The Girl Who Sat in the Corner

Chapter 13 - Home

The next afternoon, he was in a long, large and rather boring meeting with his clients at NASA Ames up the road in Mountain View. It was just after three and the part of the presentation that he was to give was still about a half hour away.

His thoughts drifted back to the night before and he felt a certain peace flow through him. It was like the demons that had been chasing him since that day on the bus had grown quiet, at least for a while. Something had appeared in its place, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't as bad.

Maybe his message got through and maybe not. And even if it did, he never had a clear idea what he expected. At best, he thought, another Kai in some alternate universe didn't see her tablet destroyed and maybe even they became friends. Rather than the shame and self-hatred he had lived with since then, he would have the knowledge that, at least, he'd done thing in his life right and earned the respect of somebody he cared about (and cared about a lot).

He found himself imagining being able to contemplate being in a relationship with someone, someone he could be as comfortable with as Preetha but without the obvious romantic barriers. And his feelings about Kai were different. Very different. Unlike just about any other person he ever met, he wanted to get to know her from the moment he saw her. On those rare occasions that she looked at him and their eyes met, something inside of him felt like he was in heaven and yet he was home. At the time, he was way too shy and socially backward to have approached her any more ambitiously than he did. But until that last, horrible, fatal moment, something inside of him had been telling him it was possible.

Up until now, he had never allowed himself the foolish luxury of imagining what it would have been like if he did do what he should have that afternoon. But now he did. He saw himself suddenly jumping up from his seat and grabbing Kai's tablet. Knowing what was in store, he would have clutched it to his chest and maybe even curled up in the seat to protect it while the Doug Pratt's blows rained down on him and laughter and catcalls filled the bus. But when it was over, he would have been able to hand it back to her, proving that he was a worthy friend instead of being as useless as ever. Even if nothing ever came of it, it would have been such a good moment to live with for the rest of his life.

"...Uh, Wes, are you with us?" Fatmah, the NASA project manager was calling from the podium. For how long, Wesley couldn't guess but his face burned red as he picked up his laptop and walked quickly to front of the conference room. This was part of his job he never liked or ever got used to, but at least this was one place he could talk about his work around people who could appreciate it, if not totally understanding it.

The meeting lasted until after five and the drive home from Moffett Field, where the sprawling research center was housed, would take a very long time though it was comparatively short distance. But while he was in the meeting the clouds had broken and the sky had partially cleared with the sun shining brightly, slanting down from the west through the breaks. Though it was only mid-February, he could tell that the storms of the winter were beginning to succumb to the warmth and calm of approaching spring. Though he had spent his whole life in California, the early end to winter was something he always loved.

Despite the meeting, he was getting home close to his usual time, the six-mile trip taking just over a half hour. Once again, somebody's car was parked in the guest slot assigned to his condo and, as usual, he didn't care unless, of course, he was expecting Preetha to stop by. In that case, he'd call the number on the no-parking sign and the ravenous financial appetite of the towing company would have the space clear in minutes so they could collect their fee and fine.

Wesley walked up the steps and the iron girders rang their usual welcome. But the moment he opened the door, he sensed something wrong. The apartment looked and felt different. It was almost as if he walked into the wrong one. It seemed brighter somehow. The furniture was the same, but there was more decorative stuff all around. In the entranceway, his Silicon Valley poster was hanging neatly framed. Beside it hung a small Navajo rug, its complex geometric patterns defined in rich reds and subtle earth tones. And though it was playing softly he could hear the hard beat of an alt rock song he barely recognized coming from somewhere inside.

Feeling totally off balance he stepped in and called tentatively, "Hello?" realizing that it was probably the dumbest thing he could do.

And she walked in.

"You're actually home on time! How'd NASA go?"

What he saw, he couldn't believe. She was wearing a faded black My Chemical Romance tee-shirt and equally faded jeans. Her hair was long and still a bit unruly. There was still a lot of the young girl in her face and smile, but even as a young girl, there was always something about her eyes that made her seem like she'd seen more years than she had. Now, though, it looked like she had grown into them comfortably. Filled with a love he could only dream about before, Kai's eyes met and held his. Deep down behind them, he could still see that vague shadow of sadness. But it was now very far away. 

- The End -