by Annette Mori
After I’d put away all the food, I walked out to the back patio to turn on the grill. I didn’t want to cook anything elaborate and ever since Celeste picked up the hotdogs, I was craving them. It would be a simple meal and I was due some junk food since I’d been so good all week. I could cut up some tomatoes, pull out the relish and, voila, insta-veggies. I know it’s a stretch, but I wasn’t in the mood for healthy. I wanted everything about tonight to be bad. Junk food and hot lesbian videos would definitely push me outside my comfort zone.
It wasn’t a big surprise that Celeste enjoyed the hot dogs and the Tim’s cascade chips I set out. We both had a side salad and I smiled at the hodgepodge meal that seemed to please Celeste. I was saving a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for later. I would have popped some corn, but I knew we were both too full from dinner.
I pondered which video I should pull from my collection and finally decided on Desert Hearts. This movie was a classic and one of the first movies I ever saw that elicited a physical reaction. I know I must have taken a breath during the sex scene, because it was pretty long, but I sure don’t remember that. The beauty of the magic between the two women mesmerized me and after seeing that, I never questioned my sexuality again. I had other favorite movies, like Fire, but Desert Hearts remains my favorite to this day.
I motioned for Celeste to sit on the couch and popped the DVD into the player. After I grabbed the afghan, I snuggled next to Celeste and pulled it over our legs. I couldn’t believe how comfortable I was with sitting close to Celeste. I boldly took her hand. Who was this alien who took over my brain? This was not something I would normally be brave enough to do, but it just felt right.
Celeste glued her eyes to the images dancing across the screen and when they kissed for the first time, her head tilted to the side as if she was trying to figure something out. I kept myself from squirming when the sex scene heated up my living room, and I could almost feel Celeste react to what she was seeing. From her hand, I could feel the warmth travel up and down my body. I imagined that Celeste was Cay and I was Vivian. I could almost feel her mouth on mine, and when Cay traveled down Vivian’s body, I felt the feather light touch of her mouth on my body.
I finally took a big breath when the movie ended. Celeste looked at me and smiled. “Bella, I want to experience a kiss. Will you kiss me like the women in the movie?”
My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Could I actually do this? I’d never kissed a woman before. What if I disappointed her? “I…I…really…uh…want to, but I’ve never done it before. I don’t know how.”
“It looks easy enough to me to replicate.”
She leaned in and gently brushed her lips against mine. It tickled and tingled. I wanted more, so I touched my mouth to hers and brazenly opened for her as she captured my bottom lip with her own and ran her tongue along the edges. I reciprocated and sought entry as we both deepened the kiss.
Oh my God. I never wanted this feeling to stop.
I was panting as she broke away from me. Her smile widened. “I like kissing,” she said.
“So do I,” I touched my forehead against hers.
Even though I desperately wanted to make love with this beautiful woman, I wasn’t ready for that. I felt completely off kilter with just the kiss and I had to know more about Celeste before I let things go further. I never in a million years thought I would find myself in this position. I still believed that making love was only reserved for someone I wanted to spend my life with, and up until this point, I hadn’t exactly put myself out there to find that person.
She seemed to understand without my having to say a word. “Maybe someday you will replicate for me the other things we saw in the movie. I would like to understand love.”
I wanted to understand love too, but I needed to understand Celeste. I blurted out the question I should have asked when I first met Celeste, “Celeste, where are you from?”
“It is called Sisterna. My home planet is nearly one hundred light years from Earth.”
She offered this explanation so nonchalantly, that at first I thought I’d misunderstood or that she was joking again. Yet, at this particular moment, I knew deep down inside, that every word she said was the truth. I didn’t question my gut, that all came later.
I took a few seconds to process what she’d just told me. “You’re not joking are you? I’m guessing that you’re not of this world, are you?”
“No, Bella, I am what you would call an explorer. They sent me to explore the planet Earth and to learn everything I can about your world. I am sorry I could not bring you to my ship, but the rules are very limiting. We are allowed to reveal many things, but cannot share our technology. Our leaders fear that some of your species would abuse this knowledge. We are a peaceful race. I could mimic the expression I was told you understand, but I suspect this is another earthling joke.”
“Wait, let me guess. Was it, I come in peace?”
She chuckled. “Yes that is the one.”
I don’t know why I just accepted her confession, but I did because it all made sense. It’s like the puzzle pieces suddenly all clicked into place. I didn’t have to make up stories in my head anymore about why Celeste always made these off-the-wall comments, although a small part of me still questioned my own sanity.
What didn’t make sense to me was why, out of all the people on Earth, Celeste would come to me. “Why did you pick me? I’m nothing special.”
“Your energy signal is compatible with mine.”
“I don’t understand.”
Celeste took both of my hands in hers and I saw the purple light glow between us. “What do you feel right now?”
“I feel an incredible sense of peace and this warm tingly feeling. It’s not sexual or anything, it’s just nice,” I responded.
