Star Gazing

Heidi and Amy dominated the conversation. Heidi I actually tolerated, she is a cute little redhead with a good heart. She is smart and works hard and doesn't spread much gossip. Amy on the other hand I can't stand. She's a typical Barbie doll blond. Tall, slim waist, huge tits that I'm certain are plastic and a small little ass. The problem is she knows what she has and how to use it. She also never heard a rumor she didn't think needed spreading.

After an hour had passed, I was starving, and wondered if we were still going to have dinner. Sagan must have read the look on my face.

"Payet, are you ready for dinner?"

Amy of course tried to weasel her way into our dinner as well.

"That sounds great. I'm starving, how about you Heidi?"

Sagan frowned and looked a little annoyed at her.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I have a small legal problem Payet is helping me with. I really don't want it to be public knowledge yet if you ladies don't mind."

Amy was sufficiently chastised enough to leave us alone for the night. Sagan and I found a table in the dining room where we settled in and ordered another round of drinks.

"What's your legal problem?"

"I was wondering if I could plead temporary insanity if I snapped on Amy?"

I laughed with true amusement and total understanding.

"What, you aren't captivated by her barbie doll looks and huge tits?"

"Well, I'm a man, so I can't deny that she's physically attractive. However her personality totally ruins any attraction I would ever have for her."

"I don't blame you at all. Tell me about your conservatory."

"When I was a teenager, we took a trip to Belize and explored the rainforest. I fell in love with it, and recreated one in a greenhouse attached to my home."

"You have a rainforest here in Denver?"

"Yeah, it's a lot of work, but totally worth it."

"Work how?"

Just keeping everything healthy and happy. I have plants, chameleons, birds, fish, they all have their specific needs that require several hours of my time every week."

"Live birds and lizards? Are they in cages?"

"No, they have free range inside the conservatory just like they would be in the wild."

"Snakes too?"

"Definitely no snakes, but tons of other cool wildlife."

"I don't think I could do that. I'm definitely an inside type of girl."

"So, what do you do with your free time?"

"I love to cook. Visiting France or India every year when I was growing up exposed me to a variety of foods and dishes. I always wanted to be a chef until I got a job in a restaurant in high school. I quickly decided I didn't want to work nights, weekends, and holidays for the rest of my life."

"Which do you like to cook more, French or Indian?"

"Honestly, both. I also try to mix them together in some of my recipes.

"That sounds really cool."

"How about you, cook at all?"

"Well, if you can grill it, smoke it or bake it in a wood fired oven I'm pretty handy. Other than that I'm doing good if I can follow the directions on the box. Most nights I grab something from a drive through on the way home since it's just me."

"I stop at the grocery store on the way home from the office to decide what I am going to cook, I rarely eat out."

"That leads me to my next question. What do you do for the company?"

"Um, I really don't have company very often, usually I just cook and eat alone. It's been awhile since I've had anyone to cook for, I don't date much."

I felt insecure and weak at how pathetic that sounded when I said it out loud. He lifted me up with his next comment though.

"I meant what kind of work you do for the company, but I know how you feel. It's been over two years since I've been on a date, but I just recently met someone new who has caught my eye."

He gave me the warmest smile, and knowing he was talking about me made me immediately feel better.

"I'm in the legal department, making sure all the T's are crossed and the I's dotted. It's not the most glamorous job in the world, but it pays well and lets me cook and experiment nights and weekends."

"I know how you feel. I wanted to be an astronomer or biologist when I was growing up, until I found out how pathetically little they're paid. Instead I used my brain to get my finance degree which makes me enough money to buy my fancy toys and enough time off so I can look through a telescope, or play in the dirt."

The rest of our dinner went smoothly, I didn't embarrass myself again. Once again Sagan walked me to my car, but this time he lingered.

"Do you have plans this weekend Payet?"

"Just doing some cooking as usual, other than that nothing."

"Would you be interested in coming out and seeing the conservatory tomorrow? I can make us pizzas in the wood fired oven."

"I would like that, what time?"

How about lunch? That way it's still light enough to see everything."

"Sounds great."

