Chapter 9
Hattie
Steak was, indeed, stupidly expensive. But chicken was cheaper, and she knew that Tuvo liked it, so she put it into the basket on her arm.
The small grocery store was part of a chain on the islands.
It wasn’t huge, but it had a decent selection of items. She was thinking about making chicken parmesan.
Or maybe Alfredo – she had seen some glass jars of the sauce that would be easy to spruce up.
And she could add Tuvo’s chicken, raw, after the pasta was already cooked.
Shopping was pretty fun, even if the only thing she was buying was food.
Keith wasn’t even being extra annoying. Probably because he wasn’t bothering her. He had found a cute girl sitting at the front at check out and Hattie had left him there. She wasn’t out of his sight, the store wasn’t that big, so she wasn’t worried.
Deciding on chicken parmesan on a bed of pasta Alfredo, she went back to the jar section to get some tomatoes for the chicken.
As she was walking that way, she passed by produce and a familiar sight caught her eye.
Were those celti berries?
Even as she had that thought, she was telling herself not to be stupid. Celti berries were native to Turv and were only ripe after the rainy season. They were extremely sweet and juicy, and she had come to enjoy them a lot.
They also bore a striking resemblance to blueberries, which is what she had seen.
The sight sent a strange pang of homesickness through her chest. The blue celti berries had once been a small connection back to Earth – even only visually. And now, here again, they were serving as a connection back to Turv.
Picking up a little plastic container, she smiled before putting them in her basket.
“What you making with those?”
She turned, surprised to see Keith had come up behind her. “You’re back quick. Did you strike out with the girl behind the counter?”
He scoffed, crossing his arms. “Yeah. Turns out, she only speaks Spanish-”
“Portuguese.”
“What?”
“They speak Portuguese here.”
“Same thing. She don’t speak English. Had to give that one up. What are the blueberries for?”
Hattie stifled laughter, wondering if the girl actually only spoke Portuguese or if she was just trying to get out of talking to Keith.
“Muffins. Maybe pancakes. Or maybe a cheesecake? Since Tuvo can’t eat grains.
You think he can eat gluten free foods? I’m not sure if it’s the gluten they can’t eat or the grains themselves. ”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m down for pancakes. They got syrup?”
“No. Just butter.”
“That’s disgusting. What kind of pancakes don’t have syrup?”
“You know, not every country shares America’s diet preferences, right?” She asked, giving him a look as she continued to the jars and cans.
“Be a lot cooler if they did.” He sighed, impatient as she perused her options. “What’s taking so damn long? There’s like three things in this store.”
“I have to cook for two different species and my options are limited. Give me a minute.”
“It’s been like thirty.”
“It’s been like ten.”
He groaned, rolling his eyes. “See, Hats, this kind of thing is why you’re single.”
“Because I take too long shopping?”
“No. I mean, yeah, that too, but you just don’t get men.”
“Clearly not,” she mumbled, not really paying attention as she debated her choices.
“It’s okay, though. I kind of like how awkward and clueless you are. It’s cute.”
“Glad you approve.” She added the Alfredo sauce. Alfredo with grilled/raw chicken as desired with blueberry cheesecake sounded great. She just needed some cream cheese and…
As she ran through the recipe list in her head, she meandered around the store. Never in any real order, just trying to get things as she thought of them. It made her shopping style rather chaotic, but it followed her thought process and that was easiest for her.
Keith, however, got annoyed very quickly.
He complained about everything. How long she was taking, how she had to keep doubling back, what she was cooking, the store itself, the girl at the front who wasn’t falling for his charms. Charms Hattie had to remind herself that he did, in fact, have at one point.
He just wasn’t showing them to her anymore because she had already seen behind those particular curtains.
She finally finished her shopping and went up to the front while Keith waited outside.
The girl behind the counter did, in fact, speak accented but clear English.
Hattie accepted her receipt with a thanks, gathered her groceries in the reusable bag she had taken from the house, and walked outside. Keith was there, snapping selfies again, but he fell into step beside her as she started back down the road towards their rental.
This area wasn’t exactly urban, but it wasn’t exactly isolated either. There were a few other businesses scattered around, like a little shopping hub for the various houses that were in the area. It was quaint and peaceful – the road wide enough for a car though no one was driving.
“Explain to me again why I’m not allowed to go the beach party?” Keith started without preamble or warning.
“We’re not on vacation. And it’s dangerous for us to travel without security.”
“No, it’s dangerous for you to travel without security. I’m not part of the alien delegation thing. I don’t see why I got to suffer.”
“It’s a party Keith. You’re not suffering. And Tuvo already said no.”
“Yeah, cause he’s my fucking dad,” he scoffed. “Why do you even bother with that guy? He’s so fucking serious and uptight.”
“He’s a good male. He’s worried about his job and keeping us safe.”
“He’s controlling and a literal alien. Did you forget that part?”
“I was an alien on his planet for a long time. It never bothered me. Why should it bother me now that our roles are reversed? And he’s not controlling.”
