I’m pretty sure she’s expecting a snide comment from me, but at the moment, I have no desire to try to persuade her away from the dark side. “That’ll be really fascinating for the viewers.”
“You mean the wackadoodle ones, right?”
“No, everyone. I’m sure you know far more than I do about astrological connections,” I tell her. “I kind of wish I could skip my thing and go around with you.” Huh, oddly enough, that’s true.
“Really?” Serafina asks, giving me a skeptical look.
“Really.” Yup, I’ve got it bad because that’s the least logical thing I’ve ever said.
“Does that have anything to do with our early morning wake-up call?”
“While that was very nice, I’m actually interested in what you have to say.” Grinning, I add, “But … this morning’s … activities didn’t hurt matters.”
Serafina smiles at me and blushes a little, then she shakes her head a little as if trying to get back her focus. “Okay, the film crew should be showing up any minute, so I better go out front to meet them.”
“Right, yeah,” I tell her, unable to look away. “I should also go to that thing I’m here for…” What again? I’ve gone totally blank.
“The TRAPPIST-1 Conference?”
“That’s the one.”
We both stand and I take our trays to the garbage. After unloading everything, we walk out and turn to each other. I completely forget where I am and who we really are to each other, and almost give her a quick peck on the lips before catching myself.
Sera bites her bottom lip. “Text me when you’re done, and we can figure out where to meet.”
I nod my head mutely. I want to kiss her. Badly. But this is not the time or the place. “Have a great day,” I tell her as I watch her walk away.
Suddenly I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will kiss this woman properly before we leave Florida.
Twenty-Nine
Serafina
I spend the morning and the first part of the afternoon with a producer and cameraman who are on loan from a local affiliate. I talk about the planets that govern the different star signs and how their position in the heavens affects the personality traits of the people who were born under them. I share how amazing it is when you connect with the zodiac because it not only helps you understand yourself, it helps you to grow as a person. There’s no word from Ben until two in the afternoon.
DrBananaPants: Hey, just finishing up. How about if you meet me by the Saturn V rocket and I can tell our viewers the details of how we can launch such a massive rocket into space.
* * *
LibraGrl: Sounds great, we’ll meet you there.
I tell Drake, the producer with board shorts and a ponytail, what the plan is, but instead of looking enthused, he says, “Yawn. No one tunes into morning television to hear a lecture.”
He looks around for a second, his eyes landing on the area where families are dressing up in space suits and having their pictures taken against a green screen. “That!” he says, “That’ll be fun for the audience.”
He’s not wrong. I’ve done this before and it’s a real hoot. The green screen image is transcribed onto outer space backdrops. In one scene they’ll show you in the shuttle; in another you’ll be standing on the moon with an American flag, and they’ve even added one where you’re floating in space.
But poor Ben is going to be disappointed. “Drake, what if you just film the segment about jet propulsion and let Waltraut decide what to use?”
“Kind of a waste of film.”
“How can you know unless you give it a try?”
That seems to have worked because he gives me a shrug that I take as a yes. Ben shows up moments later looking positively delectable. His eyes are burning so bright you’d think he was at Disneyland, not NASA. Although, I suppose for him, this is better than any amusement park. “Hey,” he says, extending his hand toward the producer and camera guy. “I’m Ben.”
“Drake,” the producer says before motioning toward the cameraman. “He’s Tizz, but you don’t need to know that. Just look at the camera and talk to it like it’s your mom.”
“Okay then,” Ben says while positioning himself underneath the Saturn V rocket. “I’ll just talk a little bit about action force versus reaction force and then maybe get into ballistic curves.”
“Can you do it in under thirty seconds?” Drake asks. “Because I can guarantee you people will be changing the channel if it goes longer.”
“No, it’s a complex topic and, to properly lay it out for people, you need at least a couple of minutes.”
“Then let’s move on, okay, Beck?”
“It’s Ben, and I thought the whole point of my being on Wake Up America! was to excite the American people about space travel.”
Urgh. Poor Ben sounds so disappointed.
“You know what will excite them about space travel?” Drake asks.
Ben’s eyes light up. “Newton’s three laws of motion?”
“No,” Drake says, wrinkling up his nose like he just walked in the bathroom after Abuelo was in there. “Seeing you and Serafina dressed up like astronauts. If they can imagine the two of you in space, then they might start imagining themselves. That’s the way to cultivate interest in NASA.”
“You want us to play dress up?”
“A hundo p, man. That’s the way to go.”
Ben looks at me and whispers, “What does that mean?”
“A hundred percent,” I whisper back.
“Playing dress up though? That’s for kids.”
I take his hand and pull him toward the other side of the massive building. “Come on, we’ll have fun, I promise!”
Drake says, “Wait up. Tizz, roll film while they walk over there. Let’s get a real feel for how much fun it is to be at NASA.”
“People come here to learn,” Ben tells him in a schoolmaster tone.
“Wrong,” Drake says. “People come here to imagine. You gotta feed that sense of wonder, man.”
Before Ben can contradict him, because believe me, the look on his face says he’s ready to rumble, I give his hand a little tug and start toward the photo area. “Come on, Dr. Banana Pants,” I tease him. “Let’s show the American people what a good sport you are.” Even though he seems reticent, he lets me lead the way.
When we get to our destination, Drake talks to the people running it and gets us bumped up to the front of the line. We’re led to a staging area where there’s a rack of costume space suits for us to pick from. Ben looks totally aghast. “We can’t put these on. Do you know how many people wear these things?” Then he looks at the helper and asks, “How often do you clean these?”
The kid shrugs his shoulders. “Got me. But it’s not like they ever really get dirty. People are only in them for a couple of minutes.”
I’ve already picked a jumpsuit out and am putting it over my clothes. “Come on, Ben; it’ll be fun.”