A/N: Alright, it's that time again, folks. Today's chapter submission is actually only part of my original Chapter 44. After a lot of deliberation, I decided to break it up into two parts. This little "experiment" of mine, where I am drastically increasing the size of chapters to help speed the story along, is not really working out with the intended results. It's taking me far too long to write each chapter and I'm afraid that you guys will start to lose interest in the story because of the large gaps of time in between postings. So, here's how it's gonna work out: This chapter is part 1 of 2, both of which will become the new Chapters 44 and 45. I finished my original Chapter 45 yesterday, but I will break that up into either 2 or 3 chapters... probably 3. My Chapter 45 ended up coming out at almost twenty eight THOUSAND words. There's more than enough content to make four regular-sized chapters, there! So, even though I haven't been posting as regularly as you'd like, I've been dutifully hammering away at my keyboard, creating a lot of new content.
What this means is that I will be posting much more regularly, sticking to the old format of six to eight thousand words per chapter. The new Chapter 45 will have 15k words, and then I will start to break up my OLD Chapter 45 (the one I just finished writing yesterday). Also, that means that there are about 4 chapters of completed content between this one and my next chapter, which I haven't started working on yet. The good news? Expect more frequent updates. The bad news? The updates will just have less meat on them, that's all... ;)
On the personal front, I am at the end of my little three-week vacation from school. I start my summer classes on Monday and I'm taking 11 units through the two summer semesters at my local community college. My last semester came out pretty decent. I ended up knocking out 22 units (three units were a wintermester class, but it still counts as a spring class), and ended up with 3 A's and 3 B's. Not good enough! lol... I realized that I had bitten off more than I could comfortably chew and I should have spent more time studying. The lesson? I'm not taking such a heavy load again, unless I just stop working a part-time job altogether. All of that course load on top of a 30-hour work week was really starting to kick my ass at the end of the semester and I blew off studying for my finals for my classes... The result? I did very shitty on all of my finals. So, as the saying goes, "Everything went better than expected!" since I still managed to eke out 3 A's and 3 B's. I'm going to reduce my work hours to about 15 per week, since the summer classes are on a compressed schedule. I'll be busy, but I am planning my schedule out so I'll have the weekends all to myself. That means that I should have time each week to work on some writing and keep things moving along.
Once I am finished with my summer classes, I will be working on transferring myself to the university. In case anyone is wondering, I will be attending the University of Texas at Arlington for the next three years. I'm moving onto the campus, so there may be a slight delay in postings towards mid-August while I get situated in my new living arrangements. Until then, we'll have a couple of months in which to get a few more chapters posted. I might actually post the next chapter sometime shortly after this week. Keep an eye out for a quick update, but enjoy this one in the meantime! -(06/05/11)
A peaceful calm filled the air while Cal rested comfortably on his bed. Subconsciously, he shifted his head slightly to nestle his face even deeper into the soft pillow. It felt as if there was a heat source built into the cushioning; even his blankets were warmer than usual. They seemed to be heavy enough to keep his legs and torso pressed into the mattress. It was as if he was sleeping in one of the beds at a luxury hotel. Just like hunger is the best spice for any food, exhaustion always makes one's bed too cozy to resist.
Unfortunately, his serene slumber was interrupted by the sound of a nearby door opening and closing. A feeling of paranoia suddenly swept over him, as if someone might be trespassing into his room to wake him again. After opening his eyes, a quick visual sweep around the room showed that nothing seemed to be out of place and the door remained firmly shut. Cal then sighed in relief and let his head fall back down onto the pillow, so he could further enjoy the sensation of overwhelming comfort he was experiencing at the time.
Not but a few moments later, a series of slight vibrations began to shake his bed and they only seemed to increase in intensity with each successive incident, before weakening again. The vibrations resembled footsteps, leading Cal to wonder if someone was operating a Work Destroid near the house. Unable to resist investigating the source of the racket, he decided to sit up and look out of the window next to his bed. However, the blankets that had been weighing him down and keeping him warm now felt like they were impossible to move. He struggled to remove them with his arms, but to no avail. With all of his might, he pushed upwards on the comforter to free his body and winced his face while focusing on the task at hand.
