Falling Like Stars Read online

  Chen nodded. He slipped out of the kitchen and down the narrow hallway covered in black and white photos of long-dead relatives whose histories he’d been forced to memorize. He tapped lightly on her door before entering. Xiaoming sat up in bed, looking cozy in unicorn pajamas and surrounded by a menagerie of her favorite stuffed animals. She greeted him with a smile and a coo.

  Chen sat down on her bed, his soft pajamas the same in material if not in pattern. He was sure his hair was as messy as hers. “Dim sum today,” he said. “Your favorite.” It was their Saturday morning tradition.

  Her eyes brightened. His smile grew in response to hers. Chen decided he couldn’t break the news of his departure to her at the restaurant. She had so few real joys, dim sum being one of them. “Mui mui, I’m leaving again.” He spoke to her in English, a language she knew and loved from films. Her receding smile lanced his heart. “You know Hollywood? Where our favorite movies are made? I’m going to live and work there for a while, taking people into space to see the stars up close.”

  That arrested her attention, though he had stretched the truth. He doubted he’d set foot in Hollywood, and the stars weren’t any closer from low-Earth orbit—they were just brighter. “Joo,” she gurgled. “Joo!”

  He smiled knowingly. “If I see Julia Roberts, you’ll be the first to know.”

  She squeezed his forearm with force, a way she showed excitement. Chen was excited, too, and apprehensive and hopeful: a cocktail of emotions topped with a float of pressure. “Maybe this is the one, mui mui. Maybe California will be the place where you and I are both meant to be.”

  Maybe his temporary visa could become permanent. Maybe some miracle would happen that released him from obligations and into freedom. Maybe.

  5

  Elle hadn’t been passenger in a vehicle other than a boat, golf cart, or plane for eighteen months. Riding in a car again was really weird. The sights of San Diego slid by from her spot in the back of the Uber. She clutched the plastic bag that held Melvin, her fish, as she checked her appearance using her phone camera. She didn’t know what would surprise her family more: her early arrival, or how travel-weary she looked. Mascara stains under her eyes. Lank, greasy hair. Her top wrinkled beyond repair. Still, she couldn’t wait to surprise them. They knew she was leaving her job on the island, but they didn’t know she was currently twenty minutes from their home in Ocean Beach.

  Luckily both her dad’s and stepmom’s cars were parked on the street when they pulled up in front of a perfectly square peach-colored stucco house. The tiny two-bedroom home had been fine when it was just Elle and her dad the first twelve years of her life. Even when Betti, her stepmom, had moved in the closeness hadn’t bothered her. When the twins came three years later, that changed. Babies, then toddlers, running amok in eight hundred square feet had been an adjustment for her teenage self. But she loved those boys. Besides, when she needed to escape, she’d just walked a few blocks to her best friend Rosie’s house.

  The Uber driver helped get her two small bags from the trunk. She thanked him and pushed her way through the white picket gate into the yard. She dragged her luggage up the cement path, her heels clicking. She climbed the porch and knocked on the white screen door.

  Betti answered. She let out an ear-piercing shriek and banged the door open, pulling Elle swiftly into her arms. “Oh, my baby girl is home,” she cried. “Max! Our daughter is standing on our front porch.”

  Elle dropped her bags so she could hug the petite woman back. She heard the sound of stampeding feet as her dad joined them on the porch. “Holy shit, you’re home.” He pulled both women into his arms, squishing Elle against Betti. She let a few tears leak out. The warm welcome never got old.

  Betti released her, cupping her chin gently while Max let go of them both. “Come in, come in.” She grabbed the bags while Elle’s dad gave her another strong hug.

  “You should have called me for a ride.”

  Such a dad thing to worry about. “I wanted to surprise you, Dad.”

  He pulled away, smiling. Elle never got over how handsome her dad was. Tanned from surfing, his lifelong hobby, with sun-stained sandy hair and blue eyes that matched the ocean, he couldn’t look more different than his dark-eyed, dark-haired daughter. He’d had her at age twenty, unplanned, with a beach bunny who had little desire to be a mother. She had stayed three months after Elle was born. Neither Elle nor her dad ever looked for her after she took off.

