Zack cringes. “If she doesn’t want to come into the club, I can’t force her, Thabo.”
I shake my head. “No one has even asked her. She’s apparently sick in your human hospital. I want her brought here.”
Zack rubs a hand over his face. “That’s not simple. I can’t just order her to be brought to a night club, especially if she’s in the hospital.”
I set my hands on my hips, nerves making me feel antsy. I’ve never even met this female, but for some reason, I feels like it’s imperative I see her. “I’m a doctor, and my medical knowledge and skill is far superior to yours on Earth. Whatever ails her, I can and will figure it out and cure her. I want her brought here at the earliest possible convenience.”
I know I’m being irrational. I’m driven by two factors though. One is my obligation to Olivia. I’d rather never return to Eleadia than have to face her and tell her I was unable to make contact with her friend because she’d been too sick. Olivia would be heartbroken and would spend the rest of her life worrying.
But there’s another reason I need to make this connection. It’s not based on logic or reason. It’s a gut feeling. A driving need to meet the female. Ever since learning she’s sick, my hackles have been even higher.
If I were permitted to leave the club and go to Janie myself, I would do so. However, the agreement between Eleadia and Earth is specific and strict. Eleadian men may visit Earth to find and return with a mate, but they aren’t permitted to leave the club properties that are located around the globe.
The mothership remains hovering above Earth. It receives incoming transport vessels and processes the paperwork when Eleadian men return to their planet with their mate. Eleadian men are permitted to descend from the mothership to land on top of one of the Club Zoom locations to temporarily inhabit the building, but stepping out the front door is strictly forbidden.
I narrow my gaze on these two men even though I know they hold no real power to do what I’m asking. Somehow this must happen. And my level of urgency is increasing by the moment.
I start pacing in the small office, grateful that this club was at least built to accommodate the larger size and height of Eleadian men. At seven-five, I’m taller than any man I’ve met on Earth. Broader too. I’ve felt like a giant ever since arriving four days ago.
Zack sighs. “Let me make some calls, okay? I can’t promise anything, so don’t get your hopes up. But I’ll try.”
I growl again. I must succeed and will accept nothing less. This side mission should have been simple. Have someone find Janie and bring her to the club so I could hand her the letter and move on with my life.
Truth be told, it had never been that simple. I read Olivia’s letter to her friend months ago while on the six-month journey from Eleadia. I know the words by heart, and if I’m honest with myself, I’ve also felt drawn to the female from the moment I first opened the letter.
It’s not rational on any level, but it’s consuming me. I’ve been anxious to meet this Janie from the moment I arrived and disappointed that John was unable to locate her for days. I haven’t even descended to the club itself in the evenings to search for a mate since I arrived.
I’m here to find a mate. It’s the reason I’ve traveled for six months each way. Now I’m on day four, and I haven’t let myself set eyes on a single female from this planet yet.
Part of the problem is that if I were to descend to the club level and select a female, I would become so consumed with her that I would not be able to fulfill my task. I’d end up leaving the planet without delivering the letter.
That’s unacceptable.
I had envisioned arriving one morning, sending word to Janie, meeting her within hours, and either delivering the message and going on with my life or…
Keeping her.
I shudder. What am I thinking?
Without another word to Zack and John, I leave the front office and head for the elevators to return to my suite of rooms on the seventh floor. It’s early. Not even noon. The club is silent at this hour. Later tonight, I’ll be able to feel the faint vibrations shaking the walls of the building from the dance floor. But for now, I’m spared.
Dance clubs are not a thing on Eleadia. The only reason I have a clue what they are like is from listening to Chadka describe them to me before I left Eleadia.
Chadka is my best friend. We share our medical practice together. He came to Earth to find a mate before me. Now he’s manning the fort while I visit. Neither of us or anyone else on Eleadia had ever seen or been to a dance club before visiting Earth. The concept is unusual.
We have music. We also have dancing. Those with mates have been known to have a party in their homes with music and dancing. Mostly it would be to celebrate a Little’s birthday. Because human females enjoy that sort of party, I know my friends have hosted them.
From what I’ve heard, Little girls giggle a lot at these festivities. Dancing pleases them. I don’t think their Papis dance with them in the manner they are accustomed to on Earth because our females are so much smaller than us, but I have seen Chadka lift Olivia into the air and swing her around in a manner that obviously pleased her.
I’m smiling at the memory as I step off the elevator into my suite. I’ve spent most of my time here bored, not doing what I came for. I can’t continue to hide in my suite much longer. If Zack and John fail to bring Janie to me soon, I’m going to have to…
Nope. It’s not an option. I need them to succeed, preferably today.
ChapterTwo
Janie
“Janie? Can you open your eyes for me, hon?”