His strength quickly gave out and he relaxed his arms, allowing the blankets to fall back onto him with their heavy weight. He then opened his eyes to find himself in another place. He was no longer in his own bed, but trapped in place in some other environment. Cal looked around to get a bearing on his location and began to remember why he was stuck in that position. Tufts of long, blue hair had fallen all around him, reminding him of what had happened the night before. The same rhythmic vibrations from his dream began again, signaling him, through the solid countertop, of nearby footsteps.
"Nene? Is that you?" Cal strained to call out, hoping someone would hear.
She had just entered the kitchen area near the pass-through where she had been serving drinks to Klan the night before. Upon hearing Cal's faint voice, she stopped moving and looked around. Her head turned left and right several times before she gave up on trying to find the source of the voice on her own. "Cal?" she softly asked. She continued to pan her eyes around the room on her search.
"Yeah! Get me out of here!"
Nene began to triangulate Cal's position after hearing him speak again and she approached the countertop upon which Klan was still sleeping. She caught sight of Cal waving one of his freed arms to get her attention. It was all he could do, since his body was mostly concealed by Klan's arm and face. What could be seen above that was partially covered by her hair. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed as she lurched forward to free him. She gently tilted Klan's head away and pulled her arm back to free him.
Cal stood up and practically ran away from the location of his former prison. He stopped after several paces and straightened out his clothes. He forcefully exhaled as he dusted off his pants and shirt. He held something in his hand, out of sight of Nene, and exclaimed in frustration, "Aw, goddammit!"
"What happened?" Nene asked, trying not to make light of Cal's predicament. A slight laugh still made its way into her voice.
"She got drunk and passed out. I couldn't get myself out of there!" He was hiding something behind his back and stuffed it into his pocket.
"I can see that. ...but I want to know how you got caught between her arm and her face like that!" Nene had already formed a couple of guesses in her mind, but she asked anyways.
"Wait a minute..." Cal replied with a bit of disdain in his voice, "You're not even surprised that she passed out drunk? You meant to get her drunk, didn't you?"
Nene rolled her eyes and blew her hair out of her face with a heavy sigh. A smile creased its way across her face after she looked back at Cal again, confirming her guilt. "Yes, but only just a little. I didn't think she'd drink so much that she'd eventually pass out."
"Why the hell would you want to get her drunk and then leave us all alone like that?" Cal's demeanor was beginning to reach an infuriated state. After all, he could have been crushed to death if things had gone slightly differently.
"I figured that if she got a few drinks into her, she'd finally show some honesty towards you. It's ridiculous how you two just can't seem to be straightforward with each other. I instructed Will to get you to down a few beers with the hopes that you'd also lose some of your inhibitions and you two could finally speak with each other on more frank terms."
"Goddammit, Nene. You didn't even consider the possibility of something like this happening?" Cal asked, referencing the predicament in which he had spent the entire night.
"Well, if you mean 'spending the night together', yes," she replied with a laugh.
Cal did not find her joke to be amusing at all and fumed while he stood on the countertop, glaring up at Nene. "Not funny at all." He just folded his arms in front of him and glared upwards at her.
"So, how did you end up in that spot, Cal? What were you two doing with each other?" She couldn't wait for his answer and fought hard to hold down the urge to squeak out in joy.
"It's not what I did, it's what she did. I insisted on leaving and she wouldn't let me go. We talked about how it seemed like you were setting us up in that situation. Then all of a sudden, she just started apologizing for generally ignoring me and behaving the way she does around me. Although it was refreshing to hear her say such things, I knew that she was only doing it because she was drunk. Then she just suddenly got all... frisky with me before she passed out."
"Oh, I don't know about that, Cal," Nene casually replied. She didn't seem to want to accept his words as the truth.
"Come on... Everyone knows that people can become brutally honest when they've been drinking. Even you admitted that that was your intention." Cal stopped talking and looked back at the sleeping Klan next to him. He sighed heavily before continuing, "She even admitted to hugging me earlier this morning when she was making me run up that hill in the park."
"Oh yeah, she did tell me about how she made you run up the hill with her on your back. I was wondering what the heck she was going to do with that riding crop that she had bought and now I know!" Nene laughed.
"Yeah, well... she initially denied it, but she confessed to hugging me while I was carrying her. Again, it took alcohol to drag it out of her." Cal winced and shook his head as he had finally convinced himself to answer Nene's initial question. "I am pretty sure she tried to kiss me last night and that's how I got stuck in that position all night. She passed out just as she was about to do it and trapped me between her head and arm."