“I feel the same. When I touched Sydney, I did not feel the peace like when I touched you. On my world, we seek out our other half, the one who shares the same energy signature. When we find our compatible signature, the feelings and experiences are the same, a sense of peace and warmth. In your world, you may call this love, but I do not believe it is the same. I believe this feeling of love is much more…how shall I describe it so you understand…more intense. I volunteered to travel to Earth to bring back the knowledge of love. The energy force brought me to your town and I was compelled to seek you out. We do not make distinctions between genders on my planet. Sometimes energy compatibility is between two male life forms, sometimes it is between two female life forms, and on occasion, it is between a male and a female life form. This is the rarest, but there is no shame or concern when this occurs. I am perplexed by your desire to hide that you are drawn to the female life form.”
“Welcome to my world and the concept of discrimination. It’s getting better, but there are still some people who assume I’m attracted to men and would be less than pleased to know I’m not. I believe this applies to almost everyone in my family. Don’t you have someone on your world that you share a compatible signature with?” I asked.
“I did. She was a primary healer and the territorial dispute with another planet diminished her energy too quickly for her to re-charge.”
I saw a tear leak from her eye. She wiped it away and looked at her finger where the moisture clung like a sock removed from a dryer without one of those handy dandy dryer sheets.
“What is this water that escaped from my eye?”
“Haven’t you ever cried before?”
“I have read about crying, and how this human response is connected to sadness. Love and sadness are foreign concepts to us. We feel loss, but I do not believe it is the same emotion. I must be able to replicate human feelings when I am on your planet.” She quirked her head. “That is an interesting revelation. My superiors will be anxious to receive a report on this. We lack passion and as a result, the invaders from the other planet were able to take over most of our world. Since I have been on your planet, I fe
el things I am not accustomed to feeling. Perhaps I will learn about passion and bring this back to help with our revolution.”
“When you lose your energy mate—sorry I’m not sure what else to call it—do you look for a new one?” I was particularly curious about this.
“Most of the time, yes, but there are times when we are not able to find another energy mate. I like that name—energy mate—it fits. I am surprised you understand these concepts so quickly. You must have above average intelligence.”
I blushed. “It’s not that hard to understand. Good luck with understanding love though, I think that’s a concept causing many people to scratch their heads in confusion. I don’t think I can teach you much there. I know there have been gobs of books written on the subject, so I suppose you could start with that.”
She pointed to the television. “I like watching the picture images. Will I be able to learn more about love from those?”
I shrugged. “I suppose so. There are a lot of movies devoted to the topic. Sometimes they depress me because it seems like I’m always on the outside looking in, but I never get to actually experience it for myself.” I chuckled. “You’d never be able to tell from my collection of books and movies. I guess if I can’t find the real thing, the next best alternative is to get lost in the fantasy.”
I jumped up from the couch and put in my next favorite movie, Fire. It’s a beautiful story about two Indian women who definitely sacrificed everything for love.
“Well, okay then, let’s start researching love,” I blurted out.
I wondered if it would be so wrong to let myself explore something with Celeste. I’d be helping her with her research. Maybe she would fall in love with me and I could fall for someone who wasn’t taken like Sydney was. It was far from perfect. Maybe Celeste didn’t have an energy mate, but she wasn’t even from the same planet. I was setting myself up for heartbreak. I knew that, but I didn’t care because I genuinely liked Celeste and I wanted to feel something more. I wanted what other people had, someone who would love me that I would love right back, even if it was short-lived.
After I popped in the DVD, I liberated the pint of ice cream from the freezer and set it down on the coffee table in front of Celeste. I grabbed two spoons and removed the top of the container. Celeste was about to experience another delicious treat. I was looking forward to hearing her hum again. It was cute and one of the things that seemed to set me at ease.
I wasn’t disappointed. After watching me dig into the container of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, she followed my lead and the humming started almost immediately. When the video got beyond the opening credits, she focused back on the television and became one hundred percent invested in the story up until the explosive ending. She wiped another tear away and turned my face to hers so she could kiss me again.
Wow, was she a quick learner. I think she sensed my hesitancy to take things further, even though I was pretty sure she could replicate what she’d seen and read. However, that did not stop her from boldly asking, “Bella, can I rest tonight in the same location where you will be resting?”
“Um…yeah…I guess that would be all right, but I…uh…don’t think I can…uh…you know…do those things in the book that you read about…”
“Sweet Bella, I will wait to learn more about that. I only wish to exchange energy with you and feel the closeness of someone who is compatible with me. I miss that most of all.” Another tear slowly trickled down her cheek. For someone who’d never cried before, she was sure giving her tear ducts a workout. How could I possibly deny her request? I wanted to take her in my arms and make this newfound sadness go away. It nearly broke my heart to see her tears. Maybe she didn’t exactly know about love, but I was willing to bet my house that energy compatibility was a concept that rivaled love, even if it had a different name.
I imagined that a curious onlooker might wonder why I wasn’t asking Celeste question after question, keeping her up all night learning about her life on Sisterna, but I wasn’t wired that way. When I was a kid, I would painstakingly unwrap my Christmas gifts while my older sister tore into hers at a record pace. I liked the anticipation as much as the actual prize inside.
