Changing Winds

Part 2

By Yuki wildstar

Three weeks went by and he hadn’t heard or seen her. He asked all over if anyone seen her. She took an extend time off from her job. He even went to her father’s apartment to see if she was there. “Sorry son, I’m just as worry about her as you.” Her father told him.

“Thanks sir, if you hear from her can you tell her to call me?”

“I will.” He felt sorry for the young man. He like him a lot. But he too was worried about his daughter and hoped that she would call soon.

With luck, EDF gave him time off to grieve for the loss of his unborn child. Weeks turn to months and there was no Nova. Her father was just as concern to her vanishing. 8 months later her father reached out to Derek and told him that he heard from her and she was fine. Living somewhere in the states but promised her that they would not give the location. He had to respect him for promising. It was time to move on. She didn’t want to be found. He dated on and off but there was no one like Nova. His heart ached for her. He finally met someone that made him laugh again and watched to see what would happened with it. She wasn’t Nova but, she was pretty and her funny faults made him laugh. He kept their apartment until it was safe to move up to the surface. He heard that some parts of the world where already living above ground and already had grass growing and plants. They were told it would be a few more months before the first set of survivors will head up. The Star Force and their families would be one of the first to receive apartments and live above ground. He was given orders to head to the states and Jess his now girlfriend decided to take time to go with him. She knew what a catch he was and her insecurities made her clingy, something he was starting to hate. There was no trust with her. Nova was the only one that understood his job and position. “Honesty Jess, I won’t be able to spend time with you. I’ll be in meetings all day and late into the night sometimes. I won’t have time for you at all.” The last thing he wanted was her there with him. He wanted to just get away and be distracted with work. “Just stay here in the apartment until I get back.” Jess slept over his apartment on and off. She lived with her parents until they were given the okay to move to the surface when she will finally have her own apartment. She like sleeping over and making love to him. She slept with a few other prior to him but Derek could tell she was more mechanical in her love making. He tried hard to show her what he like and asked her what was good to her, but she just said that she was fine. She knew about his past with Nova. There were items that were still there of hers. She tried to get rid of some things and he hit the roof. She figured she’d wait until they were officially exclusive. She knew he wasn’t ready to settle down since his break up with HER. “Jess?”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening. Now, should I bring something warm? Washington DC can be cold this time of the year, but with the climate change since the planet bombs it may be a little warmer.” She ignored his comment to staying.

He sighed and finished packing. For some time now he knew he had to break up with her. She was becoming way too clingy with him. He couldn’t even go to work without her showing up or calling at least 6 times a day. It was getting too much for him. “Jess, this is not going to be a vacation. Its business. I won’t have time to see the sites or even have a long dinner. Maybe its best you stay back. You can stay here if you like.”

“I’ll be fine exploring DC alone. It will be fun. We can have a late dinner and then head back to bed for some more fun.” She talked as she walked towards him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’ll see. We will have a blast.”

He let out a sigh again and decided to agree. Bringing on a fight now will only make it hard. He needed to concentrate on his task.

They arrived two days later and checked into the hotel. It was a long flight for him. She kept talking about all the sites to see. A lot of the monument were restored to their original states and she was excited to see them. He tried hard to focus on his work. There was a lot of notes to go over with on the plane and her talking made him agitated. “Jess I can’t go. I have my first meeting at 0730 in the morning and I have to go over these report before that.”

“But Derek,” she whined and he hated it when she did. It was piercing sound that sounded like nails on a chalk board. “I thought at least tonight we would have dinner at Cedar Knoll. They said they manage to restore it to its original state from the 20^th century.”

“I can’t, I have too much to do. Plus, I have to be on the phone with Sandor later to go over what they want to do with funding.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. “Okay, if not dinner tonight, tomorrow?” she batted her eye lashes at him.

“We’ll see. I can’t promise you that right now.” He pulled away and looked through some paper work. She ran her hand down his back and to the front of his pants. “Stop it! I have to go over these before tomorrow.” She put on pouty lips and tried to kiss him. Quickly he pushed her away. “Jess please I have work to do. Why don’t you order something from the restaurant downstairs and we can eat here?”