Countless motes of light seemed to form in Nene's eyes upon hearing his admission. "Oh... my... god..." she slowly uttered, covering her mouth with one hand. A high-pitched, sustained squeak quietly emitted from within Nene, almost as if it had uncontrollably erupted from inside of her body.
"Stop that!" Cal demanded as he shot a glare back up towards Nene. "It doesn't mean anything. She was drunk, alright?"
Nene still hopped in place out of glee, but she tried her best to remain quiet. Putting herself back together, she regained a more serious composure. "Okay, I'm better now. Why didn't you call me? I would have come back to get you out."
"First of all, I couldn't even reach my phone while I was trapped in there. Second of all, it wouldn't have mattered anyways because of this," Cal said as he finally showed his PDA in his hand. It was completely destroyed, crushed under Klan's weight during the night. The screen was shattered, and the device had nearly popped completely in half at the seams along the outside edges. There was no sign of activity from the phone. He tried his best to not let it get to him and instead deeply sighed to release that frustration out in a non-negative way. Shaking his head, Cal turned back towards Klan to watch her continue sleeping. He just didn't seem to be able to turn away. "There's something mesmerizing about watching her sleep, Nene."
"Why's that?"
"I don't know... It's just different than when she's awake. She's like a dynamo; a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy, hell-bent on accomplishing everything she tasks herself with... and making sure that I'm staying on-track with my own life," he said with a slight laugh. "Then I see her when she's asleep, and it's hard to believe that I'm looking at the same person. It's truly a beautiful sight to see." He reached over to Klan with his hand and cleared a few tufts of her hair away from her face. She still continued the same slow-paced breathing as she had done all night long.
Nene noticed Cal's sincere expression and had to ask. "You really are in love with her, aren't you?"
He looked up at Nene and was surprised to see that she remained serious in her composure, instead of being giddy like before. Following a deep sigh, he managed to, once again, answer the question without evading it, "Yeah. I am. I just wish that I could tell her exactly what I think of her, but I'm always afraid that she won't take it very well. She might not feel the same way."
"That's preposterous, Cal. Did you forget what she told you and what she did to you last night- or, at least tried to do?" Nene asked with another slight laugh.
"It doesn't mean anything when she's drunk. Maybe there's a reason she hasn't said anything to me."
"Perhaps, but... Nevermind." Nene shifted her posture a bit, since she had been leaning onto the counter from the side opposite of Klan. "What is it that's so difficult to say to her? What would you say if you could?"
Cal glared at Nene out of the corner of his eyes, almost cursing her for asking such invasive questions. However, he seemed to be even more upset about the fact that he couldn't resist answering them. Following a heavy sigh, he proceeded, "Every time I see her, I get those damn butterflies in my stomach. Even when she calls me on the phone, it makes my heart beat faster. I try so hard not to let myself be affected by my attraction to her, but it's almost impossible to do so." He cleared another few tufts of hair from her face and walked around to the other side of her head. He continued to inspect her face for inspiration for his words. "So angelic..." he muttered.
"What?"
"Angelic. It's almost like she's a guardian angel. Ever since I met her, she's made it a point to be there for me when I need her the most. Even when we constantly fought with each other back on the Quarter, there was always something keeping us from coming completely apart. No matter what, I now know that she'll make it her business to keep me out of trouble and on the right track of life. I guess that's how she usually is."
"Yeah..." Nene trailed off, "I know exactly what you mean. I've seen her do it with the people that matter most to her, even though she'll never admit it. But with you, it's almost as if you're some kind of project. She's more focused on you than she usually is."
"Quit encouraging me," Cal said with a laugh. He didn't want to hear such positive things about the situation. He'd much rather keep a realistic point of view on things, so he won't get his hopes up so much. "I am glad to hear that, though. It's not often that someone would dedicate their efforts towards bettering myself. For that, I'm grateful. I just wish there was a way that I could show my appreciation."
"When a simple 'thanks' isn't good enough, huh?"
Cal nodded his head, "She just doesn't know that I'd do anything for her. She is beautiful to me." He gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. He then lifted his hand and replaced it near the corner of her eye.
Almost as if it was a reflex, Klan flinched by squinting her eye. Her skin then slowly returned back to a relaxed position. Cal casually performed the same touch, only to find the same reaction.
