I snatched the file and tucked it under my arm, then finally stood to leave. Even a new job wasn’t worth staying here with this creature.
“Where are you going?” he mused, with that grin that both filled me with dread and made my stomach hurt with how attractive it was at the same time. “There’s nowhere you can go that we won’t find you,” he said. And somehow, I knew he spoke the truth. But to hear the words out loud left me shaking. I curled in on myself at the realization that I was trapped.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why hadn’t I run away that night the second I had realized what he was?
He stood before I could leave. “Stay, enjoy breakfast on me,” he said, throwing a few bills on the table that looked like they would cover a dozen meals at this place. “And if you get the job, just know you’ll be calling in to give your notice, very, very soon.” He stared at me with such intent that I didn’t doubt his words, even if they didn’t sound menacing. The threat behind them lingered in my mind. Was that how my parents went missing? Vepar decided to target them, and then one day, poof, they simply disappeared? My knees weakened at the thought of that happening to me.
On that ominous note he walked by me, making sure to brush up against my body as he did so. Hard and solid, he smelled of fresh air and a sexy musk. A thought I cursed myself for. I was an idiot for thinking of him as attractive in any way. Especially considering he’d clearly just threatened me. I knew better than most that beauty was only skin deep.
What could I even do? The authorities had all been infiltrated by the Vepar, and what they said went.
I slid shakily back down in my seat once I heard the bell ring on the door signaling he had left. My hands curled in my lap, and I stared outside the window to see him strolling across the road before vanishing into a crowd of people.
What was I going to do? I couldn’t stay here. I had to leave, but where would I go with no money? I stared at the notes of $100 on the table more carefully now, noting he’d dropped $500 without a care. I barely came close to making that much in weeks of working lately.
At that moment, Jack came back. “The owner just got here if you still want to talk to him,” he said, giving me a concerned look. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded numbly. In another life maybe I could work here, maybe I would even have ended up dating Jack, he was attractive and seemed sweet enough. And he certainly was giving me the look like he was interested. But I couldn’t even picture what having a normal life would be like now. My head hurt and fear crowded in my mind like the cobwebs on the front gates of the botanical garden.
I was about to leave without talking to the owner, but a kind looking man in his 60s with salt and pepper streaked hair chose that moment to show up at my table.
“This is the owner, Mr. Kinsley.” Jack said as he gestured to the man.
Mr. Kinsley gave me a kind smile that didn’t hold any of the menace or sleaziness that my boss, Greg’s did.
Within twenty minutes, he’d offered me the job and I was set to start the next day. I bounced on the inside, wanting to scream with excitement. Slipping the money off the table that the Vepar had left for me, I waved goodbye to Jack and Mr. Kinsley, and I walked out of the cafe in a daze. Had that just happened?
I should have been more excited, especially knowing I could now march over and tell Greg to fuck himself. But I couldn’t find it in me to fully celebrate. Not after the conversation with the annoyingly attractive Vepar hanging over my head. I still didn’t even know his name. Yet he seemed to know everything about me including where I was going to be in a random job search. And now he knew my address. Hell!
Sighing, I found myself heading back to the Botanical Gardens, needing the comfort that only they could provide. As I strolled through the blossoming paths, my mind seemed to clear. Surely this was a short-term fascination for the Vepar. There was no way someone like me could hold his attention. Everything would be fine, it had to be. I was a nobody in a city filled with attractive women.
I had almost talked myself off the ledge when I rounded a corner, and there sitting on a park bench, reading a book, was the third Vepar that had been watching me that night at the club. While the other two had overwhelming beauty, this Vepar’s was more understated. With thick hair the color of mahogany, and eyes that reminded me of caramel, he studied me as if I was the most interesting thing that he’d ever seen. He tilted his head to the side, and I could tell instantly he enjoyed observing, studying, analyzing things. Most likely people. In this case… Me.
We both exchanged looks, and the pause should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. “So, are you following me then as well?” I finally asked, breaking the tranquility, praying and wishing on everything that he wasn’t here for me and this place could remain a safe space for me.
He cocked his head, still studying me. I might as well be an insect under a microscope. He seemed like he was trying to see everything about me in that moment. My past, my fear, my loneliness.
“Well, do you actually speak?” I asked, not even recognizing my bravery...or the stupidity I displayed.
At my comment, he smiled, and it was the most devilish grin I’d ever seen. “I like your directness,” he said. His eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth creased into an even wider smile. His smile was somehow so much more though because he smiled with more than his mouth. I could hear it in his voice. I took back whatever I’d been thinking before about his beauty being more understated than the other two. He was glorious. A thought I immediately wanted to punch myself for.
“Did you know that there are around 391,000 different types of plant species that your scientists have discovered on this planet so far?” he asked in a smooth, cultured voice.
I stared at him like he was crazy.
“Um, okay. That didn’t really answer my question,” I said, beginning to back away slowly, thinking that this Vepar was perhaps a little unhinged.
He grinned bashfully, if a ridiculously good looking Vepar could really be bashful. “Sorry, I’ve been trying to think of the perfect thing to say to you when I got to talk to you. And obviously that wasn’t it.”
He patted the empty bench next to him, looking at me expectantly. I should have turned and ran, but then what? Keep bumping into these three Vepar who seemed to be paying me way too much attention? The Vepar in the cafe had warned me to not get comfortable with a new job, so I’d be a fool to ignore this threat and not discover more about their intentions. This creature seemed kinder than the others, almost human with his attempt at finding something interesting to say to me. Thinking it over, I finally took several slow steps forward and joined him on the bench, placing my bag between us as a makeshift barrier.
“Why are you here?” I asked, glancing up at him as he reclined, his arms by his side, his gaze drifting off into the distance toward the city. The morning sun illuminated the golden stubble across his strong jawline, lighter than the hair on top of his head. The corded muscles in his neck lured me in. He was the perfect package just like the others.
Many people had said their beauty came from an illusion they used, a disguise to conceal their real appearance. And if that were true, what did they look like underneath? Scaly with a tail? I laughed internally at myself because I’d obviously watched too many science fiction movies. Where would he even hide his tail?
Never in a million years would I have pictured myself near someone as handsome as him, but then again, who would have guessed Earth would end up invaded by aliens. I almost laughed out loud that time at how ridiculous it sounded, but here I was sitting by a real live alien.
“Did you know there’s a Russian village, Oymyakon, which experienced the lowest recorded temperature for a location permanently inhabited by people. -96 degrees.”