"OK, I will email you instructions to the house, it's about a thirty minute drive from the office."

He hesitated instead of just saying goodbye and walking off like he did last week. I could tell he felt unsure how to proceed.

Lindays voice was in my head, I needed to let him know I'm interested. I lightly grabbed his shirt, leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Good night, see you tomorrow."

Chapter 3

***Sagan***

Driving home, I felt elated. The most interesting woman I have ever met kissed my cheek and is coming to the house tomorrow. Not only is she interesting, she's beautiful and sexy as hell.

I was halfway home when I realized I didn't have everything I needed to make lunch. I quickly turned back around and headed back to town to find the nearest grocery store. I should have asked her if there was anything she didn't like on her pizza. I just got a little bit of everything to make sure I was covered.

When I got home, the first thing I did was email her directions with a map. Since I'm kind of in the boonies, my house can be hard to find the first time or two.

I'm somewhat of a neat freak which probably comes from my love of science. Everything has to have a place and a purpose. Even so I spent a good hour walking from room to room making sure everything was clean and tidy.

When I finally went to bed, sleep eluded me. I was excited, yet apprehensive. I felt like Charlie Brown sometimes. Everytime I think I am going to finally find that special someone, Lucy pulls the ball back and I end up crashing and burning.

Morning finally came, and I felt like I hadn't slept much. Most of the night I was tossing and turning. After a couple cups of coffee, I tried to stay busy, anxious for lunch to come. The rain looked like it was going to hold off until later in the afternoon, the sun even started peeking through the clouds from time to time.

I told Payet to show up anytime she wanted, not having any plans for the day. Shortly before eleven, I heard a car in the drive that announced her arrival. I walked out to greet her, and when I did I'm sure my jaw hit the ground.

She must have woken at five am to look as good as she did. Gone were the conservative business clothes. She wore a low cut yellow sundress with a flower pattern that contrasted with her caramel colored skin. It showed off a hint of cleavage and for the first time I realized how far out of my league she was. She wore a cute sunhat and if I didn't know any better we could be having lunch in a Paris cafe instead of on my patio.

She grabbed a covered dish out of the back seat and walked up to me with a big smile on her face.

"Hi"

"Wow, I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my entire life."

She smiled, her neck and ears blushed, but she seemed to appreciate the compliment.

"Thanks."

She leaned up and gave me a quick peck on the cheek again.

"Here, I brought us an appetizer. My mother taught me to never show up for dinner empty handed so I whipped up a charcuterie board."

"What's a charcuterie board?"

"It's a French appetizer, but most European countries have their own version. It has cured meats, cheeses, olives, and crackers. I thought we could enjoy it on your patio before we made the pizzas since it's a beautiful day."

"Sounds good, thank you."

I showed her around the house, and pointed out the various photos I had taken, explaining a little about each one of them as we went. Again, she seemed genuinely interested in them. I noticed while we walked around the house, she stayed close to me, even brushing up against me once in a while.

I led her into the kitchen on the way to the patio. She stopped and stared in awe. Even though I rarely used it, the house had a chef's kitchen with tons of counter space, dual ovens, and a double deep double wide fridge which was mostly empty.

"Wow, do you know what kind of trouble I could get into with a kitchen like this?"

"Maybe you will have to show me someday."

"I would feel like I died and went to heaven."

"Come on, the patio is through here."

I led her through the french doors onto my slice of heaven.

"I spend a ton of time out here. I'm not very good in the kitchen, but out here with the grill or the pizza oven I'm in my element. Summer evenings I like to sit around the fire pit and enjoy the peace and quiet."

"I can see why."

I started the fire in the oven and laid out all the ingredients for our pizzas.

"Would you like wine, a beer, or something else? I have Blue Moon on tap."

"You do? That actually sounds great."

By the time I came back with a couple of beers, she had the board opened up and laid out on the table for us.

We talked and nibbled at the spread, making small talk. I felt like a nervous teenager on a date with the hottest girl in school. It was so refreshing to find someone that you could talk to easily, instead of forcing the conversation.

