Broken Flyght – Chapter 16

The sky has opened up, and it’s pouring down rain by the time I make it out to Marcelo’s shuttle. He opens the door and ushers me in quickly.

“Wow, it’s really coming down now. I’m going to be soaked once I get back to the hotel.”

“Vivian, it’s good to see you,” he says, obviously relieved. He clutches both of my shoulders in his steady hands. “How are you?”

I should be strong and tell him I’m totally fine. My world is falling apart (again), and I’m just peachy, thanks. But my throat and eyes burn before I can stop them.

“I’m shit. Really, really… just broken.”

I burst into tears, but they turn hot and angry swiftly. I growl and swear, stomping my feet and pacing the room in a rage. Marcelo backs away.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you.”

“But you are mad.” He grabs a soft blanket and wraps it around my shoulders as I calm down. “Sit, Ms. Vivian. Let me make coffee. I have news for you about Sean.”

“Let me guess,” I say, letting the anger fester in my voice even as I pull the blanket closer around my shoulders. “He’s not really available for dating. He’s run away from his current girlfriend, Alipha Cardoso.”

Marcelo pulls back in surprise. “It appears I don’t have to do the detective work around here. You have that covered.”

He opens his small galley and pulls out his coffee maker. It seems I come to Marcelo for both advice and coffee. It’s what we do when we’re here together in his shuttle.

“I’m going to fucking wring his neck.” The air huffing through my nose is scalding hot.

“Vivian.” Marcelo’s voice is full of warning. “We will not hurt this boy. We’re going to figure out how to fire him and send him home.”

He waits while the coffee pot fills up, and all I can think about is what an abject failure this trip has been. I haven’t found Tomu. And now I’ve lost both engineers and courted more scandal by going after two men who belong to other women.

I groan as I lean forward and rest my forehead on his table.

I could fall asleep right here, close my eyes and drift away. And I wish I could. I wish I could ignore the world and hibernate.

No such luck.

The heavy thunk of ceramic on thick plastic brings my head up, and I sniff the sweet smell of coffee.

“You always have the best coffee. Thanks,” I say, wrapping my hand around the mug.

“Just don’t inhale it this time. I think I found coffee splatters on my pilot’s chair from the last time.”

“Sorry. Again.”

Marcelo’s smile is warm and forgiving. I was a righteous bitch that day, and I still feel awful for yelling at him and letting my temper get the better of me.

“What am I going to do without an engineer? And now we’re back to the beginning with consorts too. I’m so sorry.”

Marcelo’s eyes widen. “What happened with Jinzo? I was just about to do another round of digging on him, but my first round found nothing amiss. No contacts with Athens Industries for him or his family. Nothing beyond a purely technical nature.”

“You knew about his previous relationship network…”

He hesitates and swallows hard. “Yes. Of course. It was in the report I gave you.”

As he reaches for his datapad, I continue to prod. “Did you know he only left that network four months ago? Did you know Cressida Briar-Stevenson wants him back?”

I hate holding Marcelo’s feet to the fire, but he’s supposed to be helping me, not making things more difficult.

He scrolls through information on his datapad when he freezes and taps on something. “That would explain the messages I received from Darron Stevenson this morning. The name didn’t ring any bells with me, so I put them in the queue to watch later.”

He taps his datapad and a request to share the video comes through to my wristlet. I accept, and we both watch the vidcall.

“Hello, this is Darron Stevenson, Director of Relationship Networks for the Briar-Stevenson family. I’m currently searching for a member of Ms. Cressida’s network, Mr. Jinzo Lee. He was spotted on Oitavo, outside of the Casino Carnaval Atlantico, with Ms. Vivian Kawabata, a young lady we believe you represent.” He sighs, and it looks staged but weary. “I hate to do this, but Ms. Cressida has contacted him several times, and Mr. Lee has not returned her calls. You should know that, even though he formally disengaged from Ms. Cressida’s relationship network one-hundred and thirty-five days ago, he told Ms. Cressida that, should relations improve between the two, he would return. It’s not” — he bobs his head side to side — “illegal for him to be engaged with a new relationship network, especially since the contract was dissolved, but he did make a verbal promise to try to work things out. As you know, this is sometimes just as good as a contract in a court of law. Ms. Cressida is distraught and worried that he’s being taken advantage of by this new woman, though I have assured her that’s not the case. I would appreciate it if you would return my call as soon as possible so we can resolve this matter. Thank you.”