I was never one to reveal too much about myself so I didn’t mind a slow tantalizing pace. I thought about how much I enjoyed it when that tiny little corner of the blanket uncovered just a hint of the naked woman beneath, or when a shirt was unbuttoned just enough to let you peek at the cleavage below. That’s how I thought of what Celeste had shared with me that evening. Although I wanted to learn so much more about this fascinating person, the reward would be much more if I delayed my gratification and let things trickle out. At this point, I absolutely believed her story.
In my mind, anything worth exploring took time. Brick by glorious brick we would build a foundation of trust and friendship as we learned all about each other. I suppose I was deluding myself that something might come of this and she could choose to stay on Earth. It was a fantasy worth keeping. Beautiful women had never before just dropped in my lap wanting to exchange anything.
I gently grasped her hand and led her to my bedroom. Shyness overtook me as I realized we needed to change into some type of sleeping attire. I dug in my drawer and plucked out two pairs of gym shorts and two tank tops. I was no fool, I gave the smaller of the two tank tops to her knowing full well how hot she would look in what I picked out for her. I didn’t have to say anything to her when I retreated to my master bathroom to change. After I changed, I pulled out another new toothbrush for Celeste, rather than retrieve hers from the guest bathroom.
Celeste was sitting on my bed waiting patiently for me. She’d already changed into what I left on the bed for her.
I motioned for her to follow me into the bathroom. Even though I’d laid out a toothbrush for her the night before, I wasn’t sure how much she knew about basic human grooming. I handed her the toothbrush and she started to brush her eyebrows.
I giggled. “I suppose that might appear to be a tiny brush engineered for small patches of hair, but…” I nearly doubled over with laughter as a sudden thought popped into my head. ”Uh…you didn’t brush any other hair with your toothbrush, did you?”
She cocked her head to the side. “I do not understand. Why do you brush your teeth, they do not contain hair?”
“Well, depending on what you were doing the night before, it sometimes feels like you have hair on your teeth in the morning.” I put some Crest on my toothbrush and pointed to the paste. “This is called toothpaste and it helps clean our teeth. Here let me show you. It’s refreshing to brush your teeth. Good dental hygiene is important to keep our teeth from rotting and falling out.”
I demonstrated brushing my teeth while she watched me. After she got the general idea, she stuck the brush in her mouth and tentatively moved it around giggling like a young child trying something for the first time. I think she particularly enjoyed spitting out the extra paste before she grinned broadly at me, showing off her pristine white smile.
“I like the taste of toothpaste.”
“How do you keep your teeth clean?” I asked.
“We have machines that brush our hair and teeth and cleanse our bodies through the use of special energy blasts. It does not quite feel the same as your rain machine or toothpaste.”
It was oddly domestic as we stood side by side brushing our teeth like an old married couple. At that moment, no one would have ever guessed Celeste was from another planet. She looked so normal, so human.
After we finished this nighttime ritual, I began to get nervous. I’d never shared my bed with anyone before except my cat, Gizmo. I think Celeste sensed my trepidation and touched my arm. The soft purple light infiltrated my body and once again created that wonderful feeling of peace and warmth.
I pulled the covers back and waited for Celeste to climb beneath the sheets before walking around to the other side and gently moving Gizmo from her normal spot. She let me know how unhappy she was with a stilted
meow as she meandered to the end of the bed to stake out a new spot.
Celeste stroked my shoulder before wrapping her arms around me. I snuggled up against her body and let my hand rest on the small of her back. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt in her embrace. If this was what exchanging energy was about, I was all for it.
Celeste seemed content as she kissed my forehead and said, “Thank you for sharing your energy with me. I do not feel so homesick anymore. Sleep well, Bella.”
“Sweet dreams, Celeste.”
I closed my eyes and before I knew it, I was fast asleep, basking in the glow of Celeste’s energy. My dreams were definitely on the sexy side.
Chapter Four
“Mmmm. That feels so good,” I mumbled, half-asleep and half-awake. I was at the glorious place where you’re not quite conscious and the dream is still fresh in your mind. I didn’t really want to wake up, but I was basking in the feather light touch caressing the entire left side of my body. I wanted to return to my nighttime adventure where I met a beautiful alien and we were sharing energy. As the touch brought about more awareness, I yawned, turned over, and looked into Celeste’s luminous eyes. Gizmo, that little hussy, had curled up between the two of us and snuggled tightly against Celeste with one paw wrapped around her neck.
The sudden realization that this was not a dream, and I did indeed have an exquisite alien in my bed, instantly shocked me into becoming wide awake. I started to panic as I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It was almost nine o’clock. Crapola, my parents are going to be banging on my door any minute.
I bolted from the bed at the same time I heard my mom knock twice and then open the front door. “Hello…Mabel…it’s Mom. Where are you? We’re going to be late for church. Your father is being such a cranky pants this morning.”