Page 12 of When She's Handy

MELODY

I stare out at the rain pounding down on the small town of Port. It’s such a cliché, but I’m glad for the rain. It matches my mood.

Not only that, but every day that it rains, it delays the construction on the space port. It’s another day that Brux is here, breathing the same air I am. I shouldn’t be as obsessed with him as I am, but I can’t help it. I’ve thought about him constantly for the last five years, wondering what it would have been like if he’d come to Risda with me. Instead, he abandoned me to someone else and went off to work crummy jobs because he thought I “deserved” better. As if I’m some perfect prize instead of a real human being who just wanted to be held and to feel safe.

Ugh. Whatever. His loss. I hope it rains all over his head.

“You seem very far away today,” says a voice at my side.

I turn, smiling brightly at Aithar. He’s one of the a’ani clones working on building a new cantina here in Port, and I’ve been talking to him about utilizing whatever scrap they have left over, and to see if they need my help creating anything for their human patrons, as I’ve been getting pretty good with toasters now. It’s business. Just business.

Well, except for the fact that Aithar is one of the few men that I’ve dated here on Risda, and he’s made it very clear to me that he’s still interested. He smiles encouragingly at me and offers me a drink. It’s water with a piece of fruit in it, cool and refreshing. I take it from him with a smile and sip it as he watches me with an avid, intense gaze. I’ve been coming around to their cantina for the last few days, some for conversation, some for eyeballing scrap.

Some because I’m circling around the idea of going out with Aithar again.

I need to move on, right? I need to stop thinking about Brux, because he’s made it very clear to me that he’s not interested in what I have to offer. Aithar is handsome, with bright red skin, a chiseled jaw, and thick black hair. He’s got black tattoos climbing up his arms, but those just add to his attractiveness. He’s tall and lean and eager. So eager.

Nothing like Brux, who looks out at the world with wounded eyes.

Ugh. There I go again, thinking about the wrong person. I beam a bright smile at Aithar. “It’s just the weather. I prefer when it’s sunny. Makes my job easier when I have a big project. I can take it outside instead of hiding in the basement.”

“You can always come here if you need to work,” he volunteers, and one of the a’ani at work behind him whips his head around, frowning in our direction.

“Oh, I’d just be in the way,” I tell him. “But I appreciate the offer. It’s very kind of you.”

“I am not kind. I am just eager to see you every day.” Aithar clutches his own drink to his chest as if it’s the only thing holding him together. “You…would you like to go and eat? Together? Today? Or tomorrow? Or whenever you like?”

“Are you asking me on a date?” I flirt, determined to forget Brux. “If so, I accept.”

Aithar smiles at me so brightly that my heart warms. Just a little. “I will buy you everything you wish to eat. It is as the humans say, your treat.”

The a’ani behind him rolls his eyes and goes back to laser-punching holes in a piece of metal.

I chuckle despite myself, setting down my drink and then plucking his from his grasp. “I think you have that backwards. And I can pay for my own food. You want to go now? I think we’re in the way of your friends that are working.”

He turns and glances behind him. When he sees who it is, he dismisses him with a wave of his hand. “That’s just Sakkar. He likes to frown at everyone. Thinks it makes us work harder. But I would love to have food with you, no matter who is treating who! It will be a joy for me regardless.”

How can I resist such a sweet comment? I beam at him and slip my arm through the crook of his. “As long as you save me any scrap metal you might not need, of course.”

I’m moving on. Moving forward.

We step out into the street, and the muggy, wet weather washes over us, misting my hair and face. The main street of Port normally has a few people walking through, but today it’s deserted except for a lone stranger at the far end of the town. I duck my head as rain drops splatter and Aithar sweetly tries to shield me with his arm over my head. It’s useless, but the gesture makes me laugh.

“I suppose if we didn’t want to get wet, we could have stayed back at your place,” I tell him as we hurry across the street toward the other cantina.

“There’s no food there yet! But if you want to go back, I can get food and bring it to you. I’m happy to do whatever you like.”

We jog down the street. “I’m just teasing. I don’t mind the weather?—”

I stop short, because the alien across the street is a familiar one. It’s a big mesakkah with two broken horns, a heavy jaw, and a tight expression on his face as he watches me walk with Aithar. Oh. Brux. Funny how I haven’t run into him for weeks and the day I decide to take Aithar up on his obvious flirting, he shows up. He stands outside the cantina, a heavy cloak wrapped around his shoulders and a dark hood covering his head. That’s why I didn’t notice him at first. Now he’s staring at me with an unreadable expression and for some reason, I feel guilt.

The guilt increases when Aithar puts a hand on my back, even as he opens the door to the cantina to let me in.

It feels like my heart is being torn out of my chest. I should be angry at Brux. I should want to flaunt Aithar in front of him. Instead, I just feel sad and more alone than ever before. We head into the cantina and I don’t look out the window to see if Brux is watching us. I keep my gaze locked ahead, and I somehow manage to order food and listen to Aithar as he chats about their plans for the upcoming cantina.

I eat. I respond. But I’m highly aware that Brux hasn’t come inside after us. He saw me with Aithar. Saw me come in with another man, his hand on my back. He had his chance.

Brux could have just said yes that night instead of making me feel like a fool. Like he wasn’t interested in some trashy human who kept throwing herself at him.

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