“You literally don’t do anything without his permission. When I asked you what was for dinner, you said you had to ask if you could go shopping.”
“Yes, because it might be dangerous.”
“Yeah, the receipt might give you a papercut or something,” he said, as though shocked. “Get serious, Hats. Isn’t this some kind of anti-feminist thing?”
“Anti-feminist?”
“Yeah. You know, for this big, strong man to come into your life and tell you what to do?”
“First off, he’s not a man. He’s a domini. Second, he’s not telling me what to do with my life. He’s watching out for my safety. That’s his job. It’s the entire reason he’s here.”
“Tch. Whatever. I just think it’s weird.”
“What is?”
“The way he stares at you! It looks like he’s going to eat you!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, even as her belly swooped with excitement. Did he really look at her like that?
“Come on, Hats,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop. “Get real. Are you seriously going to return to his planet after this?”
“Of course. Turv is my home.”
“No, Earth is your home. Your parents live here. I live here-”
“What do you have to do with it?”
He chuckled like she had told a joke, giving her those eyes.
Those eyes.
Those big, blue, do-me-baby eyes.
“Come on, Hats. You know, me and you…”
“Broke up. A long time ago. Before my abduction. B.A. – Before Abduction.”
“You know you didn’t mean that. You were just having a moment.”
“An unending moment.”
“I know we had our problems. There at the end, we both said some things we didn’t mean.”
“No, I meant all of it.”
“But we can work through this. I love you, Hats. You’re my girl.”
“You were literally hitting on the checkout girl like ten minutes ago.”
“Psh. Thirty.”
“Keith, you’re not listening.” She took a step back from him. “My home is on Turv. My family and I won’t be separated forever. Earth will be connected to the Coalition through a communications array, and I’ll be able to call and visit whenever I want. I’m not saying goodbye forever.”
He laughed at her, all that cute, smoldering gaze gone as quickly as it had come on.
“Get real, Hattie. You’re not going to find someone better than me.
No one is going to love you like I do. Especially not guys like that.
” He pointed with his thumb down the road.
“That guy is way out of your league. Okay? You need to come back down to Earth. Literally.”
Hattie frowned. He was doing it again. Trying to break her self-esteem. Trying to make her feel unworthy. And recognizing the behavior made it easier to deal with.
“Even if no one mates me, I’m happy with my life there.”
“Bullshit. You want the hubby and the babies. The whole package deal.”
“Yeah, but I don’t need it.”
“But I can give it to you. I’ll give you a baby if you really want one.”
“Wow, what an offer,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Keith, you and I are not good together. I’m just not willing to put up with you. And you don’t even like me.”
“What are you talking about? We dated for two years. Of course, I like you.”
“No, you don’t. I was convenient to you.
I said, yes. And I let you bully me until I was too afraid to leave.
I let that happen. I let myself believe those things you said about me.
But I do deserve someone who loves me for me.
Who cares about me. Who wouldn’t change me and actually takes an interest in me as I am, not who he can photoshop me to be. ”
“What are you talking about? I care about you. I know you.”
“Oh, do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then, what’s my favorite color?”
“What?”
“Answer the question,” she snapped, advancing on him. “We dated for two years, Keith. You care about me so much. You should know the answer to that.”
“Really?” He stared incredulously. “You’re going to base your reaction on something so stupid as that? Favorite color doesn’t matter, Hats. That’s like, some basic shit. It doesn’t actually say anything about you as a person.”
“No, but not knowing it says a lot about you as a partner. It’s literally one of the easiest things you can learn about someone that’s not biographical information. So, tell me. What’s my favorite color?”
“Well, I’m not telling you now. You’re just going to say it’s something different to try and prove this stupid point of yours.”
Hattie sat down the bag of groceries. She opened her purse and pulled out the receipt she had just been given and a pen. On her hand, held so he couldn’t see it, she wrote down her favorite color. She tossed her pen back in her bag, folded up the receipt, then held it aloft.
“Written down. I can’t change my mind. Tell me what my favorite color is.”
“This is dumb, Hattie.”
“You don’t know it.”
“I’m not playing your little juvenile games, okay? When you want to talk like an actual adult and not kids on a playground telling each other our favorite zoo animal or some shit, then we can talk. Grow up, Hattie. This, by the way, is another reason you’re going to die alone.”
Scoffing, he turned on his heel and started walking away.
Hattie let out a long breath and dropped the receipt back into her purse.
Somehow, that had actually been depressing.
She had no intentions of getting back together with Keith, but they had dated for two years. She really had been hoping that he would actually care enough to remember that detail about her. Because she had definitely told him at some point. Probably more than once.
But remembering her favorite color wasn’t important to him, because she wasn’t important to him.
And it hurt to know that two years of life and affection and effort really just boiled down to a receipt with an unanswered question written on the back.
She picked the bag of groceries back up and followed after him. Maintaining some distance, but also keeping him in sight.
She didn’t like him, but Tuvo was right that it was better for her to be with someone else. Strength in numbers and all that.
Yet somehow, she still felt completely alone.