I walked in a grumpy, sour mood back towards my apartment. Alyss and I had escaped the paparazzi by hiding in the kitchen of the café; fortunately, the owner had been gracious enough to let us buy some time there. I’d called the car for her, had it drop her off at her own apartment, and I would walk home. The paparazzi followed the car for a bit, as I went the opposite direction, then faded off. I knew it was a bit of a drive to get to Alyss’ apartment, as she said, so I hoped the car would be able to lose all of the photographers in that time. Fortunately, no one had pursued me. They probably assumed I was in my own car.

I felt less and less lucky as the walk seemed to take forever back to the penthouse. I scowled to myself, the brisk spring air chillier than I’d anticipated for how I’d dressed today. I hadn’t brought a jacket or anything. Then, I realized my WaComm was still off from earlier. What if Mea had responded?

I retrieved the [[hone] from my pocket and placed it onto my wrist, the connection with my skin powering it on.

There was a message from her. It said,” call me.”

My heart leapt, thankful she’d finally been able to respond. I would call her as soon as I could, but I had one more important call to make first. I dialed up the number to Zack Bateman.

He picked up after only a couple seconds. “Bateman speaking.”

“This is Torven Montgomery, sir.”

“Indeed it is. What can I do for you, young man?”

“I refuse Aruga United Technology’s deal. I will not marry Alyss, and I will not accept your money. Consider it off.”

I hung up, the feeling of power surging through me. I felt as if I could do anything, like I finally had myself on track. I was a man with a plan. Now that was taken care of, I could tend to something more important. Mea.

I dialed her number, waiting for her to answer.

“Hello?” came a clear, familiar voice.

I smiled involuntarily. “Hi Mea,” I said. “It’s Torven. I have a lot to tell you.“

“Oh, do you?” she said mischievously. “Can I come over, then?”

My smile widened, if that were even possible. “Absolutely. Let me give you the address. Call it, three o clock?”

“I’ll see you there,” she said, her words teasing me. She hung up.

I swiped through the WaComm, sending her my apartment address. I couldn’t contain the excitement that grew within me. After all this time I hadn’t seen her, now she was coming to my apartment. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen, with these new possibilities opening up. Plus, of course, I couldn’t wait to see her. Without her, life was dull and gray, boring and mundane.

Speaking of people I hadn’t seen in a while, I hadn’t seen Sheen since the last time I’d seen Mea, eating breakfast at her house that night we had gotten drunk and Mea had let us sleep it off. I wondered what he was up to. It was still quite a walk until I got back to my apartment, so I decided to call Sheen and see what he was up to. It was Sunday, so he should be off work, at least.

I dialed him up, too.

“What’s up, dude? I just got off work.”

“On Sunday? What is wrong with you?”

He laughed. “Got lots of important work to do, my friend. What’s going on with you? Been a while.”

“You’re damn right. And I’ve got a shitload of things going on with me. Do you have a few to hear it?”

“Of course,” Sheen said.

I told him the entire saga of what had been going on in the last month, particularly with how I’d spent last night and today, ending with how I’d just turned down the AUT deal officially.

“Wow, man,” Sheen said. “That’s… that’s a lot. You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah…” I said. And I wasn’t lying; I felt more than alright. “I’m seeing Mea this afternoon.”

“Oh, that’s why you feel fine,” he said, teasing me. “I get ya. Speaking of, you remember her friend, Ha’ana?”

“Sure.”

“She and I have been spending some time together too.”

I could hear the excitement in his voice. It was obvious he was just as smitten as I was. “Is that so?”

“Fuck yes it’s so. She’s awesome,” he sighed. “I’m really falling for her. She’s smart, and fierce, and an inventor. I guess the Nari’e traditionally have inventors as their leaders, back in the islands anyway. She and I really have a lot in common.”

“Sounds like a match made by fate,” I said, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, man. I guess she’s got a kid though, which doesn’t bother me, but I haven’t met them yet. Not sure how that’d go.”

“Really? That’s something,” I said. “Doesn’t change anything for you?”

“Nope. She challenges me and makes me think, and I love that about her.”

“So, you’ve gotten to see her a lot lately?” I asked.

“Not as much as I’d like,” he said. “I’ve been having to work a lot, as usual.”

“What kind of stuff you been doing?”

Sheen just laughed again. “You know I can’t tell you that, shit’s classified.”

I laughed at him. “Bitch, just wait ‘til I’m Prime Minister, I’ll make you tell me.”

“Ha! I got plenty of time for that, apparently, since you turned down AUT.”

I quieted down. He was right; I’d turned down AUT just minutes before, and couldn’t help but feel afraid for the future. I had no idea what would happen now.

“Do you think that was a mistake?” I asked Sheen, suddenly questioning every decision I’ve ever made in my entire life.

“Did you do what you thought was right?”

“I think so.”

“Then you did the best you could. Nobody could ever demand more.” Sheen paused, and I let him use the silence to think. “Do you think if you had to, you could change your mind?”

“I doubt it. I was pretty rude.”

“Then stop worrying about it. If you can’t change it, there’s no use stressing.”

Sheen was right, as he often was. I felt thankful that he was back in my life, that my old friend was around to help me out when I needed it. I looked up to notice I was on my block, and only around the corner from my apartment.

“Hey man, I’m almost home. I’ll call you later and we should hang out.”

“Sure, just let me know,” he said.

The WaComm went silent as I approached my front door. I hurried inside and up the elevator as quickly as I could, eager to get ready to see Mea. I wanted to take a shower, to wash off the weirdness of the morning, maybe even set out a snack for us to eat while we talked. I could feel the excitement brimming up inside me, threatening to overflow. I rushed through picking up the apartment, even though everything had been straightened up by the maids as they usually did when I was out of the house. I couldn’t stop the smile from lighting up my face, just thinking about what I would say to Mea when she got here. Would she let me hug her when I greeted her? Maybe even let me kiss her? I wondered what she would be wearing. A bright patterned Nari’e wrap, or a modern, Arugan style dress? I couldn’t wait to see.

My WaComm went off. It was her.

I’m outside

My heart beat rapidly; I was about to find out.