My 8 E-books written over the years by Alina Udrea - HTML preview

Chapter 3: Soul mate

Al woke up early. He had slept well on a comfy bed and was feeling full

of energy. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he had felt so good about his life which was pretty weird as he was stranded on this planet. His life had been pretty boring so far… buying and selling and doing pretty much the same thing day after day. Maybe having crashed on Terra was the best thing that happened to him. As much as he had wished for Nick to track his ship and find him when he crashed he was now wishing he wouldn’t ever find him.

Why was Terra forbidden? These people were so kind. He could read

their minds and see that they were good honest people. But maybe not all humans were like them. But then again it didn’t really matter what the other humans were like. He was glad that these ones were nice. He was 29 years old and had never been in love before but he was sure he was in love now. He had finally found his other half no matter how strange that sounded.

The Valentinians only fell in love once in their lives and they stayed with

their other half for the rest of their existence. Their race was one of a kind in this aspect. They were destined to find their half, their mate, from the moment they were born. Even if it took them most of their life to find that special person. It was something both the male and the female felt when they first met. And it was to last till their last breath. If one of them died, his or her mate would live out the rest of his existence without ever looking for another mate. It was a union for life. It was special and wonderful. And no Valentinian had ever been wrong in choosing his mate for life. This is what made him wonder how he could fall in love with a human. How was she destined for him? It made no sense. But maybe true love didn’t have to make sense.

Al heard Delia leave for work. He heard her say that she worked at the

local restaurant and as it was a small town that wouldn’t be too difficult to find. He would go later and have lunch there. But how would he pay? He forgot about that. He didn’t even know what the local currency was. He had to figure something out. So he decided to talk to Delia’s mother, tell her

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that he had been away for a long time and ask her a few things. She was a really nice lady and a good source of information. He found out all he needed to know about how things worked on this planet. What she didn’t tell him he could just read her mind and find out. So he mainly needed a job to make money. Just like where he came from. He decided to tell her that he was going to move to their town as he really liked life here. There was a nice house down the street which he could rent after he got a job. It had a garden and beautiful flowers just as their house had. Until then he would stay with them.

- So you went touring the country and decided to stay here for good? Mom asked him.

- Yes, was wondering if I could stay with you until I can rent the house down the street. And Al put on his best smile while waiting for her to answer.- You are welcome to stay. I can also give you a tip. I heard that one of the two stores that sells computers downtown needs to hire someone for computer maintenance. I also heard they pay well if you know about programs and stuff. As you are young I bet you know about computers like most of the teenagers nowadays. You would think that they were born with a laptop in their hands, Mom said and giggled.

- Thank you so much for everything, said Al and bowed his head with gratitude. I will go and see if I get the job.

- Good luck! But Al was already out the door.

An hour later Al was signing the contract with his employer. Getting the

job had been a piece of cake. He knew everything about computers. He used to fix his own systems on his ship. Besides being a good merchant he really knew about computers and programs. It was cheaper if he did his own maintenance instead of paying someone. But when a piece would break he would have to pay for a new one of course. So at least save money by doing the maintenance himself. Maybe he used a bit of his ability to persuade his employer to choose him over other candidates but he deserved the job. He really knew what it was all about so no harm done, right? Best man, or in his case alien, got the job.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Mainly he was giving up his

former life for a whole new one on Terra among humans. Was he really giving up that much? He had a job as a pilot on a cargo ship and as a merchant as he did the bargaining too but he had no way of repairing his ship any time soon if he could ever fix it at all and he had a job here now.

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And he met the love of his life… he just wondered whether she had felt

anything when she looked at him for the first time. If she had been a Valentinians then she would have felt for him what he felt for her but she was a human and Al couldn’t remember any other Valentinian having chosen a soul mate from another race before so he practically had no idea if Delia felt the same way.

He would start work on the following day but he needed money now as

he wanted to have lunch at the restaurant where Delia was working. Hmm, maybe a bit of more persuasion wouldn’t harm… convince Bobby, his new employer, to pay him a whole salary in advance. It wasn’t stealing, just taking the money a bit before…

