Taydelaan (2 page)

But then the spell was broken, and Jessica took a step away. She smiled, and Kayla started to wonder if anything unusual had happened at all. Everything certainly seemed normal. It was not a secret that Kayla had an overactive imagination. She rubbed her forehead tiredly. Maybe she should lay off the sci-fi movies for a while. Mind readers? What the hell was she thinking?

In silence they walked slowly back to the office, but it wasn’t until they reached Jessica’s desk that Kayla noticed how pale the other woman looked.

“Jess, are you okay?” she asked, as concern for her friend’s health overrode her own confused thoughts.

“Just a headache, I think. Nothing serious, but I might go home.”

“Uhm, sure. Can I do anything?”

Jessica smiled, grasped Kayla's hand for a moment, and said, “No. I’ll just let the boss know before I leave.”

Kayla wanted to drive Jessica home, but considering the strange emotional attachment she seemed to be developing for both Jessica and David, maybe it was better that she back away for a while. The last thing she wanted was to get in between a married couple again. Not that it would happen—Jessica and David were devoted to each other—but embarrassing herself in front of the two closest friends she had was simply not on her agenda.

But as she watched Jessica walk away, Kayla finally admitted that even her physical attraction wasn’t just for David.

* * * *

David felt her energy even before she entered the room. As natural as breathing, he sensed Jessica’s mood and moved quickly toward her. The grief flowing through their connection shocked him, and he needed to understand, needed to help. As she stepped through the door, he pulled her into his warm embrace.

Her thoughts were so scattered he couldn’t interpret their meaning, but he held her close while she gave in to the tears. Silently he bent, lifted her in his arms, and carried her to the sofa. He sat holding her tight, giving her time, still trying to hear her jumbled thoughts.

She cried for a short while, but he sensed her need to talk and helped her to sit up.

“She’s not the one.”

“Are you certain?” he asked. “Was there nothing in the link?”

“Nothing.” She swallowed, took a deep breath and wiped her face angrily. “I felt so certain she was our Taydelaan. Even now I can’t forget her, even knowing she is not destined for us.”

“Oh, honey, we knew it was a long shot. There are billions of humans on this planet. We will keep searching. We will find our Taydelaan. We just need to keep moving forward.”

“But I already love her.” She said it with such defeat in her tone—a feeling he now shared—that he couldn’t help but hold her tighter. Yes they both loved her, but Kayla was human and not their Taydelaan.

They had to let her go.

* * * *

“Kayla.” The shrill voice had the whole office ducking for cover. “What the hell happened with Jessica yesterday?”

Trying to control the nervous urge to swallow, Kayla swiveled in her chair, absently noting the interest from her co-workers. Apparently, the boss’s tantrums were a form of entertainment as long as you weren’t the target of her ire.

“Yesterday? I don’t understand.”

“Well you’d better understand and start giving me answers.” Kayla still looked at her boss blankly. “What the hell happened between you two that would cause Jessica to quit her job in the middle of tax time?”

Kayla’s mouth fell open in shock. Jessica had resigned? Why?

She shook her head. Nothing unusual happened yesterday. Not really. Kayla had simply gone to lunch with Jessica and David just like she’d done every work day for the past few months. They’d eaten together, talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company. Just like every other week. Nothing had happened to set the day apart from any other she’d shared with Jessica. Well, except for that brief moment where Kayla imagined Jessica reading her mind, or when she imagined David wanting to kiss her.

Oh, hell.

Kayla shook her head in bewildered denial, but the uncomfortable thought wriggled its way to the forefront of her thinking.

No. No way would they have realized the feelings she’d begun to develop for the beautiful couple. She’d been very careful to hide them. There was no way she’d given her thoughts away, was there?

Her boss stood tapping her chubby, expensively clad foot, waiting for an answer. Heat traveled up Kayla’s neck, coloring her face. Embarrassment, at both her current situation and the possibility she’d given away her attraction to her friends, clawed its way through her.

“Why would Jessica resign when we need her the most?” Kayla watched her boss’s fury begin to escalate. “Why would she have lunch with you and then leave soon after? Why would she resign the same day?”

“I—I don’t know,” Kayla stammered. “I knew she went home sick after lunch, but she never mentioned anything to me about resigning.” A sharp ache had begun in her chest. She considered Jessica and David her closest friends. Why wouldn’t they tell her about Jessica leaving?

“Well, I expect you to find out and fix it. I will not get through tax time one accountant short. You will fix this, Kayla.” There was no real threat in the words, but her tone held a much more sinister meaning. Jessica was an experienced and talented accountant, and Kayla was an average secretary. If there was a problem between the two of them, there was no doubt whom the boss considered expendable. The woman gave her one more furious look, turned on her wobbly heel, and marched back to her office.

Kayla rubbed her temples against the suddenly blinding headache, closed her eyes and tried to reconstruct the events of yesterday. She’d been concerned when Jessica went home ill, but not overly worried. Jessica had said it was nothing serious, and David worked from home, so Kayla knew her friend wouldn’t be alone when she got there. She’d spent last night going over and over the lunch that they’d had together and had convinced herself that it had all been imagination.

But why would Jessica resign? It made no sense.

It was a big office. Jessica and David could easily have avoided her if that had been their wish. Hell, judging by the boss’s furious reaction, Jessica could’ve gotten her fired quite easily. Kayla rubbed a hand over the ache in her forehead. Jessica wasn’t like that. If she had a problem with Kayla, surely she would have said something. They’d known each other for months and had been close friends for most of that time. Even if Jessica had noticed Kayla’s attraction to David, surely Jessica and David were secure enough in their relationship not to be overly concerned. Kayla was just their lonely friend they should pity. She was certainly no threat to their marriage.

