Tears of Glass (The Jana Darren Saga Book 1) (14 page)

David invited her to breakfast the next morning. Not having other plans and not wanting to wait around to see what kind of mood Aeronth was in or if he’d give her the time of day, Jana was thankful to have something to do. David mentioned he’d seen a cute little café a few blocks over that he’d been wanting to try. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

“Wherever you want to go is fine with me.” Jana yawned and combed her hands through her ponytail to get the snags out of it. She’d quite literally rolled out of bed and gone with him.

The café was quaint. Window booths overlooked the street, and the pastel tones of the inside were warm and inviting. It was small on the inside, but not cramped.

The waiter came over, a tiny little boy in tow. He clung to the man’s apron and peeked out from behind his trouser leg. He introduced himself as the owner and looked down at the child. “Go ahead.”

The little boy, no more than four or five, poked his head out and said very quietly, “Hello my name is Samuel and I will take your order today what can I get for you please and thank you.”

“Samuel? That’s a very nice name. Have you worked here a long time?” Jana cracked a smile and Samuel turned red.

“No.”

“Really? You’re so good at that, I thought you were.” She looked over to David and asked him to go first; she was still looking.

“Can I please have a coffee, black, and a short stack of pancakes?” The father scribbled on a small screened device in his palm.

“And I’ll also have a coffee. The biggest one you have, please. And some sort of breakfast sandwich.” The owner listed off a few things. Jana turned to Samuel, “What do you think? Which one is your favorite? I’ll have whatever is your favorite. I trust you.”

When they’d left, David asked, “How’d you sleep last night?”

“Sleep? What’s that?”

“That well, huh?”

“Ohh yeah,” Jana said dryly. “I didn’t get in until late. More late night adventures with Aeronth.”

David made a show of sighing and shaking his head, “Do you two ever stop fighting?”

“If we do, I’ll let you know.”

“You really care about him, don’t you?” he looked sincere.

“I don’t know...I guess...maybe...it’s complicated.” She finished.

David smirked. “Apparently.” Jana could tell David was really opening up to her and getting comfortable. When their food was delivered, Jana lifted the top of her sandwich to inspect its contents. Bacon and sausage slathered in maple syrup with cheese on a croissant.
A kid after my own heart.

“Alright...what’s up with you?” David narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You’ve been extra giddy today.” He shoved a forkful of pancake in his mouth. “This is heavenly,” he said after washing it down with his black coffee.

“You know, before we left E-1 I had my first kiss.”

David bobbed his head a bit from side to side, thinking. “You mean with Aeronth? Or...ever?”

“Both?”

David nearly choked on his next gigantic forkful of food. “Are you serious?!” he exclaimed between coughs.

“Wow, Dave. Thanks for making me feel so good about myself.”             

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant that you’re gorgeous, and I can’t figure out how that is even possible.”

“I chose not to,” Jana shrugged. “No big deal.”

“Does he know all this?”

“Are you kidding?! Of course not. It’s embarrassing!”

“Alright, alright,” he defended. “I was just asking.” Just then, the bell on the door tinkled and a stiff looking older couple entered. From Jana’s seat she could see the front door. David noticed her turn stark white.  “Are you okay?”

After a moment of frozen panic, Jana was able to form coherent thoughts again. “What? I uh...I’m done. Are you done? Let’s get going.” She couldn’t get out the door fast enough. Jana made it all the way outside and two doors down.

“Geez, Jana. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“That’s a good way to describe it,” she agreed shakily. An uneasy feeling settled in her spine like tiny firecrackers ready to go off.
That’s why the café sounded familiar.

The rest of the day was a blur.

She remembered David bringing her back to their hotel, dropping her off at her room and retreating to his own. That’s when time caught back up. Being in her room was comforting, familiar. She felt safe there. When she opened the door, Jana’s mouth was agape. The drawers had been emptied, their contents strewn around the room in a frenzy, littering the bed and surrounding floor.

“Jana? Oh hey, I just wanted to—“ Lexi pushed the door back open, revealing the destroyed room and Jana’s ashen face, and stopped. “What the hell...?” she trailed off, looking between Jana and the room. “What’d you do?”

“It
wasn’t
me.” She grabbed Lexi around the arm and yanked her into the room. The door clicked shut behind them. “I didn’t do it. I just got back. I’ve been with David all morning. It was fine when I left.

“Then who the hell did this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe one of them wanted to mess around with you,” Lexi offered.

“Gordon’s been with his family all week, and since when is Aeronth the kind of person to pull pranks on people? You
swear
you didn’t do it?” Jana leveled her eyes at Lexi.

Lexi backed away, hands flying up in defense. “No way!”

“Should I report this?”