Angry Vivian and Sad Vivian fight an all-out epic battle in my chest.

“What a passive-aggressive asshole,” I hiss out. “Distraught and worried that he’s being taken advantage of?” My voice has turned cold and mocking. “What the fuck?”

Marcelo blinks at my petty attitude. Every day he sees a new side of me.

“I can see it now. Fucking Cressida will be calling into OEN to talk about what a cunning harpy I am, how I stole her man, and how I hoodwinked him into being with me.”

Marcelo remains quiet.

“Marcelo,” I say his name to grab his attention. “I went on an incredible date with him, and he’s perfect for me. He was funny and kind. He took charge of situations without being a dick about it. He seemed to actually care about me, instead of just wanting to date me for my land or higher status. He even said I’m —” a sob bubbles up and my eyes water “— amazing.”

He never said ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’ and I have to thank him for that because I would know that he was lying. But ‘amazing’ I can get behind, even if he did change his mind later. No one thinks their date is amazing and then goes on to watch a vidcall from their former lover five times.

I use my full palm to wipe the tears from my face.

“That’s the type of man I need on this journey. I need men who care, who can provide support. I can’t have this backstabbing shit.”

“I agree, Ms. Vivian. This is…” He shakes his head. “This is unacceptable.”

“How did this happen? Two of them!”

Marcelo’s keen face is stern and solemn. “It’s extremely unlucky. I’ve encountered plenty of liars in my time. A few women who tried to sell me a sad story in order to not pay for my services. But mostly men who find some way to doctor up their resumé or buy off people to vouch for them. But I’ve never had two at once like this.”

I groan and set my forehead on the table again. I’m beat, and I could use a nap. But I’ve been told by both Jinzo and Ai not to sleep again until bedtime.

“Luck has never been on my side. Mom used to say that there was no luck, only hard work.” I lift my head and lean to the side, resting my cheek on my hand. “I asked Ai to look into Jinzo for me. He received a recent vidcall from Cressida and watched it five times in a row after our date last night. Whatever is between them, it’s not over. He’s probably waiting back at the hotel to dump me, anyway. Cressida Briar-Stevenson is a catch, and I’m nothing next to her. He must have realized that after our date.” I force myself to stand up and drink the coffee. It’s hot, but it goes down the hatch in one big gulp. “I’ll go break things off with him before he can dump me and send him on his way. I’m done with all of this. Done.”

“Vivian, please…” It looks like he’s about to tell me to calm down when he thinks better of it. “Please, I’ll handle this.”

“No. It’s best if I do it and do it soon. I’ll be honest, but I’ll be sure to end it. I need you to work out a quick severance package for him. I should pay him for the work he did on the Amagi.”

Marcelo stares up at me for a long second before rising to his feet and joining me.

“You’re a smart and fair woman, Ms. Vivian. You may not be lucky, but the men you end up with will be.”

“Ha.” The startled laugh bursts from my lips, and I use my full hands to wipe down my face and try to look presentable. “I’m angry as hell, Marcelo. Angry and disappointed. I’m light-years from being smart and fair. I feel like a total fool, and I only see one way out of this whole mess.”

I hand Marcelo his blanket.

“What are you going to do?”

“Something no one else was willing to do.”

Marcelo does not look happy with my answer, but I don’t have time to explain.

I only have a short amount of time to fix this mess, get back to the hotel, and break things off with Jinzo.

I grab my umbrella from next to the airlock door.

“I’ll call you when I’ve fixed this, and we can discuss how to move on from there.”

“I don’t like this. Whatever you’re about to do, just think it through before you make any decisions,” he insists, following me to the door.

I duck out of his shuttle and wave as I run down the airdock to the passenger terminal. I thought I was going to continue my father’s work of finding more seeds on this world to grow and sell.

I’m too unlucky to consider that now.

Time for a new strategy.