Twenty-Eight

 

Marsha wasn’t surprised to hear that Damian wouldn’t hire her back. However, she was disappointed that he wouldn’t even give her a reference.

“Please,” she begged, standing in the front of the kitchen where she’d spent so much time. “You know I’m a hard worker. I need a job, and I have no other experience here. Please, please, please.”

“I can’t,” he said flatly. “You disappeared without warning and didn’t come back for two months. How can I say anything positive about you after that?”

“Because you saw how well I did for the first two months. I learned so fast, and I adapted so well, and I became a really good waitress. You know I did. I got more tips than anybody else.”

He pursed his lips. “It’s my policy to only give references after six months.”

“Yeah, right! Did you just come up with that policy right now?”

“Marsha,” he warned. “You’re lucky I’m talking to you at all.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll go.” She adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. She’d find some other way to figure things out.

When she was right in the doorway, he spoke again. “Look, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Thank you.”

“You had me really worried, and I know Sophie was ten times worse.” He paused. “Most restaurants don’t require a lot of experience. You won’t have a hard time finding work if you want to stay in this field. You can put this on your resume, and I’ll confirm you worked here. I won’t say anything else.”

Marsha couldn’t help herself. She ran up to him and hugged him. “Thank you so much!”

He awkwardly extricated himself from the embrace. “I do question if this is the right environment for you. Do you want to work in the food industry long-term?”

“I don’t know.” She was going to have to figure that out soon. Her best bet was probably to waitress until she found a better job, though.

“You’re an intelligent person, and you certainly have charm. You can do better than waitressing, if you want to.” He looked at her keenly. “If you can get a green card, the world is your oyster.”

“The world—” She searched her database quickly. “Oh, okay. That’s nice of you.”

A group of customers walked in, and Damian’s attention swung to them. “I wish you luck, Marsha.” He headed out of the kitchen.

After taking a deep breath, Marsha left the restaurant.

Damian was right. She couldn’t get a green card, but it was past time for her to get human papers. She had Googled it a few times, and it seemed like her best bet might be to venture onto what was known as the “dark web.” Apparently it was a section of the Internet where all kinds of illegal things were bought and sold. At this point, she wasn’t worried about legality.

Not wanting to try it on her phone, she went to the library instead. It was a long walk, and she wiped sweat from her brow as she made her way to the computer section. She chose a machine that faced a few empty tables so that no one would be able to see what she was doing.

She searched for instructions, certain it couldn’t be that complicated. Computer knowledge came easily to her since it was so much less advanced than what she was used to. The frustrating part was how silly and tedious much of it was.

There were a few steps she’d have to take in order to purchase something on here. She needed to set up a Bitcoin account and transfer money into it, which would be hard since all her money was cash. So she couldn’t set up a bank account without documents, and she couldn’t get documents without a bank account?

With a sigh, she Googled again. Maybe there was a solution. There were certain ATMs where she could buy Bitcoin with cash. She’d just have to find one, then come back here.

She logged off and walked another half-hour to the closest ATM on the list. She put most of her savings into the account, unsure of how much she’d need. Then she went back to the library, downloaded a virtual private network to mask her location, and installed the Tor browser to access the dark web.

She explored for a few minutes, seeing what she could find. The dark web looked much like the normal Internet, but when she browsed past the surface, it was clear that this was a version without rules or regulations. Nothing like this existed on her planet.

A chill rushed down her spine as she saw a post selling videos of child porn. Suddenly queasy, she backspaced. She needed to get what she was looking for and get out ASAP. She typed in “drivers license and passport” and skimmed through the results.

There were a lot, and a spark of hope flared up within her. She could do this. Why had she waited so long? She’d get her documents, and then Sophie would see she was completely serious about staying on Earth—forever.

And then Sophie would have to forgive her.

 

***

 

Sophie’s last student left for the day, and she waved goodbye to her fondly. Then the smile dropped from Sophie’s face and she reached for her phone with trembling hands.

She knew she was the one who’d kicked Marsha out, and that Marsha had no reason to think she’d want to hear from her. Still, disappointment squeezed her heart when she saw there were no new calls or texts. Marsha had come back only to leave again.

Sophie stood up and stretched, wondering what to do next. Should she contact Marsha? They’d been through so much, and she was still as in love with her as ever. Was there any chance she could forgive Marsha for what she’d done?

Terry had been silently supportive last night, and he was the same way now as they walked toward the car. Sophie kept her thoughts to herself until she thought she was going to burst. Then, as they pulled into the apartment parking garage, she let them all spill out at once.

Terry pulled into a parking space and then didn’t move a muscle, instead sitting and listening in the parked car.

His face was grim as Sophie came to the end of her account. “So she didn’t have a proper reason for leaving? For hurting you?”

“No. Well, I don’t think so. I didn’t completely hear her out.” Sophie sat up straight. “I should’ve. I told her she was making excuses, but maybe they were valid. Maybe if I’d listened, I would’ve forgiven her.”

“I think you want to forgive her, Sophie.”

Her heart clenched. “And that means that I should?”

“More like that you shouldn’t.” He spoke gently. “You’re listening to your heart instead of your mind. You love her, so you want to be with her. But does she deserve that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Look at her actions, not her words.” He bit his lip. “She tried to leave you without saying goodbye once. She swore she’d never do it again, and then…”

“Right,” she whispered.

Terry gave her a moment to let that sink in. “I love her too, you know. She’s an incredible person. But that doesn’t mean she’s the one for you. I mean, she’s not even a person!”

“She is now.” Sophie started to open the car door.