After a couple beers, we finally decided it was time to put together our pizzas. As talented as I am at making pizzas, Payet took the lead and quickly put me to shame with her skills. At least she let me put them in and take them out of the oven.

After we ate, the clouds parted just long enough to let some sunshine through.

I decided it would be a good time to take her through the rainforest, it's beautiful when the sun is shining in and filters through the leaves.

"Do you want to check out the conservatory?"

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous though. I don't do well with creepy crawlies."

"Don't worry, everything in there's harmless."

I stood up and offered her my hand. When she took it, I helped her up, and felt a surge of joy when she didn't let go as we walked into the house.

***Payet***

Saturday morning, I was wide awake by five. I tried to go back to sleep but my brain wasn't having it. I was full of a wide variety of emotions I hadn't felt in a long time. I was excited, but apprehensive. Confident, yet insecure.

After laying there forever trying to get back to sleep, I gave up and got out of bed. I hopped in my car and made an early morning run to the grocery store. My parents taught me long ago not to show up as a guest empty handed. I thought bringing something along may break the tension when I showed up.

I downplay my appearance at work. I like to look good, but I wear conservative clothes and little to no makeup. Today I decided to go all out and see what kind of reaction I would get out of Sagan. He looked pleasantly stunned when I kissed his cheek last night, so now he definitely knows I'm interested.

He invited me to lunch, but told me to come out whenever I wanted. I was ready and anxious to go, but didn't want to show up too early. My impatience finally won and I left shortly after ten. I drove slowly, appreciating the scenery. I have always been a city girl, but I do love nature's wonders.

The longer I drove, the more secluded it became. I started to worry when I didn't see any signs of civilization for several miles, but these were the exact directions he sent me. I was relieved to finally see a mailbox with his name on it alongside the road.

I drove up a long lane before the trees opened up and revealed a beautiful home. I was surprised by how huge it was since he lived alone. It was a beautiful setting, the house was finished in stone with a cedar shake roof, the mountain falling away behind presenting an amazing view.

He must have been watching for me as he walked out the front door before I had come to a complete stop. I grabbed the charcuterie board out of the back seat and tried to hide my nervousness.

Sagan had a weird look on his face, so I smiled and said "Hi".

"Sorry I'm staring. I've never seen anyone so beautiful in my life."

The way he looked at me made my stomach flip flop with excitement. I knew I was flushed so I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and handed him the appetizer I brought along to hide my sudden shyness.

He gave me a tour of his home, showing me the various photos of space that he had taken and hung in different rooms. Somehow he was able to give a beautiful country home a modern yet comfortable feeling.

I caught myself dreaming of living here with him someday.

When he showed the kitchen, I'm sure I was green with envy. It was the dream kitchen of every serious home cook. Tons of counter space, multiple ovens, beautiful light, heck even the fridge was twice the size as a normal one. I secretly wondered if it was mostly empty.

He led me to the patio where we settled ourselves in some comfortable patio chairs. We nibbled on the appetizer while chatting away.

"So Sagan, mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Of course not, but remember quid pro quo."

"That's fair. Why haven't you dated anyone in over two years?"

"I pretty much gave up finding someone I'm compatible with. It seemed like every relationship I was in ended up being one sided. They always wanted me to change who I was for them."

"Like what?"

"Most of the women I dated thought my hobbies were silly and a waste of time and money. I don't like going out on the town three or four nights a week. My last girlfriend expected me to give up photography since it took up too much of our time on the weekends."

"That's not really fair, I could see why you didn't keep them."

"How about you, why has it been so long?"

"I got tired of being treated like arm candy or a conquest. It seems like I attract the guys who are just in it for my looks, and not anything else. I started to put up more and more walls until I found myself not dating at all."

"That surprises me, but I can see why you would have that problem. You're indeed an incredibly beautiful woman. But you are also intelligent and a great person to just be with and talk to. I do, however, know how most men our age think."

Once again I'm sure I blushed. His compliments were always sincere and made me feel appreciated. We talked, ate and drank for a couple hours. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, he was so sexy and articulate. We decided to head into his conservatory. When he offered me his hand to help me up, I didn't let go once I was on my feet. The happy look he gave me made me feel like I was floating.

