Solar Umbrella (Book 1)

24: Back to the Caf

I decided to add some chapters for the holidays. Enjoy a new chapter each week until Christmas!

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PARKER FELT LIKE he had been hit by a truck. His mind couldn't combine the thoughts and feelings he had and left him feeling disoriented. Not helping was the fact that Alex noticed as well. Alex did a little spin-around, looking right at Parker and giving him the finger guns and a wink with a big dumb smile.

Parker's whole life had been about appearing capable and ready to act no matter what happened. He hated looking unprepared or weak. The absolute worst was being sick. He could take the pain and tiredness, he just hated people needing to wait on him and take care of him. Sometimes he thought it was a result of starting high school younger and being so much smaller, but the truth was it was just a part of his personality. In most cases it had done him very well in life. It forced him to work hard, prepare early and put pressure on himself to do his best. It had forced him to invest the time in working out and keeping his body in shape. Right now, he was having a hard time balancing that deep desire to appear capable with being knocked entirely off centre by Kate's sudden appearance. "Alex, you start this up and give me a minute, cool?" he asked his friend.

"You got it cowboy," Alex nodded.

Parker gave Kate a tilt of his head to the side, indicating the hall.

Her eyes widened as they connected with his. She stood up and followed him to the hall as he closed the door.

"Parker! I didn't think it would be you right away," she spat out quickly. "I mean, hello! Sorry, I tried to get in touch!" She dropped her tablet and light coat on the ground and pulled him in for a hug.

His mix of emotions became a little more complicated, but he let out a sigh and allowed himself to...just be in her embrace. Her familiar scent filled his nose and he felt at peace. "Kate, I don't know what to say. I mean, well, it's amazing to see you," he eventually spat out. "I'm just more than a little surprised to see you. I mean, it's a good surprise. I missed you." He felt like an idiot as soon as he said it, but dammit, it was true. It's not against the law to miss someone.

"I've missed you too, Parker Varia," she replied with a smile. "Listen, I've got plenty of time for you and I can't wait to catch up, but I don't want to look like a slacker on my first day. Let's go back in, but find me after, okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course," he replied. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she smiled back.

After their song, dance and what seemed like a never-ending slideshow, Alex and Parker took a minute to meet with Kate. They said their hellos and agreed to meet up in the cafeteria after Kate settled in. She had to go with the group and follow their guide.

"You know I'm not coming, right?" Alex asked him.

"Uh, coming where?" Parker replied. "You mean to the caf? You can come Alex, don't be weird."

"Parker, in our months here I don't think I've seen you even turn a head when a pretty woman walked by, and there's a lot of them here!" Alex laughed. "You looked like you were going to puke when you saw Kate. I've seen that look on your face before, many years ago. It was when you looked at the same woman. Go and talk to her. I don't know her story, but you need to find out."

Parker thought about telling him it was ancient history, that she had a boyfriend who looked like he was chiselled from stone, that they were just old friends. Instead, he stopped and nodded. "You're a good friend Alex," he said, offering his hand.

Alex shook it and said, "Good luck buddy." He winked, did his spin move again and started making his way down the hall. "I might just check in on that guy from engineering. Rodriguez! The one who wears that red bandanna, you know? Love is in the air!"

"Happy hunting Alex!" he shouted as his friend turned the corner.

Parker hauled ass to his room, showered up and put on some fresh clothes. He considered borrowing some cologne or something, but he felt like an idiot. He was acting like he was fifteen years old. He looked in the mirror and reminded himself he was a grown-ass man with a great job, an education and he could talk to a woman he had known for years without swallowing his tongue. His heart beating double time betrayed what he tried to tell himself. She was probably married to Ibrahim and was just looking to catch up to make her time in this bucket more enjoyable. "Pull it together," he told himself.

They had agreed to meet in half an hour, but Parker got there early. As he walked in, he saw her. She was sitting with her back to the door he came in through, looking out at the ocean. His mind took him back to when they were on the ship to LunaOne. She looked just as beautiful, but more like herself, as if that made any sense. He didn't know if the years apart were playing tricks on him, or the years had done her well. Likely both. He took an extra second to look, then slid in over the chair beside her from behind.

"Ah, taking a move from my old playbook are ya?" she asked him, smiling.

The memory of her jumping over the back of a chair or couch so many times at Boulder Tech came back to him. "Man, I forgot you used to do that," he laughed. "This whole situation is surreal, Kate. You're here to work on the code for the crawlers, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Sounds like an interesting challenge. My company's pissed you geniuses are taking so long, so they sent me."

He shook his head in a playful manner. He had missed this back and forth with her. They had slipped back into it like an old jacket, seamlessly. "You realize we're sitting together. In a cafeteria. Talking about spider robots."

"Oh, it hadn't escaped me!" she said smiling. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be. To be here, working on something that really matters. To be working with you..."

He nodded, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "This is a cool place. There's a vibe here I haven't felt since, well, since the four of us worked on that contest," he told her. "You're going to feel it, you'll get swept up in it. It's infectious."

She had been looking at him, agreeing the whole time. "My job is great, don't get me wrong. There's a lot of challenge in it, and I've met some great people, but it's work...you know? We get a job from above, we work through it, write the code and then send it off. There's always something waiting when we're done. So, we start on that," she frowned. "We work and a bunch of shareholders make more money. We're mercenaries Parker. Problem solvers who get paid and then move on. I feel like a sellout. I'm so excited to be here instead. Even if it's just for a while."

Parker didn't know what to say. "Everybody's gotta work Kate," he shrugged. "I'm sure some of the companies you've worked for have done cool and useful things." He was trying to give her an out, but he also felt a need from her. She wasn't just shooting the shit. She wanted his input.

"Maybe," she agreed. "Parker, what am I doing? I haven't seen you in years, you're working at the SpaceWay of all things, and I'm laying everything at your feet. Take me on a tour or something!" She stood up and spun around. "Look around, this place is amazing!"

"I don't mind, I've missed this," he replied. "I don't talk to anyone else like this. We've never held back."

"No, we certainly haven't," she said, offering a wry smile.

He knew exactly what she meant, and he could feel his face redden. "Shit, Kate..."

She laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "I emailed you like fifteen times over the past two days by the way. I tried to get in touch as soon as I found out I was coming. I didn't want to surprise you like I did. Try checking your tablet once in a while dumdum."

That answered one of the questions he had. She had probably used his personal email, which he didn't check too often when work was crazy...which it always was. Besides the odd email from family, everyone used his work contact. "Okay, no worries. That's on me," he replied. "Are you ready for one of the top ten rated tours of this base available?" He offered his arm.

"I'd be delighted," she smiled and took the arm.