Alien Romance: Interview with an Alien (Football Paranormal Invasion Abduction Alpha Sci-fi Romance) (Fantasy First New Adult Contact Science Fiction Mystery Sports Alien Short Stories) (17 page)

Bonus Story 5 of 24

Asha tried not to react as her latest student attempted to destroy her office.

“Bitch!” Letitia yelled as she pulled a row of books off the bookshelf. Asha watched from behind her desk. The key was not to react.

The walls shook and Letitia screamed with rage. She stomped her feet on the floor. Asha knew that everyone’s eyes were on them. Her office was a fishbowl, all the walls made of glass. Everything in this school office was transparent, along with cameras mounted high in every corner. Asha could see the blinking red light out of the corner of her eye. She also saw the security officer in the corner of her eye. He could also see the cameras back at his station. That was probably why he was in the office right now. Asha shook her head slowly. She didn’t need the security officer. Not yet.

“You think you’re better than everyone else!” Letitia yelled, throwing another book on the floor. She tried to rip down one of the cork boards but she couldn’t get it down. Instead, she grabbed Asha’s nameplate from her desk and held it in her hand like a weapon.

“You think you’re our principal,” Asha said, smacking the nameplate into her pal. “You think you can help. But you’re just like everyone else.”

Letitia raised the nameplate over her shoulder. It was a nice sized piece, quality, made of real metal and wood. If Letitia hit her with that, it would hurt. Still Asha didn’t flinch. Then the security officer burst through.

“That’s it, you’re coming with me,” he said. Asha tried not to breathe a sigh of relief as Greg slid his arm through Asha’s and restrained her arms behind her “We have a zero tolerance rule here.”

Asha finally gave a weary sigh as Greg pulled Letitia out of the room. She felt the adrenaline finally hitting her body, a buzz that traveled all the way down to her toes. Her hands were shaking, her feet started to jump. Asha bit her lip hard and lifted her butt so she could sit on her hands and take a nice, deep breath.

“You should let him in sooner, next time,” Raelynn said, coming to stand in the doorway of Asha’s office. “We were taking bets on who was going to have to call 911.”

Raelynn’s words were half-joking but her face was all business. Asha took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Raelynn walked over to her desk and grabbed the chair that Letitia upended, setting it upright again before she took a sheep.

“I don’t know why you want to be such a martyr,” Raelynn said.

“It’s about not giving up control,” Asha said calmly. She could feel her heartbeat starting to slow down and she was grateful. “I can’t reward bad behavior.”

“Acting with the instincts of an actual human being is not rewarding bad behavior!” Raelynn said. Raelynn was their main administrative assistant but she still had a lot of opinions. “One day you’re going to be sitting here, trying to not stir up shit and one of these little kids are going to pull out a gun and shoot you!”

Asha shuddered at the thought. The students at Wayland High School weren’t children but Asha wouldn’t be surprised if one of them showed up with a gun one day. The violence in the school was getting worse and she was genuinely at a loss for what to do.

These were the types of things that kept Asha up late at night. She hated to see her school falling apart.

“Hey, give yourself a break, girl,” Raelynn said from across the table like she could read Asha’s mind, and it was quite possible. As soon as Asha began working at the high school, she and Raelynn became close friends. Sometimes Raelynn would take her out to a wine bar after work and they would just sit there, sipping wine and unwinding without saying a word. Asha thought that was the true meaning of a friend.

“I just need a moment,” Asha said. Letitia wasn’t a bad girl. Asha knew that. She had watched her grow up over the years, from a small, timid freshman into a senior with a lot of potential. She just fell in with the wrong crowd.

They all seemed to be doing that nowadays.

“Look,” Raelynn said, leaning over and adjusting some papers on Asha’s desk. “We are going to clean this place up. No, I will. You sit back and relax. And then we’re going to go out. Get a drink. And we need to talk.”

Raelynn gave her a serious look. Asha stared back, raising her eyebrows.

“Talk about what?”