Taking note of her reaction to his contact, Cal retracted his hand and began to show embarrassment in his face. He cleared his throat and backed away from Klan, as if he had made some kind of mistake. "Well, I'd better get out of here before we wake her up," he said as he headed over to the nearby table for his jacket. "All of this talking right next to her is probably not doing her any good."
After agreeing with him, Nene walked over to the front door to let Cal outside after he had managed to make it to the floor on his own. "Don't worry, Cal. I have a feeling that she'll come around to you real soon."
Cal couldn't help but shake his head and smile at Nene's unflinching optimism. "Do me a favor and make sure that she gets plenty of water once she wakes up. She's probably going to have a massive headache then."
"Awww, That's so sweet of you to be so considerate for her," Nene swooned.
"I told you to cut that out!" Cal jokingly demanded. He held up an unopened package of pretzels that he had stolen from the snack tray before he hopped off of the counter and onto the adjacent couch earlier. "Thanks for 'breakfast'. I'll see you later."
Nene happily bid him a goodbye before closing the door and heading back into the kitchen area. She immediately met his request by filling up a large tumbler with water from the nearby faucet and placed it next to Klan's head so she'd be able to drink from it whenever she finally awoke from her sleep. After cleaning up the countertop, Nene left her sister still sleeping on the barstool and headed into her room to freshen up a bit.
Not even a minute after closing her own door behind her, she heard a series of faint footsteps passing by her door. The sound of Klan's bedroom door latching shut caused her to quickly investigate. Nene re-opened her door and saw that the bedroom door across the hall was now closed. The barstool upon which Klan had been sleeping was now vacant, and the large glass of water that she had placed onto the counter was missing.
Nene tiptoed across the hallway to put her ear against Klan's door. The distinct sound of rustling blankets could be heard on the other side. "Klan? Are you okay?" she softly asked. She received no answer. There was now no sound coming from inside of the room. She had mixed feelings about everything that had just transpired. Part of her felt like what she had done was the correct course of action, but there were nagging doubts in her mind about it all. Cal was determined to not get caught up in his emotions, but at least he was frank with her about his feelings for her sister. She then began to consider the stunning possibility that Klan was able to hear some, if not all, of her conversation with Cal. It didn't take very long before Klan woke up and she did it when Nene was not in the room to say anything to her about it.
…
"I'm out here near the gateway to Laplamiz, where protesters have organized a rally to help get their message out," a reporter declared in response to the news anchors' query, "As you can see, a lot of people have already arrived for the event and many more are expected to show up as the day goes on. So far, everything has been pretty calm and cheery."
The television broadcast set the reporter's video into a smaller box in the corner, revealing the news anchors sitting behind their desk in the studio. "Can you tell us a few details as to why these people have chosen to spend their valuable time at such an event? What do they stand for?"
"Well, among other things, they are here to express their disapproval of the administration's policies. Namely, their outright refusal to institute a mandatory micloning policy for Zentrans, the continuing war against a seemingly-nonexistent enemy, and for allowing such a mass-immigration of Zentraedi, which has thrown off the population representation from its previous levels. Resource availability is on the forefront of everyone's priority lists."
Watching the morning news program from the comfort of Ozma's couch, Cathy expressed a bit of her disapproval. "I really love how these news programs only highlight these so-called 'grassroots' political movements, as if they're the greatest thing since sliced bread," she declared as she sat up from her previous position on Ozma's lap, "I've yet to see any of these 'journalists' actually do any journalism work. They're just a misinformation outlet for anti-administration dissenters."
Ozma's approach to the issue wasn't quite antagonistic. He just wanted to make sure Cathy wasn't blindly charging into the issue. "Well, if that's what gets them their ratings, then it's the fault of the viewers for not fact-checking the media. People have a right to protest their government's actions."
"I know that, Ozma," she replied with a bit of impatience, "It's just that someone needs to come out and call them on their bullshit, you know?"
"Why don't you do it?"
"Oh, believe me, I'd love to. But, I can't risk getting myself into hot water. You have seen how easy it is for these people to convince their viewers of anything they want. Next thing I know, I'd have a thousand people petitioning the Joint Chiefs to relieve me of my position," she replied while shaking her head in disgust. "I'd almost pay to see someone stand up to the media and expose them for the frauds that they are."
"I'm sure it'll happen at some point, Hon," Ozma said as he tugged at her shoulders from behind to get her to lay down again.
