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I sighed, feeling a familiar mix of love and frustration toward my unhelpful mom. She always had a way of making even the most outlandish situations seem reasonable. But as I hung up the phone and glanced over at my coworkers, still enjoying the remnants of Zorak’s culinary surprise, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe – just maybe – there was a grain of truth in her words.
Chapter 6
Zorak
I needed a drink. The situation with Vanessa was playing havoc with my tender head. I needed some of that particular brand of medicine and the time to come up with a plan. The human bars were built for such a task, usually dark, with a peppering of lost-looking souls sitting in desperate silence, trying to figure something out. Today, I would join in this human custom, and hopefully, it would benefit me.
“I’d like a large Killeran Woo-Woo, please?” I declared to the barman, who looked at me as if I had two heads.
“Coming right up,” he said, raising an eyebrow and turning on his knee to grab a bottle.
I looked around the bar at the unhappy customers until I spotted one that looked the least unhappy.
“Can you bring it over?” I asked the barman.
“Sure thing,” he said without looking at me.
I made my way to the customer with a confident stride.
“Excuse me,” I said slowly. “May I sit here?”
The customer looked at me and said, “No one can stop you.”
This must have been some kind of code among humans as the situation was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Nevertheless, I was determined to make the best of it. The barman brought over my colorful cocktail and placed it before me. Taking a deep breath, I decided to ask for advice on human mating.
“Do you have any advice,” I asked, “on human mating?”
The customer slid one seat away from me. The barman sighed as if he’d expected this line of questioning.
I tried again. “Perhaps you know of some instructional videos—”
“Like porn?” the customer asked.
“Ah!” I grinned. My cold reception was nothing more than a cultural misunderstanding. “No. I am quite well-versed in sexual relations, thank you. What do you think is the best way to approach a human female and win her heart? Asking for her hand in marriage?” I asked. “Back home, I would simply present her with the heart of a g’thal’lang that I slayed with my bare hands.”
The customer stared at me for ages before finally saying, “Marriage is the death of hope.” He then burst out laughing, clearly finding something funny in this situation.
“Here, this one here wants to get married,” he called out to the rest of the bar.
The few that were around started to laugh as well. Unsure of what to do, I fell back on my years of diplomatic training and started laughing as well.
“Do you really want to tie yourself down with such a big commitment?” he asked.
I held my tongue, unsure of what to say or do in this situation.
“That’s why I have compiled a list,” the customer said as he took a piece of paper and read it aloud. “Getting married means no more freedom, spontaneity, debauchery, choice in who to spend your time with, and most importantly– no more money!”
The other customers started laughing again while I just stared dumbfounded. It was clear that marriage should not be taken lightly in human society. Taking a sip from my drink, I thanked the customer for his advice and left the bar, thinking deeply about what had happened. The suggestion of marriage was not the way forward at this stage. I needed to think about it more. I decided to sleep on it.
But when I tried to sleep that night, Vanessa still consumed my thoughts. Whenever I closed my eyes, I was plagued with images of her face, her voice and how she made me feel. My heart was beating so quickly that it felt like it would burst out of my chest. She had become an obsession, and no matter how much I tried to distract myself, thoughts of her kept coming back.
It seemed impossible to shake off these feelings for her. Although it frightened me a little, at the same time it was comforting knowing that even though life could be unpredictable, one thing remained certain – my feelings for Vanessa.
I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep filled with dreams of us walking hand in hand towards the future while promising never to let go no matter what happened. These dreams were so vivid and real that I almost believed they had happened when I woke up in the morning.
The next day, I decided to walk around the city, observing how human couples interacted and behaved. Everywhere I went, I noticed that love was a powerful emotion that made couples fight against all odds just to be together. Couples laughed and teased each other as they strolled hand in hand down the streets, oblivious to the world around them. Despite the chaos of their everyday lives, these couples were still able to find solace in each other’s arms, and it brought a sense of peace to my heart.
Marriage was a serious thing here, but clearly not something everyone feared.
