AllFreeNovel
Share Us
[ 1 ]
JESSICA
“Welcome to the Mated Marriage Matchups,” my best friend Caley’s trembling voice called out as I pushed open the front door.
I stopped in my tracks, the thick reinforced door halfway open. The only reason I was able to push open this monstrosity was because the whole thing was rigged in some way to make it just as easy as a normal door. I didn’t know how it worked. I wasn’t an engineer. I had decided to focus on my career early in life, while the other kids in high school went on to college.
My gamble had paid off.
I was an actor.
An actor who actually works as an actor—not the kind who waits tables at night so they can attend auditions during the day—though I have been there and done that too. Now that I had a starring role on daytime TV, there were some things I simply would not stand for.
Like my best friend practically shaking in her boots while greeting a new customer coming through the door. She’d asked me to help her practice and get ready to really run things before the business formally opened up, and that is exactly what I was going to do.
I had to cancel a few things to make this happen, but Caley was more important.
Plus, this gig was definitely going to have a huge payoff.
Nothing wrong with being there for a friend and myself at the same time.
“No!” I called out. Caley’s gaze focused on me, and then she looked away again, down at her hands, her messy bun flopping on her head like an overactive kitten trying to take a nap. “Try again, but this time speak from your gut. I want you to imagine someone punching you in the stomach as you speak. Tense those abdominals, anchor the sound in your chest, and actually greet me like you want me to sign up for your monster f-ing service.”
“They’re not monsters, they’re aliens!” Caley shot back from across the room, her tone as clear and crisp as a bell. “Plus, if someone hit me in the stomach, Jevelar would literally kill them. The Norratar don’t mess around with their mates being attacked.”
“Good, just like that.” I grinned at her, pleased that all it took was a little bit of teasing to get her to project her voice. “Maybe you should rename your mating service as ‘Touch Her and Die Mates’.”
Caley laughed, the sound ricocheting around the room with the suddenness of it. I could see the last of her nervousness melting from her body with the impact of the humor.
“Did you know I saw a horse on the road on the way here?” I mentioned throwing in a non sequitur to pull her mind off the filming. If she was thinking about horses, she wouldn’t be panicking about greeting me as I walked in.
“My neighbor down the road has opened a rental facility.” Caley smiled. “I got to ride one to go pick up groceries. Jevelar held onto a rope that was on a halter under the bridle and walked me all the way there and back. It was pretty fun.”
Now I was distracted. I made a mental note to try horseback riding to get groceries. It sounded strangely like a lot of fun.
“Did you use… those… um… things to hold onto the horse?” I asked, not sure what to call them.
“My osae?” Caley asked. “No! I’m a little nervous taking them out in public. What if someone saw them and asked questions?”
“They seem kind of cool,” I said. “They’re like extra arms you can take out and whip around whenever you want. I have to say, they’re a pretty big incentive to join the mate program. Closest thing I’ve ever seen to becoming a mutant superhero.”
“Oh, but you’re not-”
“We gotta focus, it’s time to take off the training wheels. Get ready!” I cut her off, realizing how much time we spent chatting and shut the door, stepping back outside.
Caley’s house was pretty nice, way better than what I could have gotten on my last salary, and it was phenomenal that she managed to keep it. Then again, given what she was using it for, I shouldn’t congratulate her too much, as she lived in a bubble after all. I glanced up at the sky. The shimmering forcefield that ended neatly right before the sidewalk glittered in the sky like a shimmery purple bubble. I hadn’t been able to see it before I walked through it, but now that I was on the other side, inside its protective field, it was easy to spot.
I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my selfie stick to look at my phone camera. I checked my makeup and hair. I loved the shine that the new treatment gave my gorgeous black locks. I’d gotten some good fan commentary on it. I glanced around myself, a quick habit I’d formed since I landed my first leading role on the soap opera.
My online following had skyrocketed since the launch of the show.
There were so many people following me, paying attention to every word I said. It was everything I ever wanted. My dreams were coming true; all I had to do was work on them and work with my fans to turn them into superfans so that the next stage in my career would be a blockbuster movie.
I was on the way to everything I ever wanted.
I fixed a brilliant smile on my face, making sure the camera was nice and close to me so it didn’t show much at all of the background.
I clicked the button on my phone.