She knew them well, didn’t she? Memories of the last man she’d trusted stabbed at her brain. Did she really know Jessica and David at all? Lord knows, she’d been wrong before.

Kayla spun her chair around, suddenly very anxious to get answers. She needed to see them both, to ask them why this happened, find out why they hadn’t discussed it with her or at least warned her it might occur. She needed to know if she truly was so bad at choosing friends, again.

She didn’t bother telling the boss where she was going. She just left via the stairwell, too agitated to wait for the elevator.

* * * *

“David?” Jessica spoke softly into the small communicator. “That’s the last one. They’re ready for transport.” She glanced around the room packed with boxes. They were taking far more than they should, but these items held so many memories that she felt unable to part with them. Earth had only been home for a little over two years, but she’d come to think of it as the step toward the future she and David wanted, not a step back into heartache. Now, without their Taydelaan, they were back to square one.

She headed back upstairs to make certain they’d left nothing behind. The truck had already taken the furniture and other items to the charity they’d chosen, so the only things left were the boxes she’d stacked in the living area. David would arrange for them to be transported via a type of wireless energy transfer, the sort of thing human sci-fi fans called beaming technology.

A small smile tugged at Jessica’s mouth when she remembered some of Kayla’s favorite television shows. It was a ridiculous assumption that any type of technology could pull apart and reconstruct something as intricate as living organisms, but it was an easy way to get her mementos back to the ship. Kayla would have loved the technology. If only they’d been able to tell her. If only she’d been the one.

David would return in one of the ship’s radar-invisible cruisers tonight, collect her, and then they’d head home on the transport ship currently parked behind Earth’s moon. They’d been lucky that a transport ship had been so close to the planet. They could’ve waited for up to three Earth months before securing passage home. This way left little time for them to get organized, but maybe that was for the best.

She sighed sadly. They hadn’t spoken to Kayla yet. What the hell could they say? “
Sorry, babe. We both love you, but you aren’t the one, so we need to go back to our home planet and consult the genetic scientists again in an effort to find our Taydelaan.
” It just didn’t cut it. Kayla would be so confused, and, if she managed to get over the alien thing, so hurt. They’d both sensed Kayla’s growing feelings and had been certain it would lead to something more, but she wasn’t their Taydelaan, she didn’t belong with them, and they had no right to ask anything of her.

Jessica fought back tears as she remembered the moment almost six months ago when she’d brushed past Kayla in the supermarket. The connection had been fleeting but so powerful it had stolen her breath. Jessica’s parents had always told her she would know her Taydelaan when she met him or her, but she’d been unprepared for the instant attraction or the need to pull the other woman into her arms and hold her close until time ended.

But somehow she’d been wrong.

It took six months of patient friendship for Kayla to feel comfortable enough to allow her and David just to hug her. Jessica had been so sure, so absolutely positive Kayla was their Taydelaan that she’d quickly learned the country’s tax laws, infiltrated the government and university computer records, and created a work history and qualifications so she could apply for the accountant’s position open at the same place Kayla worked. It had taken very little time, and, compared to her previous position as Sesturia’s leading engineer in biomechanical design, had proven to be quite simple to understand.

She wandered into the kitchen, already missing the simple meals she’d cooked here. It had been very interesting trying to produce meals the human way, and both David and Kayla had teased her about her lack of skill. Cooking was one thing Jessica wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to master. She could almost feel Kayla’s presence as she remembered some of the good-natured ribbing she’d received from the woman who could actually cook.

At least on Sesturia she wouldn’t need to cook. A small pang of homesickness hit her unexpectedly. Even though they’d moved to Earth expecting to stay much longer than two years, it felt a little comforting to know that soon they would be back amongst family. At times like this, she really missed her mothers’ sage advice—Kendra’s practical, steadfast attitude and Teyla’ani’s imaginative and slightly offbeat view of the universe. The two women couldn’t be more different, but it was clear to any who knew them that they were deeply in love. Her father would be relieved to have her home as well. He’d been none too pleased when the scientists advised that Jessica and David’s genetic match was not a Sesturian but a human.

But thinking of home only reinforced the loss she felt right now. So many times she’d imagined sharing their lives with Kayla, even hoping to talk her into visiting their home planet, if not moving there with them permanently. If Kayla had been their Taydelaan, both David and Jessica would have happily lived their lives on Earth, raising their children both in the human world and in the small Sesturian community on this planet.

Absently Jessica sensed the strange tingling sensation that usually accompanied the wireless energy transfer of the matter transporter. She moved toward the living room to make sure the operator hadn’t accidentally included the floorboards or something equally ridiculous in the transfer.

What she didn’t expect to see was Kayla.

The woman stood there, her face covered in tears, her mouth open and her eyes wide. She shook uncontrollably as her gaze darted to Jessica and back to the empty space where only moments ago the boxes had been stacked.
 

“Kayla.” Jessica kept her voice low and even, instinct telling her to treat this situation carefully. It was obvious by the tears that Kayla had already been upset at finding the house empty, but the fear could most likely be attributed to witnessing several large boxes disappear into thin air.

“Kayla, baby, talk to me.” Jessica stepped closer, moving slowly, but Kayla jumped back from her and held her arms out as if to stop her.

“W–what the hell was that?” The words sounded angry, but Jessica could read the deep confusion in Kayla’s body language. Kayla backed up another step, and another, until her spine pressed against the wall behind her. “Why is the house empty? Why did you resign? Where the fuck did all those boxes go?” Each word grew more and more hysterical, Kayla’s voice rising in both volume and pitch until Jessica’s ears stung in protest.