Rogalia ran into the bar, well ahead of John. It’s like watching a kid on Christmas, John thought to himself. He couldn’t help but smile. She was kind enough to wait for him a few feet inside the door.
The bar was filled with people. The bar was to the left, along with tables, and TVs hanging off the walls. To the right was a set of pool tables and darts, all of which were taken and had others waiting in line.
“Wow, it really is a lot like back home,” she said. “Except for the clothes of course.”
“I wonder what the odds are of our two races being so similar,” John said. “Do you think all races out there are pretty much the same?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I want to try that sex on the beach drink you were talking about.”
She ran to the bar and excitedly yelled at the bar tender loud enough that he couldn’t ignore her. She ordered her drink. The bar tender went off to make and while she waited patiently for him to return. John joined her and waited to order his drink.
John gave a beautiful woman sitting alone at the bar next to him a smile. She gave him a slight smile back, but quickly looked away. John looked back at Rogalia who as watching all the people in the bar.
“Hey how are you doing?” a man said to the beautiful woman next to John. “You really look good in that blouse, but you’ll look even better once it’s on my bedroom floor.”
It took a few seconds for John to register what he just said. People actually say those things, he thought to himself. I thought the movies just made that stuff up.
The women grabbed her drink in disgust. “Stay away from me!” she said as she left the bar.
“That was kind of rude of her,” Rogalia said. “He was just giving her a compliment.”
“You think she was being rude?” John asked.
“You don’t?” Rogalia asked.
“Human women typically only have sex with people the know well and are comfortable with,” he replied. “To ask or imply that someone have sex with you after just meeting is very, very rude.”
“Oh ok. I had forgotten how weird humans can be,” she said. “Still I fell bad for the guy.”
Rogalia noticed the bar tender with her drink. He had a very weird look on his face as he handed her drink over. John tried to order a drink, but the bar tender walked off without hearing him.
“What is that?” Rogalia said.
“Pool,” John said. “It’s a game where the object is to hit the white ball with a stick and knock the other balls into the holes around the table.”
“Lets play!” she replied.
“It’s crowded. We will probably be waiting for a while,” replied John. “Unless you offer them sex or something.” John immediately regretted making that joke. He looked at Rogalia and knew it was a mistake from the look on her face.
“Do you think that will work?” she asked.
“It was a joke. You can’t do that,” he replied. He wasn’t sure if she understood him or not. She took off towards the table. John followed her apprehensively.
“Hi,” she said when she reached the table. There were two men and two women standing around the table. One of the men was about to hit the ball.
“How you doing?” said the man standing closest to her.
“Do you mind if we have a shot at this game?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. I think they have this table next,” he said indicating towards a group of people at the table a few feet away.
“How about we play you two. If you win I’ll have sex with you,” Rogalia said. The man hitting the ball missed completely. Both men and the two women (who were clearly their dates), along with a few other people in earshot looked at her dumbfounded.
“Are you serious?” the man asked. Rogalia nodded. The two men looked at each other, then at their respective dates.
“This really, really isn’t a good idea,” John said to Rogalia. She ignored him.
One of the women approached the man that was hitting the ball, and said something to him. “I can’t be a participant, but if we both can be a spectator, I’ll play,” he said.
Rogalia looked at John confused. “They want to watch,” he said.
“That is fine with me,” she said.
The other man stared at his date. She was giving him a stern look and shaking her head as he decided what to do. After about a minute he said, “Rack them up.” His date picked up her drink and threw it in his face. She slammed the glass down and the table and stormed off in the direction of the door.
The man wiped off his face and said, “I’m Richard by the way, and this is Jack and Jill.” He waited for the customary joke about Jack and Jill. John was to preoccupied about how he felt about this game (or at least the stakes of the game), and Rogalia didn’t get the reference. “What was your names again?” he said after a moment.
“Amanda,” Rogalia said. John was thankful she was smart enough not to give her real name at least. A girl having sex over a game of pool was just as big of a red flag as a name like Rogalia, and that news would probably spread a lot more quickly. It wasn’t why John wished he had the courage to leave, but it was a good enough reason to do so.
“John,” John said with a nod of his head.
“Ok then, lets get this game started,” Jack said as he began to rack the balls.
“We are playing the best 2 out of 3,” John said. Might as well give themselves the best chances of winning.
The group decided Jack would break. John thought it best if Rogalia went last, so she had time to learn the game.
“Hi there beautiful,” a man said coming up behind Rogalia. He was an older man, probably in his late 50s or early sixties. He was fairly tall with white hair.
“Hi there yourself handsome,” Rogalia replied.
“What is your name?” he asked after the sound from Jack breaking died down.
“Amanda,” she replied.
“Well Amanda. Would you mind if I bought you a drink?” he asked.
She smiled, “I would love another drink.”
“What should I get you?” he asked.
“Oh, surprise me. I like surprises,” she replied and smiled at him. He smiled back and left to get the drink. John tried his best to explain the game of pool to Rogalia. Unfortunately he didn’t play very often and didn’t know much about it himself.
The old man returned few minutes later, drink in hand. “Here you go dear,” he said. “Can I talk you into joining me at my table while you enjoy this?
“I’m sorry, but I’m playing pool right now,” she replied. “And it’s my shot. You welcome to watch us if you like.”
