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“The little mess you made,
is all over the news.
The littlest mistake,
can leave the darkest bruise.”
Eva Stratt was currently one of the most powerful people on the planet…and Ryland Grace, well he was her second.
Apparently.
That’s what everyone else seemed to think anyway. The first he had heard of it was from Ilyukhina.
“You are her number two, no? You are the first officer of Project Hail Mary?”
And that wasn’t the only assumption everyone had been making. Apparently everyone thought that they had a sexual relationship. Ryland couldn’t believe it, and the worst part was…he couldn’t stop thinking about it. About her.
That’s how they ended up where they were now, sharing a drink. Ryland was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol in his blood stream, and by the flush of Stratt’s cheeks, she was feeling it too.
The two were sitting close enough that their knees were touching, and yet neither of them moved. Stratt had just laughed at something ridiculous that he had said.
A genuine laugh, possibly induced by the alcohol . Ryland thought to himself.
He didn’t like the way he took notice of the way her face lit up when she laughed.
It didn’t take much for the moment to turn solemn, the world was ending after all. Even if this all worked out, it wouldn’t be for years.
“You look tired,” he murmured, taking another sip of his beer.
Stratt shrugged, a joking smile half-formed on her lips, “Not so much tired, as distraught.”
Ryland arched an eyebrow at her, “Is that so?”
“What if I’m making all the wrong choices here? What if I send these people into space…to die . For nothing?” she breathed, swirling the liquid around in her glass.
“Shit,” Ryland noted, “You were being serious.”
The woman nodded, finishing off her drink.
“Well in that case,” he lifted his glass, “At least we tried. At least the human race wouldn’t be going down without us fighting like hell.”
“Cheers to that, I guess.”
Ryland leaned in slightly, eyes flickering down to her lips. Stratt wanted nothing more than to pull away…and yet she didn’t.
The woman leaned forward too, meeting him halfway. The kiss was slow, deliberate even.
When the two parted ways, she leaned her forehead against his.
“This didn’t happen,” she whispered, but her voice was laced with uncertainty.
Ryland sighed, “Why not? What do we have to lose? It’s the end of the fucking world.”
She shook her head, showing an odd amount of vulnerability, eyes glassy with tears. Stratt kissed him again, unable to stop herself.
“This will make everything to come so much harder,” she breathed.
Ryland felt groggy when he woke up that morning, his head pounding. When he rolled over he realized that he wasn’t in his own bed.
He was in Eva Stratt’s bed. His boss.
Everyone’s boss, for that matter.
“Fuck,” he whispered, and the tablet on the bedside table went off with at least twenty notifications beside him. Stratt unsurprisingly was not in the bed with him, she was probably off dealing with one of the million and one things she had to worry about.
Ryland planned to ignore the tablet, maybe even shut it off…but one the notifications caught his eye.
BREAKING NEWS: Project Director Eva Stratt and Science Consultant Ryland Grace Photographed Mid-kiss Late Last Night.
Ryland’s heart dropped… this was going to be a problem.
Present day
“ Your face sad. Why, question?”
Ryland sighed, dragging one of his hands across his face, “Yeah.”
“Is something broken, question? Are you alright, question?” Rocky pushed.
The man shook his head, “I just remembered something. That’s all.”
“Memory pain,” Rocky realized. The Alien was beginning to decipher the multitude of differences in Ryland’s emotions.
“Yeah,” he muttered, “That’s about right.”
Rocky seemed concerned by his friend’s sudden shift in moods, “Remembering Earth, question?”
The man nodded, “Yes. Someone on Earth. Someone I…loved, and I didn’t know it until I couldn’t tell her.”
Rocky seems to think about it for a second, “You didn’t tell her before the launch?”
“No…probably told her I hated her though,” he murmured.
“Why, question?” Rocky was confused.
Ryland swallowed, “It was Stratt.”
“The bossy lady. The one who sent you here, question?”
Ryland nodded, attempting to turn his attention away from the conversation and to something else. Busying his hands with whatever random tools were near him.
“You still love her, question?”
The man paused, thinking about it for a second and then ultimately he nodded, “Yeah. I do.”
Rocky made a sound that seemed to be encouraging, “Then you must go back and tell her!”
Ryland scoffed, “You make it sound so simple. I don't even know if she's still...out there."
"You must find out."
Rocky was right, he did need to find out.