Earth Mars Love (The Marsikons)

Chapter 14

When they arrived at the hotel, Regina was like an automaton. She didn't speak, didn't look at them, just stared straight ahead while driving, only occasionally wiping her cheeks discreetly, but Marcus noticed it. She wasn't so indifferent after all. Maybe there still was hope for the people on Earth.

Back at the market, he was acting like a moron, he knew it, but he couldn't stop himself. He was prepared to argue with her further just to hammer in her mind that she was wrong on a lot of things. And he couldn't believe his luck that he, at last, had reached her—when her face fell and she looked at him in confusion. He knew that something changed in that smart head of hers and she started to think about what he was telling her, not denying it at once.

When he saw it, he had a strange feeling. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her that together they would make this world better and safer. That they only needed to work as a team, and everything would be fine. And this feeling just grew when he saw her talking to that poor boy. When she was back behind the wheel, he saw her barely holding tears, and he had an urge to hug her. To wrap his arms around her and just hold her. He felt that it was what she needed, and he needed it as well.

Instead, he clenched his palms on his knees, and stayed in his seat, aware of the curious looks from Darius from behind, who thankfully, was silent and didn't ask stupid questions.

Regina took her bag and quickly went inside the hotel. When they caught up with her, she was already talking with the receptionist. She turned to them and said tiredly, "They don't have free rooms. Some big conference is in the city."

The receptionist stood taller when she saw the trio coming closer, smiled cheerfully, and said, "But we have one suite available. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms."

"Thank you; we'll take it," Marcus answered. It was even better, to have one big apartment for everyone. And seeing that Regina was barely standing with all the driving she did and all the information he forced on her, he doubted that she would refuse to stay in this arrangement.

In the penthouse, Regina chose the first room on the left and went there, only saying that she would take a nap for a couple of hours and wake her up when the food arrives.

Marsikons stood outside of her room, watching her go, completely dumbfounded. How this food will arrive, and what exactly will arrive. They were Marsikons, with exceptional progress in everything, but they didn't know the customs of staying in the hotel and how everything operated here. He'd never stayed in hotels before because they didn't have them on Mars. If somebody was visiting someone, they rented an apartment nearby (they had couple of such apartments in every section of the underground city for such occasions), and went to eat at the restaurant.

They've bought a lot of vegetables, nuts, and fruits, but they still needed some meat or fish. For now, the three of them were sated, but soon they would need more nourishment.

Darius went looking around and found a mini-fridge and snacks on the table. He opened the small package with more nuts, and chewing it said, "Maybe she meant this food? I don't know if this will be enough for all of us."

"Not when you ate the whole bag in one bite," Marcus said.

Darius was opening a package of chips with a smile. Somehwere, he'd also found a beer. Typical Darius, he would find a solution everywhere for his well-being.

Marcus decided to leave this topic for later. When she would wake up, he would ask her. One by one they took a shower and just stretched their legs after sitting so long in a car. All his thoughts were about Regina and how she looked when she went away. Like something had died inside of her. Her inner spark was gone. Did she really was so deep in denial of what they did to Earth or was it just exhaustion taking over?