ONE
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Cassandra Grimaldi, aka Cassie to her friends, glanced at Gerri with a raised brow. The Latina wasn’t known for listening to nonsense. “Another planet, you say?”
She had been working with Gerri for exactly one month. She organized the hell out of Gerri’s office space and apartment. Gerri loved to travel and it was clear she hadn’t been keeping up to date with her files, mail, or fan letters. Who knew a matchmaker got so much fan mail. It was a wonder she had utilities.
Always blunt, Gerri told Cassie she would be the perfect fit to be her assistant. “I have a great sense for these things,” Gerri had said. With the holidays having just passed, Cassie knew things were probably going to get hectic with Gerri, who got more mail than the president.
It had all been going so well. Gerri had given Cassie free rein of moving things and making the office tidy and orderly. Cassie wasn’t the most detail oriented person, considering her ex-boyfriend, also her ex-boss, had not only stolen from her, but cheated on her.
Now, Gerri looked her straight in the eye and said they were going to another planet. Yeah. Another planet. As in, not in this solar system and probably not even in this reality. Dammit! She’d been so sure Gerri had her shit together. She didn’t bother hiding her disbelief as Gerri spoke.
“I matched Bella with Alyx. He’s the king of Nova Aurora,” Gerri sipped her tea. Outside, the snow fell in fluffy white flakes that made Cassie feel like a kid again. “Now they want me to meet the babies.”
Alien shifter royalty. Right.
“And you want me to go with you?” Cassie asked. She wondered how long before she could find a new job once they sent Gerri to the nut house.
“Yes. I can see you really think I’ve lost my mind and I just got myself a one-way ticket to Crazyland.”
She nodded unapologetically. Cassie didn’t hold back, ever. She knew Gerri saw it in her face, so why bother trying. “You are a really nice lady, but for you to think there are aliens and you can travel to their planet worries me. Mainly because, well, I like you. Now I have to find another job,” she admitted with a sigh.
Gerri burst into laughter. “It is so refreshing to have someone with your candor around.”
“Right. I’m a riot.” She refilled Gerri’s tea automatically. When she’d been a kid, she loved having tea parties with her stuffed animals along with her dad. He’d been amazing about doing girly things with her when her mother passed. Those were the good memories. The ones she liked to think about.
In some cases, he’d forgotten she had feelings, but she guessed that was the male side that wanted his fat little girl to fit in with the popular kids in school. Kids that belonged to his employees and other big shots. Him being a top executive at a financial services company meant he had an image to uphold in public. One Cassie didn’t fit into to this day.
“How about you humor me. I know you’re a skeptic but what if I’m right?” Gerri’s grin widened and a dimple showed. The older woman was truly stunning and Cassie was sure she was getting male attention even more now with her fun personality. “What if you are holding yourself back from learning about another culture? Another life form.”
Fuck. Why had she told Gerri she was a huge fan of the Discovery Channel and watching anything with aliens and animals? She had a massive fascination for aliens, space, and things unexplained. Except for ghosts. She totally believed in that and wanted to keep those away.
“Gerri…”
Gerri sat up, placing the once-again empty tea cup on the saucer with a little clink. “Come on, Cassie. Another world. It could be just what you need.”
Cassie bit her lip, unsure what to do. On one hand, she wanted to know if Gerri really was crazy. She did seem very intelligent. On the other hand, if it was just a hoax, she’d feel like an idiot for even humoring Gerri.
“I have to think about this,” she finally replied. Her brain told her she shouldn’t even bother, but Gerri appeared so lucid. It was the damn curious side of her wanting to dispel the notion there was a possibility it was real.
“Take the weekend. I’m heading out Monday evening. We can discuss it again in the morning when you come in.”
She nodded. She had dinner with her family, a weekly affair that always ended up grating on her nerves. This week though, she looked forward to spending time with her cousin Ivan and his sister Ivy. Maybe she could run this by them. See what they thought. They were as close to siblings as she got and probably the only members of the family who didn’t judge her size.