Almost Like

Perrie thinks meeting Diplomat Kuri Dahn is a lot of things, but it becomes danger. $5.00 148pp. Novella. PG

ASIN: B002HMCWZU File Size: 153 KB (Kindle Edition - Jul 14, 2009)

I turned back to the library. No crowd there now. Fifteen after! As I reached the doors, a green swirl flashed, and I stepped back. A man in a white business suit stepped out. I saw a blue twin-fingered hand. Our diplomat!

Slowly, he turned, and saw me. Huge deep blue eyes widened. "Maiden, do you work here?" Perfect English.

"Yes, I do! I am Priscilla Dawson." I tried not to smile too big. He's my age. I expected someone much older, and not as handsome. Blonde curls framed an oval face with heavy brows.

"I am Kuri Dahn, Diplomat Of Par Vu." He bowed low, with his left leg far behind, and the sparkling pins on his satiny white sash nearly blinded me, in the bright sun. "Pleased to meet." When he came back up, that twin-toed foot left a streak of orange on the white pavement. He didn't wear shoes? But, he offered me his hand, in a silky white twin-fingered glove.

I took it and shook his hand. The flat, rectangular fingers gave mine a gentle, but firm, squeeze. "I am very happy to meet you, Kuri Duhn--I mean, Din--" There goes my cool.

"O, I meant nae to discomfit you! Miss Dawson--are you a Miss, Ms. or Mrs.?" The wide eyes showed in an uncomfortable face.

"Miss. I'm not married." I almost told him to call me Perrie, but that wouldn't be right.

A student passed by us, staring.

"Will you show me the auditorium, Miss Dawson? I am late." His hand pulled at mine.

"Yes, I will! This way."

He held onto my hand a little tightly as he opened the glass door for me and led me in. The security guard watched us through the turnstiles.

Kuri Dahn hesitated. Looked around. Friends behind the Circulation Desk watched us. Students watched us. I trembled. He shook all over! "I--ah--" His other hand patted his pocket of the satiny dress pants. Pulled out a red pyramid. A squeeze, and it silently popped open. In the light, it sparkled as if made of opal! The diplomat jerked our hands over to it, and my knuckle bumped a sharp point. It bent like soft rubber! One flat finger bent in two and came up with three tiny yellow leaves. Then, he jerked his hand up to his mouth. I felt him suck his breath in, and the leaves went in with it. Then, he stared at me, my fingers near his cheek. Blinked. Now, he didn't shake. But, he let go of my hand, and his cheeks went dark blue!

What to say? Nina reminded us to act normal around Sue. "The auditorium's downstairs."

"Thank you, Miss Dawson. After you." He swept an arm out gracefully.

I felt awkward. No one waited by the elevator. When the doors opened, eager students inside asked questions. Kuri Dahn answered them, and they followed like groupies. As we came into the foyer, Laura smiled and ushered him through a side door.

The auditorium was packed. I couldn't find Jan and my saved seat, and as I tried to stand where I could see, I couldn't hear well. With my left hand, I rubbed my right where I held his warm fingers, and smirked. It was almost like a fairy tale, for about five mins. But, what did I see happen? He shook, he ate those leaves, and he stopped shaking. Was that epilepsy? I felt as if I'd done something to feel guilt, almost like I'd found out a secret. Almost like a lot of things, and I couldn't quite figure it out.

I didn't see him after his speech. People found me. I didn't want to answer questions! Randy, who saw us from the Circ Desk, spoke first. "Hey, Perrie, when's he gonna marry you?"

Almost like being dropped from a height! "He doesn't know me!!"

"C'mon, now! I saw him kiss your hand--"

"He kissed her hand? Awesome!!"

I couldn't get them to listen, all the way to Ground Floor, and Nina made us get back to work. People carried on like I'd be leaving soon to go marry dashing Diplomat Kuri Dahn, and instead of going outside on my break to eat my can of kippers with crackers, I spent it explaining that he only called me Miss Dawson, and my tummy rumbled all afternoon. The more explaining I did, the more they assumed it was more, so I just said I didn't want to talk.

Jan caught up with me at the bus stop. We lived in the same apartment complex. "So, what happened? I didn't want to embarrass you, but the Marking Crew barely put a single label on a book for marrying you off!" She pulled at her brown curls.

"Not here. In the mood for a communal supper?"

She laughed. We talked about what we had in our cabinets, and made plans for turkey tetrazzini.

I unlocked my door as Jan made a run to her apartment two doors down. My burgundy Oriental carpet needed a shampooing. My cat, Kyrie, rubbed against my jeans leg. Her blue-gray fur stuck to my blue corduroy sofa and made it look hairy in places. Against the wall, my dumpster-rescue shelves needed another coat of light blue paint and repairs. In the one bedroom, my waterbed frame held an old twin bed mattress and bags of blankets. What a laugh! A diplomat would take one look at this dump and walk away! That man said they're all just people. Maybe his kind, from the look of his tailored suit and sparkling cuff links. Would a diplomat wear blue jeans?

But, I thought about the way he held my hand and pulled at me. Everybody gets scared. As I got out chicken to thaw, I wondered what he was like.