“Don’t bother. We don’t know who did this. It could have been a maid who was having a bad day and took it out on you. But if we report this, the military is going to think it’s some nefarious plot, and they’re going to pull our leave. Look, I’ll stay in here with you tonight.”

Jana shrugged. She wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, but she was too panicked to think straight. “What about the others?”

“I’ll leave it up to you to tell them or not. Just...don’t go anywhere alone, okay? I mean it. We have no idea who’s behind this. “

“Who are you, my mother?” I don’t need a babysitter. I can take care of myself.” Jana insisted, indignant

“I never said you couldn’t, but you have to be careful. I can’t think of anyone who could possibly want to hurt you.”

“I could.”
E-1. Those people...Matthews had wanted to hurt me. He DID hurt me.
It was hard enough to hear loud noises without a panic attack and wanting to duck and cover. “Let’s go through it all and see if they took anything. I wasn’t exactly hiding military secrets in my underwear.” Lexi helped her fold everything, pick up the strewn toiletries and other items. They made short work of cleaning. “I don’t see anything missing,” Jana said finally.

“Which means they were looking for something they didn’t find.”

“But hell if I know what that is. I don’t feel comfortable here. I’m gonna get out of here for a while.”

“Take someone with you,” Lexi insisted again.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jana closed the door behind her. As frustrating as he was, there was something so protective and safe about Aeronth. She pushed the buzzer for his room. There was a scuffling on the other side of the door before it opened. Aeronth’s hair was messier than usual, eyes bleary, and wearing nothing but a pair of plaid boxers.”

“Oh—sorry. I’ll...um...I’m going to go now,” she stammered, blushing.

“Wait!” Very slowly, Jana pivoted to face him. “What is it? You woke me up, at least tell me why.”

“Do you want to spend some time with me today?” she asked timidly.

“Uh...” he paused, scratching his head. “Sure. Just let me get dressed. You want to come in?”

“NO!” she cleared her throat, “No. Thank you. I’ll wait out here.”

“Alright. Give me two minutes.” Sure enough, two minutes later the door opened again. He was in his usual jeans and t-shirt. It looked as if he had actually made an attempt to subdue his hair.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I don’t know. How about for a walk, and go from there?”

“Sounds good to me.”

As they left The Zephyr, Jana felt compelled to tell Aeronth what’d happened to her room, but she resisted. It would only put a damper on an otherwise promising day. In the elevator, she leaned against him with her head on his chest. He slipped his arms around her and held her close. Moments like this were the ones that made all the difference. The doors slid open and she took him by the hand, leading him out of the lobby and into the open.

“Which way do you want to go?”

Aeronth looked around. “Show me where you lived.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No.”

So much for a promising day. As if it weren’t horrible enough already. “I can’t go back there.”

“Yes you can. And when are you going to tell me what’s wrong? You’re not as feisty as usual today. And
don’t
lie to me. You’re bad at it.” Jana glared at him, but obliged.

“Someone broke into my room and went through my things. They didn’t take anything, but I spent an hour trying to get broken glass out of my clothes and sheets from the lamp that got smashed.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because I didn’t want you to worry about me, and I didn’t want to ruin our day. I want to try to forget about it. I knew you’d get mad.”

“That’s not fair, Jana. You should have just told me.” Aeronth sounded hurt.
I didn’t know he could hurt.
It tore Jana apart that she’d upset him. “Please don’t do that again,” he pleaded.

“I promise. So where do you want to go?” She attempted a smile. He looked down at her with a blank look. “UGH! Fine. Follow me.” She led him to the building. They sat across the street on the edge of the sidewalk.

“So that’s it, huh?”

“That’s it,” Jana echoed.

“Doesn’t look that scary.”

“
You
didn’t grow up there,” Jana grumbled. “You don’t know what it was like to live there?”

“You’re really afraid of going back, aren’t you?” he asked, gently putting an arm around her shoulder and allowing her to snuggle into him.

“How could I not be?”

“Why are you so different?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re so much different than anyone else I’ve met.”

Jana raised an eyebrow. “Is that good or bad?”

“Good.”

“Well then it’s because I’m fabulous. Or you’re into younger women.”

“Very funny.” It felt colder than it should, and soon Jana’s skin was covered in goosebumps. The radiating warmth of Aeronth was wonderful, but too soon he noticed how chilly her skin was becoming. “Let’s get you back before you turn into an ice cube.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, “I’d be a cute ice cube.”

Aeronth snorted, grin spreading. “Yes, you would.”

On the way back, a man in the street stopped them. He had an old flashbulb camera and was offering pictures to passerby. “Take a picture of the happy couple?” He was wearing worn clothes that were a little patched here and there, but neat.

A couple? I could get used to that.
“Let’s get our picture taken,” Jana urged. “Pleaseeee!” Aeronth grumbled playfully and scooped her up in his arms. The man snapped a photo. She wrapped her legs around him and planted a big kiss on his lips. Next, she convinced him to let her jump on his back, her arms wrapped around his and legs around his midsection. Jana snuggled up to his neck, and the man took a third picture.

