Watching Catherine

It was Sunday.

Thunder rumbled softly. The gentle sound of rain clicking on the window pane woke Catherine. She glanced at her clock. 8:30. Her large green eyes blinked few times then shut. A large grin spread across her beautiful face. Last night had been one of the best nights Catherine had in a very long time, and she had been by herself! She hoped that she would see 'the man' again.

However, reality started tapping her on the shoulder. Catherine was sure that 'the man' would be nothing like she had imaged. Such as a movie star is nothing close to the fantastic people they play. Catherine sighed.

She spent the morning tidying her bedroom and bathroom.

It continued to rain.

Stopping at one point to gaze out of the window, Catherine wondered how long the gloomy day was going to last. She loved the dreary, romantic rainy days, but truly needed to work in her flower beds. They looked like hell.

Wanting to look at the forecast on the weather channel, she went to the other bedroom, which was her office. With a few clicks of the keyboard, Catherine frowned. It was supposed to rain all day.

The office wasn't a very big room, but it was large enough for her desk, a couple of filing cabinets and a hide-a-bed sofa. The colors in the room were soft and relaxing.

She closed the internet window and started out of the office to the hallway. Her bedroom and office were adjacent to each other.

Catherine froze in her tracks and every hair on her body stood on end. Did she see what she thought she saw from the corner of her eye? Her heart beat like a horse with a run away carriage. She thought she had seen a form of a person in the living room blocking the front window.

Slowly she turned her head.

Nothing was there.

Catherine placed her hand on her chest and took a deep breath. She stood still for a few moments. She heard nothing. Her thoughts immediately went to 'the man'. "Geez, I'm nuts," Catherine exclaimed to herself. Her imagination must have been going crazy!

She put her beautiful hair up and decided that she needed to eat something.

Her bare feet gently padded their way on the hardwood floor to the dining room. She turned on the dining room and kitchen light.

There he was standing behind the kitchen island, 'the man'. He was wearing a ribbed white t-shirt tucked into a pair of khakis. His bright, light blue eyes sparkled like ice. He was looking right at Catherine.

She yipped in surprise and grabbed onto the door frame. Because he didn't move, she wasn't sure if she was just imagining things. Catherine blinked.

"Hello Catherine," he spoke softly and did not move.

How did this guy know her name? What the hell was he doing in her house? How long had he been there? "I'm calling the police." Her voice trembled.

"You don't have to worry; I'm not going to hurt you." He took a step forward and his body passed right through the island cook top towards her.

Catherine's eyes flew open, they rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the hard floor. She had passed out.

When she awoke, she was curled up in her soft bed. Catherine thought that she had dreamed the entire thing until she noticed that he was sitting next to the bed, watching her. She stared hard at him. His skin was without flaw and his eyes were something that looked too blue to be real. The outside of his irises were a bright royal blue, while the insides were the color of Tahitian waters. His jaw was hard and square; his lips were full. His hair and goatee were very dark.

Catherine spoke softly, "who and what are you". For the first time, he took his eyes from her and looked at the fabric of her comforter. "My name is Jerrick. I am human, now." He looked back at her.

"You can't be...you passed right through the table..."

"I wasn't human then."

She frowned. Catherine was trying to wrap her brain around what had happened. "So what were you then?"

Jerrick slowly ran his hand down over his goatee and mouth as he was deep in thought. "I'm sorry if I startled you earlier, that was not my intention," he started. "I have come from very far away, in search of...you." He went on to explain that he came from a group of beings mainly composed of energy. When his people reached a certain age, they had to enter a 'lottery' of sorts. Several of his people were selected to leave their planet and become members of a different species. They did this for reasons of population control. Jerrick had been one of the people to be selected. He said that he had studied several humans and was about to move on to the next planet, when he spotted Catherine. Jerrick had been following a female student of Catherine's. He went to school with her one day, and she happened to go to Catherine's class. Jerrick was intrigued by Catherine's knowledge of science, mainly biology, zoology, botany and microbiology. "And," he concluded, "I have been following you ever since then".

Catherine was stunned. This incredible...thing...man...had been following her around. "What do you want from me?"

"I know very little of the human race or of this earth." Jerrick leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "I want to know everything and hoped that you could teach me."

What could she possibly say to that? Catherine sat up and folded her knees under her, Indian style. "I can teach you a lot about the earth, but I don't really have a lot of...human...interaction with the exception of the school." Her long bangs fell down into her face.

Jerrick slowly moved his hand to her face, brushing her hair past her ear. "I find that hard to believe," he said softly.

Catherine stared at him. She could get lost in his eyes. Those blue eyes. Catherine shivered. "I'm guessing that you'll need a place to stay, since your new in town and all.." She got out of bed, then looked at Jerrick. "You can stay here, but I'll expect you to do chores to earn your keep."

He nodded.

Was she really going to do this? Let a man, or creature, that she barely knew, stay with her, in her home? What would her mom say? Catherine grinned. Her mom would defiantly give her an ear full. However, Catherine knew that if Jerrick intended on hurting her, he would have done so already. "Let me show you where you can sleep."