by Tasha Black
But for Fletcher, home was where Jana was - no matter where that might be, and no matter if it was only ever the two of them.
“Things don’t have to happen in a particular order,” he murmured to himself. Things don’t have to happen at all. I just have to love her. And I already know I can do that.”
He headed dreamily back toward 221B, suddenly at peace with everything.
Jana was his mate. And when the time was right, it would be as clear to her as it was to him.
The sounds of other people’s laughter and conversation warmed him now, making him feel a part of something instead of separate from it.
This was his world now too, because it was hers.
20
Jana
Jana tried to comfort herself by finishing her yoga routine, but somehow, she couldn’t relax again.
All she could think about was the pain in Fletcher’s eyes and the corresponding tearing she felt in her heart.
She had made the right decision. It wasn’t acceptable to lead him on when she knew she would be unhappy in his world.
But it was impossible to imagine a lifetime without him. He had walked out the door only a few minutes ago, and it already felt interminable.
After twenty minutes of solid efforts to focus on yoga, she gave up.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of Fletcher - his gentle smile, the deep music of his laughter.
“What have I done?” she wondered aloud.
Her phone began to ring, as if in answer.
She slid it out of her pocket and picked up without even looking to see who it was.
“This is Jana,” she said automatically.
“Hey, girl,” a deep, friendly voice said. “It’s Angie.”
Jana’s heart began to pound.
Angie was her agent.
“Hey, Angie,” she said weakly. “How’s it going?”
“I don’t know,” Angie teased. “How do you think it’s going?”
“Good Lord, Angie, just tell me already,” Jana exclaimed.
Angie laughed, wasting precious seconds.
“Okay, baby,” Angie said, a smile in her voice. “You got the part.”
The floor seemed to drop out from under Jana, and she practically fell onto the sofa.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” Angie said. “They need you back in New York in a month to start rehearsals. Script is coming to you by courier in a day or two.”
“Holy crap,” Jana breathed.
“Holy crap is right,” Angie agreed. “Congratulations. You worked hard for this, and you paid your dues for a lot of years.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” Jana said, suddenly feeling weepy. “I know I wasn’t the first person they thought of for this role. Thank you for believing in me and for kicking in the door to get me in front of them.”
“That’s why I get the big bucks,” Angie laughed. “Go call the people you love. I’ll email you the contract and we’ll go over it when you’re ready.”
“Thank you,” Jana said again, feeling totally shell-shocked.
Angie hung up and suddenly Jana was once more alone in the apartment with her thoughts.
She had done it.
She had worked hard to be the best she could be, and in spite of the odds stacked against her, she had found an agent who believed in her and ultimately landed a role that could change the trajectory of her career, of her whole life.
This was it - the amazing break she had prepared for since her teen years.
So why does it feel so empty?
She began to pace again, the room blurring around her as hot tears ran down her cheeks.
She didn’t know if minutes passed or hours, but the door opened.
“Jana, what’s wrong? What happened?” Vi demanded, dashing across the room to wrap her arms around her.
Jana let herself be embraced, feeling especially grateful since Vi was generally not a hugger.
“I-I… Angie called,” Jana managed to say.
“Oh no,” Vi said. “Well, fuck them. You’re fantastic and it’s their loss.”
Jana smiled through her tears at her best friend’s fierce loyalty.
“No,” Jana said, letting go of Vi to swipe at her teary face. “No, I got it.”
Vi pulled away, but kept hold of Jana’s arms. “You got the part?”
Jana nodded.
“Yes, you got it,” Vi cried, beaming. “So these are happy tears?”
“Yes and no,” Jana said. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t feel like I thought I would feel.”
“This is a huge, life-changing moment,” Vi said, nodding. “It’s natural to feel some trepidation.”
Jana shook her head. “I have no fears about stepping up my career,” she said. “I’m ready for that.”
“So what’s wrong?” Vi asked.
“I think… I think it’s Fletcher,” Jana said.
“Ah.” Vi nodded, her expression showing she understood completely now.
“He came here after you left and I had thought about what you said earlier,” Jana explained. “I do care about him and I don’t want to hurt him. I told him we couldn’t be together.”
Vi nodded, wincing slightly.
“But now, I feel…broken inside,” Jana said. “I’ve had bad break-ups before. This isn’t like that.”
Vi nodded.
“I’m beginning to think maybe he was right,” Jana said. “Maybe we are already bonded. Maybe I can’t leave him. Which means I have to call Angie back and turn down the part.”
“Why?” Vi asked.
“Because I can’t take him away from his brothers,” Jana said. “He may look like a man, but he’s like a baby in a lot of ways. He’s new to this world and I can see how much he needs them.”
“You’ve heard of this thing called a telephone, right?” Vi asked. “You just press the screen and there are all your friends and relations, talking to you like magic.”
“He also wants to have children,” Jana said.
