But when she smiled or laughed—ah, that was the best. Then Vic wanted to smile and laugh, too. She had a beautiful, shy smile that centered in her deep brown eyes and the curve of her lush lips. It made him wonder what it would be like to taste those lips…which was a very strange thought indeed and one he had never had before.
It’s just your positronic half malfunctioning, he told himself. Besides, there’s no point in developing an attraction to her—she has a mate.
It didn’t sound like her mate was treating her very well, though. Torri had said he wouldn’t return her communications or help her to get out of the facility they were both in.
Vic wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of St. Elizabeth’s was, yet. He had expected to be incarcerated or confined when the humans had mistakenly thought he was attacking their leader, but he didn’t think the people here were dangerous exactly. Though many of them seemed to be somewhat…off.
There was nothing off about Torri, though. She just seemed sad and subdued, as though some secret sorrow was pressing down on her. But despite her personal turmoil, she had gone out of her way to be kind to Vic and show him how to eat the strange human food he had been offered.
During his earlier incarceration, he had refused everything but water because he still had a good store of energy to keep his body moving. But now the store had been depleted, and he was forced to eat the human food. It wasn’t very good but some of it was “not bad” as Torri had characterized it. And at least mealtimes were a time and a place they could be together.
Would she sit with him at First Meal today? What the humans called “breakfast”? Vic certainly hoped so. He wanted to see her smile and look into her deep brown eyes again. He wanted to just be near her and inhale her sweet, feminine scent. And even though he told himself the emotions he was feeling were only because the organic part of him was dominant for once, he couldn’t help stop himself from feeling them—nor did he want to.
He was eager to see Torri again.
Thirteen
Vic was already sitting at the empty table when Torri got through the breakfast line—scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, orange juice. He waved hopefully at her and she smiled at him and came over to sit at what she was beginning to think of as their own private table.
“Good morning, Vic,” she said as she put down her tray. She wondered what the big guy would think if he knew about the bizarre dreams she’d had about him the night before. The thought made her blush and she tried to hide it by looking down at her eggs.
“Good…morning,” he said hesitantly. “Today…you are…radiant.”
“Radiant?” Torri looked up with a little laugh of delight. “Well, for a man of few words, you certainly pick some good ones!”
Vic smiled at her, the expression lighting up his deep blue eyes.
“Your hair…” he said. “Is…lovely.”
“Oh, my!” Torri was really blushing now. She was a little embarrassed to admit that she had taken extra care in brushing her hair today, knowing she might see him at breakfast. “Thank you,” she said smiling. “Er…you’re looking really nice, yourself.”
“Thank…you,” he said haltingly and nodded at the food on her tray. “Not bad?” he inquired.
“Well, it will be better when I add a few things,” Torri told him. Today whoever set up for meals seemed to have realized this table was in use because there was salt and pepper, as well as a little plate of butter and a squeeze bottle of strawberry jam.
Torri put salt and pepper on the bland scrambled eggs, then used the back of her plastic spork to spread butter and jam on her toast. Watching her carefully, Vic copied everything she did. Then he tried a bite of his eggs.
“Mmmm!” He nodded approvingly. “Not bad!”
“Much better with seasoning, anyway.” Torri smiled. “I’ve seen how they make those, you know—the scrambled eggs, I mean,” she said. “They’re not fresh. They’re actually dehydrated and they come in these big mesh bags. The cooks in the back put them into a long pan and pour boiling water over them. Once they rehydrate them, they—”
She stopped herself abruptly. She could practically hear Chuck’s voice. There you go again, Torri—running off at the mouth!
“Sorry,” she said to Vic. “You probably don’t want to know all that.” Cheeks burning, she looked down at her tray again, picking at her eggs.
To her surprise, Vic reached across the table and placed a big hand over hers. When she looked up at him, Torri saw concern in his eyes.
“Please…talk. I like…your voice,” he said, struggling to get the words out in his rumbling baritone.
It was so exactly like what he had said to her in her dreams, that Torri just stared at him for a moment. Then she got hold of herself and smiled hesitantly.
“Thank you, but you don’t have to say that. My husband, Chuck, always says I talk too much.”
“I don’t…talk…enough,” Vic pointed out earnestly. “Your talk…helps…my talk.”
Torri frowned.
“You think it helps your speech to hear other people talk?” she asked.
Vic shook his head.
“Not…others. Just…you.”
“Well…thank you.” She could feel her cheeks getting hot again and reprimanded herself for being silly. Doubtless, Vic was just being nice and besides, despite what an asshole he had been lately, she did still have a husband. Chuck might not have meant his own vows for better or worse, but Torri didn’t take hers lightly.
“Thank you,” she said again, smiling. “Try your toast now—you’d better eat it before it gets soggy.”
She took a bite of her own toast to show him what she meant. Vic copied her and smiled as he chewed.
“Better than…not bad,” he pronounced, pointing at the strawberry jam.
“Especially if you’ve got a sweet tooth,” Torri agreed, smiling.
The morning was off to a good start—much better than yesterday, she thought. She just hoped the rest of the day would go on in the same way.
Fourteen
The day did go very well. Vic sat beside her during Group Therapy and when the therapist asked Torri what her goal for that day was, she was able to say, “My goal is to be more positive,” and really mean it.
When Vic was asked he simply said, “Speak better…with help,” and smiled at Torri, which made her heart pound for some foolish reason.
During Physical Recreation time, he came out to the rec yard with her. Mazy stuck her head outside but, seeing that Torri wasn’t alone, she simply nodded hello and left again.
Torri showed Vic the big maple tree with its gorgeous riot of Fall leaves and told him hesitantly about the picture she’d been doing of it and how it had been ruined. Vic nodded sympathetically—he was an excellent listener, though he did occasionally make extremely brief observations.
They ate lunch together at their special table—grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, sliced apples—and Torri taught Vic how to dip his sandwich in his soup. He pronounced the meal, “Not bad,” which was becoming a running joke between them.