Just as she began to acquiesce to his physical gesture, the sound of the garage door opening could be heard through the wall on the other side of the living room. "There he is..." Ozma muttered under his breath.
About a minute passed before Cal opened the door leading to the garage and noticed Ozma and Cathy on the couch. He hesitated to walk into the living room, thinking that perhaps it wasn't a good time for him to come gallivanting into Ozma's house. "Oh, umm..." he stammered, stopping his forward velocity mid-stride.
"Welcome back. Late night drinking?" Ozma playfully asked.
"You could say that..." Cal replied with a relieved sigh. He smiled at Cathy as he closed the door behind him and walked around the living room furniture towards the kitchen. She simply smiled in return and remained silent while she laid in Ozma's lap. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything special," Cal's voice echoed from inside of the kitchen.
"No, all the the 'action' happened awhile ago, so you missed it," Cathy replied with a laugh.
"Shh!" Ozma chided, smiling after slightly jerking her shoulder to silence her. He laughed off the slight feeling of discomfort Cathy's comment had caused him.
"Oh yeah?" Cal laughed, still in the kitchen. It sounded like he was rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat. "I'm glad I didn't come home last night, then."
"Where were you, anyway? You never came home after you left with Klan early yesterday morning," Ozma asked.
"We managed to have a little Pixie Team reunion last night. I ended up sleeping at their place because I had a few too many drinks." A half-truth, but a well-constructed one. It was designed to throw Ozma off of the scent trail.
"Yeah, I remember those days..." Ozma casually remarked. Those years quickly came and went for him, even though he was now a rather young 28 years old. He had spent his early adult years as a father-figure to Ranka, but he managed to occasionally find time to have some drinks with his friends back then. Now, he had a career and relationship to keep him out of any kinds of trouble that late-night drinking might bring.
Cal emerged from the kitchen, holding a cold slice of pizza in his hand. He was still chewing his first bite as he stood behind the couch upon which Ozma and Cathy were sitting. He watched the news program for a moment before reacting in a way that was similar to Cathy. "Rabble-rousers!" he simply declared with a shake of his head.
Suddenly, Cathy became interested in Cal's reaction. She sat up and looked at him from behind the couch cushions. "I was just talking about this with Ozma before you came in. What do you think about all of this?"
Cal looked down towards Cathy and swallowed his bite so he could answer. "All of this has been done so many times before in the history of our civilization. Those people probably have no idea that they're being manipulated; that they're just helping someone else come into power. So many times in Earth's history has someone led a peoples' revolt against the government, deposed the leadership, and then the power vacuum is always filled in by some brutally despotic totalitarian regime. Everyone remembers the revolutionary figure, but they don't realize that their 'idol' is responsible for bringing a new level of oppression onto the people."
A moment of silence filled the room, except for the television still playing in the background. "That's a bit different of an answer than I expected, but yeah, that's all pretty true," Cathy remarked with hesitation, "Say, if I remember correctly, you mentioned to me that you might be interested in public service after you get out of the NUNS. Has that desire changed at all?"
"Well, I haven't given it much more thought since then. Right now, I'm just focused on doing my job as a combat pilot. What these people don't realize is that we're in a state of war against an extremely dangerous enemy. The last thing we need right now is an internal war; this colony is vulnerable enough as it is. Maybe after all of this conflict is over and I've served out my term of service... we'll see..." he replied with a shrug.
Such an honest and accurate answer was refreshing to Cathy. She smiled and nodded at his response. "You gotta do what you gotta do..." Quickly changing the subject, she had to make a remark about his diet. "Are you really eating cold pizza for breakfast?"
"Of course I am. It's a breakfast of champions!"
Ozma had to chime in agreement, "Oh yeah. You've never had cold pizza for breakfast before?"
"God, no," Cathy replied with a look of disgust on her face. She even physically recoiled to increase her distance from the accursed food in Cal's hand nearby. "Someone needs to teach you boys how to cook decent food for yourselves. Honestly, if it wasn't for us women, you'd probably all be shoveling dirt into your mouths at mealtime." Ozma and Cal snickered at her reaction while they watched her get up from the couch. She straightened out her clothes and finished her miniature diatribe, "Well, at least one of you won't have to worry about the cooking thing for much longer..."
Just as Cathy started to smooth out her shirt with her hands, Ozma gently grabbed her left hand and placed it behind her back. "Cathy..." he said with a hushing tone. He then let go of her hand.
