Disclaimer: See Prologue
Outlaw Star: All in the Name of Love
Chapter 6: Part 2
"Hello! Anyone home?" Melfina called out as she and Suzuka walked in the door.
Jim had showed and changed into some fresh clothes. Hearing the front door open, he exited his room, still drying his hair with a towel. Spotting Melfina, even from the opposite end of the building, Jim could clearly see the changes in her appearance.
"Wow! Melfina, you look incredible!" Jim shouted.
Melfina blushed. "Thank you Jim. You really think so?"
"Well, yea… you … you… whew!" Jim smiled and blushed as well, not sure how to verbalize his thoughts.
"If you think Melfina looks beautiful now, wait until she changes into her new dress." Suzuka interjected. "Shouldn't you get ready now, Melfina?" She asked, looking up at the clock on the wall.
"You're right." The bio-android started up the stairs to her room then stopped and turned toward the kimono-clad woman. "Thank you Suzuka, I really appreciate all your help."
"It was my pleasure Melfina. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together." Suzuka faintly smiled.
"So did I. Thanks again." Melfina smiled back then proceeded to her room.
Thirty minutes later, Melfina emerged from her bedroom wearing the dress she had purchased earlier that day. It was a black chiffon halter top with a plunging neckline and a bare back that came down to where her lower back ended, just before her buttocks began. Thin black straps crisscrossed her lower back pulling the body of the dress snuggly against her frame. The bottom of the dress had a diagonal cut to it with the front of the dress coming to her mid-thigh and the back of the dress going down to her mid-calf. The bottom 5 centimeters of the dress were covered with black sequins that sparkled with the light along with the sequin shawl she wore off the shoulder. She wore nine centimeter black strapped heels and small onyx earrings that matched a gold necklace with a midsize onyx stone that rested between her breasts. As she walked to the top of the stairs, she paused before coming down.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked with a smile.
Suzuka, who was sitting at the dining table looked up from her newspaper and smiled. "You look wonderful Melfina."
Jim, who was sitting on the sofa hunched over his laptop, looked up and nearly fell off. "You look incredible Mel! Simply incredible!" He stared.
"Thank you, thank you both." She blushed as she walked down the stairs and took a few steps toward the kitchen to see what time it was. It was already past the time when Melfina would have normally served dinner but still before the time most people who ate out began filling the restaurants. She turned and walked over to the larger of the two sofas in the living area. She ran her hands down the backside of her dress and sat carefully so as not to wrinkle it. A small crease on her forehead and the downward turn of her mouth told Jim all he needed to know.
"Don't worry Mel. I'm sure Gene will be showing up any minute now. He stopped by earlier, a couple hours before you guys got home and said he had one last delivery to make, then he was going to pick up a tux and come home." He informed her with a smile.
"A tux?" The bio-android was pleasantly surprised.
"Gene Starwind in a tuxedo. Now that would be worth the price of admission." The assassin reacted.
"Yeah, that's what I said." Jim responded with a grin then turned his attention back to Melfina. "So you see, he still remembered your date and was going all out for it. In fact, I bet he's on his way home right now."
"You think so?" The girl in love replied with a weak smile.
"I'm certain of it." The boy genius grinned widely, doing his best to reassure her.
~~~
"So then I pulled my knife, side stepped him and slit him from here to here." Gene pointed from his adam's apple to the back of his neck. "Then he croaked out, 'Bad form' before collapsing dead." He and Stan both busted up laughing. This drew some stares from the many customers that now filled the nightclub. While still laughing, Stan caught a glimpse of someone walking toward them from behind Gene. He grinned wickedly and said, "Say Gene, you remember that honey who wouldn't give you the time of day?"
"How could I forget? What a babe." The outlaw smirked.
"Well, I guess distance really does make the heart grow fonder, cause every time she came in here she asked about you. Been going on for about 6 months now." Stan said with a wink.
"Are you serious?" Gene asked wide-eyed.
His friend just nodded.
"Man, what I wouldn't give to score with that bitch." Gene blurted out.
"I give up, what?" A sultry voice came from behind.
Gene spun around and found himself face to face with the most incredible looking blonde he had ever seen.
"Tiffany, what a surprise to see you here." The outlaw smiled.
