Movement

Part 2

Thirty three years later....

Laurence Whitfield ordered two coffees at the counter. He chose a quiet booth in the corner of the staff cafeteria and sat down. The two coffees were brought to the table five minutes later. He sipped from his cup and kept glancing impatiently at his watch. Finally after another ten minutes a tall girl entered the room. She saw Laurence and a moment later was sitting opposite him.

"You made me wait long enough," Laurence grumbled, "I asked you to be here at five thirty."

"I'm sorry," the girl replied, "I was working."

"You're always working."

"I know. Things have been hectic at the MRU lately. A whole lot of new data and samples arrived last week. There's a lot to work through and I have deadlines for reports. Now what did you want meet me for? Make it quick. I need to get back."

Laurence sighed. "This is the problem, Tracy. You never have time for me anymore, for us. All you ever do is work. I'm lucky if I see you once a week. We don't go out anymore, we hardly have sex anymore."

Tracy reached out and took Laurence's hand. "I'm sorry, Laurence," she said, "I know I've been preoccupied with my job lately. It's just that so much exciting new data keeps coming in. We'll soon be able to rewrite the history of Mars. But I promise you as soon as I get over this busy period I'll make more time for you."

Laurence pulled his hand away. "No you won't. You always say that, but it never happens. Your work comes first. It will always come first. We can't go on this way."

Tracy looked closely into her boyfriend's eyes. "Laurence, what are you saying?"

"Look, I'm sorry it's come to this, but I want to break it off. We need to go our separate ways."

Tracy looked astonished. She tried to take Laurence's hand again, but he pulled away. "You can't mean this," she said in a shaky voice, "We've been together over eighteen months. We were getting along fine."

"Not anymore. It's over, Tracy."

"I'll cut back on my work time, make more time for you. Please, Laurence, give me a chance, give us a chance. We can't throw away something that's been this good."

"I'm sorry, Tracy."

Tracy sat back and stared at Laurence for a few moments. "You've found someone else. Have you been cheating on me? Who is she?"

"I haven't been cheating on you."

"How can I believe you?"

"I've never lied to you, and I've never cheated on you, but we're breaking up. You've got your work to occupy you and I want someone who has time for me."

Tracy paused for a few seconds. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The man behind the counter had watched the tall attractive girl with the long blonde hair sit down with Laurence. It was a quiet afternoon with no other customers so he kept an eye on the couple in the corner. After a few minutes of tense conversation he saw Laurence get up and leave. He knew who the girl was. She was Tracy Hammond, daughter of the CEO. After her partner had left, she sat at the table not touching her coffee. Then she put her head in her hands with her long hair falling around her face. Was she crying? Hard to tell, but she certainly looked upset. What had happened between them? After a few minutes Tracy got up and slowly walked past the counter and out of the cafeteria. Her face told the story. She appeared to be close to tears.

****

Eighteen months had passed since that day. Back then Tracy's hair had been long and blonde. It was still long, but now it was dark as night. It cascaded over her shoulders and she pushed it back out of her eyes as she sat deep in thought at her desk in the Mars Research Unit at the Silver Star Research complex, but her mind was not on her job. A couple of weeks earlier she had a dream which she was sure was a premonition. Her future depended on her making the right decision, she had to find the right person. It's got to be Laurence she thought. When we were together it felt right. He was the one. He still is the one. How do I get back with him again without him knowing the reason?

Yes, Tracy was sure Laurence was the one. But there was a problem. Laurence had broken off their relationship eighteen months ago and had a girlfriend.

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