Trinity

She realized how profoundly she'd upset me. She took my hand in both of hers, eyes searching my face and said, "I was two people. Most of me was your devoted wife. I never lost one iota of love, or respect for you."

Then she grimaced and added, "But the slutty part of me loved being manhandled. It wasn't making love. It was animalistic, sweaty, and dirty. I thought it was okay because you'd never know. At least that was my selfish reasoning. I was a dishonest fool, both to you and myself."

She finished with, " Ironically, I had just finished telling him that this was the last time. He said he wanted one more to remember me by and I was already in the room. So, I thought why not? How pathetic is that?"

She paused and said, "That's my story. I know you and I'm aware of the consequences. I take full responsibility for my actions and I will sign whatever agreement you offer me. I'll do it because I love you and I know it's the right thing to do. I finally recognize that."

You can admire an opponent after a tough fight. That was the way I felt about my soon to be ex-wife. Brenda might be a cheating slut in one incarnation. But the woman I loved was running things now. In the end, that person closed the books with class.

I hugged her as I left. I said, "I'll contact Jim Eastman." He was our family attorney. "Because the divorce will be relatively amicable, he can represent both of us."

I added, "Then I'm going to disappear for a while. I have some wounds to lick and I want to do that someplace private. I'll have to clear it with Sandia. But they owe me. So, I don't imagine they'll object."

She put her hand on my cheek, looked me sadly in the eye and said, "I understand and I'm sorry. I'll be here if you change your mind." She started to cry as she closed the door. I drove to a nearby park and threw up. There was nothing but barren landscape in front of me now. It was terrifying.

*****

It's funny how people's moral position will alter with circumstance. I was divorcing Brenda because she hid something from me. At the same time, I was shacked up with a woman who was far more beautiful than even my gorgeous wife. And Brenda was none the wiser. So, who was the liar now?

Of course, I couldn't tell Brenda that this particular woman was with me because she was from another planet. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that she was telepathic? They'd have locked me in a rubber room.

I was also sure that Brenda would have a hard time accepting any assurances that our relationship was strictly platonic, especially once she got a look at Stella. Hence, even though I'd temporarily cleared the decks in one area, an even weirder problem was waiting in the wings.

Stella was still in her robe when I got back. She was staring hypnotized at the TV, which was running an episode of Friends. She said excitedly, "I've been learning about earth culture."

I heartily doubted that Chandler, Ross, Joey, Monica, or Rachel were representatives of any culture outside of TV land. But I said, "Have you eaten anything?"

She said perkily, "Yes, I had my daily wafer and pointed toward the thing on her wrist."

She took one of the wafers out of her wrist device and showed it to me. It was a half-inch cube. All I could think of was Soylent Green.

I said, "Do you want anything else?" She said contentedly, "No, that had all the nourishment I need for the next twenty-four hours."

I said, "And you live on that?" She said, "Of course, it's a complete diet."

I said, "Does it have any taste?" I was ordering room service for myself. She looked puzzled and said, "Why? Should it have taste?" The idea struck me. She really DOES do a convincing impression of somebody who's never lived on earth. Except, I didn't believe it. It was far too cliched.

I said, "How old are you?" She said distractedly, still watching the antics of the kooky gang at Central Perk, "Two-hundred-and-seventy-seven on my next birthday." She looked twenty six.

I whistled and said jokingly, "You've held up pretty well for an old girl."

She shot back angry , "What do you mean old!! I've only lived a quarter of my normal lifespan!!"

I didn't argue with the crazy lady. Instead I said, "We'll have to get you some clothing. You can't walk around wearing what you arrived on earth in." She said insulted, "What's wrong with my suit. It's the latest murmur-hic style on cough-sigh!!"

I nodded toward the screen and said, "You'll have to look more like those women if you want to fit in. Or else people might start thinking that you're not from around these parts." The waggle of my eyebrows and my wink communicated the concept of Alien Autopsy.

She looked horrified and said, "How can I wear something different!! This is all I have."

I had an inspiration. I said, "Your current outfit won't look at-all out of place at Walmart. We can get you some clothes there."

