“We’ll see you tomorrow.” Emerson turned away with Lizzie.
“Wait.”
They both flipped back to me, like they were hoping for an invitation.
I nodded into the penthouse. “You want to eat this with me?”
Lizzie threw both of her arms in the air. “Oh, thank god. I’m starving.” She welcomed herself into my penthouse and took one of the trays on her way. She stopped when she saw all the papers on the dining table. “Whoa…”
Emerson came back to me and took the other tray, a slight smile on her lips. “I’m hungry too.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed me on the mouth.
It was nice, comforting, like those pancakes in her hand.
She carried the tray to the kitchen where she and Lizzie plated everything so we could eat together.
I shut the door and put on a shirt before I moved to the table and started to organize everything to the other side of the table so the three of us would be able to sit and eat. Lizzie set my plate in front of me. “You like pancakes?”
I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I didn’t say that to her. “I love pancakes, Liz.”
She smiled then returned to the kitchen to get her plate.
After they had their food, we sat together at the table and had breakfast.
Lizzie sat across from me and looked at the paperwork in a messy pile on the other side of the table. “That’s for the rocket?”
“Yeah. Details for the different components of the rocket.” I ate everything on my plate, and I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until food was placed in front of me. I hadn’t had dinner last night. I just had beer with my dad.
“I’m excited for tomorrow,” Lizzie said. “And not just because I don’t have to go to school.”
I kept eating, hoping Lizzie would see a successful launch and not a catastrophic tragedy. I constantly told her she could do anything, but if I failed, then did my opinion really mean anything?
“I’m excited too,” Emerson said as she ate across from me. “It’s going to be a great experience.” She stared at me across the table, silently reassuring me everything would be alright, that the storm would end…and the sunshine would return.Instead of getting there at five, I got there at three.
Couldn’t sleep anyway, so what was the point of just lying there?
I did my last-minute inspections and didn’t find anything off about anything. My team of engineers cared about their work as much as I did, which was why I hired them. I had complete faith in their abilities.
But I was also scared.
Because all it took was one insignificant error to cause significant repercussions.
The rocket was relocated to the launch site near the Atlantic Ocean, so if it failed, it would land over the water instead of on land. Boats and cruise ships were cleared from the trajectory for safety precautions, even though the likelihood of them being in the wrong place at the wrong time was unlikely.
I stayed at the facility in the control center, which had cameras everywhere so I could see the rocket at the launch site. It was thirty minutes to launch, but that would fly by in a matter of seconds because the tension in my veins was so high.
Everyone sat in a chair, but I couldn’t do that. I stood with my arms crossed over my chest, staring at the feed to see the rocket going through all the tests before the launch sequence began. There were a lot of updates to my rocket, but the biggest one was the escape pod for the dummies inside. If the rocket didn’t go well, there was always a Plan B. But it should go well…
“Whoa, this place is sick.” Lizzie’s voice came from behind me.
Some of the other crew members turned away from their computers at the sound of her voice.
I turned around and joined them in the rear of the room, seeing Emerson standing with her arm on Lizzie’s shoulders. I didn’t feel affection for them like I normally did because I was too strung out. “Hey, Liz. We need to be quiet, alright? Not a sound.”
Liz zipped her lips and gave a nod.
I turned to Emerson. “Just stay back here.”
“We’ll stay out of the way.” She kept her hand on Lizzie’s shoulders.
I turned away.
She grabbed me by the arm, pulled me back, and gave me a kiss. “We’re proud of you.”
I stared into her eyes for a moment, but I really didn’t have time for this. I had a job to do. “I love you.”
Her eyes softened. “I love you too.”
I turned around and walked back to the middle of the floor and faced the feed. “Let’s start the clock.”After the final safety sequence, the launch began.
I stood beside the director, and we stared at the feed together, both wearing headpieces so we could hear the communications between us and the launch site.