Page 23 of Secret Twins for the Alien Dad

Three.

I’m now three weeks into my new life in Mairg. It’s not exactly paradise, but anything is better than Glimner City. Plus, the people are truly the best.

“Eva! Eva! I have good news!” I charge into Eva’s home. She insists I call it my home, too, but that still feels weird. I’m immediately hit by the smell of dinner cooking.Fuck, I’m so hungry.

“Good news?” Eva pops her head into the room.

“Good news!” I charge towards her with my arms open for a hug. But halfway to her, my head gets dizzy. My stomach twinges in pain. “Oh, god…

“Myra? Are you okay?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine.” I compose myself. “I accepted a job, that’s the good news.”

“Oh, congratulations! Which one.”

“Front desk at the town director’s office. Not the flashiest or most interesting job… but it pays the best.” We both laugh. “I start tomorrow.”

“And tonight, we celebrate. Dinner is almost ready!”

For the next few weeks, I work to get settled and adjust to my new life. The first few days of work are a little strange, and it takes some time to get used to it. But I think any new job is like that, and by day four, I know for sure I like it. It’s leagues above Nova Casino, anyway.

By week seven, I even have a routine. Most days, I wake up, take a walk to the corner store, and get a Kiphian Crisixa kaffo to drink. I sip it on my way to the town director’s office, and if I have enough time, I take a stroll around the block for a little early morning exercise before I head inside.

On the way home, I usually stop at the corner store and pick up whatever miscellaneous thing Eva needs for dinner tonight. Now that I have a job and a paycheck, I’m eager to help pitch in with groceries. It’s the least I can do.

Except for today, when my stomach cramps and pinches the whole way through the store. By the time I get home, I have to go to my room and lie down. The pain turns into nausea before long, and I end up skipping dinner completely.

The next morning, I wake up and immediately vomit. I try to clean myself up to get to work, but Eva forbids it. She calls up the administrator herself to tell him I’m sick. She then has to do it for the next three days.

“Eva, I can’t keep missing work. I haven’t even been there a month.”

“He understands, you’re sick. And if he gives you any grief, he knows he’ll have me to answer to.”

“I just don’t understand how I got this sick. You’re fine, so I obviously didn’t get it from you. And you’re the one who works at a school with all the germs.”

“Well, what if it isn’t contagious?”

“What do you mean? What is it then?”

“Look, Myra, usually an upset stomach goes away after a few hours, maybe a day. You’ve been like this for days, but no fever, no cough, nothing else. Look, don’t get mad at me, okay? But is there any chance you’re… pregnant?”

Fuck.

12

ZAIR

I’m up with the sun. An all-nighter used to look like me and the guys, asleep in unusual places around a wrecked hotel suite. Now it's recalling Myra’s terrified expression from that security log that keeps me up all night. That and wondering what brought it on, and where it took her next.

I’m pacing my room, combing back through what I know, and the last people who saw her. One of her workmates might say more, with a little pressing and maybe reassurance that I’m not the one she’s running from.

As far as I know.

The longer I keep searching, the more certain I am. After all, what kind of girl throws her whole life away running from a first date? She didn’t just stand me up – she’s been nowhere to be seen around the casino for weeks. There’s no way she quit her job and left town over a date she didn’t want to go on.

And then there’s that video of her. She looked scared. You could see it in her eyes. She locked in on something specific, a person, someone who was really there and saw her get on that elevator.

Today, I stop by to ask Zorch if I can see the video again. It’s probably the hundredth time I’ve looked. I know he’s getting sick of me, but I keep hoping I’ll see something else. Something that I missed.

---