“Hi. I’m Georgia. I’ll be your waitress. Can I get you anything to drink? Do you want any appetizers?”
“Hi, Georgia. I don’t know if the other woman told you, but I’m going to barter for my food.”
Georgia looks up from her pad. “She said. The manager will have to come over and sort things out with you, but you can order what you want and worry about the bartering later. So, what’ll it be? I’m sure a hunk of an alien has to be mighty hungry.” She grins.
Is she flirting with me? Doesn’t seem very professional to me, but it has been a while since I’ve been to Earth. Only a few times did my parents take me to a restaurant on Earth before, and Dad and I never ate without Mom, so none of the women ever treated Dad like this. I wonder if she hadn’t been around, if they might be as flirty with him.
I’m hungry, though, for food and not for a bed partner. Maybe one day. Maybe after my belly’s full. Who knows? Dad didn’t mention when I would have to return to Kuria, and I’m not in a rush to return. Let’s see what happens. Go with the flow.
“Do you know what you want to drink?” she asks sweetly. “We have plenty of beer on tap. Do you know what beer is?”
“I do.”
“Do you like any? Have you had any?”
“I’ll have a glass of your most popular beer, sure.”
“Great! Any appetizers?”
“What do you recommend?”
“Well…” She rattles off a bunch of options too quickly. Clearly a well-rehearsed spiel.
I just smile and nod. “How about you surprise me?”
“Wonderful.” She winks and walks away, scooting over to avoid bumping into someone else, in the process rubbing her ass against my arm.
While I wait, I glance around. Other women smile and wave to me. One blows me kisses. Another keeps shoving her tongue into her cheek to make it bulge. It looks unappealing to say the least.
One woman comes over to me and touches the corner of my lips. “You have some dressing there,” she purrs before putting her finger into her mouth. “I can help make sure you’re clean. Lick your entire body from head to toe.”
“What are you, a cat?” a male asks.
Several males laugh, and I look over to see a trio of men dressed in uniform. They’re snickering and smirking at each other.
“Come off it, Rebecca. Leave him alone,” another male says.
Rebecca flips them the bird, whips her hair back, and marches out of there, her head held high.
“Just ignore her,” the first guy says. “She loves to try to get into our pants. She’s pulled that crap with just about all of us now.”
“You’re a Kurian, aren’t you?” the guy who hasn’t spoken yet asks.
“Yes. Have you seen another one?”
“No, but I’ve seen one Novan.”
“Chrix?” I guess.
The man nods.
“My dad.”
“Nice. Your father’s retired?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Just know that I’m here.”
“And you ordered enough food for an army.” One of the guys sits across from me.
The other two drag over chairs and help themselves. I don’t mind. The waitress did bring over a ton of food, more than I can eat by myself.
They ask me a bunch of questions in between bites, and women glance over at us still. All of us get attention, but for the most part, I still get the bulk of it.
“Not one of them makes you hard?” Simon asks.
I shake my head and then reconsider.
“One does.” Mark lifts his chin. “Which one? We know just about all of the regulars here.”
“Since we’re regulars ourselves,” Lloyd jokes.
“I didn’t meet her here,” I say slowly.
“What does she look like?” Simon asks.
“Dark eyes. Purple hair—”
“Silver tips?” Mark asks.
“That’s the one.” I glance at them. “You guys know her?”
“That’s Ava.” Lloyd leans forward. “How did she react to you?”
I grimace.
The guys all burst out laughing.
“Yeah, she’s always like that,” Simon says with a nod.
“She a man-hater all right,” Mark agrees.
“Why?” I ask.
Lloyd shrugs. “Who knows? Who cares? There are other fish in the see. Yeah, she’s hot, but that attitude sure isn’t. She’s as likely to claw your back and make you bleed than she is to stroke you and rub one out and make you come.”
The guys then start to talk about this woman and that and how they are in bed, comparing them, and I don’t have anything to say. My thoughts are with Ava. People don’t have anger like that without a reason. Not that I think she’ll tell me what’s up, but that’s all right. I probably won’t ever see her again. Still, out of all of the women I’ve seen today, she’s the only one who caught my eye.
4
Ava
Frustration has me calling it quits but only in the sense of putting down the convertor. If there’s an alien walking about, he must have come from Kuria with a ship. Maybe he brought some supplies with him to bring to the government. While I don’t want anything to do with a nosy alien, I have had some dealings with a few of the soldiers at the nearby base. I’ve put plenty of them into place, of course, but a few of them aren’t too bad. One in particular, Branden, is basically the closest thing I have to a friend. He’ll keep me in the loop if I ask.
As I approach the base, I get more than a few glares. I swear I never once stole any of their goods. It had to have been a rat or cat or something else, but they know I’m a bit… unorthodox. I haven’t had to steal for food in almost a decade. Over a decade. I think I was nine, and I’m twenty-two now. Or twenty-three. It’s not as if I remember my birthday, and the days all blur together so you know the years do too.
One soldier, a woman named Jenny, smiles at me, and I just stare at her, confused. We haven’t talked much to each