  “Come inside, Elle Bell. Welcome home.” She felt the sincerity of his words; her dad felt as deeply as she did. She followed him inside. “Boys,” he hollered. “Headsets off. Your sister is home.”

  She could see them on the couch, side by side, video game controllers in hand, headsets on, Nat thicker and darker than Duke. They’d both grown taller; she could see that even with them half-swallowed by the couch. Duke’s feet looked huge. Nat’s corkscrew hair was pulled back in a tiny, messy bun. They looked like little men. “Oh, my God,” she breathed. She’d missed her little brothers like crazy.

  They looked up at the same time, Nat’s gaze deep brown and Duke’s golden. There was a scramble of arms and legs and shouts, and Elle was lifted off her feet by her brothers. Yep, they were bigger and stronger. Nat even had some bicep definition.

  “Lacrosse,” her dad said, as if he were reading her mind. “They’re beasts, both of them.”

  “I missed you,” she gushed, kissing all over their heads. Even at thirteen, they were gaining on her five-eight height. “Where did my little brothers go? You’re almost bigger than me, both of you. What’s new? What did I miss?”

  Everything, apparently. Elle got overlapping versions in varying volume and frequent interruptions of the past year-and-a-half in her brothers’ lives. Body hair, lacrosse moves, grades, Nat’s first girlfriend, Nat’s last girlfriend. Who knew so much was going on in middle school?

  The catching up lasted until dinner. Elle had snuggled between the boys on the couch like no time had passed, their father across in his recliner, his benevolent expression taking them in while he stayed out of the conversation. Betti made noise in the kitchen, singing in her soulful voice while she cooked what smelled suspiciously like her famous buttermilk chicken, Elle’s favorite.

  Around the table, she finally got to catch up with her dad and Betti. “What’s on your agenda before you start your job next week?” her dad asked.

  “Meeting up with Rosie is pretty much it.”

  “That one’s going places, just like you,” Betti said, helping herself to more green beans. “Started her own architecture firm. Not even thirty years old.” Betti’s voice was tinged with pride. Her love for Elle’s best friend was one of the many reasons Elle loved her. To Betti, everyone was family.

  “I couldn’t be prouder,” Elle agreed. Rosie had been burned to the ground at her last firm, but had risen from that particular pile of ash like the phoenix she was.

  “I also need to shop.” Elle needed to update her wardrobe. She’d lost weight on the island, too busy to eat much of the time. Many of her work outfits were hanging too loosely. And the Mojave Desert had seasons, which she hadn’t had to contend with for a long time. She’d need sweaters and boots. And a really sweet car.

  6

  Chen landed in Los Angeles, giddy to finally experience La La Land. Hell, he was ecstatic just to be on American soil. No issues had come up to prevent him from leaving China. His mother had tried with dramatic crying fits about his aging alone in a foreign land, which failed to have any effect. What she didn’t say that might have held him back was admitting they needed help with Xiaoming. But he’d made sure part of his pay from OrbitAll went straight to his parents.

  His former superior officer in the Air Force had been almost as excited as Chen about this new opportunity. Fei understood how badly Chen wanted to go back up. This new job, he thought, as he left Los Angeles behind in a rental car the size of a toaster, would bring him everything he wanted and nothing he didn’t. He’d get
to go back to space. He could use the internet whenever he wanted. He wouldn’t be judged for being Cantonese in a Mandarin world. The problem would be not loving the freedom too much.

  After the first few days, he’d already fallen. He loved the wide spaces and dark skies that spilled starlight, the burgers, how strangers wanted to talk to him. Guangzhou already seemed like a faded memory. Only the thought of Xiaoming brought it into sharper focus.

  In a gesture that astounded and touched him, his apartment had been totally livable when he’d arrived. Not just furnished but also some basic groceries in the fridge, even coffee for the coffeepot. The apartment was the biggest he’d ever lived in and he didn’t have to share with anyone. He’d found out the complex was fully rented by OrbitAll staff, which made life really easy.