Terry’s voice made her stop. “I’m rooting for you. You know that, right? I want you to work things out. But…”

“I know. Boy, do I know.” She sighed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter right now. I told her to leave. She’ll probably never come back.”

“Are you kidding me? I doubt that. She adores you. She already came back from the other side of the galaxy. She’ll be back—wait and see.” He unbuckled his seat belt. “The only question is how you’re going to respond when she does.”

And what a question that was.

 

***

 

Marsha left the library with a spring in her step. She’d managed to purchase the documents that she needed, even if they’d cost a large chunk of the money she’d saved up. She’d decided to have them shipped to Sophie’s address, since she wasn’t sure how long she’d be at the hotel. No matter how angry Sophie was, Marsha knew she’d keep the documents safe for her.

The next item on her “win-Sophie-back” plan was to figure out what kind of job she’d want to get. She glanced around at the different businesses she was passing. Bakeries, hair salons, convenience stores, dog groomers… None of them stood out as something she would want to do.

She wasn’t sure if any human jobs appealed to her, really. She could handle laboring at something meaningless like the waitressing, but she doubted she’d find work she’d enjoy and be stimulated by. Human jobs all seemed so small in scope. Nothing would take her farther than the edge of the atmosphere.

She could go into science or technology—she could pull from her databases and blow the humans’ minds with her advanced capabilities. Even though she wasn’t a technical person, she could easily expand humanity’s capabilities by severalfold. But that would be unethical, not to mention violating the laws of the Interplanetary Union.

She passed a hot dog stand, then a long-term care home. No and no. Soon her feet had taken her to the entrance of her hotel. She didn’t want to work at one of these places, either.

She tried not to sigh as she went up to her room. She could get a dull, pointless job, just to pay the bills. Plenty of humans seemed to do that. The important part was that she’d be with Sophie.

Maybe something in the medical field would be good. At least she’d be helping people; that was meaningful. The documents she’d bought included an associate’s degree, and she wondered if she might be able to add a nursing diploma onto that. No, it would be better for her to actually study that. She didn’t want to do the wrong thing and kill someone by accident.

She sprawled out on the hotel room bed and opened her phone. No word from Sophie. She debated whether she should call her now or later. Sophie needed some time to cool off, but then, Marsha didn’t want her to think she’d forgotten about her.

She’d made a little progress today, but she wanted to have things more in order before she got in touch. She slid the phone under her pillow and flicked on the TV. Trying to distract herself only lasted a minute. She needed to hear Sophie’s voice again.

She grabbed her phone. After one ring, Sophie picked up.

“Hi,” Marsha breathed. “You answered.”

“I did.” Sophie waited. “Did you have something new to say?”

“I ordered my documents. And Damian won’t give me my job back, but when I get the papers, I’ll get a better job.”

“Good for you.”

Sophie sounded so cold. Shivering, Marsha pulled the scratchy blanket over herself. “I’m getting them delivered to you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.”

Marsha had dreamed of speaking to Sophie for months, and now she didn’t know what else to say. “Are you busy? I can let you go.”

“Maybe that would be best.”

Marsha’s human heart was breaking—a sharp physical pain like the organ itself was ripping into two. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

She lowered the phone from her ear and watched the timer tick away. She didn’t have the heart to hang up—Sophie could do that herself. Two minutes forty-five… two minutes fifty…

“Are you still there?” Sophie was so quiet, Marsha barely heard her.

“Yes.” Marsha moved the phone back to her ear.

“You’re really staying on Earth, then? It’s for sure?”

“It was always for sure.”

“But you left.” Sophie sounded like she was sniffling.

Now Marsha’s tear ducts were acting up, too. “I didn’t mean to leave, honey. I wanted to come back right away, but my birth-givers told me to settle things there. I thought you’d be okay without me for a day, and then that day turned into another. And then I found out two other senators sabotaged the teleporter to send me here. I didn’t miscalibrate it in the first place.”

“What?”

“I know. It was a blow.”

“How could anyone do that?”

“They were jealous, and they wanted me gone. I was too successful, and one was in love with me, and the other wanted to be with that one… It’s complicated.” Marsha hoped this new information would change Sophie’s feelings. She even crossed her fingers in that quaint way that humans did.

“I can’t believe it,” Sophie said. “This is what you were trying to tell me yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“I should’ve listened.”

A tear dripped down Marsha’s cheek—one of happiness. “Do you forgive me?”

“Maybe.” Sophie’s voice was choked. “But trust you? No.”

“I’m sorry, Sophie. I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes to win your trust.”

Sophie was silent.

Marsha had to push her a little harder. Not too much, or Sophie would retreat completely. She chose her words carefully. “Do you think I could come back to your place? I’d love to talk to you in person.”

Sophie said nothing, and Marsha started to worry she’d gone too far. She stared at the water-damaged wall.

“Where are you now?” Sophie finally asked.

“Up the street. The Danish Arms.”

“That place is a dump! Why would you ever… Oh, never mind.” Sophie cleared her throat. “Okay, you can come. But listen, you’re coming as a friend, okay? As of right now, we’re not a couple.”

Marsha’s heart wrenched. “Have you been seeing other people?”

“Are you serious? Who would I see? Do you think another single soul on this planet could compare—” She cleared her throat harder. “Never mind.”

“Got it.” Marsha couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

“What about you?” Sophie asked suddenly. “Did you connect with anyone? Or reconnect?”

“Are you talking about my former lover? The one who basically tried to kill me by rerouting me to a sixth-tier planet? No, we didn’t reconnect.”

“It was him?”

“Yes, apparently I used to have terrible taste in partners.” Marsha got out of bed. “Good thing that’s changed.”

“When will you be here?” Sophie asked.

“I can make it in ten minutes, if I run.”