“I don’t want to order I want to go out.” She whined. Yup there is that damn annoying tone again.

“I said no. Now please leave me alone.” He walked out of the room into a den that was attached to the suite and shut the door, leaving her standing there alone.

It was a long three nights for him. Each night he would come back to his hotel room and tried to focus on his work. Each night she waited and begged and pleaded for him to take her somewhere to eat. Each night he was too tired or needed to prepare for the next day. He was frustrated with her asking to do something. “I told you that I wouldn’t have time. I told you to stay back home, but you insisted on coming. I have work to do. This is not a leisure trip for me. So get over it!” he snapped at her that night. He woke up extra early and dressed quickly to avoid her stares of boredom. He grabbed his jacket and raced out the door before she woke up. Every night he fell asleep on the couch to avoid her. She would wake up each morning complaining that they didn’t have sex or she was lonely. He simply rolled his eyes and walked away. His driver drove through the street of Washington DC and asked how he was. He was always polite and smiled. “It’s going to be a long day.” He would joke. His driver would joke back with something witty, starting his day off on a good note. He sat through meetings after meetings, talking about funding, mechanical needs and newer vessels. Budgeting was mainly the issue with everyone. Some argued to budgeting wasn’t enough. Wildstar sat and listen. He didn’t like getting into the arguments and prefer to speak with them more on a personal base’s. By the end of the day he was ready to make his calls to Sandor and then just relax. He was speaking with a council member when he spotted her. Was she actually there? Or was she a ghost? He saw as she walked past his car and spoke with a man. He excused himself and made his way over to where she was. He reached out to her and tapped her shoulder. “Nova?”

She turned, surprise to see him there. “Derek?”

He couldn’t remember the last time his heart beat so fast. She was there, standing in front of him, beautiful as ever. He was almost speechless. Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as he fought back tears. All this time he searched for her and here she was plain as day. “I’ve miss you so much. Where have you been?” he finally asked.

She tried hard to control her breathing. He still made her weak in the knees. He was just as handsome as ever. She controlled her breathing and finally spoke. “Hello Derek. This is a surprise to see you here. How long are you in town for?”

She sounded so formal, he thought. “A few more days. I’m here for the budgeting of ships and see what we can work with. How are you. You look great.” He wanted to keep her talking. He didn’t want her to go.

“Thank you. Oh my, I’m sorry. This is David, David McCoy. My fiancé.” He felt his heart stopped and it burst and shatter into a thousand pieces.

He reached out to him and shook his hand. He gave him a look over. He was a tall man with sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. Dressed in a dark suit, he noticed a pendent on his lapel which said State Senate. He held a briefcase in his hand and he kept staring towards the capital. “Nice to meet you David.” Not! She will never be happy with you.

“David, this is Commander Derek Wildstar. We served together on the star force.” So she didn’t tell him about them. If she did she would’ve introduced him as her old boyfriend or ex fiancé.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you got engaged. But then again, I don’t know everything about you, now, since you walked out of my life.” He said in a sad tone making David look at her and then at him.

“Are you here only for the meetings?” she asked redirecting the conversation as not explain to her fiancé.

“Yeah, all meetings. No play.” He grinned.

“DEREK!” They heard someone called out to him and they all turned to see Jess waving and running to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. “I thought I’d meet you here today so we can at least have an early dinner. You’ve been so busy that we haven’t spent time together. And I thought this would be a nice get away for us. Oh hi, I’m Jess, Derek’s fiancé.” She put her hand out to shake their hands. Nova notice she wasn’t much into style. She wore a bright off the shoulder pattern dress that looked a little tight on top. It looked like her breast were going to fall out if she moved wrong. She wore a heavy wool coat that stay opened. She looked like she was leaving on holiday from the cold wearing a summer dress. She was used to seeing people in dark suits and carrying briefcases. Her hair looked like she rolled out of bed and knew that she would swear it took all day to do. She was far cry to what she imaged Derek with.

