The Truth of Past and Present

Chapter 18: I'm nearly busted and get my first kiss

If they were to recognize me, the rescue would be over before it even got a chance to begin, but if I left, that would be way too suspicious for them. My heart raced, but I didn't let it show as I walked methodically into the kitchen, where I dashed over to the sink and checked my makeup in the mirror I had installed. Then, after taking a deep breath to try to calm down, I took the holopad and made my way over to the newcomers' booth.

"Welcome to the Brinka Cantina! I'm Lyn, your waitress. May I take your order?" I said my line, and my fake name, flawlessly. So far, so good.

"Yes, I want a black coffee with two shots of gringa, and my son will take..." he looked over at his son, who was staring at me curiously.

"Garek!" his father snapped, and Garek jumped. 

"Uh...right...I'll take carbonated Boobla fruit juice." Then he returned to staring at me. 

"Excuse me for one moment, and I will be back with your beverages," I said, then quickly turned away and walked towards the kitchen. I could feel Garek's eyes boring into the back of my head.

My heart raced and my stomach roiled as I poured and prepared their drinks. Briefly, I considered slipping a memory-reducer into their drinks, but it was too dangerous. In the end, there was no way out for me, and I made my way out again.

"Here you are," I gave them their drinks. "Now, can I take your orders or do you need a few minutes?"

"Have you seen this girl?" Garek's father suddenly asked, pushing a holopad in front of my face. The hologram fired up, and I looked into my own face...rather, my old face.

My heart stopped.

Taking a deep breath, I squinted at the image as though I was examining it. To aid in my disguise, I let some of my hair fall in front of my face as I scrutinized the hologram.

"Hmmm..." I mused. "Looks a little familiar...wait, she's been on the newsnet, hasn't she? Who is she, your wife?" I turned to Garek. "His runaway girlfriend?"

Garek flinched slightly, but his facial expression didn't change. "I don't have a girlfriend."

Suddenly, my brain was bombarded with a brilliant, crazy idea. I turned back to Garek, this time batting my eyelashes. "So, you're...available?"

If Garek was any redder, he would have been mistaken for a human-shaped Boobla fruit. I inched closer flirtatiously.

Garek's father acted oblivious to my actions and blithely flipped through the menu before passing it to his son, who grabbed it and shoved it in front of his face, blocking his view of me. 

After waiting for a couple more minutes, I pushed down the edge of the menu and looked into his face. "What'll ya have, sugar-brown eyes?"

From there, I was pretty sure I was safe. I continued to flirt shamelessly with Garek, who became increasingly uncomfortable while his father showed my picture to anyone who passed by their table and ignored anything else around him. Then I watched from a distance as Garek took another look at my image. 

When I returned with their orders, Garek was not so red and was once again watching me way too closely to be normal. 

"You know, you kind of remind me of someone." He said conversationally. 

"Really?" I acted interested, but my heart was beginning to pound again. 

"Have you ever been to the Gold upper sector? Possibly the AT building?" he asked.