“Greg, girl!” Raelynn said. She got up and began to busy herself with picking up Asha’s books. Asha watched her. The books were mostly for decoration. “He’s so into you. Why aren’t you hitting that yet? When he was watching you, he just had this look on his face. He was so serious about protecting you. He’s so cute. He’s like a six-foot bar of solid, dark chocolate. Girl, you need to take a bite out of that!”

Asha couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. Raelynn looked at her and gave her a wink. They both dissolved into giggles. And after a day like Asha’s, she could really use the distraction.

Raelynn stuck out her hand once she was done cleaning up.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

*****

Darrius stood in the doorway. The West Wing Wine Bar was a hopping place. It was barely seven in the evening but happy hour was going strong. The place was packed with well-dressed business women who would be sucking down half-priced bottles of wine for the next hour and chatting with each other. He couldn’t help noticing that some of the women were gorgeous, but that wasn’t what he was really after.

Most of all, he was focused on the purses slung over the sides of their chairs.

There was so much money to be had in this place.

Darrius answered his phone.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey, what it do?” Said his business associate on the other end. “How’s it looking?”

“Real flush,” Darrius said in a low voice. He nodded at a couple of women passing by. He could see the tip jar at the bar from here. The jar was full. These professional women tended to be generous when they were tipsy. That’s what Darrius liked about them.

“So what are you going to do?”

Darrius looked around. He knew that on a casual trip to the bathroom, he could probably swipe at least five wallets. That would do for now until they come up with a better plan, something more comprehensive.

“I’m gonna mix and mingle,” Darrius said.

He hung up.

The key was to look like you fit in. Darrius was good at that. He might not have been a woman but he was very charming. He walked in the bar, giving a nod to the hostess.

“I think I’ll sit over there,” he said, gesturing to the bar. “I’m meeting someone.”

The hostess looked up at him, starry-eyed. He had that effect on women. He’d never brag, but he knew from objective experiences that he was extremely handsome. He was tall, tall enough that he got asked if he was a basketball player by every little kid that passed him on the street if he was wearing a jersey. He had chestnut brown skin and close-cut hair. His eyes were almond shaped and a golden brown. People told him he looked exotic. They asked if he was mixed. But no, Darrius was just black. He couldn’t help his looks but they got him places.

He took a seat at the bar.

He wanted to take that walk but it wasn’t time yet. First, he had to blend in. There were women on each side of him. On one side, a blond woman was chatting with a couple of other women. They looked like they had come directly from that company across the street. He didn’t really like those women. They tended to just talk among themselves and they always talked about work. It was pretty boring. Darrius listened for a few moments and then turned away.

On his other side, two black women had an animated conversation.

“She tested positive for drugs and ain’t nobody saying anything about that,” one of them said. “But watch. If that was Serena everyone would be all over it. You know it. You know it!”

The other woman chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. “I can’t even think about this right now,” she said.

“I think you’re right,” Darrius interjected, smoothly. “If it were Serena, it would be a totally different story.”

“You see!” The woman said, pointing at him. “He knows what he’s talking about.” Then she paused and stared at him. Darrius smiled. It was used to this, as well. “Damn. You’re fine.”

“Raelynn!” The other woman said, horrified.

But Darrius just laughed. “Thank you,” he said. “That means a lot, coming from an attractive woman such as yourself.”

“Oh shit, and he knows how to lie,” The woman — Raelynn — snorted loudly. A couple of people looked over with distasteful looks. That made Darrius smile.

“I’m not lying at all,” he said though in some way he was lying. He offered his hand to Raelynn. “I’m Darrius.”

“Raelynn,” she said, giving him the kind of shake that was meant for business meetings. “And this is Asha. She’s had a long day. Be nice to her.”

“Oh, I’m nice to everyone.” Darrius looked Asha over. Raelynn was kind of short and her hair was in all sorts of bushy twists. Asha was more sleek and serene. Her hair hung down her back in loose curves. She wore a smart looking business suit. Darrius like the way it hugged her curves in a classy way. She looked like a school teacher but also way too dressed up.

“It's wonderful meeting you ladies,” Darrius said. “What brings you here this evening?”

