Chapter Ten #5
“Barbara Traylor,” Aster strode forward to shake her hand.
“You must be Aster?” She shook his hand.
“That’s me. Thanks for responding to my email.”
“Of course. Now I’ve talked over your concerns with Bob, but it seems his consents to build are all filled out and filed. So, I understand your perspective but it all seems to be above board.” Barbara smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, she seemed genuinely apologetic.
But something wasn’t adding up. I squashed down my shyness and stepped in.
“Sorry, Ma’am, but if it’s all above board, why were they sneaking around at night?”
Barbara blinked at me. “Sneaking around?”
“Oh yeah,” Aster said. “They were lurking around the Cooper alpaca farm in the night. It was super creepy.”
Barbara’s brow furrowed. “That’s not right at all.”
Harlow slipped her arm through mine. “And there should be some protections for the lake and the forest, right?”
Barbara pulled out her phone and tapped it a couple of times. “Protections? I didn’t think of that. Leave this with me.” She looked up from her phone and gave us an encouraging smile. “Keep doing what you’re doing, I need to check something.”
She strode off and Aster clapped his hands, getting the crowd’s attention again. “All right folks, let’s keep this up for just a little longer. Be as loud and annoying as you can. Say it with me, No data center! No AI in Foggy!”
A half hour later my voice was starting to give out from the shouting and Aster was visibly wilting in the hot sun.
I signalled him over. “We need to rest and rehydrate.”
Aster nodded, “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
He cleared his throat, about to address the crowd when Barbara Traylor came out of the building again, waving a printout.
Aster63
I was hot and sweaty, I knew my face must be bright red, my feet hurt and my voice was scratchy. But when Barbara Traylor came out with her news I felt like a brand new man.
“The forest is protected!”
“What?” My heart thudded in my ears. Was she saying what I thought she was saying?
“The forest. It backs onto the Coastal range. It’s all protected, a wildlife preserve, dating back to the founding of Foggy Basin.”
Harlow cut the music and Mickey grabbed my arm. “Protected?” He repeated.
“Yes, they can’t build there. It’s a federal law.” Barbara Traylor passed me the piece of paper, I glanced at it but it was all legalese as far as I could tell. “Besides, there's an already approved plan for a reservoir up there, to protect against future droughts, and a data center...?”
“Would cause more droughts,” I finished.
“That’s amazing!” Harlow bounced.
Mickey took the paper and scanned it. He nodded at me. “This is real, they can’t build there. I'm Mickey Cooper.” He added the last, shaking hands with Barbara . I probably should have introduced everyone.
“Yes, you own the alpaca farm? Te line goes almost all the way to your boundary lines, Mr Cooper,” Barbara continued. “That’s probably why your farm is where it is, your great-great grandfather would have built as close as he could to maximize space.”
“That’s incredible, thank you so much for this.” I turned back to Barbara and shook her hand. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Barbara grinned. “You would have had trouble finding this. I suspect a certain someone had done his best to hide the relevant data. But with my access I was able to uncover it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Well. I would like to hug you, if that’s okay.”
“Yes.” Barbara opened her arms and I hugged her.
“You’re awesome. You have our full support any time you need it.”
“Let me know if you encounter anything else that needs my attention.”
“I absolutely will.” I shook her hand again, then turned to the crowd of protesters, who were all watching with an expectant quiet.
“They aren’t legally allowed to build there! The forest is a wildlife reserve!”
The crowd broke into cheers.
“Thanks to councilor Barbara Traylor here for unearthing the truth!” More cheers and applause. I cleared my throat again. “And with that, our work here is done. Thanks to all of you for showing up for our town, and for the environment. You are all my heroes now. Thank you, and stay in touch!”
The crowd applauded for me this time, and then started to wander off, some of them returning their signs and some leaving them by the nearest trashcan.
“Come on,” Harlow said. “Lunch at the Blue Star, it’s on me.”
I turned to Mickey. “Is that what you want—”
He grabbed me in a tight hug and kissed me deeply.
I made a surprised noise, then closed my eyes and sank intothe kiss.
Mickey’s beard tickled my chin and it was way too hot to be pressed against him, but I wound my arms around him, pushed up on my toes and kissed him back with everything I had.
“Okay,” Harlow said, her voice less pleased than it had been a moment ago.
That caught my attention, and I pulled back from Harlow to look at her.
Mickey’s grip tightened on my waist. “Harlow?”
“You two are absolutely disgusting,” she said. “And I ship it. But that doesn’t mean I want to see it less than a foot from my face.”
“You ship it?” My voice cracked, hardly able to believe my luck — First the data center couldn’t go ahead, then Mickey kissed me and... Harlow wasn’t against that?
“Yeah, you two are cute as hell.” Harlow rolled her eyes. “And I’m honestly so glad you finally realized that you’re both in love.”
In love? I swallowed, my heart thudding. I looked to Mickey, sure he was going to deny and say it wasn’t that serious.
“Well, we have some things to work through,” Mickey said. “But yes, I love Aster. I’m glad I have your permission, baby sister.”
Harlow chuckled. “I’m going ahead to the diner. You two do whatever you need to do and I’ll see you there. But be quick! I’m gonna order a burger when I get there.”
She walked off and I turned back to Mickey, certain he’d be able to feel the intensity of my excitement.
“You mean that?” My voice was gravelly and I blamed it entirely on all the shouting I’d done and definitely not from the emotions threatening to overwhelm me.
“I mean it.” Mickey nodded. “If you’re... if you’re okay with me being demisexual, then I’d ... I really want you to move in and be my boyfriend.”
“I’m already moved in?” Was I panting? I could not catch my breath.
“Properly move in, not a temporary thing.”
“I’d love that. And the demisexual thing is great with me. I don’t need sex all the time, and actually...” I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “I’m really glad that you don’t just see me as a fetish object. Or just a friend.”
Mickey’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Of course, we've been friends for a long time, but you were a teenager so I never thought of you like that. But Aster, when you came back to Foggy, as a man...That's when it all clicked into place for me.”
I whimpered softly. “This feels unreal.”
He squeezed me to him and kissed my cheek. “It’s real, Aster. I love you, and I’m sorry people have treated you like an object. I see you as a person, a man, and I’ll do everything in my power to cherish you, if you’ll let me.”
I was going to cry.
I buried my face in his chest and tried to get myself together.
Mickey held me close and just...waited. He gave me my space (emotionally) to pull myself together, while reassuring me in physical space.
I loved him so much.
After a while, I nodded. “I’d really like that, Mickey. I’ll move in. I want to be with you more than anything in the world.”
Mickey beamed and kissed me again.
“Come on, let’s get some food before Harlow gives up on us.”