At that point there was a knock on the door and the room service kid wheeled in a tray of bagels and lox. I tried to tip him. But he couldn't take his eyes off Stella. He ran into the door on the way out.

I slathered a bagel with cream cheese and said, "Try this. It's what we eat here." She took a bite. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she did a full body quiver. It was like she'd just orgasmed. She said breathlessly, "Is THIS what taste feels like?"

An hour later we were entering the Walmart Super Center on San Mateo. Stella kept bumping into the displays, gazing around spellbound. She said entranced. "Look at all these beautiful things." I'd never heard that said about Walmart products. The Chinese would be flattered.

Brenda spent two hours in the clothes racks at the back of the store and another forty minutes in the cosmetics aisle. She said earnestly, "I leaned about all this on the Home Shopping Network."

One of the things that was evident from the beginning was Stella's lack of underwear. So, while she tried on clothes I drifted over to the women's underthings section.

Women may not be aware of this. But no guy wants to be caught dead in the female technology aisle of any store. So, I sidled up to the clerk like I was making a drug buy. Her nametag read Ruby Sue.

I asked Ruby Sue if she could sell me some basic women's gear. She looked at me askance, like she thought I was buying it for myself. I nodded in Stella's direction and said, "It's for her." Stella was sitting on the floor happily trying on shoes. I said by way of explanation, "She's special."

Ruby Sue nodded and tapped her nose wisely. Apparently that was a regular part of their customer base. She said, "What size does she wear?"

I said, "I have no idea." I mean seriously, men don't know anything about boobs. We just like playing with them.

The clerk said, "She looks like a 32 D, or a double D."

I said, "I'd go with the biggest size, they're huge."

Stella changed in the dressing room. Walmart had no problem letting me go in as her caregiver. I suppose they get a lot of that. I had to get used to the fact that my star-girl had no body issues. She just skinned herself out of her suit and then happily stepped into her new step-ins.

The bra took some explaining. Once she had finished putting it on, and I was correct about the size by-the-way, she took both of her beautiful big tits in her hands and said, "That's comfortable even if the back part is restrictive."

She put on a white blouse and plaid wrap-around skirt that made her look like she'd just stepped off the campus of one of the Seven Sisters. The clothing might be Walmart. But the body was extraterrestrial.

*****

I really wanted to get Stella out of my life. She was an extreme complication and her "alien" behavior was making it hard to keep focused on the things that I had to stay on top of. It was like minding a five year old.

But unlike a kid, Stella literally stopped traffic everywhere she went. I was especially worried about being seen in public with her. At least, until all the pieces hit the ground. My soon to be ex-wife didn't deserve that particular revelation.

Yep - I knew that it was all Brenda's fault. But the cool guys don't party in the end-zone after a touchdown. It just lacks class. I might have told Brenda about Stella. But what would that accomplish? It wasn't like I was cheating on my soon-to-be ex-wife. We were already getting a divorce.

So, when we got back to the room, I said, "I want to take you to dinner tonight. It will be just like we earth folks do it. We get dressed up and spend the evening talking. You've seen that on TV, right?" She nodded eagerly. I asked, "Would you like to do that?"

My star-girl got very excited. Apparently, she'd seen something like that on "Real Housewives" and wanted to try it. She also wanted to continue her experiment with "tasting."

I said, "I have to make personal arrangements. I'll be back around six o'clock to pick you up. There was no way I wanted to talk about Stella's future while we were sitting cooped up in our room.

I spent the day working on the plans for the separation. It would be an easy divorce since it was amicable. Easy, that is, if you discounted the heartbreak that would follow. Part of me still wondered why I was doing it.

That is, until the ghost of Richard Tudwell popped up and said, "Yeah, why do it man? She's such a great fuck!!" Thanks Turd, THAT was just the reminder I needed. In gratitude, I spent a little time on the Silk Road buying him a few thoughtful gifts, like an anonymous beating and a drug charge. It was worth the bitcoins. I passed on the hit man ads. I wanted Turd to suffer for a very long time. And he was going to feel it after I finished doxing him on the Darkweb. That place is scary!!

