Page 45 of Seeded By Two

It was quite busy, with most of the tables having been taken up by diners.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was lunchtime.

Cutlery clinked and plates clanged as species swallowed delicious native meals.

Others struggled, working up an appetite by fighting with their meals.

I cast an eye over those seated near me but didn’t spot Beth at any of the tables.

I figured she would be eating alone, so I focused on those first.

Each of them had a solitary female or male eating at them.

None were Beth.

Perhaps she had opted to join one of the other tables, I thought, taking the opportunity to make conversation with her fellow females.

I knew little about humans but understood them to be very sociable creatures.

I walked amongst the tables, glancing at each face, my heart skipping each time I noticed the curved feminine frame of a gorgeous female… but as they turned around, revealing their faces, I realized they weren’t my One And Only.

I moved through the tables one section at a time, ensuring I did not miss any.

When I came to the far corner and saw she wasn’t there, my heart thundered.

Then I noticed some of the tables were empty of diners but still sported empty plates and dirty cutlery.

Staff hurriedly gathered everything up and added them to a trolley which they wheeled back into the kitchens.

Another worker blasted the tabletops with a disinfectant blaster pistol.

It occurred to me that maybe Beth had simply gotten up to get more food.

I cast my eyes over each of those now standing at the kiosks.

As I moved through them — ensuring to check anyone who broke from the lines after receiving their meals and heading back to their seats — I saw that these diners were not Beth either.

Confused, I stood at the top of the large room and thought I must have made a mistake.

She could have bent down just when my eyes passed over her.

That way, I would have missed her.

An innocent mistake.

And so I moved around the room, working my way inward toward the center.

And met the same result.

Could she have taken a break and gone to the bathroom? I wondered.

I hastened toward them, once again eyeing each of the females that came out.

I stood waiting…

Waiting…

Waiting…

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