The young male, whose name tag read Alec, smiled back warmly. “Hi! Yeah, of course. It was your first day on board and my first day on the job.”
I looked him up and down. Carl was right. He was a cutie. Around the age of graduating students, he had an air of vulnerability about him despite his demeanor. His short, slender frame was a contrast to Carl's taller one and lacked the arm definition that Carl maintained from using arm weights and strength bands, allegedly to give him more oomph while bowling and to not appear weak in front of occasionally unruly freshmen students. Unlike with any of our students, I felt a sudden urge to protect him, even though there was no danger to him whatsoever here within the Fleet.
“So, what can I get you? You want to order food, right? Or maybe a drink?”
“We do, yes,” Carl continued to smile at him, and this time, I didn’t feel jealous at all. Carl’s solicitousness towards Alec felt right, as if he were part of our group. A trio of friends, as it were. Perhaps we would get to know him better after spending more time here at the alley, and he would feel that same spark of friendship. Dinners out with us would follow, as well as joining us for movie nights and dinner at ours. I felt contentment at the notion. Yes, adding him to our friendship circle would be nice. Better than nice, even, wonderful.
“We’d like some beef nachos and two ice cream sodas, please.”
“Coke float or root beer?”
“Coke for me, root beer for him.”
“Chocolate or vanilla ice cream?”
“Vanilla,” I replied at the same time as Carl.
“Okie dokie. Be ready in a jiffy,” Alec said, turning away to make our order. We slid onto the stools to wait.
“He seems nice,” I offered.
“Oh, he is. I actually popped in here the other day to check the place out, and he was helping some kids on the lanes. He was so good with them. It was quite adorable to see. I didn’t stay long, though, as he was busy. I mean, the alley was busy. Looked like a field trip or something.”
Ah, so he felt it too. “Seeing as you’re both new to the Fleet, and I’ve only just returned, perhaps we should come a couple of times a week and get to know him better. It would be good to have more people in our social circle.”
“Kit, you really are such a sweetheart, you know that? That’s a great idea. He probably could use some friends, too.”
I waited for him to seize the opportunity to say something along the lines of, “It will be great to have someone to hang out with when you’re busy, after I’ve moved here.”
But he said nothing, so I regretfully accepted he wasn’t ready yet. Monday was fast approaching, though, and with it, his need to return to work.
19
ALEC
Monday hadn’t come fast enough. Friday, my shift ran from one to nine, so I was there when the guy from the elevator came in with his mate for a game and informal dinner. I felt really stupid for having crushed on him all week, thinking that the couple of times he popped in during the shifts I was there helping cover midmorning and lunch time bowlers, that he was there hoping to see me, that he’d felt the same instant attraction I had. He’d waved at me, wiggling his fingers flirtatiously, or so I’d thought, and then left a few minutes later when he realized I had no time to stop and chat and he didn’t have anyone to bowl with.
Watching just how crappy his mate was at bowling, it all became crystal clear. He’d come up here to work because he was newly mated and they must have just returned from their honeymoon or whatever. I felt silly, thinking a hot guy like that would be into me. I was twenty-three and looked it, thankfully not baby faced, while he was at least thirty. Which was admittedly why I’d felt that rush of attraction, no doubt about it. He was exactly my type, older but not old enough to be my dad, his golden brown hair neatly cut short with just enough length to the top to reveal its waves while providing potential grip, a plush lower lip that invited nibbles, a clear cut jaw line with crisp cheekbones, and arctic blue eyes all in one slim but not scrawny six foot package. To add insult to injury, his mate was not only hotter than most of the other ridiculously sexy Mylos but also friendly. Did he not realize how flirtatious he came across? Especially when they came in again Saturday and stayed for four hours, nearly half my shift, and kept coming up for drink refills instead of using the vending machine. Not to mention, more than once, I caught them sneaking glances at me, watching me work instead of paying full attention to the game they were playing. Though as bad as that Kit guy was, Carl didn’t need to play his very best.
Well, at least my gaydar was still working, I guess, and it was Monday, which was my day off as I’d worked the weekend, so Monday and Tuesday were my free days. Winchell was working, so I had the whole day to veg out and go exploring the ship tomorrow.
“Xero, please put on Pokémon season one, Japanese with English subtitles. It may be listed as Pocket Monsters,” I instructed, sitting down on the sofa with a bowl of Fruit Loops.
“Here you go!” came Xero’s cheerful voice, the part of the wall directly opposite the sofa doing that weird thing where it became a TV screen. “Good morning to you.” I frowned at the still image of the opening credits. “Seeing as you slept in until nearly eleven, and your account indicates you haven’t yet checked your messages, I feel I should tell you that you are to report to Sickbay aboard the mothership promptly at one.”
“I was going to check them after I ate and had a shower,” I informed him.
“It’s wise to check messages before eight-thirty in case any are time sensitive. You can always nap later,” he chided.
“It’s my day off, so I thought I was good to go!”
“Generally yes, but you still have various in-processing tasks that need completing, specifically your mate matching test.”
Oh. Thank God for that. For a moment, I was afraid that the medical exam I’d undergone the day of my arrival had detected my unruly blood pressure and the meds I took for it, and despite my paperwork being clear about it when I signed on, that they were going to let me go from the training program. Which, now that I wasn’t freaking out a little, I realized was silly, as there were several disabled veterans in the program.
“Okay, um, what time do I need to go catch a flight over?”
“You can catch the shuttle at 11:45, 12:15, or 12:45, but I would not recommend the last one as it barely gives you enough time to get there and find your way on a different class of ship.”