"I think that's my line stud." She smiled wickedly. "So, what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?"
Realizing all the stools around the bar were occupied, Gene started to get up when he felt a hand slap him on the shoulder. "Well Gene, it's been fun catching up and all but I've got a club to run." Stan said. "See ya." He got up and left. Gene finished getting off his seat, offering it to Tiffany and sat back down on Stan's seat.
"Sure Stan, later." Gene replied, not taking his eyes off Tiffany for one second.
~~~
Well over an hour had past and still no sign of Gene. While Melfina sat patiently on the sofa, an air of tension filled the room. Finally, Jim could take no more of it.
"Gilliam, locate Captain Starwind and inform him that he needs to come home now." He snapped.
"Delay that order Gilliam." The ship's navigator said before the ship's computer could confirm Jim's order.
Jim gave her a confused look. "But why Mel? Gene should have been here almost an hour ago."
"And when he finally comes home I want it to be because he decided to, not because he was told to." She responded calmly.
Sensing the need for solitude on Melfina's part, Suzuka got up from the dining table and walked into the living area. "Jim, let's go get something to eat, It will be my treat."
"Huh?" Suzuka's offer took the boy by surprise. "Oh, yeah… sure." He finally replied, barely hiding his frustration. "Let me grab my jacket." He added as he ran up to his room.
"Thank you Suzuka." Melfina whispered.
"You're welcome." The assassin smiled.
"Okay, let's go." Jim said, returning with his jacket on. "Well Melfina, I hope…" He stopped himself, not sure what to say or how to say it.
Finally, Melfina spoke up. "Enjoy your dinner Jim." She smiled.
Jim just smiled back and followed Suzuka out the door.
The young woman stared at the door for several minutes, hoping Gene would still show up. Frustrated and disappointed, she closed her eyes and exhaled. "Where are you Gene?" She whispered to herself.
~~~
The salesman at the tuxedo rental shop looked at his watch for the 10th time in the past 20 minutes. It was already 30 minutes past his normal closing time and he was beyond impatient at this point.
"Oh, to hell with this." He double checked the lock on the front door, walked to the back of the store, shut off the lights and walked out the employee's access, heading home.
~~~
As they danced, Gene found it nearly impossible to keep his eyes off Tiffany's breasts. And from the expression on her face, he assumed she was enjoying the attention.
"So Gene, do you like the view?" She finally asked.
He grinned then laughed lightly. "It's just, well I know I've been away for awhile and we really didn't spent much time together before then but…"
"Yes?"
"Well, I just don't remember your breasts being so, so…"
"So big?" She smiled.
"Yeah," He gave a sideways grin.
"I had them done while you were gone. Do you like them?" She leaned forward a bit while arching her back.
"Yes, definitely yes." Gene assured her. "But how real do they feel?"
She took his hand into hers and guided it to her chest. "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Gene caressed her breast ever so gently; their eyes locked, their lips slowly moved closer and closer until they met in a long passionate kiss.
~~~
Neither Jim nor Suzuka were in a rush to get home. So after dinner they walked around downtown for a couple hours before heading back. They didn't expect to find anyone home and both were equally surprised to find Melfina still sitting on the sofa, just as they had left her three hours earlier. Melfina looked up towards them, hoping to see Gene walking in. When she saw it was Jim and Suzuka, an obvious look of disappointment crossed her face, though she maintained the smile she had on when she first looked up in their direction.
Jim clenched and unclenched his fists, and the sudden increase in his respiration told Suzuka exactly how the boy genius was feeling. She laid a hand on his shoulder as she closed the door behind her.
"Oh, hi Jim, Suzuka. How was dinner?" The bio-android asked politely.
"Fine, it was fine." Replied the taller woman as they walked over to the sofas.
"That's good."
Unable to retrain himself any longer, Jim slipped out from under Suzuka's gentle hold and rushed over to his friend's side.
"Melfina, please let me track that son of a bitch down. Let me kick his ass for you." He blurted out.
Melfina smiled and stroked his cheek. "No Jim, that won't be necessary."
"But it's not fair Mel; you don't deserve to be treated like this. It's not fair!" He cried, "It's not fair." Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Taking the boy in her arms, she rocked him gently and stroked his hair. "Shhh, it's all right Jim, it's all right." She reassured him.