  He wasn’t due to start working until the following Monday, but he woke up Friday morning itching to do something besides go to the gym or watch American commercials on TV. He composed a text to Tate. Okay if I come see the spacecraft today? I’m dying over here.

  You don’t need my permission to see your plane, Tate texted back.

  His plane. Adrenaline shot through his veins at Mach speed. He knew there would be months of certifications and simulations before he could really fly her, but someday soon Chen would break through that thin blue line that separated Earth from the rest of the universe. He’d be flying again, space-borne.

  Heading in soon, he replied.

  He showered and dressed hurriedly, propelled by excitement strong enough to make his hands shake. His plane. His future. Tasks, deadlines, problems to solve. Finally. He needed this.

  In the matchbox-sized car, he put the address of the hangar into his phone and drove out of town. The roads were dusty, the landscape sparse and brown, broken only by spindly trees and the occasional rickety fence line. Blue sky dominated, and it called to him. The pull to go up tugged on his skin. His soul.

  The hangar came into view within minutes, a massive silver structure rising out of the desert. The facility stretched on forever, stories tall and sprawling. Chen could tell they’d built new roads for it; the drab landscape hadn’t claimed them yet. A parking lot surrounded the building. Behind it all was a runway that headed straight into the horizon. A handful of jets lined the runway: training jets for the pilots and a small commercial plane that likely belonged to Tate. He was a billionaire, after all.

  Chen pulled into the lot and jogged toward the hangar’s yawning entrance. He didn’t know where to find Tate or the nice woman who’d made his move to the States so easy, but he knew where to find the spacecraft. The file Tate had left with him in GZ said the team called it Stratos. Despite Tate’s modesty about the operation, they had some impressive scientists and former astronauts working for them. Chen was inserting himself into a testing process that was running smoothly and ahead of schedule. The job was going to be a fucking dream.

  Inside the hangar, he stopped to stare. People scurried everywhere, dozens of them. Voices and music echoed through the building. Three stories of offices and meeting rooms faced the main bay. OrbitAll wasn’t a company; it was a city. And in the city center sat his spaceship. It was surrounded by ladders and makeshift desks, cords and hoses running to machinery nearby. Next to Stratos sat the mothership that carried her to altitude.

  A grin spread across his face. The ship was fucking gorgeous, more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. The sleek, glossy white body led to a tail that amped up into dark navy. The ship looked powerful and full of promise, and Chen loved her immediately. He huffed out a laugh, stunned by the depth of his emotions.

  No one stopped him as he wandered over to inspect the plane more closely. Stratos was small, not much bigger than the private plane outside, but the shape was distinct. Circular windows peppered the front and the top, resembling spider’s eyes. As Chen watched, a crew member applied a giant star-sprinkled OrbitAll logo to one of the dark blue wings. Closer now, Chen ran his hand over the nose. “Nei hou leng,” he whispered. You’re so beautiful.

  “What do you think?” Tate had materialized by his side.

  Chen turned, still grinning. He shook his head. Even with working knowledge of four languages, he couldn’t find the words. “Fuck,” he managed.

  Tate laughed. “Knew you’d like her. Come on. Meet your new team.”

  7

  It took Elle a week to get ready to move to another new city. Town. That might even be a stretch. Victory was barely a blip on a desert highway.

  She had her hair touched up. Went to two lacrosse practices. She brainstormed some new games for the residents at the adult family home where Betti worked. A furnished apartment meant her shopping was centered on clothing, pantry staples, bedding, and the car.

  Oh, the car. The smell, the speed, the sound of the brand-new, jet-black Audi R8 physically turned her on. It had been way too long since she’d been laid.

  She grabbed lunch to share with Rosie on her way out of town. She was in jeans, a thin tee, and booties, a comfortable ensemble for the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Victory, her new noncity. Her luggage and new household items filled her trunk and passenger seat. She’d already said tearful goodbyes to her family today. Now she’d have to do it again with Rosie, whom she hadn’t seen in nearly two years.

  But first, tacos.