Derek face turn red confused with anger. “Sorry, this is Jess. Jess this is Nova and David, is it? Jess you should have waited until I got back. I was going to meet with Senator Watkins later and go over some budgeting.”

“That’s great I would love to meet him. Plus, I can give him a women’s perspective on things.” She tried to make herself sound important, making him look at her with more confusion.

“Are you in EDF also?” Nova asked her.

“No, I work in a flower shop in the underground city. I will open one up once we move up to the surface.” She smiled.

Nova frowned. “Oh I see. Anyway we should go. David has to meet with the press secretary. It was nice to meet you Jess, Is it? Derek, it was good to see you again.” She turned to walk away and he reached for her hand.

They lock eyes and Jess and David could see the electricity between the two. “Hey can I speak with you. Please, just one minute.”

“I really should go. David is late as it is.”

“I’m sure that he can make it on time. Just one minute. Please.” He felt his heart beat faster, wishing that she would give in.

“Nova I have to run. I can meet you at Cedar Knoll around 630.” He kissed her lips and hugged her. “Love you, Babe.” It wasn’t often that he showed affection to her in public. After all he was a politician. He knew about Wildstar. His father made sure that he knew everything about her past while in the star force and after she arrived. He looked over to Wildstar and nodded then walked towards the capital.

“Jess, hey, can you just wait in the car. I’ll be right there.” Derek turned to her and said.

“I came here for you.” She said with jealously.

“I said wait in the car, PLEASE!” he snapped making her huff and walk to the car. He watched as his driver opened the door and she step in then turned to Nova. “So your engaged?” he slipped his hands into his pockets and pertained to kick a rock. “How long have you been seeing him?”

“We’ve known each other for a long time. We actually dated before we left for Iscandar.”

“So he is the one that cheated on you with your best friend.” He didn’t mean to take a jab at her about it, but he knew men like that would cheat again, giving the time.

“I see you lower your stander with your fiancé. Tell me what kind of input will she offer to Senator Watkins?”

“Alright, alright. She isn’t the brightest star.” He said. And then spoke again, “She’s not my fiancé. We’re not engaged.”

“I figured as much. She seems very possessive. You’re going to have problems getting rid of her.” She told him.

“I don’t want to talk about her. I looked all over for you. I wanted to work it out. But you disappeared. I still love you, Nova. Can we have dinner tonight? I really would love to talk.”

“I can’t, David and I are having dinner. Maybe next week?”

“I go back in 4 days and I’ll be in meetings all week.”

“I’m sorry, but, I’m busy this week preparing for our wedding next year.”

He turned serious and looked into her eyes. “I miss you so much. I still love you. I wish there was something I can say to make you come back.”

“Derek,” she looked away breaking the stare. “I have a new life now.” She looked at his face. She will always love him. She ran her finger down his face and her eyes soften. “I should go. Take care of yourself.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. “You still make my heart skip a beat.” She whispered into his ear. With that she turned and walked away into the sea of people.

Derek walked back to the car and Jess was in full force. “Why did you kiss her!” her jealously came out.

“Not now, Jess.”

“Really did she have to kiss you. I bet if her fiancé was there she would never have done that. Of course everyone knows that he has his eye on being president and the most eligible bachelor here in the states.”

“Jess just let it go. Nova and I have a history.”

“And we don’t?!” She raised that annoying tone with him. “How would you like it if I kissed my ex in front of you!”

“At this point I really don’t give a shit. Now leave it alone.” He tapped on the glass window to his driver and said. “Marcus, please take Jess back to the hotel. I need to see Senator Watkins. I’ll meet you back at the hotel.” He opened the door before she could say anything more and jump out the car. He walked down the street in his own thoughts. He looked at the Capital building for the first time since his arrival and notice that they rebuild it to the last details. He stood outside and admired everything about how they completed the Capital when he noticed David walked out of the building with another woman. She had her arm through his and snuggled close into his shoulder. They talked to each other and then he took her into his arms and kissed her with passion. The woman was not Nova. It sent anger through him. They were supposed to be engaged and he was kissing another woman. It wasn’t a kiss that Nova gave him, it was a passionate kiss. He watched as he and she walked across the street and into a hotel.