“If you’d like to come inside my shop, I’ll print them out for you,” the man offered. They followed him inside. It was small, and obvious that he didn’t get much business. There was a thin layer of dust over everything. He printed out the pictures on thick stock and handed them to Jana.

“How much do we owe you?”

“Nothing.”

Jana shook her head. “We can’t not pay you.” Aeronth put a hand on her shoulder and ushered her out the door. She was about to be furious, but noticed that he slipped into his jeans pocket and left a generous amount of money on the table by the door as they left. She smiled.

“Look how cute we are. And you’re actually smiling in that one!” she said, pointing to the piggyback photo.

“I like that one.”

“You take it, then,” she said, handing it to him. “I’ll keep the others.”

Back at The Zephyr she was about to say goodbye to Aeronth when he asked her to come in. “I don’t think you should go back to the room, just in case. Come on. We’ll watch TV or something. I don’t expect you to stay the night or anything. I’m just worried about you.”

“I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” Truthfully, she was nervous about being alone behind closed doors with him. Mostly because Jana would most definitely make a fool out of herself somehow.

“Please?”

I guess it’s his turn to amp up the charm.
She ducked under the arm he was using to hold the door open and entered his room. It was laid out like an old world city at night. The walls were black; shadowed building lit by lights were sprawled across the landscape. Every few seconds, one of the tiny lights in the buildings would turn on or off.

“It’s pretty,” Jana commented. There was a recliner, but Jana sat cross-legged on the bed. “Have you seen the news recently?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled our leave early. This whole situation is a mess. Like we kicked a hornet’s nest.”

Jana stared at her black socks, head down. “I really screwed up that mission. They should have picked someone else.”

“Don’t be like that, all self-deprecating. You’re better than that.”

“Whatever.” Jana pursed her lips. “Do you want to play a game or something?”
I will not ruin this by getting mad at him over nothing.
She grabbed a flat monitor off of the desk in his room and accessed the menu, absentmindedly flicking through the enormous list of games. “I’m thinking a simple one you can pick up quickly. Something at your skill level. Here we go. Candy Land.”

“What the hell is that?”

“A pre-fall game.”

He looked skeptical, but sat on the bed on the other side of the board. “It sounds childish.”

“Oh, it is.” She grinned broadly.

It took a while for Aeronth to get the hang of it, but he was fiercely competitive nonetheless. After Jana won four times in a row, he declared war. “How do you keep winning?!” he exclaimed.

“I’m just
that
good.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Look at you—big tough guy playing Candy Land. It’s so cute.”

“Shut it,” he replied, “some of us don’t play this religiously. Besides, I think this game piece is cursed.”

Jana looked down her nose at him and replied dryly, “You’ve said that about every playing piece in this game.”

“Well it’s true.” He countered defensively.

“I’m exhausted,” Jana declared, falling backwards onto one of the soft pillows.

“You must feel threatened by my ever-evolving mastery of this game.”

“Yes. That’s definitely it. Jerk.” Jana hit him playfully on the arm.

Aeronth stretched his up and yawned. “Whatever. You’re so into me.”

“Nope. I can’t stand you!”

“You’re a horrible liar. You should probably work on that.” For that comment, he got a pillow to the back of the head.

“Let’s watch a movie.”

“Pick one, as long as it’s not sappy. You want something to eat?”

Jana flipped over onto her stomach, feet in the air, flipping through movie options. “Mmm something sweet.”

By the time he got back to the room, she was nodding off. Jana made a halfhearted gesture of getting up.

“Sit down.”

“Ugh,” Jana grunted, obliging. “Okay.”

“What movie did you pick?”

“You’ll see,” she yawned.

“The suspense is killing me. Here, I got you some candy.” He tossed her a box of sour gummy spaceships.

“I said sweet!” Immediately, she was pelted by a box of chocolate covered raisins. They hit the comforter and almost bounced off the bed. “You know me too well already,” she beamed.

She’d picked an old world drama. Music played from unseen speakers, filling the room. The title faded in the white lettering standing out from the blackness of the rest of the room.

“Nice choice,” Aeronth said, sitting next to her.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I like this movie,” he replied. Jana moved closer to him. He was on his back, hands behind his head on the pillow. She set her head down on his chest.
I love being close to him.

“Jana?”

“Yeah?”

“...Never mind.”

“No, tell me.”

“I forgot.”

Jana knew he was lying, but said nothing. An hour into the movie, Jana fell asleep to Aeronth stroking her hair gently. In her half-sleeping state, she felt his body relax as he dozed off, arm draped over her.

It wasn’t until someone began pounding frantically on the other side of the door that both of them jolted awake.