"How can you say that Mel? It's not all right. It's wrong, it's just wrong."
She gently pushed Jim away just enough so they could see each other, face to face. She wiped away his tears with her hands and smiled at him. "No, what Gene has done is not all right, but I'm glad this happened now rather than five months from now. You and I both know Gene is a playboy. I was just naive enough to think he'd actually want to change for me. So you see, it's really for the best before I let myself become too emotionally attached." She smiled again.
"That's a very mature attitude Melfina." The other woman commented.
She looked over at the taller woman who was still standing a few steps away. "Thank you Suzuka." Turning her attention back to the boy in her arms, she continued. "So you see, everything really is all right."
Jim nodded and returned her smile. Looking down at her dress, he saw the tear stains he had left on the delicate fabric and whispered meekly. "I ruined your dress."
Melfina looked down at herself and saw the stains. "Don't worry Jim; I'm sure I can get them out."
He looked back up at her, excitement evident in his eyes. "Do you still want to go out? We can go out and celebrate our safe and successful journey, just the three of us. What do you say Melfina?"
Melfina smiled down at him and shook her head. "No, but thank you. I just want to sit here. On the off chance that Gene does come home sometime soon, I need to talk to him and I don't want to put it off. I know what I need to say to him and I don't want to wait and possibly change my mind about this."
Taking her cue from the young lady's words, Suzuka commented, "Well, I for one am quite tired. I believe I will retire for the night. Goodnight Jim, goodnight Melfina."
"Goodnight Suzuka and thank you for dinner." Jim replied.
"You're welcome Jim."
"Goodnight Suzuka." Melfina replied.
Turning her attention to Jim, she said, "You should go to bed too. A growing young man like yourself needs his rest."
Jim smiled. "Okay, goodnight Melfina."
The young woman leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight Jim, and thank you for caring so much."
Jim blushed slightly and just smiled back at her. He got up from the sofa and headed up to his room.
Melfina watched him all the way up the stairs until he entered his room. She took a deep breath and looked down at the front of her dress. Seeing the stains left behind by Jim's tears, she sighed. "No returning this thing now." She straightened herself and stared off into space as she had before Jim and Suzuka arrived. 'Be strong Melfina.' She told herself. 'Be strong.'
~~~
Upon entering the privacy suite, Gene pulled off Tiffany's dress and made short work of her thong. Falling onto the bed, Tiffany straddled him and broke their kiss, just long enough to pull his shirt off over his head. Working quickly, she pulled off his pants and shorts together and slid down onto him in one swift motion.
"Aaau!" She moaned.
Gene laid a trail of wet kisses from her lips, down her neck and to her right breast. When he bit down on her nipple, she groaned again. He reached down with both hands, grabbed her ass and began thrusting her up and down upon him vigorously.
"Oh Gene! Gene!" She called out again and again.
Gene released her nipple and worked his lips up the canyon between her mounds, along her neck, over to her ear where he licked and gently blew into it. This drew another moan from the blond as she continued to call out his name. "Gene! Gene! Gene!…"
Quietly, he whispered a name back into her ear. After hearing the name for a third time, Tiffany stopped and rolled off him. Shocked by her actions, all Gene could do was stare at her with a look of total shock on his face.
"What?" He finally asked.
"Who the hell is Melfina?" A very angry blond asked.
"Melfina?" A puzzled look crossed his face. "Melfina… Melfina!" He jumped out of bed, clasping his hands to his head. "Oh my god!" Looking from left to right, he desperately tried to make sense out of his actions but came up empty. He turned around and stared at Tiffany, who had a puzzled look on her face now. "Oh my god!" He repeated. "What have I done? What have I done?" He screamed, bending over as if in pain and squeezing his eyes tightly shut in desperate hope that all this would disappear when he re-opened them. It didn't. Thinking clearly for the first time in hours, Gene started gathering up his clothes. "I gotta get out of here."
A shocked Tiffany jumped to her knees. "What?"
"I've got to go. I was supposed to be somewhere." He took a quick look at the clock over the door. "Oh my god, I was supposed to be there hours ago."
"You unbelievable bastard. Why I changed my mind about you, I'll never know."
