA, with you. We can work together on my universal donor.”
Success slammed into him, making him breathless. His knees threatened to give way, and he locked them. Not having to fake his excitement, he took her hands in his. “Really?” he said, beaming as he gave her a huge hug, right there in the lobby. “Trisk, thank you!”
“Kal!” she exclaimed, giggling as he picked her up and swung her in a quick circle.
“Felecia Eloytrisk Cambri, you’ve made me so happy!” he said, giving her another hug as he settled her feet back on the carpet. “This is going to be wonderful. I have to find a phone.”
“But I can’t leave until the enclave gets someone here to take my place,” she said, her expression becoming serious. “Can you wait for me?”
He bobbed his head. “Of course.” Daring, he gave her a kiss on her cheek, darting in and pulling away before she could react. “Lunch? We need to celebrate. Take the rest of the day off,” he said as he turned her to the exit and the parking lot before she could see Daniel standing in the hallway, his expression riven with anger and grief.
“You’ve made me so happy, Trisk,” he said softly. “You’re going to leave your mark on the world, and I’m going to be right beside you.”
Together they found the walk, his jaunty step luring her into a better mood.
Two more weeks. Easy.
11
Daniel clenched the steering wheel of his black Ford Thunderbird, the big engine almost silent as it idled up the long drive to Trisk’s house. A bouquet of white lilies sat beside him, gray in the dusky evening light. The lady at the flower shop said white lilies were a symbol of apology, even more so with the long streaks of brown pollen staining the white petals. “Tears,” the shopgirl insisted, but Daniel had a feeling he’d been tricked into buying damaged goods.
Chocolate had seemed rife with tones of romance, jewelry was wrong for the same reason, and asking her out so he could apologize over a beer as he would anyone else felt worse. Waiting until tomorrow to meet her in the hall by chance smacked of insincerity, and so here he was, a bouquet of lilies that he hoped would stop her justifiable anger long enough so that he could say he was sorry.
For two weeks he had watched Kal slowly insinuate himself back into her life, moving with a sly confidence Daniel had seen all through graduate school, men working their way through the female student body as if women were perks the school had allowed in solely for their enjoyment. Trisk wasn’t a fool, but of all the entitled, rich boy-men that he’d seen, Kal had to be the worst.
Somehow his words at the TV station had gotten mixed up and he’d insulted her when all he wanted was to keep her from being taken advantage of. If she wanted to leave, fine, but not with Kal, who would ruin her career by way of breaking her heart.
His gaze slid to the lilies. He didn’t want her to think he was a kiss-up, or worse, trying to seduce her. Only now, when she was under attack, had he realized how important her steady, unassuming presence was to him. He didn’t want to see her hurt, especially not by Kal.