forbidden - chris beck

Chapter 13

"Busy day ahead guys! Let's get to it." Commander Lewis clapped her hands as she briskly walked past the bunks full of sleepy astronauts.

As we each offered our groans and crawled out of our beds, we did the usual. Took turns to wash up, got changed and quickly assembled in the kitchen for something light to eat before we started work.

As usual, it was chaos. Me and Johanssen would attempt to quickly get changed before anybody could see. It took to long to wait for the boys finish up in the bathroom. We scrambled to get our clothes on, Vogel was the first to get ready and so he headed to the kitchen.

One by one, the process continued. I ran a brush though my caramel hair quickly and then tied it into a loose ponytail. Frantically tidying my bed and putting away my other clothes, I grinned at Johanssen who looked like she could have used another twelve hours of sleep.

"Someone looks like they're ready for the day." I held back a smile as I smoothed my bed covers.

"Ugh, don't go there, Collins." She grumbled as she trailed towards the now free bathroom.

Shaking my head with a small smile, I turned to walk in the direction of the kitchen, but I hit I hard chest.

I let out a small whipper as I looked up. "Sorry, Beck." I sighed at my lack of coordination.

He grinned down at me with his dazzling eyes. I tried to move past him but he had the same idea and we ended up stepping from side to side awkwardly. We both chuckled at our morning madness until he placed his firm hands on my hips, making me freeze into place.

He gently moved me to the side and removed his hands, although I silently wished he would keep them there.

Before I got a chance to say anything, or even react, he walked off in his direction of the ship and I walked the opposite way, straight to the kitchen. If there was anything I needed after that, it was a coffee.

~

"Collins, how's the navigation going." Commander Lewis leaned over my operating station as she observed the map.

"Everything's perfect so far. We're on course, no disruptions just yet." I nodded as I read the screen.

"Excellent, that's what I like to hear." She smiled, moving on to check the others.

We were about a few hours into work. Everyone was doing well despite the early morning lack of motivation.

"Hey Collins? Can you come take a look at this?" Beck yelled from his computer on the other side of the control room. He was helping me with navigation and after a few training sessions from Johanssen, he was getting the hang of it. But on occasion, he required a little help.

"Sure." I got up from me seat and walked over to his station. "What's up?" I placed my hands on my hips as I tried to examine his screen for any errors.

"Does this figure look wrong to you? If so I've done the whole calculation wrong." I could tell this was getting to him. In fact, I'm surprised Lewis left him this task.

"I don't know where you're looking." Although I was usually capable at the computer stuff, maths was not my strong point. I mean this was literally rocket science.

My eyes searched the screen of numbers for the final figure he was talking about as I leaned down to get a better view of the screen. It was definitely too early to be doing this kind of thing.

"Right here." He pointed at a section of the screen.

"Okay, you just pointed to like five numbers." I was now starting to feel the distress as I scratched my head.

I heard him sigh next to me and then I suddenly felt his firm hands on my waist, like this morning. But this time he pulled me to sit on his lap.

"Right there." He whispered, his face right next to mine. I felt the blush creeping up my neck as his arm still remained enclosed around my waist. How was I supposed to concentrate on math when I was sitting on his freaking lap? Although to my luck, the calculation wasn't as hard as it seemed.

Okay, this was a small ship, and physical contact was something we experienced frequently, but this was certainly too close for comfort.

"Uh, yeah that seems just about right." I nodded. Thankfully his grasp around me loosened when I went to stand up again.

I looked down at him for a second, seeing him relaxed, leaning back in the chair. He pretended to look hurt.

"Why'd you get up? You were keeping me warm." He held out his arms like a child wanting to be hugged.

I must say, it was hard to resist, but I suddenly remembered how inappropriate this was.
I nervously tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and looked around to see if anybody was near.

"I can't sit on your lap." I spoke quietly through my teeth, trying to look away so that he wouldn't notice how red my cheeks were.

Beck smirked up at me and folded his arms across his chest.

"And why's that?" He spoke with a tone of amusement.

"Because..." I tripped over my own words. There was a reason I just knew it, but something about being around him made me incredibly nervous.
"Because there are rules." I managed to say.

Beck sat up straight in his chair and chuckled, as he continued his work.

I was about to walk away in embarrassment, when his next comment made me stop in my tracks.

"Ah, that's right. I forgot. Good ol' Collins has never broke a rule."

"What?" A little bit of anger boiled up in me. Is that what people thought of me? Some sort of goodie two-shoes?

He laughed at this and looked up at me holding his hands up.
"Hey, I'm kidding. I'm sure you've done some really bad things in your time."

"You have no idea." I spoke seriously, determined to show him that there was more to me than he assumed.

"Well, maybe you can show me some day." His grin only widened.

"Maybe I will." I smiled slightly before swiftly turning around and walking back to my station, hearing his soft chuckle behind me.