Seven Women: An Erotic Private Investigation

Chapter 17…

“This is fun,” says Amelia.

Somehow, we manage it. Cara and Lisa are in front with the driver; Tasha, Sheila, Amelia, Holly and I are squished into the back. It isn’t so bad. I like the concentrated smell of their bodies, perfume, and what they’ve been drinking.

“I didn’t finish my story,” Amelia says.

“What story was that?” Cara asks from the front.

“When I was with Tasha and Sheila and Leonard,” Amelia says. “I was telling them how I met my alien lover.”

“A foreigner?” Holly says.

“No,” Amelia says, “an alien from another planet. I know you probably don’t believe me, but this is all so very true. Look, where was I before we got to the club?” She looks at me. I shrug.

“Er,” Sheila says, “you said you were driving and then you woke up and you were inside a UFO.”

“Well, I was,” Amelia nods. “It was big and kind of plain and had round windows. And then The Astronaut came up to me and said, ‘Hi.’”

Sheila rolls her eyes.

“I wasn’t scared! I was…intrigued. I thought it was some wild dream or something. The Astronaut told me not to be afraid and I told him I wasn’t and asked him where I was and he said, ‘You’re on my ship.’”

“What was his name?” Holly asks.

“The Astronaut,” Amelia says, “just that, that’s what he called himself, he said, ‘Hello, I am The Astronaut,’ and then he took off his helmet. I didn’t know what to expect! I figured he would probably have two heads or weird skin or look like a fish or something, but lo! to my surprise what did I see? He was handsome! He looked just like a human, and he was this man with dark hair and — and you know what’s weird, Leonard? He kind of looked like you.”

“Well,” I say.

“Not exactly like you, but something like you. Anyway, that’s not the whole of the story, that’s just the preamble. I have to get to the important stuff, like when I had sex with him.”

“Sex,” Sheila says. She gives me a quick glance that I think Tasha catches.

“Yes. Not at first, not just like that. You see — it was all real hazy, like some crazy dream. I dunno. I felt — seduced. He said, ‘I want to show you something,’ and he took my hand and we went to one of those round windows and we were looking down at the Earth, and I could see the moon, and I could see the stars, and I thought, Oh, wow, is this all real?

He said to me, ‘Yes, it is very real, Amelia,’ and I said, ‘Hey, you can read my thoughts,’ and he said, ‘Yes, I can.’ He said, ‘I have come here just for you, Amelia, because you are the one, you have been chosen.’ ‘Chosen for what?’ I asked. ‘Chosen,’ he said, and it all seemed so right. He showed me the solar system. It was awesome, to tell you the truth. We were going pretty fast, at the speed of light, I guess, because we passed by Mars and then Jupiter and then Saturn with all its rings and moons and I could see those planets so close from that window, like I could touch them, you know.” She laughs. “It was like a high.”

“I bet it was,” Sheila says.

“Amelia—” Lisa says.

“Yeah?” from Amelia.

“Nothing.”

Silence.

“He seduced me,” Amelia continues softly, “and I didn’t mind. I wanted it, and I knew it was going to happen. It was — what’s the word? Dammit, I can’t think of the word…Inevitable! The Astronaut said to me, ‘What is about to happen is happening because destiny dictates it as such.’ That’s verbatim. Then we made love for hours — just as I had made love with David — and it was really nice. The next thing I knew I came to in my car and I touched my stomach and I knew right then and there.”

“Knew what?” Cara asks.

“That I was pregnant.”