Irritated, I stand and shut off the stereo. The music drops away, and the only sounds that remain are from the cars driving on the city streets below.
These last few years have been difficult on my psyche. When I’m not working, I don’t leave the house. When I am working, I stay in my office for overtime.
Sometimes, I don’t tell anyone I’m staying. I just watch the lights dim as my co-workers leave the building.
I tell old friends I am working hard and saving my paychecks for a house I can finally call my own. Just saving and preparing for the day when I’ll be able to be free, truly free.
But that’s just a dream people like to fantasize about. The more I think about that dream, the more it turns into a nightmare. I don’t want any of these things.
I just want love.
I want someone to understand me. I want someone to hold me when things feel dark. And I want someone who can push me when I feel like giving up.
I’m a complicated woman. One man couldn’t give me what I need. I’m sure of it. It would probably take owning a harem to fulfill my true desires.
Okay, that’s a little extreme.
I once had something good. I met a man in college. We moved in together, and for five years, it was great. The next two were tragic.
He told me I wasn’t the one. That was that.
I don’t miss him, but it’s a moment in time I often think back to. It makes me wonder if love can exist past a certain point. Maybe once you reach your thirties, it’s all over.
I’m twenty-nine, and I haven’t had sex in over seven months. When I say the words in my head, it sounds horrible.
Is it over for me? Did I wait too long?
Ryan was a stupid rebound, a total office regret. And now I’m here, sinking into my leather chair, reading the reports on a planetary discovery I couldn’t give two shits about.
As I analyze the picture of the green planet, I chuckle to myself. “Aliens,” I whisper, shaking my head. “How silly.”
I get two pages into the reports, but I’m unable to think straight. If ET life-forms exist, would it really be that shocking? The world is already such a complicated place. I’m not sure it would really make a difference.
Swiveling my chair to face the windows, I set the papers in my lap and watch the sun rise through the clouds. The rays look heavenly.
It doesn’t last long.
Everything takes a turn for the worst…
Outside, the sound of metal rearing its weight through the atmosphere echoes. At first, I assume a plane has malfunctioned.
Within seconds, the truth shatters every preconceived notion I had about the universe.
A monolithic mothership blocks out those beautiful rays of sunshine.
I dart out of my seat, heart racing. Is this really happening? The screams coming from the streets below suggest that, yes, this is very real.
The office panics. Shouting reverberates on the other side of my closed door. I can hear Ryan trying to calm everyone down, but it doesn’t seem to work.
There is no calming this down. The big hunk of metal has now covered the entire sky. I can see every pipe, every turret and thruster. The giant disc must have thousands of weapons attached to it.
The vessel lowers over the city, hovering in the distance. Waiting to invade like a parasite.
Someone in the office screams, “Oh, God! What is it?”
Slowly, I walk toward the window. I place my hand against the smooth, crisp glass, fogging it with my hot breath.
Deep in my heart, I know what’s happening. Everyone must know.