Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗

The next morning I didn’t feel like working, so, after the gym, which I had all to myself, I went straight to Naomi’s lab. I was surprised to see her working.

“Hey, Naomi! You’re here. I figured you’d be on the Moon.”

“I thought I’d spend the weekend here. I want to finish this write-up of Phase One of my research before I start Phase Two on the Moon.” She came over to sit next to me. “How was the social last night?”

“It was nice. You didn’t go?” Not that I would have noticed—I had been totally focused on Pavani.

She smiled. “Simon and I were holochatting, and I simply didn’t want to disconnect, maybe because we aren’t meeting this weekend.”

I smiled, and touched my cheek, thinking of Pavani.

Naomi peered at me, narrowing her eyes. “Hey! You have that look.”

“Huh?” I jerked my hand down, tucking it under my thigh.

Naomi grinned. “You know.”

Tipping my head to one side, I squinted at her.

“Is it Olivia?”

I stared at her, slack jawed.

“Come on, I can see it in your face. You’re besotted. I see the same when I look at myself in the mirror. Did you and Olivia finally, you know?”

I shook my head and took a deep breath. The confusion I had felt these past few weeks cleared, like the deep calm after a hurricane. Naomi was half right, I realized, the pieces falling together. I was smitten, it was true, but not with Olivia. I mentally rolled my eyes. Why was I always the last to know?

Naomi studied my face. “The new biologist!”

The blood rushed to my cheeks.

“Ah ha, I had a suspicion there was something going on with you two.”

“Come on, I barely know her.”

She raised her eyebrows, grinning.

I squirmed a little. “Okay, okay, I think you’re right.”

“You think, or you feel?”

“I guess I didn’t realize it until this moment. I enjoy spending time with her, and she’s a fascinating woman.”

“She’s wonderful.” Naomi nodded, then gave a little sigh. “How is it that you were able to figure out warp technology, but you haven’t a clue about your feelings?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I grimaced. “I’m such an idiot when it comes to this kind of thing.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but you are a bit innocent in the ways of love, my friend. You need to start paying more attention to your heart.”

229

A sudden jolt of fear coursed through my body. “But, Naomi, remember my crush on Diana? And then that experience with Amélie.” How could I have gotten it so wrong with Diana, with Amélie? A cloud of sadness enveloped me, thinking of poor, sweet Amélie.

“You should trust yourself this time.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s Pavani.” Even saying her name gave me a slight thrill. “What if the same thing happens like what happened with Diana?”

“You’ve grown a lot since then. You’re not the same person. Well, you’re the same person, but an upgraded version. Like I said, I think you can trust this.”

I looked at her.

“You’re not the only one who comes to me to chat.”

My pulse increased. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, she hasn’t said anything to me directly, she knows we’re friends, but I can put two and two together.”

I waited, holding my breath.

“Listen, she talks about you, a lot. Often she asks me stuff about you in passing, like, where are you from, if you’ve got siblings, what’s your relationship with Olivia, if you’re seeing anyone, that sort of thing.”

“But she’s new, she only wants to get to know her colleagues. It’s natural she would be curious.” I bit my lower lip.

“Even so, she only ever asks about you.”

My heart was beating furiously in my chest. It was true, I liked Pavani, I real y liked her. And maybe this time it wasn’t just me. What I had felt for Diana had been just an infatuation, a crush. And Am é lie, dear, sweet Am é lie, that was something else—maybe it had been a kind of love, but it wasn’t real, sustainable. But this, what I was feeling for Pavani, it ran deeper, much deeper. Naomi was right, I was a stranger to my own heart.

Naomi shook her head. “Calli, Calli, what would you do without me, to point out the obvious?”

Giddy, I made my way to the physics lab and settled into my chair in front of my console. My thoughts were on Pavani, but I put them aside—for now. There would be time to think about her later. I wanted to put some finishing touches on our paper, no fundamental changes to Hadley’s mystery novel, just a little polishing. It was the greatest accomplishment of my lifetime. When I had finished, I turned my attention to my warp drive user’s manual.

Several hours later, Hadley stopped by the lab to ask me if I wanted to join her and Andrea for dinner.

“No, I’ll keep working.” I indicated my computer screen with a sweep of my hand.

“I’m finished with our paper, by the way. I sent it to you to take a final look before we hand it over to Annie.”

“Perfect,” she said. “I’ll review it and give it to her in the morning.”

“Right now I’m making a few small revisions on my user’s manual.”

230

“How’s that going?”

“I should be done by this coming Friday.”

“That’s fantastic news! Looking forward to reading it.”

◆◆◆

I was thinking of Pavani on the way to the gym on Sunday morning, replaying Friday night in my head. “Shakespeare,” I said out loud, shaking my head. Lost in thought, I nearly collided with Olivia in the corridor. “Olivia!” I grabbed the rail.

“Hi,” she said, her voice flat.

I studied her face, and the smile faded from my lips. “Olivia, what’s the matter?”

She rubbed the palm of her hand with her thumb. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Come on, you can talk to me.” I took her hand in mine and looked her in the eyes.

She looked away. “It’s just that, I always thought, well ….” Her voice faded, and she took a breath. “I always figured we would get back together one day. You were never with anyone else after me, so I imagined—” her voice broke.

I squeezed her hand. “Oh, Olivia, I had no idea.”

Olivia turned to me, the tears shining in her eyes. “I assumed there was time. But Friday night, when I saw you with Pavani—” She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her jumpsuit. “Your connection, it’s magical. I can’t compete.”

“But I hardly know her.” My heart was hammering in my chest, because I knew she was right.

“She’s the one, anyone can see that. You two are made for each other.”

“I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. I loved her so much.

“It’s fine, Calli. You know I’ll always love you.”

Cal i, she had called me Calli. It felt like a knife plunging into my heart. I wanted to hug her tightly, to erase the sadness on her face, but as I moved toward her, she shifted away. I stopped my forward motion, anchoring myself on the handrail.

She smiled wanly. “You are my best friend, Little Bear.”

I choked back a sob.

“I only want you to be happy,” she said.

This time when I reached out for her, she didn’t move away. We hugged each other tightly. I pressed my head against her chest, listening to her heart beating. We stayed that way for a long time, silent, holding each other. There were no more words. Then, finally, she kissed the top of my head, and moved away, her hands on my shoulders.

We looked at each other through tear-filled eyes. Then she let me go and propelled herself down the corridor. I watched her, a storm of emotions swirling like a tornado in my heart.

As I worked out, Olivia’s words ran through my mind, and Naomi’s the day before, about my feelings for Pavani. It was true—from the moment I laid eyes on her holographic image I had known. Okay, who was I kidding? I had no idea. But that 231

wasn’t entirely correct. Intellectually I didn’t have a clue, but my body knew, my visceral reaction was proof of that. It was as if the Universe was perfectly aligned when we were together. Olivia could see it. Naomi could see it. And finally I, too, could see it. Pavani was the one.

I was surprised to find the dining room empty when I went for breakfast, but