Nova sat at the table and looked at her watch. He was running late as usual. She was ready to call him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and placed her hand on it and said. “I thought you weren’t coming. How did the meeting go?”

“Oh Senator Watkins was a nice man. We had a brief conversation about space.” She frowned to his voice and looked up to see Derek standing over her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I figure I’d have dinner with you since David won’t be making it.” He said as he sat down.

“Get up, David will be here soon. He will think that something is going on between us.”

“Oh I don’t think he will be here. If anything he will be calling and telling you he won’t be able to make it.” Just as he finished her phone rang.

“Hello?” Nova said.

Derek watched as she looked at him in amazement and then hung up the phone. “So is he making it?” he reached for the water glass and began to drink out of it.

“How did you know he wasn’t making it?” she asked with surprise.

He sat back and called the waiter over. “A glass of wine for Ms. Forrester, some of your best white Muscato and I’ll have another glass of water. Give us a few minutes to order. Thank you.” She stared at him with anger. “How have you been?”

“Cut the bullshit Derek. How did you know he was going to call?”

“Do you really want to know or do you prefer to have dinner and try to have a quiet night?” he teased her. She fumed and began to stand up. “Fine, if you really want to know.” He threw his napkin on the table and put out his hand. “Come with me.”

She looked on confused. “Why?”

“I can’t tell you why. I need to show you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Please Nova, or else we will miss them. Unless he likes to take long. I don’t know, he looks like a 2-minute guy if you ask me.” He took her hand and threw some cash on the table. She followed him as they walked towards the hotel he saw him go in. He walked up to the desk and said. “Hello there, I’m Derek Wildstar,” he put on his charm to the young girl behind the desk. “I was supposed to meet David McCoy in his room and well, I forgot the number and I tried calling but he isn’t answering. Would you mind just this one time?” he smiled his crooked smile and she melted.

Derek Wildstar! She read about him on his return from Iscandar and all the news footage. He was as handsome as his photos in the papers and magazines. “He’s in penthouse 3. You can take the private elevator up. I’ll buzz you in.” she said with a giggle.

He winked at her and said. “Thank you. You know your very pretty.” He put on the charm as Nova looked on with disgust. They walked to the elevator and she buzzed them in. It took them straight to the Penthouse and the door opened.

“What’s this about? You dragged me up here for what? If you think that you drag me up here to seduce me, your sadly mista,” She said and then she watched as David walked out of the room naked with a young woman hanging on him, giggling and also naked. “David?” He stopped in his tracks and looked on as Nova stood in the middle of the entrance with the man she introduced him to. He jumped and both David and the woman ran into the room to cover themselves. Nova turned to Derek fuming. “You knew! You brought me here and you knew! You could’ve told me! You bastard!”

“Would you have believed me if I told you. I had to show you. He doesn’t love you. He’s sleeping around your back. I would never have done that to you!”

Tears streamed down her face and she pressed at the elevator button praying that it will come soon. David raced out of the room now with pants and ran to her. “Nova Darling, please let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain. That you’re a cheating piece of shit. Stay away from me. I should’ve known better. You bastard!” The elevator finally made it to the top and the doors opened. She stepped in and Derek followed her. He looked at David and grinned wide and gave him a salute. “I bet your loving this.” She snapped.

“No, I’m not. I didn’t want you to go into a loveless marriage. He’s not for you. He doesn’t deserve you.” He stepped closer and touch her face. “I love you, Nova. I looked all over for you. Why, why did you go. I hurt just as much as you did when you lost our baby. I wanted to make it work.”

