Love on the Red Planet (COMPLETED)

Chapter 7

Three days later, Cade brought up the plan again.

"I think I'm ready. I've covered all our bases."

We were sitting on the couch watching the news.

Shit. I had hoped he would just forget about it, realizing that it was a really bad idea but nope.

"Cade...I said no."

He ignored me.

"I've figured everything out."

"I just..."

"I promise we will not get caught." He insisted.

I knew I was going to regret what I said next.

"Ok."

"Really?"

Why was I doing this? Yup. I've lost my Martian mind.

"Ok..." To show I was in, I flipped my hoodie over my head.

He used his crutch to get to the living room, where he left his laptop. He typed a few commands and put the laptop back on the couch.

"We really shouldn't be doing this..."

"Too late."

"I can't believe I'm doing this..."

Cade put his crutch against the wall and looked out of the peephole. He held his hand up and put his finger to his lips.

"Shhh."

I stood still, not breathing for about 30 seconds before he waved me forward.

The door opened and no one was in the hallway.

"Cade! We have to take the stairs! There are cameras on the elevators." I stopped in front of the entrance to the stairwell.

"Shit."

"Yeah...it's going to be fun getting you down two flights of stairs." I sighed.

He put his arm over my shoulder and I took his crutch. He held on to the railing and took a tentative step down. He shouldn't have been putting pressure on his leg but there was no other way to get him down the stairs.

It took about ten minutes just to get to the promenade level. We stopped at a coffee shop so he could rest. He was breathing heavy and he looked like he was in pain.

"Do you have any credits?" He asked.

"Yes. You don't, I take it."

"Nope. They don't take my credit cards on Mars. My father hasn't set up an account for me here." He looked sadly at the people milling about in the promenade.

They all worked, had families and lived their lives, for the most part, on their own terms. My heart hurt for Cade.

So far no one recognized us. I was worried I might run into someone I work with but it was done. We were here. I hoped I wasn't going to lose everything...

"Do you want coffee?" I asked.

"Sure." He gave me a bright smile. He was happy to be out even thought I could tell he was in pain. He had cut back on his medication and wouldn't get more until the evening, when the doctor came.

I went and placed our order and waited for it to be ready before I went back to the table.

Cade was gone.

Son of a...!

I looked frantically around the promenade. I couldn't see him anywhere. This was it. I was going to lose my job, my apartment...my life. Why did I let him talk me into this?