I also arranged to take a couple of weeks off. My team could do without me and the bureaucrats could care less what I was up to just as long as I kept their asses covered. I needed to get Stella some help. Whether that would be psychological, or astrophysical was still up in the air.

Stella was ready when I got back. She was breathtaking. I knew that my star-girl was beautiful. But I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. She, in turn, looked absolutely terrified.

She must have used a source like YouTube, to learn how to apply makeup. She hadn't worn any until then. The enhancement upped her extraterrestrial beauty into the inter-galactic class.

We were just going downstairs to the restaurant, which wasn't exactly a five star. But there was no chance we could go to one of the upscale places without Stella being noticed. She might even attract paparazzi. A woman that beautiful has to be famous - right?

The last thing I wanted was for Brenda to think that I'd had a replacement waiting in the wings. It wasn't because I was trying to avoid seeming vindictive. It's just that I knew that our divorce would follow a much less constructive path if Brenda thought I was trading up.

Stella was wearing a figure hugging emerald green dress. It was a perfect match with her incredible eyes. The dress displayed a lot of stylish cleavage and a fabulous pair of legs, underneath a short hemline.

She was even wearing a sexy pair of heels. They made her legs and bubble butt even more delectable. She was either unearthly nimble or she'd used anti-gravity to master walking in them. Stella said anxiously, "Do I look alright? Is this what you expected?"

That was perhaps the greatest understatement since, "Houston we have a problem." I wondered if the insecurity gene is built into the X chromosome. My only concern was that I would be fighting off predators with a stick.

Once we were seated, I ordered for both of us. I tried to keep it bland since Stella claimed to have spent her entire life living on what appeared to be fish food. She insisted on sampling everything I ordered. Her little noises of enjoyment made it sound like I was fucking her.

She kept cutting me speculative glances. She knew what we were there for. Remember - she supposedly reads minds. I finally said, "Okay, so how do we get you back to your world?"

She stopped mid-bite and looked unhappy. She said, "Why do you think that I WANT to go back?"

I said, "Don't you have a family, or perhaps a special person to go back to?" I know that sounded crazy. But it was a lot simpler to act like she was just visiting from outer space.

She turned contemplative, like she was thinking through her answer. She said cautiously, "I've never had a family. That's not how children are raised on cough-sigh. There's nothing to go back to anyhow. They've probably all been harvested by the snarl-growl-hiccup."

Then she hesitated and added shyly, "Maybe you're my special person. Did you ever think of that?"

I said incredulously, "How in the world could you even say that??!! We've known each other for exactly twenty-four hours."

She tapped the side of her head and said, "I know everything about you. You are all that I value in a mate. You are kind, decent, smart, funny, and adventurous. I know that your current mate made a huge error by doing what she did. I would never make that mistake."

Then it dawned on me. Maybe this opened up a way forward. But first, I had to absolutely confirm something. I looked intently at Stella, trying to read her face, and said, "When I went to sleep last night you said you had to power down your mind. What did you mean by that?"

I knew the question was out of left field. I meant it to be. Let's see what she had to say about THAT.

She laughed and responded immediately, "Our race has always interacted telepathically. We may have communicated by voice sometime in the past. But our planet is much older than yours."

She added casually, "Our telepathic receptors are omnidirectional, it's like human hearing. Thus, there's always background noise. We shield our minds to be polite. The people on your planet don't do that. So, I have to filter it out and it's tiring. It helps if I can turn off my sensors. It's like your need for sleep."

OMG!! That was too detailed an explanation to be made up!! I said flabbergasted, "So, what you've been telling me is true? You are actually an alien? But you are still just a woman?"

That was like saying that the SR-71 Blackbird was just an airplane. But I was still getting my head around the idea that the luminescent beauty sitting across from me was genuine.

She gave me a fond smile and said, "Of course I am. An uncounted number of humanoid civilizations populate the universe. We are all biologically similar. As I told you, it's the most efficient configuration."

I added still stunned, "Seriously??!! There's a portal to a million other worlds out there at White Sands and you really ARE a refugee from another planet!!??"