Tears streamed down her face. She wanted to forget about it. Like it never happened. And here he is bringing back the most painful part of her life. “Please Derek, please I just don’t want to go down that road. It took me a long time to get over it. I don’t want to relive it.”

“But I never got closure. You left and didn’t let me tell you how I felt.” He wanted for her to know how much he hurt when she lost their baby and then she disappeared. “I was hurting too, it was my,” he was cut short when the elevator door opened and people looked their way. He took her hand and walked her to the reception desk. “Do you have a room?”

Nova was stunned. “Do you honestly think I will sleep with you NOW!”

“It doesn’t matter what you have. We just need a room.” He told the man behind the desk. She began to walk away and he pulled her into his arms. “We had a little fight, and I want to make up. She’s a little shy.” He joked.

“We have a small suite available.”

“We’ll take it.” Wildstar said as he pulled her closer and rubbed her shoulder making him think they were lovers. He took the key from him and dragged her back to the elevators.

“No, Derek. Stop it. I’m not going.” She argued with him.

“Come on.” He took her by her wrist and dragged her to the room. “Now we are going to finally clear the air and I want my say. Yes, I was terrified when you told me you were pregnant. I wasn’t sure what to do. But I knew I loved you enough to make it work. Forgive me for not knowing how to act or feel about being a father. But when they told me you lost OUR child I was devastated. But I couldn’t show you how. All I could think of is you and how you would take it. The last thing I wanted was you to be destroyed over it. My mind was working on how we were going to get past it. I even wanted to try again. But you walked out of my life and didn’t even give me a chance. I want you to at least give me the closure I deserve.”

“What do you want me to say? That it almost destroyed me to lose OUR child. That I couldn’t face you. I couldn’t be in the same room with you without feeling like I ruin your life. I couldn’t do that. I needed to get away.”

“So, you ran all the way here and began a life with a man that would’ve made your life hell. He didn’t love you. Who knows how long he’s been doing this to you. Lucky for you I saw him check in. Do you think I liked doing that to you? I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. So I had to show you. I love you enough to be honest with you. And for the record, you didn’t ruin my life. You made my life worth living.” He stepped closer to her and took her into his arms. He leaned down and kissed her. She didn’t fight him and slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck. How she missed him, how she missed his kisses. He moved her to the bed and slowly took off her clothes. She moved her hands down his chest and pulled at his shirt, taking it off and then working on his pants. Within minutes they both laid on the bed naked wanting each other. He kissed her with passion and moved his hand down. He could tell she was ready for him. He mounted her and enter her with one quick force. She moaned, throwing her head back. He could feel her getting wetter and hotter. With every stroke she moaned louder. She wrapped her legs around his waist squeezing him closer to her. He made her feel like there was no other woman on Earth. Her body tensed as both she and Derek exploded in each other’s arms. He dropped on top of her both sweating. Breathing heavily, he managed to catch his breath. “I love you, Nova. I don’t know what else to do to get you back into my life, but I’d do anything you ask me.”

She turned away and he could hear her voice quiver, “we should have never done this. You’re with someone and she’s here with you.”

“She means nothing to me. I was eventually going to breakup with her.”

“Were you really or are you just saying that.”

“Please Nova, I want us back. I missed you so much and want you back.” He begged her. “Marry me.”

She sat up and looked at him. “I can’t marry you. Technically I’m still engage.” She held up her ring hand and show him her engagement ring.

“Hmm, kind of small. Maybe he needed the extra cash for his little indiscretions.”

“Derek, you know I’m not like that.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant for it to come out like that.” He reached over to her and kissed her once again.

She huffed, “so now what?” she ran her hand on his chest making circles.

“I think you should come back with me. Move back in and live happily ever after.” A beat. “You know do the marriage thing and Maaaaaybe have a kid or two right away.”

“Why commander, are you trying to lure me back?”

“Yup!” he said and then rolled on top of her and made love to her again.

He walked into His and Jess hotel room and she pounced on him. “Where have you been! You’ve been out all night! I have been trying to call you! You had me worried to death! WHERE WERE YOU!” her high pitch whiney voice shrieked.