“Well, so do you, one day,” Vi pointed out.
“Sure, one day, but not now,” Jana said.
“Did he say he wants them now?” Vi asked.
“I just thought, that was kind of their directive,” Jana said weakly. “Aren’t they supposed to come here and have families?”
“Think about how many of them there are now,” Vi pointed out. “When there were only three here, it was important to prove they could connect with us, settle down with us. At this point I think you can buy yourselves some time.”
“Maybe we could get a dog,” Jana said thoughtfully. “They’re like furry kids.”
“Holy shit,” Vi said, freezing.
“We don’t have to get a dog,” Jana offered. “Maybe just a bird or something to practice on?”
“No, it’s not that,” Vi said.
“What is it?”
“I know who’s behind it?” Vi breathed.
“Behind what?”
“Behind all of it,” Vi said.
“Who?” Jana demanded.
“No, no, come on, let’s get the boys, we have to go, now,” Vi said firmly, grabbing Jana’s hand and heading for the door to the apartment.
21
Fletcher
Fletcher ran to the door as someone on the other side pounded frantically.
“What took you so long?” Vi demanded, marching in with Jana in tow.
Jana gazed at him, her face tear-stained but exalted.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She nodded and gave him a tiny smile that sent shivers of joy through his blood.
“We’re going to town hall,” Vi announced. “Come on.”
Spenser shrugged and followed her.
Hannibal jogged down the hallway from his room. “Vi?”
“Come on, brother,” Fletcher said. “We are all going to town hall.”
“Why?” Hannibal asked as they closed the door behin
d them.
“Don’t bother asking,” Jana said over her shoulder from the stairs below. “She won’t tell us.”
“You’ll see soon enough,” Vi said. “Come on.”
They must have made a funny picture marching down the street in a group. People moved out of the way and a couple of tourists snapped photos.
Fletcher realized belatedly that this was exactly why Dr. Bhimani had asked them not to appear together in public. It was very clear that the people around knew they were from Aerie. The three of them together were just too big and too sexy by human standards.
But no one seemed unfriendly.
As a matter of fact, plenty of people smiled and shouted greetings. And a few began to follow them.
Ten minutes later, they strode up the marble steps of Stargazer’s town hall, with a small crowd in tow.
“May I help you?” a receptionist asked.
“We’re here to see the mayor,” Vi said in a bright clear voice that rang against the marble floors.
“Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked in a nervous way.
“Oh, Blair, no one needs an appointment here,” Mayor Harvey Smalls said as he strode out of his office with a big smile. But he did a double-take when he saw just how many people were waiting for him.
“Thank you so much, Mayor Smalls,” Vi said. “But perhaps you’d like to talk with me privately?”
Fletcher looked around.
A few of the people in the crowd were holding up their phones to record the encounter.
“Uh, no,” Mayor Smalls said. “This is fine. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Is that so?” Vi asked. “Then why did you kidnap people’s dogs to have them trained at your own expense?”
There was a collective gasp.
Fletcher and his brothers sometime struggled with proper expectations in human interactions, but even he knew that accusing the Mayor of a crime was the height of improper manners.
“I-I didn’t do that,” the mayor said.
Fletcher thought he looked very nervous, maybe too nervous to be telling the truth.
“What about the mural?” Vi asked. “Are you going to tell me you had nothing to do with that painting and the generous, anonymous donation that paid for it?”
The mayor shook his head, but his face was growing red.
“And what about the so-called contest for those kids with the loud garage band? Did you buy that space just for them?” Vi asked. “I’m guessing a search of the public record will give us that answer, even if you won’t.”
“I love this town,” Mayor Smalls said quietly. “I only wanted to make it a better place.”
“Then why didn’t you make changes through the proper channels?” Vi asked. “You could have donated funds for the mural without being all sneaky about it.”
“The process in this town is very difficult,” the mayor said. “Things take so much time and so many committee members have their own priorities, it can be hard to get anything done. Remember how long it took to me get rid of those awful ice cream trucks? I worked for half a year to get that ordinance passed.”
Yeah. Because only a monster doesn’t like ice cream trucks.
“So you decided to skip the process, to go around the committees?” Vi asked.
“Everything I’ve done has been to help people and better this town,” Mayor Smalls said, lifting his chin in defiance.
“What about the stolen cars?” Vi demanded. “What about the kids and their missing skateboards?”
There was a murmuring in the crowd.
“The cars are being restored at my expense,” the mayor said. “They will be returned. And the kids are getting their boards back on Wednesday, tuned up and better than new.”
“Why Wednesday?” a woman in the crowd shouted. “My kid needs his exercise.”
“Excellent question,” Vi said. “Why Wednesday?”
“We know why,” Jana broke in softly.
“We do?” Vi asked.
“On Tuesday, the Macro Foods exploratory committee is coming to Stargazer,” Jana said loudly. “They’re coming to look at our town and consider it for their new executive housing and campus. I looked it up online after the last time we were here.”
