“— with flowers that aren’t from a gas station,” Nayli finished.
Aelanna laughed despite herself. “You two are ridiculous.”
“So,” Kora said, cracking her knuckles. “What’s the plan? Revenge? Reinvention? Retail therapy?”
Nayli perked up. “Ooh, retail therapy. I know a place that does emergency post-breakup makeovers. They have a loyalty card.”
Aelanna blinked. “You have a loyalty card for that?” she asked in disbelief.
Nayli sipped her drink. “I date men.” She looked away. “Or try to.”
Kora was lifting her glass to her mouth and stopped it midway. “Honey, what’s wrong? You looked scared for a moment.”
Nayli looked from Kora to Aelanna and back again. “Another time. This is Aelanna’s evening,” she said, and raised hers. “To best friends.”
Aelanna raised hers last. “To… starting over, I guess.”
They clinked glasses.
“Talking of starting over, now’s the time to tell you, I guess,” Kora announced.
“What?” The others chorused.
“You know how my life isn’t going anywhere? I’m stuck in a crap job in a crap apartment, and any men I date are rejects from the dating pool... yah de yah de yah,” said Kora, waving her hand.
“The story of my life,” said Aelanna, and rolled her eyes.
“Spill, girl,” Nayli insisted.
“I’ve signed up for the Harmonious Mates Agency—”
“Harmonious Mates Agency?” Nayli cut in. “What’s that when it’s at home?”
“It’s a dating agency,” Kora told them smugly.
The other two groaned.
“Bartender!” Nayli yelled. “Bring us three more!”
Kora’s blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “With aliens.”
Nayli and Aelanna gasped.
Kora went on. “Who are looking for their fated mates. I’m going to a galaxy far, far away.” She wiggled her fingers dramatically in front of her face at that last bit.
Aelanna thought about Kora’s crazy, impulsive plan as she walked home. The bar was near her place in Queens, a small shabby apartment in a rundown building. She’d already given notice on the apartment, thinking she was going to marry Brad and would move in with her husband, not in her wildest dreams imagining he was going to let her down.Where on earth was she going to live?
The other two shared an Uber. With hugs and kisses, they had said their goodnights, promising to keep an eye on Aelanna and getting her to think about Kora’s plan.
She would miss Kora if she wasn’t around. Like Kora, Aelanna’s life wasn’t going anywhere. What did she have to look forward to?More of the same?Scrabbling for pennies, but with kids and a dog and a husband that was frazzled all the time about how to make ends meet? Maybe alien worlds would be different. Maybe alien husbands would value women more, women like her. Her heart leapt.
She reached her building, turned the key in the door and entered the hallway. The building had seen better days, inside and out. The hall light switched on automatically, triggered by movement. It was a bare bulb hanging starkly from the ceiling by its wire. The floor tiles, once elegant, were worn, and the brown linoleum on the stairs was frayed and chipped. The sorry excuse of an elevator didn’t work. She hurried up the stairs; she had two flights to go before the lights went out.
Once in her apartment, she locked herself in and pressed her back to the inside of the door with relief and closed her eyes. She didn’t know why she always did that. It was dark but she didn’t turn on the lights. The building spooked her — or maybe her life did, but Kora had shown her a way out. She opened her eyes, full of hope. Streetlights lit up the window, neon dancing in them, yellow, red and blue. She would join Kora on her adventure. If she woke up in the morning feeling the same, she'd do it.
She would!
Chapter 5
