Supernova Rapture

Chapter 1

"Darien, you coming to lunch with the rest of us or what?" Rick asked. Rick was the short, stout, balding man in the cubicle next to Darien's. Darien had been assigned a job in a small market research firm. They had 3 floors of an office building they shared with various other companies. Each floor for their company was then separated into offices, meeting rooms and cubicles. Humans seem to enjoy boxing themselves in and then complain about the lack of space. It made no sense to Darien. Why would they do that to themselves?

"I think so. Where is everyone planning to go today?" That would decide him. A food truck was usually near their office every lunch break and they had the tastiest food he'd yet to eat on this rock. Curries were his downfall. The flavour and heat was close to what his people ate. But every so often, or possibly more than that if her were telling the truth, he'd get a craving for McDonalds. He knew it wasn't healthy food, but those apple pies were delicious and he couldn't get enough of them!

"I think Lacey is driving, which means McDonalds. She thinks their salads are a healthier choice then food trucks and vending machines. She says she's still trying to lose the 'baby weight'," Rick stopped and snorted, "when the 'baby' starts college next month I don't think it counts as baby weight anymore!"

"Don't let her hear you say that." Darien had learned that in a race that claims to value honesty, they really don't want to hear the truth. Especially women. If asked, "does this dress make me look fat?" he had quickly learned to change the topic. That question was a trap; it had to be because there was no right answer. If he said 'Yes' he was a jerk who simply didn't understand how a real woman's body should look. If he said 'no' he accused of being a liar and then had to listen to exactly how the dress really did make her look fat, then the one time he asked 'If you already know the answer why did you ask me?' he got slapped! His people actually did value honesty and trying to curb his natural tendency toward and conditioned honesty was a struggle. Just once he'd like to be honest with a human woman and not get kicked or slapped for it.

"I just hope they have apple pies! They were sold out last time. It damn near broke my heart." Darien tried to joke.

"What heart? You've worked here for 3 months and never mentioned a girl friend, never made a pass at that pretty redhead down in accounting hell I never once seen you look even remotely interested in anything but those apple pies. I'm beginning to wonder about you." Rick laughed while his joke hit just a bit too close to home. Fact was since his arrival he'd been doing his best to avoid the women on this planet. They weren't like the women on his home world. If a human woman went to bed with a man they had expectations like 'will he call me tomorrow, are we a couple now, when will he meet my parents, when will I meet his?' He'd had one short dalliance since his mission began; it was a good night, pleasant company followed by a satisfying romp in the sack. But the next day the crazy woman called him about thirty-seven times in four hours. Where are you, what are you doing, who are you with, when will I see you again. The woman was insane. It took a solid week before he got through to her that he had no intention to see her again. After that she sat and cried outside his apartment, when he wouldn't come out after an hour she threw things at his windows. She threw everything she could get her hands on, even her shoes. One flew right through his kitchen window and landed in his 'Hungry Man' turkey dinner. His superintendent was not happy about the broken window and told her she'd better leave and not come back or he'd call the cops on her. Since then Darien had been more than a little gun shy when it came to satisfying that more carnal side of his nature. Celibacy had never been his forte but he'd suffer with an ache in his balls for the rest of his stay on Earth before he'd willingly go through that again. TV made one night stands seem so simple on Earth, but fiction couldn't be farther from the truth.

"I had a psycho stalk me after I told her it was over a couple months ago, I'm not quite ready to get back out there and maybe attract another of the type." Darien summed up for Rick.