It had been an hour since his ex-girlfriend had slammed the front door with a final barrage of curses towards him. He couldn't sleep. He'd lost count in the ways that Cassandra could be a fucking thesaurus on any word related to him and his tiny dick. He didn't care much. She was only supposed to come over and pick up the last of her things. It was supposed to be the ripping of a band aid, quick and clean but with Cassie it was like the band aid was duct tape and glue on his groin. Either way, she was gone now and he could wallow in peace.
He laughed to himself as he began rummaging his refrigerator for something to cook. Only he could move to Vox IV--an alien city within the Vox cluster, and still find the biggest human bitch to grace the dwarf planet. He didn't want to think it all over and had been trying his hardest to forget the fight and sleep, but like most nights he couldn't close his eyes and decided to cook to take his mind off it all. He'd been craving lamb stew and decided that'd be tricky enough to focus on instead of Cassie. He'd begun to chop carrots and lamb to the sound of the heavy rainfall that was Vox IV's choice of weather almost every day of the year. He loved rain really--it just felt cliché what with him being sad, he thought.
The lamb had begun to tenderize in the pot and he'd made his own gravy, thrown in parsley and basil with the carrots and potatoes. The smell of his studio apartment was enticing to say the least and with that warm, winter-blasting smell there came some elation. He leant back on the counter and listened to the stew bubbling over as he looked out towards the neon-kissed skyline of Ventura--the biggest city on this dwarf planet. He loved it here--loved his job working security for the Purus company, loved the rain. The only thing he'd never enjoyed was the loneliness. Hell, he didn't any friends here and Cassie had been the only thing tethering what little acquaintances she knew that would talk to him. He imagined he'd lost those few links too but that was okay.
There came a knock at his door that nudged him out of his daydream. He looked at his watch that projected the time: 1:35am. With a rub of his eyes he stepped towards the door.
"Gas cooker four. Lower temp to warming level." His oven gave a reciprocated beep of acknowledgement.
He was expecting Cassie to be stood in his doorway when he opened it. For a moment he let his hand hang on comm-console and took a deep breath. Round two, baby. He doubled tapped it and the grey slate gave way to a small viewing screen. On the other side of it was the last person he expected to see. He swiped the comm-console to the right and his door slid open with a pleasurable beep and hiss. In front of him stood a Voxun. It was a female, and was only about four-foot in height. He had to crane his neck down to look at her.
A large, black t-shirt clung to her frame like a makeshift dress and black knee-high socks. The Voxun were similar to humans except they were short with neon-green skin, and instead of noses they had a small bump like a mosquito bite with two slits on either side. Their eyes were large and seemed to shift in dilation like cats eyes--he'd seen that before a few times from others he worked with. He'd seen this particular one in the hallway a few times when she'd come home and they'd pass with a smile, or she'd spy him from her balcony which was a neighbour to his sometimes. He could tell it was the same one because of her white hair that she'd tied up into a bun with thin metal bars. Her kitchen-knive shaped ears twitched when the door opened. Her name was--oh fuck why couldn't he remember it?
"Hi," she said and raised a four-fingered hand timidly.
"Uh, hello?"
"I know this'll sound very strange but I could smell what you were cooking and I was very interested to uh--" she rubbed at her neck and looked away, "I was just wondering if I could try it."
"Oh, well--sure." It was a little weird but not entirely, surprisingly. He'd always told himself he needed to at least be friendly with his neighbours and maybe this could be an olive branch. "Come in, Miss?"
"No miss--just Elvie. I know you, Max. I always see you in the lobby. I met your girlfriend once or twice in the elevator."
He stepped aside with a welcoming arm and watched her walk in and look over his place. The kitchen gave way to a large living area, and from there it lowered straight into his bed. She sniffed the air and looked over to the stew pot which was billowing steam.
"Wow. That smells amazing--what is it?"
"Uh it's lamb stew. Human recipe from back on earth." He watched her approach and looked at her legs for a moment. His door hissed shut as he stepped away. Her fingernails were long and she'd painted them a shade of shiny black. He guessed that the Voxun would share similar aesthetics with humans since they'd been involved in their society for a good five hundred years now.
"I'll grab you a bowl," said Max as spoke to his virtual assistant to open the compartment left of the oven.
The drawer hissed opened and he pulled out two metallic bowls with spoons. He handed one to her and then began to scoop out the thick stew into the bowls. Elvie watched in excitement as she saw thick pieces of lamb and carrot swirling in a minty, enticing gravy. Max saw the slits of her nose flare as she breathed in the smell of it and then offered her a seat at his table by the massive plexiglass of his balcony. She followed him and sat down opposite on the table. He never usually sat at it and ended up always eating in the lounge but this was the first time he had company besides Cassie in a long time.
"I heard yelling," said Elvie as they sat down. "I hope I'm not intruding."
"That was my uh--well my ex--we broke up."
"I never spoke to her besides saying hello. She seemed to always ignore me whenever I waved to her in the hallway otherwise."
"Yeah. She had that kind of arrogance about her."
"What made you two split--I apologize if I seem too intrusive--it is a habit of mine to ask too many questions when--" She looked away.
"It's okay. I don't mind. Well, we wanted different things really."
He watched her blow on a spoonful of stew but kept her eyes on him, listening intently to each word. Her tongue slid out; a long, snake-like thing that dabbed at the sauce. The iris of her eyes went all black in what he assumed was pleasure and then she scooped the spoon into her mouth. She chewed and closed her eyes, bobbing her head to some silent tune. He watched her in silence with a smile. When she swallowed it all she opened them again.
"I'm sorry--I got carried away. This tastes amazing. You say it's a human recipe?"
Max nodded. "Yes. A mix of vegetables and meat."
"I'm going off track. What were these different things you two wanted?" asked Elvie as she scooped up another mouthful.
"Well I wanted to get married and she wanted to fuck her co-worker."
Elvie froze for a moment with the spoon close to her lips and then lowered it. "That was not what I expected to hear. I'm sorry that happened to you. Losing people like that is never an easy thing to deal with. It was rude of me to ask and ruder of me to pry," she said as she went to stand up. Max reached out and gently put two fingers against her hand.
"It's fine, Elvie. I really don't mind. If you were intruding I'd be the first to tell you. You wanted to know, I told you."
She slowly sat back down and they ate in silence for a while. He listened to the heavy pattering of rain and watched Elvie who seemed to savour every bite like it was her last. She seemed to enjoy his food more than Cassie ever did. He couldn't help but look her over curiously. He examined the drooping black that reminded him of trailing mascara on and around her eyelids. When she looked back up to him, he smiled.
"So what made you come over more? Was it the yelling or the food? I've never known it to attract a Voxun like this."
"Well," she said as she looked away. He saw something akin to shame on her face but couldn't understand why. "Voxun females have a kind of pattern in their behaviour a few times a year."
"A pattern"?
"A biological response--you humans would say it's like being in heat. Do human women have something similar?"
"Well in a way, yeah. What's that got to do with food?"
"We have very strong cravings for certain foods and smells. Well, certain things trigger responses in us. Do you know what I mean?"
"I think so," said Max with a sly smile.
"Well those urges are similar with food also. We crave that physical stimulation in many ways."