Jan came over with cooked noodles. By the time we got the chicken thighs thawed in the microwave, I'd told her what happened about six times! "That's so romantic! I bet he likes you, Perrie."

I shook my head. "That's almost like saying I love Mark, because we kid around so much--"

"That's almost like love, the way he brought your hand up like that! I wonder if he would've kissed it if--"

Then Mama called, and Jan listened closely as I told her the story again, between cooking the chicken with canned soup. Jan added the other ingredients from my spice shelf.

Mama sighed. "I hope Elshars weren't watching! The library doesn't have good enough security to have a visitor like him! Laura told me she was worried, but the University asked him to come assuming he had a bodyguard!"

For the first time, I realized that we were alone on the Plaza, except for that gawking student. I could've slipped him lu sig and led him off--

"Why don't you come home, Perrie? I'm worried."

"Mama, I can take care of myself. I don't need to come home."

She sighed. "If you change your mind, call me, and I'll come get you."

After I clicked the off button and put the phone down, Jan put her fork down. "Ms. Kirsey wants you to come home? What's she scared of?"

I scraped a bite of cold tetrazzini. "Laura thinks we didn't have good enough Security for our guest."

She laughed and waved a hand down. "They bring it with 'em!" Quickly, she got up and started a dishpan of hot, soapy water. "I'll do dishes!"

"You did 'em last time--"

"You're still eating! Go on, finish up. I went on the Atlanta Zheien Embassy Hub site and read about things. As long as you're near a diplomat, slavers can't port you! I now know what to do if an evil Elshar takes me to his slaver ship. I'll just find a group of Zheien or Thordes to sit with and wait for 'em to figure out how to escape."

I shivered. "Don't even kid about it!" The way that student kind of circled around, when we were introducing ourselves, made me uneasy. Was he looking for an opportunity? He fingered an Alliance coin, one of those terminals rich people use to port. The silvery-golden metal sparkled, though not as much as Kuri Dahn's pins, and it kind of distracted me, now that I thought about it.

"Perrie, why don't we go volunteer at that slave rescue place on the corner? I'm free tomorrow, since it's Saturday--"

"Mama'll have a fit! The last time I mentioned I wanted to do that--"

"She doesn't have to know, does she? Atlanta Zheien Embassy recommends Friends, and they wouldn't suggest something dangerous for us Earthans, now would they? We don't have to adopt, we can just go help out and learn. I know you want to as bad as I do." She smiled.

I laughed. "You know me pretty well! Mama's working tomorrow, so, yeah! Let's do it."

I enjoyed the view of old Atlanta mansion territory as we walked up to Virginia Avenue. Friends Slave Rescue had a flat entry off a gravel driveway no one used, on a pretty old Victorian with white posts on the huge porch. It was a sunny yellow and had lots of pretty decorations at the top of the posts. Jan followed me. "Look at all the gingerbread! This is a Queen Anne Victorian!"

"What's gingerbread?"

"Those fans on either sides of the posts, and the bigger ones at the bottoms under the porch rail. There's so much decoration, it's a Queen Anne rather than a Folk Victorian. Gingerbread's expensive to add, so rich people put lots, and working people like us had to add it as we could. Oh--RING BELL FOR SERVICE." A little hand-drawn sign by a new-looking rope made us smile. We looked up. When Jan pulled on the rope, a tiny clapper rang a silver bell. A really high-pitched bell! We enjoyed the sound of it.

A short, dark-curled man in a white bathrobe came running. A very overweight man. "May I help you?"

Jan looked at me.

"We want to volunteer!" She nodded.

The man's blue eyes turned light. "Do you have a friend who is from another planet?"

We looked at each other. I thought about Kuri Dahn, and my face burned.

"We know Sue! She's Elshar!"

The man looked at Jan, and those Elshar eyes turned dark. "Does she need healing? Bring her with you, and I will heal her."

Jan stammered. "Well, she's not--she works with us--I don't think she would come--"

"Is she scared? I do not want to scare anyone! Oh, come in and sit with me, Ladies. By the time you meet my friends, you will know us better, and you can tell Sue about what we do here. Come in!" He took our hands, used his shoulder to hold the door, and we squeezed past him.

Inside, a half circle of folding chairs surrounded a narrow doorway. A Zheien man ran to me. "Tina! O, happiness!!" He hugged me, sat in a chair, and put me on his lap. His blue skin and blonde curls reminded me of Kuri Dahn. But, not his yellow eyes!

"I'm sorry, I'm not Tina. My name's Perrie--"

"O, you are Kuri's. He thinks of you oft, in our work. I go and find him--"

That man in the white bathrobe grabbed his arms. "Habis maif, my son! You must go to Alb Seer! Kuri Dahn brought you to me, Almon."

Almon shook all over. I tried to get up, and he tightened his arms over my waist. "I can nae go to Alb Seer! My friend needs me! He has shakings, Healer!"

"He does? He told me you have shakings, Almon."

"I do? Ejis!" His legs shook rhythmically.

That healer held out three yellow leaves. When Almon breathed, he let go.

"Ejis!" He loosened up his arms. "Maiden, did I dishonor you? O, my friend will never forgive--"

I got up, and the healer caught him. "You did not dishonor her--"

"Ejis! Elshars have me!! O, let me die!!"