Nine Years Ago
She threw her paper down on the desk and then lowered her head on the table. Muttering to herself as if she had two voices in her head, she battled between the pros and cons of taking one night off of writing her papers and doing assignments in order to actually enjoy herself. The pub was walking distance, as she lived one block from campus in an apartment meant for students. She ran her fingers through her hair, it went down below her shoulder blades. Friday night; she had Saturday and Sunday to finish this paper, and technically she was almost done. She glanced at the stack of textbooks and notepads beside her; she had so many other assignments to work on as well, but if she couldn't focus, what good was any of it?
She slammed her textbook shut and stood up. Even though she didn't live alone she kicked off her ugly grey sweat pants that had a hole in the knee. Her roommate was also out for the night like almost every other university student. Pulling her oversized sweater with threads unravelling at the sleeves, she walked into her bedroom and tried to decide what would be the best thing to wear. Her thoughts trailed to Chris, and she couldn't help but nibble her lip in excitement about going and having a drink with him. He was cute, but she knew right off the bat he was already a distraction. But she was allowed to have one night to let loose, to relax, to kick back. Whatever happened, she would get back on track the next day.
In white heels, a black skirt that sat at her hips and stopped just above her thighs, she was able to twirl and the skirt spun like a fan. For her top she chose a simple white tank top. With summer just around the corner, Alice knew that she wouldn't be cold when she walked to the pub. It was a short, ten minute walk, and she could hear the excitement from within as she walked through the parking lot. As she walked into the bar she was hit with a whirlwind of scents; booze on the floor, sweet drinks mixed in, sweat, perfume, hair spray. It was a combination that normally wouldn't be pleasant, but to Alice it was a big reminder that she was here to have fun. After her eyes shamelessly scanned for Chris, she moved to the bar to order a drink.
As she approached, however, the bar tender handed her a whiskey sour. When she glanced in slight confusion, he pointed to someone down the bar a ways. "Courtesy of the cute fellow over there."
"Cute indeed." She smiled, grabbing the drink. She turned around and saw Chris walk over to her; he was wearing jeans and his shirt was a white button-up with the top few buttons undone. Whether it was intentionally or if it had happened while he was out dancing she didn't know; either way, she was shamelessly drawn to him. After all, he was the reason she went to the pub night in the first place.
"Did I guess right?" he asked, standing inches away from her, his hand upon the sticky bar counter.
"It was a very good guess," she admitted, grabbing the orange slice out of the drink and sucking on it slightly before putting it in her drink to soak up more of the booze. "Most guys order me martini's."
"Not a fan?"
"Regular martini's, yes. Those sweet bubble gum flavoured ones? No."
"What changed your mind about coming out?" he asked. It was clear in his eyes that he was hoping the answer would be him.
It was.
She sipped her drink and brought her hand to his wrist, tiptoeing her fingers up his strong forearms. His sleeves were rolled up sloppily. Suddenly, she threw back her drink and grabbed his wrist firmly, pulling him away from the bar. Leaving the glass on the counter, she and Chris forced their way onto the dance floor. The music seemed to bring them alive, and made everyone one else there disappear.
The evident sweat and booze all around them did not deter Alice and Chris as they brought their bodies together. His hands swiftly moved to her lower back, sitting just atop her hips as he brought her in close. Alice slowly moved her hands up his torso, sliding around his neck as she began to move back and forth; it was like a slow dance coming together with a more vibrant style of dance. Her body gyrated to the music effortlessly, and yet she was able to keep it refined.
Chris's hands shifted from her lower back over to her sides, and made their way to her arms. He shifted their dance from sultry to more playful, spinning her around underneath his arm as the music changed. Previously it had been something with a rhythmic beat, but had now changed to Kenny Loggins' 'Footloose'. Alice's expression went from seductive to wide-eyed excitement.
Pulling from her rusty grade eight gym class dance, she tried to remember some of the moves she'd learned. Chris seemed to have them, and lead her into twirls and jumps. People cleared the dance floor to let them steal the show, giving them room to twist and dance and spin, jump and twirl. Her skirt spun wildly, showing off her legs but she didn't care; she had almost no alcohol in her, but she was drunk on excitement. The crowd around them cheered, the DJ shouted out to them, but they weren't listening. Eyes locked, Alice and Chris danced as though the entire world revolved around them. Or that they were the only two people left on the planet, and the only thing left to do was dance.
For a night, it was as if they were in love.
Now
They were already three months into the trip. Ninety-seven days to be exact. Alice had learned so much more than she expected and she had gained the crew as her family like siblings. Her and Vogel were defined as the "stereotypes" of the crew, both of them living up to the German and Canadian stereotypes almost to a T. She missed her big brother more than she missed Patrick, but she knew that no matter what, Nick would still be there when she got back. Patrick, though, she wondered what sort of emotional strain had been placed on their relationship since she had left. Things had only gotten worse when their first video chat had been poorly executed. Since then, she had only emailed him, and they were getting far and few in between. She had time to video chat him, but she used it to speak with Nick instead.
"I got big news," Nick said right off the bat when his face appeared on the screen.
"Yeah?" Alice sat cross-legged as she smiled at her brother.
"Shauna's pregnant."
"What?!" Alice brought her hand to her mouth. "Nick! That's amazing!"
"Two months along." He smiled. "I'm gonna be a dad, Alice."
"I can't believe it." She sighed pleasantly. "You're going to be one hell of a dad."
He was beaming. "You think so?"
"Nick, you took over dad's role when he got sick," she said, a sullen tone to her voice that she didn't intend to show. "I always knew you'd be a good dad."
After her video chat with her brother, Alice had a bounce to her step. She entered the kitchen, where she saw everyone was. It was lunchtime, and for once, everyone was going to eat together. They hadn't really eaten all together since their first dinner together, because everyone had so many tasks that they didn't often have down time together. She walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, and a few heads turned. She couldn't contain her excitement, and she glanced around at everyone. She let out the good news, "I'm going to be an aunt!"
An uproar of cheers and awes and congratulations filled the room, and Alice felt a blush creep to her cheeks. Normally she wasn't ever the center of attention, but she couldn't contain her joy. Her brother was a man she admired, and she instantly adored his girlfriend, Shauna. Having a child on the way was something Alice always knew he wanted, but he had put it off for so long as he worked to get Alice through school, and helped their mother not only recover from their fathers death, but also as she developed dementia. She felt sad that she wouldn't be there to meet her niece or nephew when the child was born, but couldn't wait to meet them.
"Congrats!" Beck walked up to her and Alice couldn't help but hug him. She released him as quickly as she had hugged him, and then simply smiled at the rest of the crew, hoping that they didn't look too deeply into that hug. She would have hugged anyone who was close to her, but it just so happened to be Beck who was there. When her eyes landed on Watney, he was grinning.