by Tasha Black
Maybe humans weren’t the only ones who were complicated.
“Well, I’m here for money,” Georgia said.
Rocky sat in shocked silence for a moment. Then he ventured to speak.
“I thought you were here to help humans who had no eggs to make babies with,” Rocky said.
“Yes, I was here to do that for money,” Georgia said.
“You wanted money to share of your body?” Rocky asked.
He must have it wrong. Something about this was too similar to another concept that had to do with sexuality and payments.
“Well… when you put it that way, yes, I guess so,” she said. “It’s not that simple though, giving up eggs is painful and time-consuming. But the payment would have allowed me to pay for my education.”
“Is selling the use of your sex organs not degrading to women?” Rocky asked in a careful tone.
“What? Oh. No. Prostitution is selling the act of having sex,” she explained. “Egg donation is very different.”
“I see,” Rocky said, though he wasn’t sure he did. “Do you often sell your eggs?”
“No,” Georgia told him. “This would have been the first time.”
“And it is painful?” he asked.
“So I’m told,” she replied, her brow furrowed.
“But the act of sex is not painful,” he said. “It is pleasurable.”
“Yes,” she agreed, looking a little embarrassed.
“I wonder why, then, it is not better to have sex for money,” Rocky suggested.
Georgia stared at him.
“I have said something wrong,” Rocky ventured, hoping she was not terribly offended.
“No, I just never thought of it that way. But the degradation has more to do with choice. Women who sell sex often have very little choice in the matter,” she said. “Whereas women who sell their eggs are usually in a position to decide they would like to do it.”
He nodded, but still didn’t really understand. He had found that sometimes, that was the best way to deal with confusing Earth concepts.
“It’s complicated,” she told him. “Do you need to understand it now?”
“No, I believe you,” he said.
She nodded.
“But you needed money to pay for school?” he asked. “You cannot learn without paying?”
“You can learn plenty of things without paying,” she explained. “But if you want to go to college and get a diploma - a paper that says you finished - you need money and plenty of it.”
“So you came here, to give your eggs to another woman in exchange for being able to learn,” he said.
“Yes, exactly,” she told him. “Lots of college students do this, and it helps the student and the woman who wants to be a mother.”
“But now there is no one to buy your eggs,” he said.
She shook her head.
“And you don’t wish to be mated with me,” he said. He didn’t feel sorry for himself - he was merely stating a fact.
“It’s nothing to do with you,” she told him. “It’s only that I want to have my own life. I don’t want to get married young like my mother did, and not have a career. You’re… wonderful. Most women would kill to be with you.”
“Why would they do this?” Rocky asked, shocked.
“Oh, I don’t mean they would actually kill. It’s an expression. I mean they would want very badly to mate with you.”
“Why?”
“Well, because you’re very attractive,” she said, allowing her hair to fall slightly in front of her face.
“What makes me attractive?” he asked, enjoying himself greatly.
But instead of answering, she scowled at him and leaned forward to smack him lightly on the shoulder, as if to chastise him for asking for compliments.
Quick as a thought, Rocky grasped her wrist and pulled her close.
“You do find me attractive,” he murmured against her lips.
Georgia didn’t pull away. He felt her pulse thrum in her wrist
“No, I don’t,” she whispered against his lips.
A lie.
“You don’t want me to kiss you?” he asked.
“No,” she whispered again without pulling away, her lips grazing his.
Rocky’s body was alive with excitement, but he restrained his instincts masterfully, and instead let go of her wrist.
Georgia stayed right where she was.
Rocky leaned forward further, but didn’t kiss her.
“Too bad,” he whispered into her hair. “I would love to kiss you, to taste you, to make you my mate.”
Rocky felt drunk on the scent of her hair and the warmth of her skin.
Georgia swooned against him. His words had moved her. He felt his lips pull into a cocky smile as one of her hands clutched his upper arm.
“Georgia,” a female voice called from the observatory.
No. No, no, no.
But Georgia moved away from him quickly, as if he were covered in poisonous thorns, and crossed the dock back to the grass.
Posey’s form was silhouetted by the moonlight.
“What are you doing out here?” Posey called to her friend.
“We were just talking,” Georgia called back.
Rocky stood and followed her.
“Oh,” Posey looked horrified. “I’m so sorry I interrupted. I just couldn’t find you and I got worried. You left your phone.”
“No, you’re right,” Georgia reassured her friend. “After what happened earlier, I should have thought to let someone know we were going for a walk.”
“Well, don’t come in because of me,” Posey said, clearly wanting Georgia and Rocky to have their private moment.
Rocky felt immediately grateful to her.
“No, no, we were just coming in, right, Rocky?”
“Yes,” he agreed.
She smiled gratefully at him.
When they got inside, the girls disappeared onto their floor.
Rocky continued down to the boys’ floor, lost in thought.
He had spent the better part of their time together trying to win Georgia over. But perhaps this was not the right approach.
Perhaps the right approach was to give her space and let her come to him.
If he could bear the wait.
His body still pounded with lust from the teasing touches she had allowed him.
