Page 60 of Starrily
“Of course. Sensible.” He disappeared.
Night turned into morning, and stars began to fade. Callie closed the camera shutter and the telescope dome and groggily headed out, pausing in front of the living quarters. Simon wasstill sleeping inside, and her belly fluttered at the thought of peeking in. The night he stayed at her apartment, he woke up before she did, and she couldn’t stop wondering how he’d look like sleeping, with the first rays of sun caressing his face…
Well, you’re not going to find out.She bit her lip in determination and exited the observatory instead. She stepped around the building, found the rising sun, and tilted her face toward it.
“Morning,” a voice came about a minute later. Simon stood at the observatory building in yesterday’s crumpled clothes.
“Did you even sleep?” Thank the Universe she didn’t enter the living quarters if he’d been awake all this time. Then she’d have to explain her stalking instincts on top of everything else.
“I did. What Ididn’tdo is pack right for this trip.” He brushed down the front of the shirt. “By the way, the bed is surprisingly comfortable, and you look like you need it.”
She must’ve been extremely sleepy because she suddenly wanted to ask him to carry her to the bed and snuggle with her. She knew she was an idiot, but something about early morning Simon made him so snuggly. Like she could curl up next to him, and he’d feel warm and smell of soap and mountain air—
Okay. Off to bed, straight away. Alone.
“I will,” she said, not caring much if her answer made sense. Nothing about her wants made sense at the moment, anyway.
The morning passed in deep, satisfying sleep. Once Callie woke up, she and Simon lunched on grilled cheese sandwiches and roasted marshmallows, all thanks to a mini campfire Simon improvised at the viewpoint. She got out of a potential post-lunch conversation by going to check her data, and before she knew it, afternoon had turned into evening, and it was time for her second night of chaperoning the telescope.
It was nearing midnight, and thanks to her power nap, Callie was doing pretty well on the wakefulness scale. She’d been swiveling in her chair, shuffling through her playlist to find something that fit her mood, when Simon popped into the control room.
“Hey,” he said, “mind coming outside for a bit?”
“We shouldn’t go into the telescope room. We can’t let any light disturb the camera.”
“I meanoutsideoutside.”
She instinctively wrapped her sweater tighter around her. “It’s cold. And pitch black.”
“Come, Phoenix. Have some courage.”
For him, that was easy to say. He lived with the absence of any fear.
While she had surrendered everything to it.
But he looked so eager, and with the slight tilt of his lips in an encouraging smile, she couldn’t say no. She checked her telescope settings and followed Simon outside.
He headed to the viewpoint, and she soon saw why. He’d spread a blanket on the ground and left another heap to the side. Candles were set on the corners of the blanket, providing minimum illumination—just enough to guide her through the deep darkness of the night. It was cold, but the setup looked incredibly warm and welcoming. Romantic, even.
As if the word itself hit a brake in her brain, she stopped. “Simon, no—I have to go back.”
She turned, but he caught her by the hand. “Please. Wait.”
His voice was soft, gentle. She couldn’t see his face in the dark, save for the shine in his eyes, catching the candlelight as he glanced at the blanket. “Stay with me. Just for a bit.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say no, so she said nothing and let him lead her to the blanket. He took another one from the pileand wrapped it around her shoulders. His knee brushed against hers as he sat down beside her.
“Look.” He pointed at the night sky.
Her breath caught. The sky was littered with stars, so many that calling it dark felt horrifically unfair. In an arc above them spread the silvery belt of the Milky Way, disappearing into the dark outlines of the mountains.
She spent every day looking at pictures of space, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gazed at the night sky. And certainly not the last time she’d seen it in such splendor.
“It might be the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.” Simon turned his head to the side. “Actually, second most beautiful.”
“It is.” She was perfectly content staying here, looking at the sky. For the moment, it didn’t matter which star belonged to which galaxy, how far away they were, and what secrets the Universe held, hidden far beyond what she could see. She wasn’t Dr. Calliope Guidry, PhD. She was just Callie, a girl who liked to look at the stars and dream.
Once upon a time, that girl only dreamed of space. Even the Callie of two months ago only dreamed of space and its infinite mysteries. But the Callie of tonight—she dreamed of so much more. Of having a life she wasn’t afraid of living, of having someone she wouldn’t be afraid of losing. Of shedding all of her fears and telling Simon he might be that one. That she wanted to see him every morning when she woke up—whether he’d still be in the bed next to her, or in the kitchen, preparing an early breakfast while singing a jaunty tune.