Gene got dressed in record time and was just getting his shoes on when he turned to the blond. "God, I'm sorry Tiffany, really I am. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"Yeah! Go to hell you bastard!" She screamed.
With that, Gene headed for the door. As he began to open it, he stopped and turned one last time, staring at Tiffany.
"What! WHAT!" She yelled.
"I'm really sorry." He said.
"GO! Get out! GET OUT!" She screamed before collapsing on the bed in tears.
Finally, Gene opened the door and walked out
Gene raced to the rental shop, hoping against hope that it was still open. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, seeing it was already closed. "Damn it. I have no other choice." He said as he raced home.
~~~
Though the warehouse that Gene and Jim called home had no windows in the front of the building, the substandard construction allowed enough light to seep out at night, informing those outside that people were still up and about inside. As Gene parked in front of the building, no such indication was visible.
The red-haired outlaw climbed out of the car and paused for a moment. 'Did she get tired of waiting for me? Is she asleep? Did she go out for the night with Jim and Suzuka?' Realizing that the answers to his questions would not be revealed to him while he stood outside, he reached for the doorknob. "Locked." He proceeded to unlock the door and opened it slowly, attempting to make as little noise as possible. The only light in the building was the faint stream of starlight that shown through the large window in the back of the building. He reached over, searching for the light switch. Flicking on the light, he instantly spotted a figure sitting on the sofa. Instinctively, he reached for his gun but he recognized who it was before the weapon left its holster. Gene breathed a sigh of relief before noticing the blank expression on Melfina's face.
"Hello Gene, good of you to come home." She said coolly. Standing up, she slowly walked toward him.
As she approached him, the outlaw got to see just how far Melfina had gone in preparing for their first date. Still in her evening dress and shoes she had purchased, and still wearing the makeup they had applied at Georgio's.
Gene couldn't help but comment. "Melfina, you look incredible, absolutely beautiful." He paused. "I've never seen anyone look…"
"STOP!" She shouted.
Caught by surprise by her sudden outburst, the outlaw did just that. Uncomfortable silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity to Gene. Finally, he decided an explanation was in order. "Melfina, it's not what you think. Let me explain."
"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened." She started. "From the look in your eyes and the smell of your breath, I'd say you got drunk on whiskey. From the smell of cheap perfume on your clothes, I'd say you met a girl. And from the lipstick on your mouth and down your neck, I'd say you ended up in a privacy suite with her. Am I close?"
Gene's hesitation told her all she needed to know. She closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to gather her strength to keep from crying.
Seeing the pain he caused her, the outlaw tried to explain. "Melfina, I'm so sorry. I didn't plan for this to happen. More than anything in the world, I wanted to take you out tonight. I even rented a tux for the evening. I had our whole date planned out, honestly."
"Where is it?" She asked.
"What? Where is what?" The redhead responded in a state of confusion.
"The tuxedo. Where is the tuxedo?" She asked again in an even tone, not betraying her emotions.
"Aau, well ya see, I got fitted for it and paid and all but by the time I went back to pick it up the store was closed. He must have closed up early."
Melfina had heard enough. "STOP! You can't even tell the truth about something as simple as this." She snapped.
"What do you mean?" Gene replied defensively. "That was the truth."
"I got a call from the tuxedo salesman at 8:15."
Gene pondered, 'How could he have called here?' When he remembered filling out an ID card with his address and phone number, he closed his eyes in self-loathing.
"He said you told him you'd pick it up at 7:00. He said the store closed at 8:00 and asked if I could contact you to tell you he'd wait 15 more minutes before he had to go." She recounted. "He didn't close early. You showed up late." Looking over at the clock in the kitchen, she continued. "You showed up four hours late."
With his head hung low, Gene confessed. "You're right. I was four hours late." He said in a low soft voice. "I went to the Silver Star to drop off the last two cases of tequila with my friend Stan and we started drinking. It was only 6:00 at the time so I figured a few drinks wouldn't hurt. His club doesn't open till 7:00 so as long as I left by the time they opened, I figured I'd be okay. But two drinks turned into four, four turned into eight and before I knew it the club was filled with customers and I felt right at home there."
Melfina was working hard to control her breathing, to control her disappointment.