“We are just relaxing after a long day,” the talkative friend, Raelynn said. “It’s definitely been a day. Asha almost got a chair thrown at her.”

Asha scoffed. Darrius raised his eyebrows.

“Where do you work?” He asked. “A jail?”

He would know. He’d been to jail before.

Raelynn laughed, rolling her eyes. “No, thank goodness. But it’s almost the same thing. We work at a high school for juvenile delinquents. They are some crazy kids at that school. So we need to have a little drink afterward. I’m sure you can relate.”

“Yes, I can,” Darrius said. “On that note, let me get you ladies another round. What are you guys drinking? Red?”

He signaled the waiter over to get them another round. Raelynn exchanged a happy look with her friend. Darrius smiled at them both. They were the perfect cover.

He would speak with them further and case out the place. Then he’d take that walk to the bathroom and swipe some wallets on the way. After that, he would call his business associate and let him know what they needed to do to pull off the ultimate heist. This was just a small bar. There wasn’t security and there weren’t a lot of cameras. It would be the perfect place to rob.

Darrius thought about this while he made small talk with the ladies. Raelynn was loud and funny but Asha intrigued him. She didn’t say a lot. It was obvious she had a lot on her mind. Darrius wanted to learn more. But since he was also planning on robbing the place later, he couldn’t say too much. They didn’t need to know everything about him.

“So what do you do?” Raelynn asked. It was the question that Darrius had been trying to avoid, but of course, it came up. Luckily, he was good at talking on his feet.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” he said. “I forge my own path. I think that’s the best way to get through life these days. You need to look out for yourself.”

The women seemed to be hanging on his every word. That was a good thing. Darrius needed the best cover he could get. He offered them another couple of drinks and ordered them from the bar. When they weren’t looking, he slipped the bartender a fifty and nodded. That should about cover it.

A small price to pay for what was about to go down.

“Ladies,” Darrius said. He nodded at each of them in turn. “I’m going to run to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

The women both gave him charming smiles. They had their drinks in hand. He had to admit, he liked making them happy, especially Asha. She seemed like a tough nut to crack and she had that smile on her face.

Darrius tried not to focus on that.

Instead, he had another mission in mind. He got off the bar stool and began walking casually to the bathroom. He wove a specific path between the tables, all of them low and pushed close together. Their purses hung limply over the back of the chair, out of sight, forgotten about.

So he casually took their wallets.

It would be easy to protect against this type of theft. Just close your bag. But people did not heed his advice. Many purses were left dangling over the chair, gaping open and vulnerable. He just reached right in and voila, there was the wallet.

This took him about thirty seconds.

Then he was in the back of the wine bar with ten wallets under his shirt.

It was such a rush. But he had to act casual. Darrius walked into the men’s bathroom and took a long time washing his hands. No one else came in. The bar was packed with women, after all.

He could take more on the way back, but Darrius wasn’t that guy. He knew not to push his luck. He had plenty for now and they would be finishing the job later. This was no time to get greedy.

Darrius got back but he didn’t take a seat. He just stood behind the two ladies at the bar and tapped them each on the shoulder.

“I’ve got to go,” he said, smoothly. He could feel some of the wallets starting to shift. He needed to get out of there. The key was not to be obvious but he still needed to get out of there quick. The other key was not getting caught.

“Oh, well,” Raelynn said. “You’ve been so nice. Is there any way we can contact you later. Asha is interested.”

“Raelynn!” Asha hissed. Darrius stifled a laugh. He should have been out of there already and he knew it. But he couldn’t resist staying for one more moment.

“Don’t worry,” Darrius said. “I’m very good at finding people. I’ll find you.”

They seemed satisfied with his answer as he headed out the door. He meant it. He knew he’d see Asha again. He could find anyone. In fact, he was thinking about that when a security guard out front clapped him on the shoulder.

He was about to greet the man like a bro when he noticed that the grip on his shoulder was way too tight.

“I don’t think so,” the big, beefy man said, practically crushing Darrius’s shoulder so much that he hunched over to try to get away.

One of the wallets fell to the ground.

That’s when Darrius knew he was in major trouble.