“I’m fine. You can see I’m still alive.”

“It’s not funny, I was worried.” She pouted.

He sat down and took a deep breath. Yup it was time to tell her. “Sit down Jess. I need to talk with you.”

Slowly she sat down, “what’s this about Derek.”

“Look Jess, I know that this going to hurt you and the fact that I’m going to do this here is probably going to piss you off. You remember the woman you met yesterday, that was Nova my ex. We were a couple. As a matter of fact, we were engaged and we were pregnant.” Her eyes opened wide. Was he telling her that he had a child and didn’t tell anyone? “She lost the baby a few months into her pregnancy. She packed up and left. I never saw her again until yesterday.”

“So what are you trying to say?” She knew what he was going to tell her but she didn’t want it sugar coat it.

“I still love her. I never stopped loving her.” He stayed silent then looked up at her. “What I’m trying to say is I want out. It’s over for us, it has been for some time now. I was hoping to come here alone and clear my head, but you insisted that you come. I hate to do this to you and I’ll pay for the flight back. But we need to part ways. I don’t love you, I never did. You deserve someone that does. I love Nova. I swore if I ever saw her again I would do anything to win her back. I’m sorry, Jess. Really I am.”

“Isn’t she engaged?”

“She called it off yesterday.”

“Were you with her last night?” he nodded his head yes. He didn’t want to hide anything from her. She deserved the truth if it made it easy to break free from her. She stood up and walked to the window. In the distant she could see the White house. She stood there facing the window looking out and taking in what he told her. She had hope to be the one. She could tell the last couple of months he wasn’t happy and she ignored the signs. She hoped to win his love but now she knows that he never will love her. She could feel her anger rise and she wanted to scream. “So what your telling me is that you want to break up with me? Hmm, what if I don’t want to leave?”

He stared at her as if she had two heads. “Why would you want to be with someone that doesn’t want to be with you? Jess, you’re a great girl it’s just, I don’t love you. You deserve to be happy with someone that loves you. I’m not it.”

“I was hoping to wait to tell you until we got back home but I guess it's best to tell you now. I’m pregnant.” She said grasping at straws.

He wanted to laugh. “Jess come on, we haven’t slept with each other in a long time.” He said. He found himself in this situation before and he wasn’t about to let some girl try it again. “Anyway do you think I didn’t notice the rolled up pads in the trash the last few months. I’m not stupid. And I make sure to wear a condom every time. I wasn’t about to get trapped out there again with anyone. This isn’t my first rodeo sweetheart. Don’t try to threaten me with a pregnancy. It won’t work. Now if you will excuse me I need to pack and check out. The room is paid off for the next three days, that’s the time I was supposed to be here. After that you’re on your own.” He walked into the room and began to pack. She watched with tears streaming down her face. He could hear her sniffle and he stopped packing and turned to her. “Look I don’t want to make this more difficult than it is. I meant what I said. I’ll pay for your flight back and you can stay here for the time EDF is paying for the room. I’ll deal with them when I get back about it.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out some cash. “Here this should hold you over until you leave. If you want to leave sooner, I’ll have an opened flight back home.”

“Where am I supposed to go when I get back home?”

“Come on Jess, you live with your parents. I’ll have everything sent to you when I get back.”

“It’s easier if you move out.” She said.

He had to laugh again. “It was mine and Nova apartment. It’s in our name. And it’s on government property and I doubt if they will allow you to continue living there once I move out. Anyway, I’m thinking of giving it up and get another place. It would be rude to move in with her again when another woman live there with me. So if it’s the apartment you want then you can have it. But I’m sure EDF will tell you to move out ASAP, since its on government property. I can find another place.” He was starting to realize how materialistic she was and it was pissing him off. “Now I need to finish packing.” He raced to put his things into his bag and collected his personal things. She sat in the living area with her hands folded across her chest. He turned before he left and said. “I’m really sorry Jess. I hope you find someone that will make you happy.”