"The girl, well she was someone whom I had tried to meet before but she had always shot me down. Now she was all over me and after all those drinks. I just wasn't thinking straight, I wasn't thinking at all. We talked for awhile, we danced and …" He squeezed his eyes shut hoping to chase away the image of what happened next. "We started to… we were in the middle of… but then I called out your name. I knew at that instant that what I was doing was wrong. I got up and got out of there. I raced home as fast as I could." Finally, he looked up at her, seeing she had been starting at him the whole time. "Melfina, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I swear, it will never happen again. I promise."
The beautiful young woman paused for a moment, considering her options. When she spoke, it was with an assuredness and resolve that the outlaw had never witnessed in the bio-android before.
"You're right Gene; you will never hurt me this way again. I won't give you that opportunity."
"Melfina, please."
"No Gene, no more. I've waited patiently for over a year for you to take me in your arms and tell me you cared about me, tell me you loved me. Tonight, I realized I was waiting on a dream. A dream that will never come true."
Gene reached out for her but she backed away just far enough to remain out of his reach. He lowered his hands and pleaded. "But I do care about you Melfina. Isn't what I went through at the Galactic Leyline proof enough for you?"
Melfina smiled. During her time alone sitting on the sofa, she ran every argument Gene might throw at her through her mind. This one was not unexpected. "Gene, I know you care about me, as a member of this crew, as the navigator of the Outlaw Star, even as a friend. But as a woman, as the woman you love?"
"I told you, you were special to me." He pleaded again.
"So special that you ended up in bed with another woman on our first day back to Heifong?" She replied rationally.
"I told you, I promise never to do this again." He continued.
"But you already promised, back on Cielo Rojo. You told me then that your playboy days were over. If you're going to break your promise on a day when we had something special planned together, what makes you believe you won't break it when we don't have anything planned, or after we've had a fight, or while I'm having my period?"
"But I mean it this time." He insisted.
"And what, you didn't mean it before?"
"I didn't mean that."
"Gene, it's all right. Don't beat yourself up over this. I'm not angry, really. I've just come to realize that you're not the kind of man I thought you could be, the kind of man I need." She smiled weakly.
"And what kind of man is that?" He straightened up, his defenses rising again.
"One who is passionate about life, passionate about the things that are important to him, passionate about me. Not someone who forgets I even exist after a few drinks."
Gene hung his head.
"Sorry Gene. That was low. Maybe I am a little angry after all. But the bottom line is the things I need in a man aren't the things you've shown me." She explained softly.
It took only a moment for the outlaw's defenses to rise up again. "I can't change who I am just because you want me to Melfina."
"Oh Gene, you still don't get it. I don't want you to change because you think that's what I want. I want you to be willing to change because that's what you want; because I'm important enough to you for you to want to change." She smiled at him once again then turned and headed toward the stairs. "Don't worry Gene, we'll still be friends. I'll still navigate the Outlaw Star. We just won't be anything more." She walked up the stairs then turned to him one last time. "Goodnight Gene." That said, she walked to her bedroom and closed the door.
"That's it. It's over before it ever really began." Gene whispered to himself. "The best thing ever to come into your life and you threw it away." Not knowing what to do but knowing he couldn't stay here, the young outlaw walked out the door, climbed into Jim's car and sped off into the night.
In her bedroom, Melfina cried for the first time that night. She stifled her sobs to keep from altering the others, but the tears flowed freely onto her pillow. She swore to herself never to cry in front of Gene Starwind ever again, but in the solitude of the night her tears would flow during the weeks and months to come.
~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Well, I said I'd have the second part up much sooner and for once I was able to keep my promise. ^__^ I hope you enjoyed the unexpected turn of events. I couldn't make things go too smoothly for them, could I? But like I said in the description, this is a M/G romance so eventually things will turn around for them. It's just going to take some time. By the way, Aisha will be making a couple of appearances by way of reflections on the part of the other crewmembers. Some elements of my other OLS fic, "The Rise before the Fall" will be mentioned in them, mostly in the second Aisha account. While it's not essential to read it to know what's going on, it surely wouldn't hurt.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will take a minute to let me know by way of a review. I really do appreciate all your comments and criticisms as long as they are constructive. ^_^
Also, I want to take a moment to thank my new beta-reader, Janice. I really do appreciate all you do for me. ^_^
A. Amishi