Rogalia had a hard time getting use to pool. John tried to help her line up her first shot without resorting to putting his arms around her. In the end he had to. She wasn’t aiming properly, and he still was hoping to win. It felt nice with his arms around her. There was something about the way she smelled, the touch of her skin, and the warmth of her body that soothed John. He almost felt comfortable.
She missed, which was very disappointing to John. They already had half their balls in, and he had missed his shot as well. Jack was next and he got another ball in. John made two, but so did Richard. Rogalia missed, and Jack made their teams final ball and the eight ball for the win.
The second game went much better for them. John, through sheer luck, had a four ball streak. Rogalia too improved a great deal, hitting in a couple of balls including the eight ball. This surprised John, as she spent most of the time talking to Donald, the older gentleman hitting on her. John was sure she only did it for the drinks he kept buying her.
The third game was close. It ended up being Jack shooting for the eight ball, which was the only one still on the table. The shot was straight into the corner pocket, but crossed half the table. John said a little prayer as he waiting in anticipation. Jack took so long to shoot, John was sure he was doing it on purpose.
Finally he hit the queue ball and it rolled into the eight. The eight skewed a little to the left and wound up right in front of the hole. John sighed in relief, but kept himself from cheering out loud.
Of course, now it was his shot. No pressure there.
He laid his sweaty palm on the table, hoping the moisture wouldn’t skew his shot. He lined up the ball and tried to clear his mind. He gently hit the queue ball. It slowly rolled down the table and hit the eight. The eight ball rolled into the pocket.
“Yes!” John said. All three, Richard, Jack, and Jill showed their disappointment enthusiastically.
Rogalia ran up to John and gave him a hug. “We won!” she said.
“I must say, I thought for sure we would win after that first game,” Richard said. “It’s a shame too. You are the most attractive woman I’ve met in my life. Maybe we can do a rematch sometime? With the same bet?”
“Why what for a bet?” Rogalia said. “Why not just have sex now and get it over with?”
“What?” John said, utterly surprised.
“I haven’t had sex in a few days, and I really didn’t think we would win,” she replied.
“What?” John said again.
“Um. Ok I guess. Do you live near by?” Richard asked.
“Not that far, but I really would rather not go there,” she said. “Can’t we do it here somewhere? I guess they would frown on us doing it here. How about the bathroom?”
“What?” John said one more time.
“I’m with him on this one,” Jill said.
“Um. The bathroom is probably not a good idea, but I have a fairly back seat in my car. I guess I could park it in the ally or something,” Richard said.
“That’s good enough for me,” Rogalia said. She and Richard began walking towards the door. After a few steps she turned back. “You guys said you wanted to watch right?” she said to Jack and Jill. They looked at each other and rushed to catch up with them.
“Are you coming too?” Rogalia asked John.
“No,” John said without really thinking about it. “I think I’ll stay here.”
“Are you sure? It would be more fun if you were there,” she replied.
“No. I don’t want to go. I’m sorry,” he said. She smiled and left with the others.
John found a table and sat down. Why do I feel this way about her? he thought to himself. It will obviously not work out. She is from another planet for god’s sake. Why can’t real life aliens by like the ones in the movies: humans with blue skin?
It was over and hour and a half before Rogalia returned. John and finished off quite a few more drinks by that time. Rogalia came in and sat down next to him.
“How was it?” he asked before thinking about the question. He really wished he had thought that one through.
“It wasn’t bad,” she said. “I wished it had lasted longer though. It would have been better if I could have talked Jack and Jill into joining us, but they refused.”
“Two hours wasn’t long enough for you?” he asked.
“Oh, I met Donald, the gentleman that was buying drinks for me, in the parking lot on the way back in. He was a lot better. I mean for a human. Still not as good as Michael though.”
“Woah. I really don’t want to hear this,” he said. “In fact. I think its time we got you home.”
“Already? I wanted to play more pool. I thought it was fun,” she said.
“Maybe next time,” John said. Rogalia was disappointed, but didn’t put up any further argument.
The two sat in silence most of the way back to Rogalia’s apartment. It was strange being next to Rogalia and not hearing her talking. John couldn’t remember that ever happening.
“Is something wrong?” Rogalia asked when they were almost to her home.
“No, not really,” John said.
“Ok,” Rogalia said. “You have to remember I don’t know you human’s that well yet. Does that mean nothing is wrong, or is something bothering you?”
John signed. Thankfully driving meant he didn’t have to look her in the eye. “It’s just you having sex with strangers bothers me a little.”
“Really?” Rogalia said. “Well I can’t not have sex. What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Nothing,” John said. “It’s unfair for me to even mention it. I know your race is different than ours. I guess I’ll have to just get used to it if we are going to spend time together.”
John had pulled into a parking spot at her apartment. He looked at her in the eye. “I hope we can still spend time together, but I think it’s a very bad idea for us to sleep together.” Seeing the confused look on her face he added, “It’s a weird human thing.”
“Oh ok,” she said. “I’m always forgetting how weird you people can be. How about if I do my best to keep my sexual affairs secret from you.”
“So your solution to my problem is to lie to me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“That could work,” he said. With that she got out and left. John then drove himself home alone.
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