Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict is copyright 1999, Tribune Entertainment Co. It's characters are used without permission No infringement is intended
.The Bet
Chapter 3: Living Out Exile
Lili awoke slowly, enjoying those last few
moments of rest, when the unconscious state of sleep seemed to blend with the awareness of
having awoken, creating the perfect moment in time. As she slowly opened her eyes and took
in her unusual surroundings she realized exactly where she was. She was lying down, nested
in a valley of pillows, a photographer's backdrop style sheet wrapped around her naked
body, Augur spooning against her. She could see the wooden easel eight feet in front of
her, the passionately detailed painting she knew rested upon it facing away from her. She
could feel the still heated air blowing about the stonewalled room, the added heat having
not been turned off from the night before.
Sighing, she paused to think about the previous
night's events. Whatever had caused her to sleep with one of her closest friends certainly
escaped her then. It might have been a fleeting emotion, or impulse, a lustful glance, or
purely sexual attraction. She couldn't quite figure it out, but whatever it was she told
herself slowly that it wasn't there anymore. It was all an accident, a mistake, and one
they would have to deal with.
She delicately pulled herself from his grip,
replacing the soft blue sheet as she stood. Her clothing was no more than a few feet away,
she could dress and leave within a few minutes, before he could wake up. They could talk
about this later, or just forget it ever happened, right now she wanted to leave.
As she started moving towards the door she
heard a soft noise coming from behind her. Turning to make sure he hadn't woken up she was
surprised by what she saw. He had woken, and he was now sitting cross-legged, looking at
her disappointedly.
"Where are you going?" he monotonely
asked.
"Home," her reply was curt, lending
to her obvious dodging of the subject she knew was now at hand.
"Why?" his second question was
equally direct as the first.
"To eat," she came up with a quick
excuse, something to get her out of there fast, "I forgot to have dinner last night
and I'm famished."
"Stay here. I'll make you breakfast,"
he offered as he reached across the piles of pillows for his pants.
"I think I should go," she pointed
towards the door.
"I'd rather you stayed."
"No."
"Why not?"
She didn't reply.
"You're just going to walk out of that
door?"
"I was going to," she replied her
voice rising just a little.
"Don't walk out Lili," his voice
pleaded as he approached her, and reaching where she stood placed his hands on her
forearms.
She quickly shrugged them off, then brusquely replied, "It was a mistake Augur. I
shouldn't have even stayed last night in the first place."
"It meant nothing to you?" he
couldn't believe he was hearing this, from Lili.
"We had sex Augur, that's it. We didn't
'make love' we didn't solidify some previously established relationship, we just had sex.
It was a mistake."
"I didn't think so," he tried to
convince her to stay. Strange how the roles were suddenly reversed, him the egocentric
player trying to convince her, the loyal marine to stay.
"Just let me leave."
"We need to talk about his."
"There's nothing to talk about," she
pushed past him, and made her way to the only available exit.
"I don't believe that Lili," he
called out to her retreating form.
"And I don't believe that you do
either!" the tail end of his words were
cut off by the closing doors. He just stood and stared for quite some time.
He hadn't spoken with her for nearly a week.
She wouldn't return his calls, refused to answer her door, even went so far as to cut
herself off from Liberation activities where she might run into him. She had completely
cut him out of her life, and it was hurting him. He'd spent the entire week worrying and
wrenching his mind to pieces. On Friday came his only hope, the thing that had started the
chain reaction that had lead to the downfall of their friendship, poker night. With any
luck she'd show up, if not for him, for the other two regular attendees.
"Hey Augur," Liam greeted him as he
strolled in. As he looked around he realized that something was wrong, "Where's Lili?
She's usually the first one here."
"I don't know," Augur replied rather
quietly.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Obviously it is. You've been distracted
all week. Did something go wrong between you and Lili last weekend?"
"You could say so."
"What happened?" he sat down beside
his troubled friend.
"Can't say," Augur looked over at
him, his arms resting on his knees. After a moment he looked away again.
"Lili wouldn't want you to?"
"No, I'm just not quite sure of what
happened."
"It can't be too bad, I mean this is Lili
we're talking about, it's not like she'd let you sleep with her or anything," he
laughed, patting Augur's shoulder, trying to make him smile.
The glare he shot back told all.
"Oh," Liam understood, "I see.
She let you?"
"She suggested it, then when I woke up she
was halfway out the door."
"Do you know why?"
"Maybe she was afraid, or just. I don't
know. She hasn't spoken to me since."
"I take it you don't think she's coming
tonight?" the question was meant to be rhetorical, though Augur's mind was on too
many other things and he missed the intention.
"I was hoping she would."
"I could talk to her if you
like…" Liam was abruptly cut off.
"No. I've got to do this myself. Look can
you talk to Mayia, tell her, I don't know, come up with something. I've got to go,"
Augur stood.
"Sure," Liam replied.
"Thanks," Augur called out his
gratitude as he left.
To be Continued...