Chapter 1

"Welcome to the Mated Marriage Matchups,"my best friend Caley's trembling voice called out as I pushed open the front door.

I stopped in my tracks, the thick reinforced door halfway open. The only reason I was able to push open this monstrosity was because the whole thing was rigged in some way to make it just as easy as a normal door. I didn't know how it worked. I wasn't an engineer. I had decided to focus on my career early in life, while the other kids in high school went on to college.

My gamble had paid off.

I was an actor.

An actor who actually works as an actor—not the kind who waits tables at night so they can attend auditions during the day—though I have been there and done that too. Now that I had a starring role on daytime TV, there were some things I simply would not stand for.

Like my best friend practically shaking in her boots while greeting a new customer coming through the door. She'd asked me to help her practice and get ready to really run things before the business formally opened up, and that is exactly what I was going to do.

I had to cancel a few things to make this happen, but Caley was more important.

Plus, this gig was definitely going to have a huge payoff.

Nothing wrong with being there for a friend and myself at the same time.

"No!" I called out. Caley's gaze focused on me, and then she looked away again, down at her hands, her messy bun flopping on her head like an overactive kitten trying to take a nap. "Try again, but this time speak from your gut. I want you to imagine someone punching you in the stomach as you speak. Tense those abdominals, anchor the sound in your chest, and actually greet me like you want me to sign up for your monster f-ing service."

"They're not monsters, they're aliens!" Caley shot back from across the room, her tone as clear and crisp as a bell. "Plus, if someone hit me in the stomach, Jevelar would literally kill them. The Norratar don't mess around with their mates being attacked."

"Good, just like that." I grinned at her, pleased that all it took was a little bit of teasing to get her to project her voice. "Maybe you should rename your mating service as ‘Touch Her and Die Mates'."

Caley laughed, the sound ricocheting around the room with the suddenness of it. I could see the last of her nervousness melting from her body with the impact of the humor.

"Did you know I saw a horse on the road on the way here?" I mentioned throwing in a non sequitur to pull her mind off the filming. If she was thinking about horses, she wouldn't be panicking about greeting me as I walked in.

"My neighbor down the road has opened a rental facility." Caley smiled. "I got to ride one to go pick up groceries. Jevelar held onto a rope that was on a halter under the bridle and walked me all the way there and back. It was pretty fun."

Now I was distracted. I made a mental note to try horseback riding to get groceries. It sounded strangely like a lot of fun.

"Did you use… those… um… things to hold onto the horse?" I asked, not sure what to call them.

"My osae?" Caley asked. "No! I'm a little nervous taking them out in public. What if someone saw them and asked questions?"

"They seem kind of cool," I said. "They're like extra arms you can take out and whip around whenever you want. I have to say, they're a pretty big incentive to join the mate program. Closest thing I've ever seen to becoming a mutant superhero."

"Oh, but you're not-"

"We gotta focus, it's time to take off the training wheels. Get ready!" I cut her off, realizing how much time we spent chatting and shut the door, stepping back outside.

Caley's house was pretty nice, way better than what I could have gotten on my last salary, and it was phenomenal that she managed to keep it. Then again, given what she was using it for, I shouldn't congratulate her too much, as she lived in a bubble after all. I glanced up at the sky. The shimmering forcefield that ended neatly right before the sidewalk glittered in the sky like a shimmery purple bubble. I hadn't been able to see it before I walked through it, but now that I was on the other side, inside its protective field, it was easy to spot.

I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my selfie stick to look at my phone camera. I checked my makeup and hair. I loved the shine that the new treatment gave my gorgeous black locks. I'd gotten some good fan commentary on it. I glanced around myself, a quick habit I'd formed since I landed my first leading role on the soap opera.

My online following had skyrocketed since the launch of the show.

There were so many people following me, paying attention to every word I said. It was everything I ever wanted. My dreams were coming true; all I had to do was work on them and work with my fans to turn them into superfans so that the next stage in my career would be a blockbuster movie.

I was on the way to everything I ever wanted.

I fixed a brilliant smile on my face, making sure the camera was nice and close to me so it didn't show much at all of the background.

I clicked the button on my phone.