"Oh... yeah..." she quietly replied with a nervous laugh, "Anyway, I'd love to stick around, but I have a few things to take care of at the office before tomorrow."
To avoid any discomfort, Cal turned to watch the television while Ozma and Cathy doted on each other before saying their goodbyes. Once they were done, Cathy smoothly made her way past Cal towards the door, making a conscious effort to hide whatever was in her hand behind her back. A casual goodbye and she was gone from sight.
Cal took another bite from his "breakfast" and remarked to Ozma, who was folding a blanket and fixing the couch cushions. "She's a good woman," he said with his mouth full of food, "I'm sure you feel lucky to have her, Commander."
Ozma chose not to verbally answer Cal's statement, but his physical gesture did all of the agreeing. "You know, you can just call me 'Ozma'." His request seemed to come out of left field.
It obviously caught Cal by surprise. "You sure about that?"
"I appreciate that you've continued to refer to me in a formal fashion, but all of the veteran members of the squadron refer to me on a first-name basis. You've been with us for a few months and survived the first campaign. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that you've eased your way into the 'family'."
A satisfied grin crept across Cal's face. It was refreshing to hear the squadron commander accepting him as a "veteran".
"Of course, only do it in a casual fashion. The rules still apply when we're in a formal setting, such as being on-duty," Ozma added.
"Oh, yeah... I totally understand."
Ozma finished his chore and strolled around the living room, making sure everything was straightened and in order. "By the way, have you put in a housing request for yourself?" Cal shook his head. "Go ahead and get that done as soon as possible. I'm going to be changing living arrangements after we return from our next tour of duty." He made note of Cal's sudden look of guilt. "Don't worry, it's not that I'm trying to get rid of you. You're welcome to stay here until we finally ship out, but once we get back, I need the house cleared."
"Oh, okay. You're moving?"
Ozma laughed at the obvious question. "All questions will be answered tomorrow at the picnic. I've got a ton of announcements to make, including some information about our next deployment orders."
"Understood! I've got some errands to run today. I'll get that taken care of while I'm out," Cal said as he grabbed his jacket and began to head back into the garage to get on the road again. "Don't worry," he said as he held the door open to look back at Ozma, "I won't tell anyone about you and Miss Cathy." He smiled and shut the door behind him, leaving Ozma wondering what exactly he meant about that.
…
Nene had been enjoying the peace and quiet by wrapping herself up with a blanket on the couch and burying her face into the latest edition of her favorite fashion magazine. A cup of hot cocoa sat next to her on the endtable. For the last half hour or so, she had been hearing some activity coming from her sister's room. Her curiosity was quickly subdued by the sound of the bedroom door opening from behind where she sat. "That was a quick nap. Feeling any better?" she asked as she turned around to see Klan coming out of the hallway. Upon seeing her sister, her smile turned into a look of indifference. "Oh, I thought I heard the shower running, but I was too lazy to get up and find out for myself."
Klan was putting the finishing touches onto her NUNS uniform on her way into the kitchen. She filled up a large water bottle from the faucet as she replied to Nene, "Yeah, I got called in to the base. There's some impromptu meeting that they need me for. It doesn't sound good, to be honest..." she trailed off. She popped a couple of pills into her mouth before taking a swig from her bottle. The pills were most likely for her headache.
There were a few questions burning a hole through Nene's head at that moment, but one seemed to jump out at her. "By the way, did you hear anyone talking near you before you woke up this morning?"
Klan was already on her way out the door, but her stride slowed down for a moment upon hearing Nene's question. "Nope, not a thing," she answered with very little hesitation. She opened the door and looked at her sister once more before slamming it shut behind her.
Nene didn't really want to over-analyze Klan's reaction, and instead chose to bury her face back into her magazine to get her mind off of things.
…
"Hmm... I like the pattern, but the it doesn't go well with your hair color," Bobby remarked as he inspected a bolt of cloth laid out before him on the table. He rummaged through the shelf that was stocked with countless varieties of cloth.
Jen quietly stood beside him, unsure of whether or not she should throw any suggestions in. After all, he was the expert at things like this.
"Ah! This is perfect!" he exclaimed, pulling another bolt out of the plethora of colors and patterns, "Now, I just need to get a few supplies and we'll be done here."
