The Martian Lie

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – The Rescue – Callie & Richard

He hadn't been quite sure of what he was doing when he turned the truck around and drove back to the hotel. He had operated solely on instinct - his brain said move the wheel and he simply obliged. He often did that. Found it had brought him to some of his life's greatest decisions, such as leaving his father and the drama with Roark behind to live on his farm - a wholly strange choice in today's world. Needless to say, it didn't bother him to be different, and therefore it didn't bother him to find himself turning around to go back to see a beautiful Martian girl one more time.

But do I really only need to see her one more time? He mused to himself, shaking his head at his silliness. He'd seen her once. If once was enough, he wouldn't need to turn around. What was he truly planning to do? Beg her to switch planets. Yes, erm, Callie... I know I've known you all of 24 hours, and we have a cultural divide, no, gulf really, between us, but I'd like it if you made some sort of excuse to stay behind a couple more days of your trip and we could get to know each other enough that I am really ready to say goodbye to you?

Ridiculous. Ridiculous enough that it made the normally honest Richard shy away from telling her the truth when he saw her again. So, he spent the rest of the return trip concocting a story as to why he had to turn around in the first place. It went something like this: He had just remembered, truly, that there was a supermoon coming tonight. He had forgotten, but wanted to make sure she knew about it so that she and her classmates could see it. He wished to invite her, and all of them, if they would like to come, too, to his place to watch it in the country (no use making it look like he was out for a night alone with Callie in front of her chaperone). He realized the futility of this plan, seeing as how it was highly likely a bunch of space travelers were unaware of the celestial occurrence and had their own plans to observe it. It was, at best, a flimsy excuse that she would see right through. At worst, she would laugh and he'd go home. Which was no great loss, considering that he had planned to go home without her at first and this was only a crazy, half-cocked plan.

Satisfied with himself, he found that he had arrived at his destination and pulled into the parking lot of the Seaside Hotel, next to the Seaside Grill she had told him about her interesting experience of dining at. He wanted to feel that the waitress and manager there had been rude and unfair, but he knew very well that he would have acted similarly in a similar situation and the only reason he felt guilty now was because he happened to know one of the Martians somewhat intimately. He felt his stomach flip-flop at the thought of the word intimate. It was, if nothing else, proof that the old adage of not judging someone until you have been walking a mile in their shoes was actually true as most old adages tended to be.

But, stereotypes are usually somewhat true, too, and he found himself feeling apprehensive about meeting not just his chosen Martian, but a whole posse of them and then inviting them to his house.

Oh well, too late to turn around now. He thought. If nothing else, maybe he'd gain some more information for his father.

He scanned the parking lot, looking for the entrance of the hotel. He saw her sitting there, chatting with a kindly-looking old man. This made him feel equal parts better and worse. Better because it confirmed his belief that she was a kind person; worse because it's possible all she had been doing with him was being kind and seeking information just like she said. Perhaps the undercurrent of more he felt had been one-sided.

Only one way to find out.

He reached down and unbuckled himself and made to open the door. Then, he saw Callie get up with the man and go to his car with him. Maybe it's her professor? He wondered. He figured he would just wait for her to get done with whatever errand she was completing with him and then go to talk to her once she was alone. He settled back into his seat, preparing to wait it out.