The Martian Lie

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Richard's life took on a certain rhythm. A rhythm as old as time. There were no longer any clocks ruling his days. He woke with the sun, worked all morning, ate and dozed during the hottest part of the day, and then worked till dusk. Sometimes, in the spring, it was planting, then later, it was harvesting. It reminded him of working on his farm, before all of this. And sometimes he could will himself to believe it hadn't really happened, or that it hadn't been that big of a deal to him. It was easiest to do that when he was the most tired, which was why he worked so hard.

He had sent his would-be girlfriend away. Told her he just couldn't. But she still watched him. She was pretty. He may have been interested in another time and place. He supposed that since he was telling himself he wasn't interested, there must be a part of him that was. It wasn't that he was against having a fling. In fact, he thought it would probably make him feel a lot better. But he knew it wouldn't be more than that, and he didn't want to hurt her. It was better she find someone else.

But there wasn't anyone else, at least not at the moment.

There weren't a whole lot of eligible, young, attractive-enough males and females left. It bothered him a little bit, because how was the Earth going to repopulate if nobody of child-bearing age was pairing off? He watched her talk to other males. There were some that were about 15 years her senior who he was sure wouldn't mind the age difference. There were two other boys near their age, but one was crude and immature, and one was lazy and obese. The rest were younger than her by a few years. He thought maybe as they grew up, she would like them more. Until then though, she was his pick if only by default. This, and his own interest in her, should have been enough for him to just go for it. And he figured someday he just might.

But for now, he still dreamed of Callie.

He thought she was probably becoming mythic in his mind. More beautiful than she had been in reality. More sensitive. More loving. He chided himself for it when he would wake up, the feel of her kiss on his lips and remembering the weight of his body on top of hers.

Until he could stop the dreams, or at least have them less frequently, he would leave the other girl alone.

If he just knew for a fact that he would never see her again, he could do it. He could move on. People moved on all the time. A spouse died, they divorced, and they found a new love that rivaled or maybe even was better than the first. He had only known her for a few weeks. They never even got to experience day to day life together. Maybe they would have imploded. It was the not knowing that was the worst. Not knowing if she would somehow make it back, or if communication would open back up. Part of him hoped it wouldn't, because only seeing her face and not having her there physically would be torture worse than not knowing at all.

But for now, he stared up at the stars, looking for a red one, wondering what could have been, and hoping that someday there might be something more. Preferably with her, but maybe with someone else.

Before fully committing to this, I need to talk to Roark. I need to know if he is just trying to send away one of the people who could stop him and therefore have better odds of success, or if maybe, just maybe, he's trying to be nice.

I knock on his door.

"Who is it?" He bellows, somewhat angrily.

"It's Callie!" I say, trying to sound friendly.