Sleep would not return for him tonight.
3
Georgia
Georgia sat in the corner of the kitchen, sipping black coffee and gazing out the window.
Opposite her, Dr. Bhimani fussed with the stove while balancing a large bowl of pancake batter.
Georgia got the feeling the older woman would have been more comfortable cooking on a Bunsen burner, but she was darned if she was going to help her. She had offered the girls nothing but lies since the moment they had received the invitation.
“I know you’re angry, Georgia,” Dr. Bhimani said softly, as if reading her thoughts.
Georgia had nothing to say to that, so she took another sip of coffee.
“I’ll explain everything over breakfast,” Dr. Bhimani said. “We’ll all feel better once we’ve eaten something.”
Posey appeared in the doorway.
“Where is everyone?” she asked cheerfully.
Unlike Georgia, who had rolled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen in loose-tied hair and flannel pajamas, Posey had obviously showered, styled her hair, dressed carefully, and put on make-up. Georgia imagined every moment must be like a job interview for Posey.
“I guess they’re all sleeping late after the racket last night,” Georgia grumbled.
“Mom?” Rima called from the hallway.
“Making your pancakes, Rima,” Dr. Bhimani called back to her. “Good morning, Posey. There’s a pot of coffee if Georgia didn’t drink it all.”
Rima padded in, wearing thick woolen socks and sweats, her dark curls flattened against her head on one side. She smiled at Georgia.
<
br /> “Geez, Posey, you look like you’re running for mayor,” she remarked.
Posey smiled smugly and stirred sugar into the last of the coffee as Rima refilled the carafe and reloaded the basket.
A sound on the stairs alerted them to the arrival of the men.
Something subtle changed in the atmosphere between Rima and Posey. A sense of giddy anticipation that Georgia resented a little.
The women had been best friends for a long time. Why did they need to get excited about a bunch of guys all of a sudden?
“Oh, boys, glad you’re here,” Dr. Bhimani said. “Let’s carry some things out to the dining room.”
Georgia studiously ignored Rocky, even as he brushed past her to get to the cupboard with the plates.
A few minutes later, they settled in at the big table overlooking the woods. Dr. Bhimani’s dining room was very similar to the rest of her home - filled to overflowing with books.
Built-in bookshelves lined all the walls, with cut outs for the windows overlooking the pond and trees. Exposed wood beams ran the length of the ceiling, and a wood-burning fireplace lent an air of coziness with its enormous railroad tie mantel and the scent of creosote.
The men had seated themselves against the wall of windows overlooking the pond. Dr. Bhimani sat at the head of the table.
Posey slipped into the chair across from Bond, of course.
Georgia quickly took the chair opposite Magnum, so she wouldn’t have to gaze into Rocky’s handsome face.
Magnum nodded stoically, bless him.
Rima sat down beside her stiffly, opposite Rocky, as if she were disappointed not to be gazing into Magnum’s impassive face for the entirety of her meal.
Absurd, this whole thing was absurd. It reminded her of the high drama usually reserved for a middle school lunch table.
Besides, any of them offered an actual choice would have clearly chosen Rocky. There was no contest - he was the best looking and the most polite. He and Rima would make a spectacular couple.
Georgia bit down on the pain the thought caused her.
Don’t be ridiculous, Georgia Taylor. You want to be a detective, not arm candy for an alien who only “chose” you because you were the one in front of him.
“So, we had some visitors last night,” Dr. Bhimani said in a bright, clear voice.
Though they all continued to pass the pancakes and butter, an expectant silence hung in the room.
“Were they really just troublemakers from town, Mom?” Rima asked.
“Yes, and no,” Dr. Bhimani replied. “They are troublemakers, that’s for sure. But part of what they said is true. I did take a mortgage against the observatory. But I don’t think Mr. Briggs can make me pay it off on demand, and I’m sure he wouldn’t ask me to.”
“You took a mortgage?” Rima asked. “I thought the observatory belonged to the government.”
“It did,” Dr. Bhimani said, placing her fork down next to her untouched plate.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Rima asked, a high note of worry in her voice.
“Rima, we lost our federal grant money a few years ago,” Dr. Bhimani said softly.
“No,” Rima breathed.
“The recession was hard on the sciences. And until this summer, and the arrival of the boys, we had no reason to believe there was any value in the work I’ve done my whole career.
“You know we’ve been careful with money. Scientists don’t make much to begin with, but I had some extra tucked away in savings. After we were defunded, I used it to buy the observatory at auction. I had hoped the place would sell for almost nothing, after all the property values here are modest. But there was another bidder. By the end I had almost nothing left. But at least I saved the observatory.
“I planned to get another job, so that I could maintain the place until I found more funding. But before that happened, our friends arrived,” she smiled, gesturing at Rocky, Bond and Magnum. “I couldn’t leave them, so I made due with the bit of savings I had left. But then the school tax bill came, and I knew I was in trouble.
