Page 48 of My Tiny Giant
“This is Ravil Army’s Entertainment Unit in Voran. Is there anyone in particular you wanted to speak with?”
The entertainment unit? Why did Helix connect me with them? This made no sense.
“Yes,” I muttered. “Lieutenant Drankai. But he couldn’t be there.”
Could he?
It must be a mistake.
“Yes, he’s here.” The Ravil woman nodded energetically, sending her mane of curls into a swaying wave around her head. “I’ll just need a minute to find him—”
“No!” I leaped up from the couch. “Please don’t. I’ll call later...”
While I’d been thinking about Agan all this time, maybe I should’ve thought about why he’d never called me himself.
“Helix, disconnect me please,” I promptly ordered to the AI.
“I’ll just need a minute to find him.”
Where would she go searching for Agan? I dreaded to think that it might be other women’s beds.
It made no difference that he was currently smaller than a squirrel. Whatever his size, he was a grown, virile man. I’d thought him physically attractive from the moment we met. I had no doubt plenty of women would find him attractive, too, no matter his size.
I recalled what I’d heard from him about the Ravil Army’s entertainment units. He’d spoken like someone who visited them frequently. I should’ve known his habits wouldn’t change overnight just because his body did.
“Would you like to resume watching your movie?” Helix enquired.
“No.” I could no longer focus on what was happening on the screen.
The idea of Agan spending his days in the company of women whose job was to entertain soldiers bugged me way more than it should. I understood I had no right to dictate to him how to spend his time, but it felt painful even to think about what he could be doing right now.
The actual sex might not be possible for Agan in his current state, but it wasn’t the thought of him having sex that tortured me the most.
When I imagined him sitting in another woman’s lap, or on her shoulder, stroking her neck with his tail, and—worst of all—having one of those fun, easy-flowing conversations like the ones we’d shared, jealousy I’d never felt before burned through my heart like acid.
I might’ve thought him an arrogant prick before, but now I kind of wished he could be my “arrogant prick.” A stupid, impossible idea, since there could never be a future for us, anyway. Legally, a human and a Ravil could never be together—there was no marriage agreement between Earth and Tragul.
Neither of us had any time even for a fling. My leave was up soon. And he... Well, he obviously found a pleasant way to occupy his time already, without me.
I wished I’d never attempted to contact him at all.
“A delivery for Lieutenant Nowak,” Helix suddenly announced, snapping me out of my unhappy thoughts.
“What delivery? Where?”
“A package is here for you. At the front door,” Helix explained. “Would you like to accept it?”
“Sure.” I nodded, lost as to what this could be. The door to my apartment slid open, and one of the building’s AI drones flew in. It was holding a pink square box in its thin chrome arms. “Who is this from?”
I pressed my thumb to the pad on the drone, as a proof of delivery.
“The sender’s name is Valentine. Enjoy your parcel, Lieutenant Nowak.” The drone veered out the door and back down the common corridor outside of my apartment.
“Wait, what? What did you say the name was?” I yelled after it.
“Valentine,” Helix supplied helpfully, sliding the door closed.
This must be some joke, curtesy of the guys from my unit, no doubt. Rick had mentioned something about Valentine’s Day before my leave, hadn’t he? Only, he was two days too late with this. Valentine’s Day had passed.