She said conversationally, like we were discussing bus stops, "Well - there's another portal in the Jura mountains now. It's near a place called CERN. They built it when your race began to experiment with sub-atomic particles. I believe it's called the Large Hadron Collider. That's another big advance."

Wow!! First I find my wife fucking another guy. Now I find myself talking to a real ET; and it wasn't the ugly little creature with Einstein's eyes. Man!! Did Spielberg ever get it wrong!!

Stella smiled radiantly and said, "You believe me now!!" I said sounding a bit overwhelmed, "I believe you."

She said eagerly, "So, I can be your companion then? I would even be willing to undergo a commitment ceremony. That would bond us for life."

I said still a little shaky, "Let's take this one step at a time. We don't use a killer device to ensure that we stay together." She looked puzzled, like she couldn't understand how we were able to do it otherwise.

I smiled affectionately, and for the first time I was feeling loving rather than annoyed. She really was a sweet, modest, and simple woman I got the sense that there was an extraordinarily pure soul lurking underneath all of the alien strangeness.

I said gently, "We have to learn how to be bonded and I'm still legally committed to another woman. That has to be formally undone before we can be committed to each other." Well - if I was going to "bond" with this beautiful little alien I might as well start speaking her language.

The leap was sudden. But you know how those things work. I had felt a natural attraction to Stella, almost from the moment that I'd discovered her out in the desert. She was the ultimate female in a physical sense, movie star beautiful. But it was her kind-hearted and happy demeanor that drew me in. There wasn't a mean, or malicious bone in her body.

She said eagerly, "Can we have sex now??!!" That was like being propositioned by every hot chick who ever populated my sweatiest adolescent dreams. But of course, there was a hitch.

I laughed and said, "Our society has rules. We call it morality. Those rules guide the commitment process. They're really just common sense things that you do in order to avoid hurting other people. But they are an essential part of human life. So, you are going to have to learn what those are before we can be committed."

Stella looked like she wanted me to get to the point. I added laughing, "One of those rules is that two people cannot have sex if they are committed to another person. Right now, I am still bound by a pact that I made with my former mate and I would lose my honor if I had sex with you before that agreement was, in-effect, terminated by mutual agreement."

Stella looked very disappointed, which wasn't close to how I felt. I reached across the table and took her hands in mine. They were tiny and silky smooth, like a warm cup of tea in fine porcelain.

It was the first time we had touched. A sense of intimacy and love burst in my head like a super-nova. Stella was transmitting her feelings directly and unshielded. They gave me an overpowering sense of peace and contentment.

I said, "I have no idea why I've been so lucky. But I know that we can live a happy life together and it starts here and now. I'm human. You're not. So, it's immaterial whether it could be fifty, or seven-hundred and fifty years. Either way I want to begin our journey honestly, without any hint of hypocrisy. We won't have sex tonight. But we WILL start the process of being a couple."

*****

I spent a little time looking for a place for us to live. I wanted a safe location, not too far from the city, where Stella could begin to grow accustomed to earth and earth customs. We spent the two weeks I had taken off, getting into that place, while I ran up a ridiculous bill at the Marriott.

I felt like I needed to keep Stella hidden. I know that sounds hypocritical. Since it was Brenda's sneaking around that ended our marriage. But I was concealing my star-girl for a different reason. First and foremost, I wasn't fucking her. More importantly, my marriage had already ended. It just hadn't been officially terminated and I wanted to keep the process friendly.

A lot of divorces descend into bitterness and animosity. Shit gets pulled, people are beaten up and there is emotional distress. But the process CAN take place without acrimony and chaos. Brenda and I had enough dignity to interact civilly. Or maybe we just subscribed to the old maxim about, "Never let them see you sweat." Either way, neither of us tipped our hand about how much we were hurting.

Instead, we talked the thing through to an ending that, while not perfect, was something we could both live with. It was during one of those discussions that the prospect of other people came up.

Moving on to others was a forgone conclusion. We were both reasonably attractive and heterosexual. So, there would be the inevitable time when we would start down that path. Brenda said, embarrassed, "Davey, I want to talk about where we go from here. Since we split up, I've been asked out by a lot of men and I want your permission to start dating again."