It was so easy to read people’s minds and to convince them do

anything. It didn’t require too much focus for minor stuff such as getting the job or a salary in advance. Terra was almost too good to be true. He went straight to the restaurant. He entered and saw that everyone turned their heads to examine him. A little bit of mind reading and he found the reason: he was the new guy in town and they were all just curious as it was a small town where everybody knew everybody else so when someone new came it was like an event or something. And there were a few women at a table in the corner drinking orange juice and eating pancakes who found him quite attractive. He chuckled to himself content especially as it meant that he had managed to blend in among the humans without anyone suspecting that he was from another planet. But he didn’t care about the young ladies in the corner, all he cared about was seeing Delia. Al sat at a table waiting to see her. Then he saw her enter with a tray of drinks and heading towards the young ladies in the corner of the small restaurant. They were envious of her because she was simple yet she was a real beauty. Delia didn’t need to wear make up to underline her beautiful eyes or her full lips. She was a natural born beauty and it was the main reason she didn’t have friends. As for the guys, there were a lot who had showed interest in her but she never found anyone interesting enough. She kept telling herself that one day she would leave this God forsaken town and move to a bigger city or even a different country and then she would probably meet someone with whom she could have a relationship. Some smart, interesting guy to be able to have a conversation with him and if he would be good looking too, then that would be a bonus. Not like the guys from her town who couldn’t say more than a few simple sentences without

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trying to kiss her or worse. She hated her own town. It was too quiet, too boring, nothing interesting ever happened. Until now when this handsome guy entered their home. Then she saw him a table in the restaurant and she almost tripped with the tray of drinks.

- Hey Emma, said Nicole, one of the three girls at the table in the corner. Did you see the new guy?

- Of course! Geez, you’d have to be blind not to! And all three laughed.- Look at how he is gazing at Delia, Nicole went on once she got the others’ attention. You’d think he likes her.

- What? She is the most boring girl in town. She never even had a boyfriend. She is a geek.

- She may be a geek, intervened Natalia, a beautiful dark haired young girl who was the most decent and kind of the three friends, but Nicole is right. He does seem to like her.

- Really? Said Emma with an evil grin. Let’s see if he likes her now! And she tried to make her trip over but Al was one step ahead of her and he moved as fast as lightning and got the tray of drinks in mid- air, put it on the table with one hand and grabbed Delia’s arm with the other preventing her from falling. It all happened very fast. Emma’s cheeks were red with anger.- Are you OK, Delia? Al asked in the sweetest voice on purpose to spite the three girls.

- Yeah, thank you… I am usually not this clumsy, Delia tried to explain. I almost spilled your drinks. Let me know if you need anything else, she said addressing the girls. Then she left in a hurry, her cheeks red as she almost tripped in front of the girls.

- It was not your fault, said Al and he eyed Emma in such a way that she was sure he knew she had been to blame. Emma’s cheeks turned red again with embarrassment.

- Won’t you sit at our table? Asked Nicole, a skinny red-haired in her mid twenties who wasn’t used to getting no for an answer.- Thank you but I just want to have lunch and then I will be going. Maybe some other time. And Al went back to his table leaving the three girls agape.

- Wow, did that just happen? Asked Emma frustrated. Did he just turn you down, Nicole?

- Uh, no… he said he was busy.

- No he didn’t. And Emma started to laugh loudly. This must be a first for

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you!

- Just shut up Emma! And Nicole got up from the table, put the money she owed for what she had consumed and wanted to leave.- Oh, don’t mind Emma, said Natalia trying to calm them. You know how she is. Let’s finish our drinks and then we can go for some shopping, OK?- OK. And Nicole took her seat back at the table determined to ignore Emma until she would apologize.

- OK, sorry. Said Emma. Natalia is right, let’s finish our drinks and get out of here!

Al went back to his table. He couldn’t believe that such pretty girls had

such rotten cores. Then he focused on Delia trying to reach her mind again to see what she was thinking. In vain. He just couldn’t read her mind. How? Why? He could read everybody else’s mind but not hers. There was something special about her. It just made him love her even more. Her mind was a total mystery to him, a mystery which he was planning to uncover little by little.- What can I get you? Delia asked him with a little tremor in her voice.- Anything. I just want to have lunch.

- Ok, how about pizza?

- Sounds good, he said although he had no idea what a pizza was. But if she recommended pizza, then that was what he would have.- Will be ready in 10. And Delia left to serve at another table.

Al loved the taste of pizza. He had never eaten a pizza before and found it

lovely. He started to love food here. It was totally different from what he was used to anyway. But in a good sense. After lunch he went straight to the owner of the house he wanted to rent. It belonged to a nice old lady and he paid the rent for two months in advance. Then he went to Marcel and Mom’s house to say goodbye and tell them he managed to rent the house already to their surprise.

- Oh, wow, said Mom, I thought you’d be staying with us for a while.- Yes, but fate has smiled upon me and I got the job you told me about. So I rented the house down the street. I am so excited.- Congratulations! Marcel congratulated him on both having gotten the job and renting the house.

- Thank you for your kindness. And Al left to move in his new home.

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