Alien Coffee Read Online Free Page A

seemed more
dangerous with her charming magnetism than the other two did with
their peculiarities.
    Jillian proceeded to tell them about the
missing coffee and how angry she had been about it. She mentioned
waving her arms about and knocking Sclurp down the stairs
unknowingly. Then she told them about Sclurp demanding another cup
of coffee like a street addict looking for his next fix. Both of
the other aliens stared at their companion harshly. At least
Jillian thought it was harshly from what little she was figuring
out about alien body language.
    When she was done relaying the story, they
all sat in silence for a while. Sclurp had perched himself on an
adjustable stool to one edge of the room while Buffy had taken the
next lounge over from Jillian. It was a little too close for
comfort, but she resisted the urge to run away screaming.
    “How long have you lived here, Jillian?”
Buffy asked pleasantly.
    “Raymond and I have been in Priest Lake for
three years now. We love it here. The lakes, mountains and forests
are just so beautiful, the people are friendly and there’s so much
wildlife. It’s amazing,” Jillian responded with the first smile
since meeting them. It didn’t last long as the reality of being
trapped in a room with three aliens crossed the front of her mind
again.
    Buffy wasn’t done putting her at ease. “It is
a beautiful area. The last planet I was on was all rock and
deserts. Earth has many more mammals than I would like, but it is
truly beautiful.” He tapped a computer screen on the wall and a
steaming drink appeared from a nearby slot. He took a drink and
asked, “Where did you live before that and what made you decide to
move out here? I’m not addicted to coffee like these other two, so
haven’t been down to your house to snoop.” The words were pointed
and Nyxulla’s skin grew a darker green from blushing. Jillian
looked at her with a raised eyebrow at the knowledge that Sclurp
wasn’t the only one sneaking into her house for coffee. The
squishy-lipped alien was still sitting quietly while looking at the
ground in shame.
    Neither had anything to add, so Jillian
answered the question. “We used to live in New York. I was an
editor for one of the big publishing houses and Raymond was an
extremely successful ad executive. We were doing really, really
well.”
    “And you chose to leave that success behind?
I must say that I’m curious as to why.” Buffy’s tone was extremely
pleasant and Jillian found herself relaxing in spite of his
frightening appearance.
    “As far as my success goes, we knew I was
going to lose my job soon. Traditional publishing has been replaced
by a bunch of uneducated hacks who call themselves Indie Authors.”
She waved her hand and sighed. “Don’t take me too seriously. It’s
just a little frustrating. Some have talent, but they can’t spell
worth a darn and most have never met a sentence with good grammar.
Anyway, I received a request from an author I had known awhile and
he asked me to edit his works. He wasn’t the only one who was
looking for a good editor, so I quit my job and began freelancing.
It was much more pleasant . . . and challenging.”
    Buffy ordered another drink and handed it to
Jillian who looked at the orange liquid suspiciously. “Go on,
drink. It’s just orange juice. You said your husband was an ad
exec. Did he have a problem with leaving his job?”
    Jillian took a small sip, not willing to
drink too quickly in case the alien was lying to her. “Not at all.
He was tired of cutthroat politics and manipulation required to get
anything done in the business. He loved golfing and even though he
wasn’t good enough to go pro, everyone looked to him for advice on
how to improve their game. One day he called in sick in order to go
golfing. He liked it so much he stopped showing up for work.”
    “How extraordinary. Did his supervisors not
chastise him for such behavior?” Buffy asked incredulously.
    “You would think, but it