Page 18 of Uprooted
“Oh yeah? Well, what do you call a flower and her best friend? Buddies!” I’m the only one laughing at my joke.
“Oh, wow…” Aro says with a slightly frightened look in his eyes.
“I told you she’s a workaholic,” Bri says to Aro under her breath.
“That’s a bad example. Regardless, I’m not a workaholic,” I say to both of them.
“I’d love to stay and let you redeem yourself from that awful joke, but I do need to get to work.” Aro shoots me that crooked smile for a few additional seconds before he turns and walks out the door.
“Thanks for help with the barf bag!” I call after him, but it’s too late—he’s gone. That’s fine. I don’t like how desperate I sounded.
“That was interesting," Bri says, sipping from her cup.
“Did I just make a complete fool out of myself?” I ask.
“A little bit,” she says.
I groan and rest my forehead on my palm. “I panicked.”
“It’s criminal to look that good,” Bri says.
“They certainly don’t make them like that on Earth… That’s the last we will be seeing of him. I think I sufficiently scared him off with that joke.”
“That’s too bad. That would have been a fun little distraction,” Bri says.
“Probably for the best. I can’t afford any distractions.”
“You’re just proving my point for me.” She mutters a little more under her breath. I swear I hear the word “workaholic” in there somewhere.
“I am going to take me and my corny jokes to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“Make sure you go straight to your bunk, and not to the security hub to your new boyfriend!” Bri calls after me. Trying not to smile, I shoot her a look as I drop off my half-eaten breakfast in the trash receptacle on my way out.
13
Aro
I walk around all day with the image of that little human stuck in my head.
14
Elowen
“Good work the other night,” Andi says as she drops off another set of slides for me to work on. “I appreciate the quick turnaround. At this rate we should finish up cellular review and move onto the full specimen observation in the next few days.”
“We’re making good progress.” I’m starting to feel like we’re going to succeed in our mission here.
“Absolutely. We’re ahead of schedule as far as I’m concerned. How are you holding up?” She settles against the counter.
“I’m good! Great! Things are really good,” I say enthusiastically. Maybe a little too enthusiastically. That urge to be the teacher’s pet is alive and well inside me. I swivel my stool to face her.
“Okay.” She pauses, not sounding convinced. “That’s good. I don’t want you to get burnt out.”
“No burnout yet.”
“Good. Stay focused on what's right in front of you. All the other stuff is just a distraction,” she says and steps into the airlock.
“No distractions here!”
