Hi!

Is it as hot over there as it is here? All this dry grass makes me feel like I’m walking around in Fireblue Territory in 2061!

Since it’s Wednesday, it’s time for our weekly excerpt trip into the future…

Can’t wait to read your comments!

Sigrid

“Focus, Lou. Focus,” Louise told herself.

She knew it was useless, though. She had been trying to concentrate on her job for the last 4 hours yet her mind always drifted back to the chaos that raged inside her.

“I can’t feel these things,” she thought for the gazzilionth time. “It’s treason!”

Eleanor Lucas was supposed to be her enemy. But when Louise had felt Eleanor pushed against her back, the way her body had responsed told a different story altogether.

The butterflies rising in her stomach had made her gasp like a kid on a roller coaster ride. The rush of heat spreading from her center had been in a whole other category of inappropriate.

Louise’s breath had hitched. The muscles in her stomach had tightened. There hadn’t been a rational thought left in her mind. Her instincts had told her to turn around and find Eleanor Lucas’s lips.

All she had wanted in that moment was to taste that beautiful mouth. To run her hands through those curls. To wrap her arms around Eleanor and lose herself in the sudden, intense heat that this woman had awoken inside her.

Luckily, Eleanor had stepped away before Louise could do just that.

“I’m sorry,” El stammered.

Louise turned around slowly and noticed El’s cheeks were looking flushed. She couldn’t tell if it was from crying or from embarrassment. Or both.

Their gazes met then. For a moment, the air between them sizzled. Louise’s knees nearly buckled when El licked her lower lip. Okay, maybe El wasn’t feeling that embarrassed at all.

“No problem,” Louise croaked, forcing herself to look away.

She fought the onslaught of contradictory emotions inside her as she studied a random tree to her right. She desperately needed to get away from here. She also desperately wanted to close the distance and kiss El.

“I wouldn’t have found him without you,” El said, her voice husky.

Louise didn’t dare look at her. She stared at the branches of the tree instead. “Glad to help,” she said, tucking her hands in her pockets.

“I’m sorry I grabbed you,” El said, not sounding sorry at all.

“Let’s just forget about it,” Louise hastily replied, managing to sound quite dismissive. She was proud of herself for it. The rational part of her mind was finally coming back online. She forced herself to meet El’s gaze coolly.

El smiled regretfully, then pulled a leash out of her back pocket and clipped it to Stucky’s collar. “I don’t think there’s time left for a walk.”

Louise shook her head. “No, we should get back.”

They had hurried back to the house in silence. Every step had been torture for Louise because of the unrest in her center. Her mind might have been working again, the flames of desire had never quite died down.

Louise still felt on edge, even now, hours later. This uncontrollable lust was something she had never felt before. Not even with Michelle, who she had been with for years and had been head over heels in love with. Or maybe still was.

Because that’s the other thing she had been thinking about non-stop these last hours.

“What would Michelle say if she knew?” was a sentence that kept playing on repeat in her head. In a way, it was worse than realizing she had been about to commit treason.

Louise rested her elbows on the desk and started massaging her temples. Her face and hands felt clammy despite the cold air of the room. She was in the network monitoring room of the second inspection site.

The space looked very similar to the one they had visited yesterday. That meant it also resembled her own office a lot. The familiar computers and desks around her didn’t have a calming effect on her this time, though.

Quite the opposite, actually. Her surroundings were so similar to her own space back home, she half expected Michelle to walk in any moment and tell her how worthless she was.

Michelle would no doubt give Louise that devastating, judgemental look. Louise cringed at the thought. Loving Michelle had always felt like perpetual heartbreak. Louise could admit as much despite her reluctance to analyze their relationship.

“What relationship?” she thought and scowled. They had broken up so many years ago Louise had lost track. There had been a time when she had been aware of every day and every hour since the break-up.

It had come as a complete surprise to Louise. She had been so young, so cheerful and so naive then. Michelle had killed that person with a few sentences over a Monday morning breakfast.

“It’s time to stop seeing each other,” Michelle had said calmly.

Louise couldn’t even remember her first response. Michelle had put down her mug of coffee and gotten up. She was wearing her full uniform, about to head into work at the base. Louise was still in the old shirt she liked to sleep in.

“You’re fun to hang out with, Lou, but you’re not committed enough,” Michelle added, pushing her chair back under the table.

“To us?” Louise uttered. “That’s not true, you mean the world to…”

Michelle stopped her by raising a hand in the air.

I was tempted to keep it very short this week. Chose to give you a first peek at Louise’s past instead 😉 See you here on Saturday for the full episode!