“So on Wednesday, it doesn’t matter if kids are skateboarding in the street again,” Vi said, her eyes lighting up.
“Our town has a limited budget,” the mayor said. “It’s strained to the max now that we have so much tourism. The Macro Foods campus would be a boon for us. And the land they want is out in the farm country, so it won’t congest the town streets.”
The crowd began murmuring again.
Fletcher had to admit that it sounded like the mayor had a point. Though he had certainly gone about things in an odd manner.
“How did you figure it out?” the mayor asked Vi.
“Oh, a little clue you left for me,” she said.
“What clue?” he asked.
“You made an appointment to have the cars towed,” she said. “An appointment under an assumed name.”
The mayor’s face fell.
“Don’t worry,” Vi said kindly. “You’re not the only person who’s ever made a fool of themselves over a dog.”
“B. Posey,” Jana said.
“Exactly,” Vi replied. “At first, I was searching for a person. Then it hit me. The mayor’s dog. Barker Posey.”
Fletcher blinked at Vi, amazed.
She really was a great detective.
“Okay, break it up, nothing to see here,” a familiar woman’s voice announced.
Fletcher turned to see Officer West striding through the crowd.
“Mayor Smalls, I’m afraid you need to come with me to answer a few questions, sir,” she said to the mayor.
“Yes, Nat… Officer West, of course,” he said meekly. “I’m so sorry, everyone. I really was just trying to help. I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
She led him away as the crowd buzzed.
Fletcher watched as Jana turned, her eyes searching the faces in the crowd until she locked eyes with him.
A feeling of calm came over him as she walked over, a smile on her beautiful face. He couldn't’ explain why, but he knew to his bones that things were going to turn out just fine.
22
Fletcher
Fletcher walked beside Jana on their way home.
In front of them, Vi and Hannibal celebrated gleefully, with Spenser putting in a few words here and there.
Everyone was very proud of the work they had done. They had solved all the mysteries happening in Stargazer at once.
Best of all, the solution had been at least somewhat benevolent.
It was nice to know that the person behind the many strange happenings was acting out of altruism, not greed or malice.
For all that Fletcher had learned of the human race, it seemed that a certain degree of ruthless cruelty was always present among the people of Earth.
He was glad that no evidence of it had surfaced today.
“What an amazing day,” Jana said, echoing Fletcher’s thoughts.
“I’ve never seen Vi so happy,” he agreed.
“This was a triumph for her,” Jana agreed. “What an auspicious beginning for her new business.”
“I don’t think that’s why she’s happy,” Fletcher said thoughtfully.
“Sure, I mean for her it’s about solving the puzzle,” Jana said. “It doesn’t matter so much about the business.”
“True,” Fletcher agreed. “But that wasn’t really what I meant either.”
He watched Jana watching Vi, a more serious expression on her face.
“She’s happy because of Hannibal,” Jana said.
“And because of you, and because of all of us,” Fletcher said. “It’s good to have a family.”
“Family,” Jana said softly, as if she were testing out the word. “This isn’t what most people think of when they think of family, but you’re right.”
&
nbsp; “Jana, I made a mistake when I came to talk with you before,” Fletcher said. “Would it be okay for me to say just one more thing to you about our bond?”
She turned to him, and he swore the expression on her face was relief. “Yes,” she said simply.
He stopped walking and took her hands.
“When I came to you before, I talked about marriage and children,” Fletcher said. “And those are things I would love for us to experience one day. But you should know that they are not necessary to me. Nothing is necessary to me, except being with you - in any way that makes you happy.”
“Fletcher,” she breathed.
“I traveled light years to be here,” he went on. “A few hundred miles, or even a few thousand or a few million, could never matter to me. I would follow you to New York, or even back to Aerie and beyond, Jana Watson. I just want to be your family, to love you and have your back, for as long as you will have me.”
She smiled up at him, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Jana,” he groaned.
She went up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, her soft, sweet body pressed to his, and kissed him like there was nothing else in her whole world.
When she pulled back, she was smiling again.
“Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.
“It’s a big yes,” she whispered back. “I wanted to talk to you too, but I wasn’t sure how.”
“Come on lovebirds,” Vi yelled back to them happily. “We’re going to get some diner food.”
“I think we’re going to go home and talk for a while,” Jana called back to her.
“I’ll bet you are,” Vi said, winking at her.
Jana looked embarrassed but she was still smiling. “See you guys later.”
“We’ll bring you back something,” Spenser promised.
Hannibal gave Fletcher a friendly smile that told him he knew what was happening.
Fletcher grinned back, feeling like the luckiest being to have walked the surface of this strange and wonderful planet.
“Come on,” Jana said, taking his hand and dragging him toward the door.
As soon as they were inside, she dashed up the stairs.