He led us to his basement and into a room that looked like it belonged in a hospital. Everything was clean and bright, with several stainless steel work tables scattered around. There was even a large stainless steel refrigerator.

On a wall was a big screen computer monitor showing all kinds of readings. Another one beside it looked like a security station showing live videos of several areas of the jungle.

"Wow, what's all of this?"

"This is the life support system. There are several separate environments that are all computer controlled. It's also linked to my phone so I can check everything remotely. It also sends me warnings if anything is wrong"

He pulled up a new screen and changed a couple of settings.

"What are you doing now?"

"Turning off the rain program. You don't want to get wet while you're in there do you?"

"You have a rain program?"

"Yeah, every twenty minutes it rains for sixty seconds. If the air temp is low, it sprays hot water, if it's too hot, it sprays out cold water."

"Really, you came up with all this?"

"Yeah, it's a labor of love. Are you ready?"

"I think so."

He opened up a door and we stepped into a room the size of an elevator. He closed the door behind us, and then opened the one in front of us.

"What was that for?"

"The barrier room. On the small chance a bird or animal comes through the door, the second door stops them from getting into the house."

"Oh, smart."

When he opened the second door, I was greeted by a blast of hot humid air. Immediately I understood why we had to come to the basement to enter. The conservatory was two stories tall, and many of the trees had grown almost to the top of the ceiling. The roof and walls were almost all windows letting the sunlight shine through. I was awestruck by how massive the room was, easily twice as big as the house itself.

Immediately to the right was an immense aquarium full of saltwater fish, corals, and anemones. There was one thick piece of glass that was about chest high that we could lean over and look into the water from above.

"This is where the ocean meets the rainforest. Would you like to feed them?"

"Yes, they're beautiful."

He handed me a cup full of a foul smelling concoction. I poured it over the edge and the water came to life. It seemed like fish came out of everywhere to quickly devour all the food. I was stunned by the beauty and non-stop movement.

"You need a bench here so we can sit here for hours and watch."

"I have a chair that I bring out sometimes just to do that."

We leaned against the glass watching the fish. I leaned against him and thought how good it felt to have some human contact, even if it was just leaning against someone.

"Are you ready to see more?"

"Sure, lead the way."

There was a trail into the jungle, and suddenly I was terrified. I don't do outdoors, I'm a city girl. I could see colorful birds flying around and I worried they would land in my hair. I clenched Sagan's hand tightly as he led me along the path. He was talking away like nothing was wrong. Although there were beautiful flowers everywhere, I was too distracted to stop and admire them.

The farther into the jungle we walked, the worse I felt. Everything was closing in on me, it felt like a five hundred pound gorilla was sitting on my chest. I could almost feel bugs and lizards crawling up my back. We arrived at the end of the path and I saw it curved back around the other side back towards the house. I was almost pulling Sagan along, trying to get to the door.

He tried to slow me down to point out different things, but all I wanted to do was get through the door.

"Sagan, I have to get out of here."

I was hysterical and crying. I felt like such a fool, but I couldn't be brave anymore. He immediately saw the look in my eyes and understood. He put his arm around me and quickly walked me back to the door, getting us through and into his lab as quickly as possible.

"Are you ok Payet?"

I stood there crying, and shook my head.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I didn't realize you would have that kind of reaction. I am sorry to drag you in there and put you through that."

I felt like such a loser. I was scared and crying, and he's the one who apologized to me.

"I'm sorry Sagan, I think I should go home now. Thank you for lunch."

I didn't wait for him to argue with me, I hurried up the stairs, out the door and into my car without even saying goodbye. I cried all the way home, knowing I looked like a scared little child crying and carrying on like that. So much for my new romance!

Chapter 4

***Sagan***

Guilt washed over me when she left. Payet was terrified of the rainforest and its animals. I didn't stop to think that not everyone liked that sort of thing. Just when I thought I may have found that special someone, I go and screw it up. I went outside to start picking up when the sky opened up and it started to rain on me. Looking up, I thought this weather is exactly how I feel.