fanfic_name = Separate Lives

chapter = chapter 8

author = LisaV

Rating = O18

Type = Angst

fanfic = He needed to be there to see and heard it for himself to believe it. Stiffening, he moved from the entrance to a vantage point against the wall where he could easily blend into the crowd.

She was busy. Very busy working the crowd like a pro. And she appeared to be loving every minute of it. He saw her quick smile. Heard her throaty laugh and he wanted to strangle her.

How long has it been since she’d smiled or laughed for him? Too long… two years, four months, two weeks and four days to be exact! His memory teased him with her smile, her touch, her words of tenderness and longing.

Did she miss their time together as much as he? –the teasing, the fights and the kisses…

To his surprise, he discovered that looking at her actually hurt. He’d forgotten how lovely she was. How expressive her eyes were and how unusual their color was. Like emeralds… sharp, brilliant and clear.

He noticed then that her once waist-length-honey-brown hair was shorter now for it fell past her shoulders only and his throat went dry.

Damned her! She’d cut her hair just like she’d cut him out of her life.

She was beautiful when she flushed and she was flushing now at some reporter’s joke. Damned she did have a sensuous warm mouth… and looking at that mouth, he remembered how her lips had tasted, how they’d once passionately meshed with his.

A sudden surge of jealousy mixed with anger bolted through him and he winced.

He’d come to realize over the past two years that he’d had never truly known loneliness until Lisa was no longer a part of his life. How he missed her. He’d even missed her bossy attitude and her tendency to lecture him.

Then without warning her voice jerked him out of his thoughts and he heard it…the words pouring out of her mouth that shattered all his hopes and dreams.

‘Yes. I am engaged to Khyron…no we haven’t set a date yet…’

He heard the cheers, the laughs and the talks in the room but he felt removed from it all for he was bombarded by a multitude of memories and feelings he couldn’t describe or comprehend.

Sadness-- heavy and almost unbearable clutched at his heart and he felt like he’ll never be able to breath evenly again. His insides knotted. Rage and despair ate away at him. He wanted to throw back his head and howl. He wanted to smash something, to beat his fists against something until he could no longer stand.

The sudden thought of Khyron kissing Lisa made his blood boil. He was just about to make his way to her, to put a stop to the nonsense once and for all when he felt a hand on his right shoulder-- stopping him.

Thinking it was Max; Rick quickly turned and was just about to tell him to ‘butt out’ when he realized who had stopped him.

“Later, Hunter,” Admiral Gloval said and gave him a sad but ‘this-is-not-the-time’ look and waited.

Not knowing what else to do, Rick nodded in defeat and watched as Gloval pasted a smile on his face. He then straightened his shoulders, like preparing himself for a confrontation and walked briskly toward the stage where Lisa was with Khyron, Exedore and Breetai.

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“Hello, Lisa,” he said.

She turned around and he saw her eyes widening in shock at the sight of him. He saw her throat work, saw her fight for control. He had to admit that she was good when she said in a near-normal voice, “Hello, Rick.”

Hearing his name on her lips sounded like music to his ear and felt so right that he flinched. He could have sworn that he’d worked her out of his system.

It’s been two years!

But in that revealing instant, he knew how wrong he’d been—and resented it. He’d been observing her for only a few hours, she’d spoken just two words to him. Yet suddenly the healing of two years was torn to shreds.

His mouth tightened in bitterness as he remembered the happiness of holding her and kissing her again after her release from Khyron’s ship. Then the agony of having to listen to her as she coldly informed him shortly afterward, that what happened between them before her captivity was a mistake.

Pain as sharp as broken glasses shattered through him as he recalled watching her walking out of his life without a backward glance. She had given him no explanations, no sad teary good-byes. Nothing that would let him know what he’d done to drive her away.

He kept waiting and hoping that it was all just a dream. But she never came back or would be alone with him for more than two minutes in a room at a given time, and refused to see outside of work.

Then two months later, she'd transferred to Breetai’s ship where she’d stayed until a week ago when she’d come back to finalized the construction of the SDF-2.

He remembered how he’d tried to call her, write to her and receiving nothing back. He'd even gone as far as begging Claudia for news of her and listening to the Bridge Bunnies’ gossips in the hope that they’ll clue him in on her whereabouts and welfare.

Yes, he was pathetic! But he was desperate, lonely and confused.

Finally after six months of hearing nothing from her to him personally or seeing her at all, he finally got the message and retreated to a lair of solitude, shutting the world and everyone out.

Oh, he still flew, did his normal patrolling and carried on everyday as if nothing had happened but that was it. Then, gradually, the healing process had taken over. The scars, raw at first, had healed and hardened. Now the pain was surfacing all over again.

“I’m glad you came,” Lisa said politely and smiled at him. Her smile was dazzling and it almost knocked him over but he noticed that it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her eyes looked tired. Empty. Sad.

Sad? Where did that come from? He wondered, and froze as the waves of awareness rippled through him when he caught a scent of her perfume.

Damn her, again.