"Heeeeeey, Soul Family!" I crooned, making sure the smile on my face reflected. "I'm so excited to be giving you this world-wide exclusive. I'm here, standing in front of the first ever dating service for human-alien relations. Now, I know a bunch of you in the chat are going off about how this is a prank, that there is no way, that I'm just going to yank you around by promising a long time and not giving you anything, but guess what? This is the real deal, and you're going to be with me every step of the way, and that includes first contact. We are going to talk to a real, live alien and we are going to do it TODAY. Are you ready? Put some eggplants in the chat if you are with me!"

I giggled at that one, completely entertained with my own cheekiness as my chat became absolutely covered in purple eggplant emojis.

I pushed open the door.

"Welcome to the Mated Marriage Matchups," Caley called out louder this time. "Where your matrimony melancholy comes to an end!"

"Oh no, we are going to work on your tagline," I laughed. "Soul Fam! Drop some suggestions in the chat!"

"Wait, are you livestreaming?" Caley asked, her voice dropping in volume.

"Don't worry, they can't see you," I said. Then I leaned into the camera and spoke in a faux whisper. "She's shy."

"No, it's okay, the whole point of this is to go live with the matchmaking service," Caley said. "I just need to check to make sure that your match is okay with being live streamed. He's on his way right now."

She tapped on a device in front of her on the desk. It looked a bit like a tablet, but it was different from any one I'd seen on the market before.

"I thought the point was to find me a hot alien male," I laughed, half talking to Caley and half talking to the stream as I winked at the camera. My chat loved when I was smiley and flirty. People really seemed to enjoy the positive energy that flowed out of me, and it was really important for me to give them what they wanted.

"Yes… well you're our first human client so it is the start, or going live, or whatever," Caley stammered out.

I looked past the camera at my friend.

She had come out from behind the counter and was standing there wringing her hands. She was wearing the same heavy black baggy sweats that she preferred, even now for her first day of work. Even though she said it was okay, I didn't point the camera at her. I'd known this woman since elementary school. She didn't want fame or notoriety. The level of hate that was already thrown my way because of simply dating would absolutely crush her. Though she was now a part of running this matchmaking service, she didn't want to be the face of it.

That was where I came in.

No one would be bothering her if I was the one they were talking about.

I was here to be the face of this whole thing by showing the process of it. I was going through the whole process, start to finish. It didn't hurt that dating had been absolute hell for me. Trying to date as a celebrity was a pain. I couldn't guarantee that anyone was interested in me for me, rather than for the characters I played or the status I could convey just by existing next to them.

I still wasn't sure if I'd go ahead with the whole marriage thing.

I'd need to make sure the guy was down with it being a fake marriage for publicity's sake, but as long as he was down for that, I was definitely going forward. This was going to drive my popularity through the roof. I bet the conservative news channels would be talking shit about me for years.

Besides, this guy was supposed to be my perfect match.

If that was the case he was going to love being in the spotlight just as much as me.

"Okay, Caley," I said. "Tell my viewers how this whole thing works. I haven't met this guy. I'm not picking him out in the standard way. Break it down for us."

"Oh, okay," Caley said. "Well, as you know, this matchmaking service is about compatibility on more than just a mental way… so normally you fill out questions and look at profiles and you pick each other based on pictures and what you wrote right? Well, we started from a different direction by taking the biological samples from you and from the applying aliens. The Norratar find their mates, or marriages as we put it, through the complex biological process of their symbiote. We mimic that process, so that you know that anyone you are matched with is an actual match to you. There are less of those than you would think. After that, we make sure you two fit each other"s additional needs, such as a willingness or ability to migrate to Earth and deal with some of the intricacies of Earth's integration into the galactic scene, or a desire to move to the alien's planet of residence. Things like that."

"What if I don't like him?" I ask, glancing back at my phone and flashing it a smile. I still was only showing myself on the screen. There was sweat beading around my forehead and I felt the slight hint of nausea creeping up. I already knew it was going to get worse. Last time I'd gone this long between doses, I'd come close to throwing up.

"Well, after we find you a match, you meet in person as you're about to do," Caley said. "Then, if you both decide you want to move forward, you start a trial marriage which lasts for one year as long as the deal breakers are respected."