They both headed to the cashier near the front entrance. Lam and Mena were standing near the front, admiring a dress that was fitted onto the window mannequin. Outside of the window, many patrons could be seen walking by in front of the store and the occasional car would slowly pass by on the road. Another row of shops lined the other side of the street.
Just as they finished their transaction, Jen and Bobby headed towards the store's exit when Bobby stopped in his tracks and peered into the distance. "Oh, I don't believe it..." he muttered. The other three women were confused at his sudden statement, but they soon realized why he wore a slightly surprised look.
Across the street, Cal walked along the sidewalk while he read a pamphlet from one hand and occasionally glancing over to his phone in the other. He carried a small plastic bag with a store logo on it, indicating that he had been doing some shopping of his own.
Without saying a word, Bobby snatched Jen's phone from her hand and furiously scrolled through her address book.
"Hey!" Jen exclaimed at his audacity. Taking note of the mischievous look on Bobby's face, she immediately knew of what he was thinking. "You'd better not be calling him!"
"Don't worry, I'm not calling him," he replied. His gaze was fixed on her phone's screen while his thumbs were busily tapping out a message. Before Jen could realize what exactly he was doing, he finished his business and handed it back to her. "There you go. You're welcome."
After a couple of second's delay, Cal stopped walking and wore a bit of a surprised look on his face. He punched a couple of keys on his phone before reading the message that Bobby had sent to him. He nervously looked up and around him, as if he was afraid of something.
Jen read the message that Bobby had sent and turned red with embarrassment. "Bobby! How could you? Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you're getting me into right now?"
He simply smiled, shrugged, and waved towards Cal to get his attention from across the street.
Cal took notice of Bobby flailing his arms above his head and began to piece together the facts. After grunting in frustration, he checked both sides of the street for any vehicle traffic before dashing off towards Jen, Bobby, Lam, and Mena.
As Cal approached, Jen felt it absolutely necessary to clear up any misconceptions. "I'm sorry, Cal! Bobby stole my phone and texted that message to you!" she exclaimed as she elbowed Bobby in the side.
Although the facts had been set straight, Cal felt even more uncomfortable, having received such a suggestive text from another man. He tried not to let it affect his demeanor too much, although some apprehension found its way into his speech. "Oh. I was confused for a moment there... It's a good thing you cleared that up. Now, I just feel a little awkward."
"What, you've never been hit on by a man before?" Bobby asked, as if the very question was absurd. He quickly dissolved the discomfort of the situation, "Don't worry, I was just kidding anyway. My heart belongs to another, anyways..."
Cal waited for Bobby to tell him who that person was, but got no answer. He then looked at Jen, curious for any kind of information.
"Later," she said as she turned his shoulders to point him in the same direction that they were heading. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was gadget shopping," he replied, "I had to get a new phone because my old one got smashed. I decided to downsize to a regular phone this time."
"How?"
A brief silence followed Jen's question before Cal answered, "Later." He then looked at the motley crew of bridge bunnies all around him and noticed that something was out of place. "Say... Isn't there supposed to be another one...?" Everyone remained silent, as if they had no idea of whom he was referring. "The one with short, orange-ish hair? The radar officer?"
"Oh, you mean Monica," Lam replied with definite sarcasm in her voice.
"Yeah, her..." Cal rolled his eyes at the response, knowing full well that they were stretching him out a bit.
"She's got some official business to take care of at NUNS HQ. She's attending the round-table for her promotion right now," Mena replied.
"Promotion?" Cal was feeling a little bit of envy, but he realized that he'd just been promoted too. "Good for her," he said with confidence, "I hope she passes."
"Speaking of promotions," Jen said, "We still haven't congratulated you in our own way." Suddenly, Cal didn't like where this was going. "What do you say?" she asked of her compatriots, "I think his hair is getting a little too long and he could use a new style, right?"
"What? No!" Cal said as he began to struggle against Jen's sudden grasp of his arm. Before he knew it, he was being hurried down the street by the bridge crew. Vocal quips of agreement cascaded all around him, confirming his undesirable destiny with some hairdresser in some shop. Deep down inside, though, the female attention that he was getting was a little refreshing, and it kept him from fully resisting their will. Maybe some good can come out of all of this. He had been considering trying a bit of a different style anyway.
Just as he was beginning to acquiesce to their will, he heard his phone chime with a new text message. He was unable to resist not reading the message and wrested himself free from their grasp so he could read it in a bit of privacy off to the side. He nervously sighed after reading the message, as if there was enormous anticipation.
