The Soulmate Curse

Vision

Zhen stoically put on her pressurised suit as they prepared for their return to Earth.

"Jo was right about you," said Commander Cruz who had just floated up to her. "I've been keeping an eye on your work here. You're exceptional at what you do."

"We haven't talked for a month," said Zhen, still annoyed that Cruz would be taking Commander Jax's place on the shuttle back. "We don't have to start now."

"That's silly," he said with a grin. "I'm the Commander on this shuttle back. It's my duty connect with all my crew."

Zhen sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"Like I was saying," he continued. "Jo opened my eyes to your brilliance, Zhen. If you know anything about me, it's that I don't stop working for what I want until I get it. That's how I became the only CEO in history to pass the astronaut selection and training process and ended up owning a space station."

"Is the point of this to bore me to death with your 'humble brag'? Because it's working."

Cruz walked up right to her and froze her in place with a piercing glare. "I know what you're doing Zhen. You're skating on extremely thin ice. You're a good astronaut, and there's a high chance that you'll lead the 2075 Mars Mission. Well, I am offering you the opportunity to make that a fact written in stone. You, me, Jo, and others like us. Join us and I guarantee a future where you will own the stars."

Zhen looked away and started fiddling with her suit. "It's almost time to launch, Commander. We better get going."

It felt like forever until Zhen was finally walking down the hall to their apartment. After her unsettling encounter with Jo that first week on the space station, it had been a horrible couple of weeks that followed and the mandatory rest time afterwards at the GSI compound hadn't been any better. She was happy to be coming back home. Happy she'd get to see Finn again. Incredibly happy to be seeing Finn again. Zhen had left immediately after the doctors declared that they were okay to leave, even though the message had come through an hour before midnight.

She couldn't wait to talk to Finn. Share what she'd found out about MechSoft. She'd have to swear Finn to secrecy, but it was a great feeling knowing that she had someone to share this with. The pent-up tension and anxiety that had built up over the course of her mission was crushing her inside. The thought of having someone to talk to, someone she cared about and who cared about her, was almost overwhelming. Like being thirsty for days in a desert and then finally finding a source of water.

Just as she got to the apartment door, the door opened, but not all the way. Through the small gap, Zhen heard someone talking.

It was Finn's voice. "I hate that you're leaving. My bed's going to be lonely tonight."

"You're the one who doesn't want your roommate finding me here tomorrow morning," Zhen recognised Jesse's voice from that night outside the train station. "I'd love to stay. You are the sweetest thing I've ever tasted."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, except for my bed tonight." said Finn laughing. "Plus, in the last few weeks you've tasted enough of me to have a cavity by now."

"With you, there's no such thing as enough," said Jesse.

"Go," said Finn with a giggle that was interrupted by a kiss. "No more kisses, Jesse. I'm serious."

Jesse feigned a sigh. "You're no fun."

"I don't remember you having those sentiments an hour ago. Or yesterday. The day before, and so on and so forth," Finn replied in an uncharacteristically, yet incredibly arousing, sultry tone.

Jesse laughed, then changed to a slightly more sombre tone. "You promise you'll tell her about us?"

"I will," said Finn. "Just, let her settle down first?"

Jesse nodded. "Okay. I trust you."

"Thank you, Jesse."

Zhen just stood there, key fob in hand, rooted to the spot. A moment later, the door swung fully open and Jesse almost ran into her.

"Oh, look who it is," said Jesse, genuinely surprised. "Hi Zhen. Uh, how was space?"

"Jesse," said Zhen, acknowledging them with a nod. "Space was... quiet."

"Right," said Jesse. "Well, I'm just on my way out."

Finn was trying to keep her face blank of emotion, but Zhen could see the red climbing up her cheeks.

"Hey, Zhen," said Finn with a small wave as Jesse walked away. "Welcome home."

"Yeah, sis," said Zhen, walking past her and towards her room. "Thanks."

She could almost feel the wave of hurt roll off Finn at the cold reply, but it only made Zhen feel better. Misery might as well be awarded best CEO of all time, with its undying love for company. Once in her room, Zhen dropped her bags and collapsed on her bed. She screamed into the pillow, cursing with every single expletive she could remember. She turned around and tried to focus through the fire in her belly. The painful, gut wrenching, all-consuming jealousy coursing through her veins. She could barely contain it. Maybe this was how people spontaneously combusted in all those conspiracy theory stories.

The next few days were the worst, which was saying something given the shitty space station mission experience she'd just endured. Zhen had immediately started looking for a new place to live, but it was never that easy to find one in the city. Zhen understood that she had to hold down a job when she wasn't on mission, to form and maintain healthy social networks for better mental health and to keep her cognitive and critical thinking skills intact, but she started to wonder if she shouldn't just get a job at the agency compound. Many astronauts did. And although she wasn't the only astronaut who thought that always working and living with the same people you'd go on mission with was an isolating and draining experience, maybe she could do so for a few years.

"Welcome back, Zhen," said Jack, walking past her and patting her on the back.

"Thank you, Jack."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, turning backwards so he could face her as he continued to walk away. He smiled. "I just piled a boatload on casefiles on your desk. Good luck."

Zhen smiled back. Good old Jack. A ton of work was exactly what she needed to drown herself in. It wasn't enough though. She'd find herself being drawn into Finn's world. Sometimes it was when her and Jani would be emoting crazily in a conference room as they tried to brainstorm on ideas. Or when Finn would be assigned to help her with projects and Zhen had to tamp down every single emotion that was trying to force its way into her brain, an experience that left her exhausted beyond belief. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was trying to live with her in that stupid apartment.