“I went to the savings bank in town, but they told me that without an income, I couldn’t qualify for a mortgage. I was desperate, and asked if there might be a private investor. I knew we were on the verge of something huge, but it wasn’t like I could exactly share that information. They turned me away, but a few days later I got a phone call.
“It was Mr. Briggs. I don’t know him well, but he was a familiar face from town, and he said he had always admired the observatory. He remembered his school trips here when he was a boy.” She smiled wistfully. “I told him I was working on a project that would get us funded again in the next five years. He wrote me a mortgage the next day, and we signed it in front of his attorney.
“I’ll call him this morning to find out what’s happening with these men,” she added.
Georgia took a sip of coffee and put her cup down a bit too hard.
“Georgia, you’re angry because you were promised money and you think I don’t have any,” Dr. Bhimani said. “But I can still draw on the loan from Mr. Briggs. There’s enough to make each of you the smaller payment we discussed, for your classes. And if any of you earns out the second, well, by then we should be fully funded. If not, then I will sell this observatory to pay you, if it comes to that. It’s only a building.”
Georgia bit back a reply. This was supposed to be the part where she said, Oh, I could never ask you to do that. But Georgia wasn’t going to be manipulated that easily. She had plans for that money. And a deal was a deal.
“Mom,” Rima scolded.
But Dr. Bhimani was smiling fondly at Posey, who blushed a bright pink and looked away.
Oh, boy.
A knock at the door stopped any further discussion.
“Dr. Bhimani, I asked who he was but he just burst in,” Jason said, arriving breathlessly in the doorway just in time for another man to brush past him.
“It’s alright, Jason,” Dr. Bhimani told her assistant. “Go get yourself a nice cup of coffee.”
The visitor stood with a smug smile on his face. He was tall and good-looking, with striking silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His dark-rimmed glasses made him look like a hipster-wannabe in Georgia’s opinion, but she figured the rest of the world would just think he was handsome, for an older guy.
“Mr. Briggs,” Dr. Bhimani said warmly, walking over to greet him. “I was just telling my guests about your generosity.”
“You’re too kind, Dr. B.,” the man said with a smile, but he didn’t take the hand that she extended.
“May I offer you some pancakes?” Dr. Bhimani asked, gesturing to the table, and ignoring the slight.
“Oh, no, I can’t stay,” Briggs said. “I trust you received my message last night?”
Georgia was able to pinpoint the exact moment when his words sunk into Dr. Bhimani’s consciousness. Those had not been random troublemakers. She had been sent a message. The older woman’s soft brown face crumpled in dismay.
“You did, I thought as much. I apologize for sending the bottom of the barrel, but my best help was busy with another task. At any rate, you’ll remember that our little arrangement had an option for me to be repaid at five months, and I’ll be taking it. We had to beat the midnight deadline, or I would have told you myself this morning.”
“Five years,” Dr. Bhimani said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t five months.”
“Ah, yes, the original term of the loan said five years. But there was an option buried in the fine print, an option in case I changed my mind. And I’ve changed my mind. A word of advice, Maya, the next time you sign a contract, have your own attorney look it over.”
Dr. Bhimani stood before him, frozen in horror.
Damn it. Now Georgia would have to get involved. She stood, wishing her height were more intimidating. Behind her, she heard Rocky’s chair slide away from the table as he stood.
He was backing her play. She didn’t have time to unpack the f
eelings that stirred inside her.
“I don’t suppose you have a copy of this alleged contract,” Georgia asked coolly.
Briggs turned to her, his face going almost slack, then he recovered and raised an eyebrow.
“Well, as a matter of fact I do, young lady. Here you are,” he handed her a crisp cream-colored envelope. The paper was stiff enough to scream expensive.
“We’ll review this and get back to you in due course,” Georgia said dismissively.
“Excellent, just don’t take too much time with it,” he told her, turning to go. “If my math is correct, and it always is, your five months will be up the day before Halloween.”
“I- I thought you loved this place,” Dr. Bhimani called after him, her voice breaking.
He turned back to her slowly.
“That’s true, I do love this place. That’s why I want it for myself. Once I completely gut this place, it should come back together nicely.” He eyed Georgia up and down in a way that made her skin crawl. “If you have any questions, send the little redhead to me. Good day.”
And then the door was closing behind him, and Dr. Bhimani was collapsing into her daughter’s arms, and Posey was turning to Georgia with the look in her eyes that they all got when the going got tough. The look that said that Georgia was the leader, that she always knew what to do.
“I’m going to review this,” Georgia announced to the group, then hightailed out of the room.
She hurried down the endless stairs to her own bedroom, where she promptly locked the door and threw herself on the bed.
She didn’t cry. Georgia wasn’t a crier.
But she reclined on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling a familiar, icy cold inside. As usual, the “grown-up” in the situation had failed to behave as a grown-up should, and Georgia herself was going to have to find a way to save the day.
4
Rocky
Rocky paced up and down the dock in furious thought. Nothing was going as it should, absolutely nothing.
For some reason, the moment of that man looking over his shoulder at Georgia kept replaying in his head.
Send the little redhead to me…