"It can't be that bad," Bobby remarked from a few feet away. He was always able to read people as if it was a second language to him.
Cal put the phone back onto his waist. "I have a woman question for you guys," he asked. He turned to Jen and gave her a bit of an apologetic look, for some reason. "What does it mean if you've told someone that you're in love with them and they don't seem to be able to answer it in kind?"
The question took everyone by complete surprise, especially Jen. She had always been under the impression that he was just slightly out of her reach. Of course, Bobby had to answer it before anyone else could say anything. "Well," he said with a laugh, "Love doesn't necessarily have to be returned in kind. I, myself, have outgrown unrequited love. However, that doesn't apply to everyone. Who are we talking about, here?"
"Oh, no..." Cal replied, "I'm just asking this as a hypothetical situation. What would you guys do if you were in that situation?"
"Sure it is," Mena said with a gentle nudge from her elbow.
A round of laughs came from everyone except Jen. She was still slightly shocked that he'd ask such a question. After the chuckling subsided, Bobby finally offered up a tasty morsel of advice, "Just confront her with the issue. I can't be any more straightforward than that. If you've been pretty obvious about your feelings for her, she can't ignore them for forever. Only a heartless bitch would keep you hanging on like that. If that turns out to be the case, then forget about her. She doesn't deserve you."
Cal let the advice set in for a moment and stared blankly at the pedestrian traffic in front of them. He snapped out of it after a few moments and turned around to face them as he walked backwards. "Alright. I have some important business to take care of right now. I'm going to have to take a raincheck on your offer, if that's alright."
"Go get her," Jen finally chimed in. It seemed that she had finally accepted that Cal's mind and heart were in another place. After all, she's been involved with someone else for the past couple of months and she can't expect him to stay single for forever. It's not quite right to see him as a safety net, should things not go well with her current relationship.
Cal bid them all goodbye and started heading in the opposite direction from where they were walking. However, Jen was still feeling a bit of sadness upon the realization that she wasn't on the top of Cal's priority lists. To think that way was quite selfish of her.
Bobby put his arm around her, well-aware of the fact that she still has some lingering feelings for him. "You can't win them all," he calmly stated, "I wonder who it is..."
…
"Hey! Back so soon?" Nene inquired as she answered the door. It had taken her a moment to look downwards after opening it, having expected another full-sized Zentran to be there. Instead, Cal stood there looking up at her with a friendly smile. She stepped aside to let him in and closed the door behind him.
"Klan texted me a little while ago and asked me to come over. She said it was important and that I should get here as soon as I could," he replied. He watched Nene walk back over to her spot on the couch and bundle herself up with a blanket, as she had been sitting that way all afternoon. He soon followed her and decided to negotiate his way up onto the single-seat couch set perpendicular to Nene's seat. "You know, I wish they'd let us at least use civilian-version EX-gears when we're in Laplamiz. It sure would make things a lot easier," he casually remarked about his having to climb on furniture to get around in their apartment.
"Need a boost?"
"No, I got it." Cal finally reached the topside of the cushion and plopped himself down at the very back of the seat with a relieved sigh. Reclining against the back of the couch, he looked around and took note of how quiet it was in the apartment at that point. "Is... she not here right now?"
"No, she left awhile ago because she got called up for duty. She said that there was some important last-minute meeting that she had to attend. I haven't heard from her since." She put on a slightly-mischievous look on her face, "I wonder if she's finally going to set things straight, right?"
Cal didn't really want to answer her seemingly-hypothetical question. He just glared at her with a scolding demeanor before resetting his face back to indifference. "Well, she messaged me about an hour ago. I guess she expected to be home about now."
Just as Cal removed his new phone from its holder to check the time, the door latch turned and Klan walked through the door. She still wore her NUNS uniform and carried a small knapsack; it probably had a few personal belongings in it. She immediately spotted Cal sitting on the couch, but the sight of him there caused her to make a facial gesture that showed a hint of frustration. A soft sigh escaped from her mouth and she straightened out her expression once more.
Nene had noticed a bit of dampness on her uniform. "Is it raining out there?"
"Yeah, it just started right before I got here. We're supposed to be getting a brief shower or two before it clears up later this evening." Klan dropped the knapsack from her shoulder and held it in her hand as she walked into the living room. "Nene, can you uh... give us some time alone?"