The air in his lungs seemed trapped as his breath failed and he struggled for control.

“Rick?”

“You look wonderful, Lisa,” he told her quickly then pulled himself together and in a calmer voice said, “I need to talk to you.”

She briefly faltered then quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard him before saying, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Rick.”

Not a good idea! For God’s sake!

He wanted to forcefully yank her outside or better yet kissed her breathless right there and then until she agreed to go anywhere with him freely. Then he caught himself.

“You owed me an explanation, Lisa,” he said and hoped she hadn’t noticed the desperation in his voice.

“Very well,” she conceded.

Without waiting for her to finished, he said, “Park Café at midnight.”

She frowned slightly.

“I’m not sure I can do that, Rick. I mean, I already have an engagement when I finish here.”

Rick fought back fury and automatically slipped on the protective mask he’d learned a year ago to keep at hand for instant camouflage. It was a cloak of cold mock indifference that had - as he knew only to well - so often put many people off.

“I came here especially to talk to you, Lisa," he informed her. “Breaking one date with Khyron the Destroyer is not going to start a galactic war especially now that you’ll be spending the rest of your life with him.”

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Ten minutes later, Lisa Hayes watched Rick exit the reception hall and quick tears covered her eyes with a thin film.

“Something wrong?”

Lisa shook her head. “Just got something in my eyes, Khyron,” she fibbed.

“Who was that guy that was talking to you?”

Lisa managed the facsimile of a laugh. “Him? He’s nobody special. He’s just a pilot under my command on board the SDF-1 a long time ago. His name’s Rick Hunter, Commander Rick Hunter, now. He just came to congratulate us.”

“Well then, have you tried these before? They’re very good,” he said as he brought the baked-bite-size pizza to Lisa’s mouth.

“No. Thank you. I don’t like them,” she said quietly and excused herself.

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He was waiting for her as she waked into the café. Despite herself, Lisa momentarily lost her breath when she saw him. She hadn’t forgotten how handsome he was and tears sprang to her eyes as joy and pain battled in her heart.

Determined to keep her feelings on an even keel, she took a deep breath and walked to his table.

Even from a distance she couldn’t help noticing that Rick looked weary. She couldn’t help but see the fine lines etched around his eyes, lines that hadn’t been there two years ago, and the grooves of tension, also new, edging the sides of his mouth.

Regardless, he was still the handsomest man she’d ever seen. The mere sight of his thick black hair made her want to cry. Despite her resolve to be strong, she remembered the feeling of running her fingers through those wonderful stands far too vividly.

“I was beginning to wonder if I got stood up,” he said with no trace of a smile as he stood up to greet her. “Please have a seat.”

There were a number of late night people lingering in the café but no one paid them any special attention.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Rick asked politely.

“Just tea, please.”

“Be right back,” he said and she watched as he walked to the service counter.

Lisa tried not to follow him with her eyes but she couldn’t look away. She’d missed him so much these past two years. There wasn’t a moment that passed that she hadn’t thought of him, wondered what he was doing and wished she could be with him. She’d never stop loving him and she supposed she never will.

When he came back a couple of minutes later he brought a pot of oolong tea and a plate full of egg rolls and shrimp.

“Good job on retrieving the Robotech factory satellite. Max and Miriya told me all about it,” he finally said.

“That was nothing,” Lisa answered matter-a-factly. “Max and Miriya, and little Dana did most of the work. You should have seen them...” She didn't complete the sentence and Rick noticed that her eyes had taken on a faraway look. She was obviously replaying scenes in her mind and as he watched her, he wished she would share them with him.

As if remembering where she was, Lisa shrugs and continued in her no-nonsense tone. "All I did was kissed Khyron at the appropriate moment to add more drama and suspense to the "shock'n'awe" offensive maneuver developed by Breetai. The whole attack was his idea. He’s amazing when it comes to war strategies and planning. I’ve learned so much from him these past two years and I have nothing but admiration and respect for him.”

“Why, Lisa?” Rick asked interrupting her.

“Why, what, Rick?” she asked levelly.

To her amazement, she saw him flushed slightly and his tone became unusually defensive. “Are you in love him?”

Lisa sighed. “It’s a long story.”

He met her eyes, and Lisa saw that he was not going to let it go.

“Let’s just say we’re good for each other.”

Rick shook his head. “Not good enough. Try harder, Lisa?”

“What do you want me to say, Rick? There’s nothing to say. We belonged. He respects me and enjoys having me around. I… He’s spoiled and a real brat when he’s angry or doesn’t get his way but on the whole he’s a pretty decent Zentraedi. I… I do love him.”

Lisa finished quickly and smiled but Rick sensed tenseness in her. Something was wrong.

“I don’t believe you, Lisa,” he said quietly. “You’re not in love him. I bet you don’t even like him.”

The quietness in his voice was now replaced by an intensity that took her breath away. “Do you want to know how I know?”

Lisa suddenly felt numb. Numb, and so terribly fearful that she didn’t dare look at him.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = lisa_vangATmsn.com