"Why a marriage?" I ask. I already knew the answer to this and was chill with it, or I wouldn't have agreed to do this. The question was mainly for the new members of my audience who weren't up to date and were freaking out in my chat. "Why not just date for a year?"

My hand was trembling and there was a slight jitter in the camera. I shifted around, moving the phone more than necessary to hid the shaking. Where had I put my purse?

"All matches are biologically compatible, and the different cultures submitting to our service have different attitudes towards dating and mating, so to make things easier for everyone involved, every alien that signs up for the service has to agree to the marriage contract that you also have reviewed and has agreed to an Earth based mediation if the relationship comes to an end after a year and there are children involved," Caley finished the cascade of words by sucking in a deep breath before launching into the next segment of what she had to say. "Unless of course you waive that right in writing, which we advise against for specific species. All of the different species clauses are detailed in the contract you read. For example, for a marriage to one of the Shek'invitali, you actually agree to their laws as they are incredibly favorable towards human women. We have a lot of applicants from there by the way so if you decide you don't like the mate we found you can always-"

"So I have to fuck him?" I ask, deliberately being crude. My purse was on my shoulder. Of course it was hanging of my shoulder, where else would I have put it?

My heart was racing. It felt like there was a weight pressing down on my lungs, making it hard to breathe. I reached into my purse and felt for my Blamex. I needed to take it now but I couldn't do that on camera. I had to wait. My neck felt tight, so I let go of the prescription pills and rubbed my neck.

I had to focus on the moment.

"Oh." Caley flushed bright red. "No, you don't but we do recommend it as, you know, it's a marriage. All males signing up for this have to take a detailed course on human consent and violating that is grounds for execution under Norratar law. Though, if someone signing up for the service wants a sexless marriage, that is important to tell us in the application so we can match you with the right person."

"For those of you that don't know, which I don't know why you wouldn't by now unless you're living under a rock, the Norratar are our new ‘oppressors'." I put that word in air quotes for my audience. "Not that everyone agrees that the changes they've been making have been bad. Free energy? Free water? Anyway, let's not focus on the politics. Let's focus on the eggplants. So, are you guys ready to meet my new hubby for a year? Well, at least if I approve of him of course. If I don't, maybe we can set up my own personal version of the bachelorette with some of the Shek'invitali applicants."

That was actually a really good idea.

If this really skyrocketed, I was going to have to start my own production company and make my alien bachelorette show.

That is if I could take a break from this so I could take the meds to get rid of this headache.

"I've heard you can just go to their homeworld for that," Caley said. "The Shek'invitali are offering free round trip tickets to female humans who were born on Earth."

"I am all Earth right now, baby," I said. "Now when do I get to meet my new hot hunk of burning alien love?"

"You're such a ham," she laughed.

"Takes one to know one, am I right, Soul Fam?" I winked at the camera.

"Let me show you to the meeting room," Caley said. "He's almost here."

"Great! I'll be back in five! See you in the waiting room." I tapped the button that would put my stream on hold and let out a huge sigh, immediately grabbing the Blamex out of my purse. I grabbed the small tab of medication and popped it in my mouth.

"I thought you said you were going to stop taking those." Caley frowned at me.

"I can't get off of them right now." I put the medication back in my purse. "Apparently you have to slowly wean off of them and it can take years. I tried cold turkey and I threw up and had a serious panic attack. I can't do that right now. I'm trying to build a career. A panic attack at the wrong moment could ruin everything."

"That doesn't sound like a very good work environment if you're worried about being fired because you have anxiety," Caley pointed out. "Are you sure you don't want to be doing something else?"

"Being an actor is everything I ever wanted." I forced a smile. "Just because some things are hard right now doesn't mean I should just give it up. It means I gotta keep pushing hard and hustling."

"I don't want you putting your job at risk helping me out like this," Caley said. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I crooked a grin at her. "No risk no reward, right? Besides, what is the worst that can happen? I'm not going to get fired for filming a news reporting style vid of a matchmaking service. Now, let's go get me those views."

"Be careful what you wish for," Caley sighed.