  Inside Rosie’s office, laden with fast food trappings, pride threatened to choke her. Rosie had a receptionist and a real sign over the desk. There were hand sketches on the wall and a staff of five busy at computers. Looking around, Elle could see that the stressful gamble they’d spent months discussing via email had paid off.

  The receptionist led her to an intimate round table next to an orderly desk Elle could immediately tell belonged to Rosie. The severe organization of the space was as much a clue as the solar system paperweight securing a stack of perfectly aligned papers. Rosie was a lover of the night sky as well. She might have been more excited about Elle’s new job than Elle was herself.

  “She should be wrapping up any minute,” the receptionist told her.

  Elle didn’t have to wait long. She didn’t even have time to check her phone for any updates from OrbitAll. Within seconds, Rosie was heading her way. Elle stood, taking in the sight of her radiant friend. An elegant gray skirt and green satin top paired with snakeskin pumps made her look the part of successful businesswoman perfectly.

  Rosie launched herself at Elle, squealing. “Oh my God, you’re here!” She drew out the last word for a good five seconds.

  “Just long enough to say congratulations on being a boss babe and that your hair looks fantastic.” Elle tugged her friend’s glossy red locks. “You’re glowing. You look so happy.”

  “I am,” Rosie agreed. “My staff is happy, my clients are happy. And now my stomach will be happy.” She smiled and gestured for Elle to take a seat. “I’m sorry this isn’t a two-hour brunch where we catch up about dates, or lack of dates if you’re me, and family drama. I haven’t been able to get away. Forgive me?”

  As if she would be upset that her friend was busy running a business when Elle herself was a raging workaholic. “Nothing to forgive. And not much to report, which is good.” She laid out the tacos and chips. Rosie dug in right away. “No drama with the Shirleys, except how much those boys eat. Betti’s going to need a second job to support their carb habit.”

  “They’re massive,” Rosie agreed. “I saw them playing basketball at the park last time I went to visit my dad. They look like high schoolers. Oh, I got Tucker Grant’s new album the other day. It’s amazing, and I don’t even like country. Did he show up again before you left?”

  Elle shook her head. “I haven’t had so much as a hug from a nonemployee or nonfamily member since him, though I did find an absolutely delicious man on my lanai one night.”

  Rosie’s mouth popped open. “Do tell.”

  “Tate Geier. The man who gave me this new job. He’s the dreamiest of dreamy men.”

  “A dreamy man was on
your lanai and you didn’t even get a hug?”

  “Nope. Perfect gentleman.”

  “Good.” Rosie’s smile wavered. “You need to trust the people you work with.”

  Elle leaned forward and gave her friend another hug. “Those days are over. You’re your own boss now, and you’re choosing to make people’s lives better.”

  She felt Rosie nod.

  “Your turn. How’s your dad? Your sister? Violet’s always good for drama.”

  “Dad’s fine. Totally interested in your new job, of course. He wants to visit you at the launch site.”

  Rosie’s dad was head of the planetary science department at UC San Diego. She noticed Rosie did not say a word about Violet.

  “He should. You should come, too.”

  “Deal. When do you leave?”

  “Right after I eat my weight in tacos.” Elle eyed her friend suspiciously. “You’re not seeing anyone? You’re so glowy. You sure you’re not getting laid?”

  Rosie snorted. “I’m sure. I wouldn’t even know where to meet someone, or when. All I do is work and you know how I am about mixing—”

  “I know.” Elle wouldn’t make her finish the sentence. She brought the conversation back to safer topics and the lunch hour blinked by. At ten minutes to one o’clock, Elle rose. She knew Rosie had another meeting to get to. “Walk me to my car? It’s so pretty and it makes me cool, according to the twins.”

  Rosie rolled her eyes. “You know cars don’t do anything for me. A beautiful building, definitely. I’d take a mountain meadow, too. And you’ve always been cool. I love you. I miss you. I’m so glad you’re home.”

  Elle wrinkled her nose. “Victory isn’t home, but at least we’re in the same time zone. I can finally take you out for breakfast on your birthday again.”