Zeke settled in to the comfy chair at the back of the coffee shop and tried to find his place again in his book. He had to move when some whiny kid with an acoustic guitar started singing on the stage. Luckily the acoustics in the room weren't very good and it was pretty quiet back here. He was reading a book about parallel universes and it was pretty absorbing. He wouldn't have come to the coffee shop at all, but it was Milosh's night to pick what to watch on TV, and for some reason he just loved infomercials. He also enjoyed watching them at very high volumes. Tonight he had chosen a particularly obnoxious one featuring an overly enthusiastic Italian guy who was shouting about golf bags.
Zeke had been back on Earth for a little over six months, and he was finally starting to feel at home again. Dr. Octavius took him back at the lab, but he was demoted to junior lab assistant under Maurice. That meant he got stuck doing all of the really degrading tasks, but he didn't mind too much. He was honestly happy to just have some normalcy in his life again, even if he did have his alien ex-spouse as a roommate.
He finally found his spot again and started to read when a shadow fell across the page. Someone was standing over him, blocking the light, which he found rather annoying. He looked up and made eye contact with a girl with sandy blonde hair and glasses.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I was just looking at your book. I'm really fascinated by stuff like that. I have a whole collection of books at home on space travel and multiple dimensions and that sort of thing. I haven't read that book before. Is it any good?"
"Uh, yeah," Zeke said. "It's real good."
She continued to look at him as if she expected him to say something else. Finally, she reached out to take his hand. "My name's Danielle. What's yours?"
"Zeke," he said. His voice cracked when he said it.
"It's really nice to meet you, Zeke," she said with a smile. "You want to get a coffee or anything? My treat."
"Nah, I'm not really a coffee drinker," Zeke said.
"Oh, okay," she said. "Well, do you mind if I sit by you? That guy with the guitar is awful. At least you can't really hear him back here."
"Yeah, he is," Zeke said. "That's why I came back here. So I could read in peace and quiet."
"I understand," she said. "Well, I won't bother you. Unless you want to talk about parallel universes with me. Do you think they really exist?"
"Uh, yeah," Zeke said. "As a matter of fact, I do."
"Wouldn't it be so much fun to travel to one? I would just love that."
"You know, I could probably make that happen," Zeke said.
"You're funny, Zeke," Danielle said as she put her hand on his arm. "You know that? What about space travel? Do you think there's life on other planets?"
"There is for sure," Zeke said. "But they're not all superior to us, despite what they'd have you think."
"Oh no, that annoying guitar guy turned up the volume," Danielle said. "Do you want to get out of here? I'd love to talk to you some more about this stuff. Like I said, I've got a big collection of books back home. Would you like to go see it?"
"I'm a little tired," Zeke shrugged. "Dr. Octavius had me measuring the size of hamster testicles for hours today and I've got to get up early again and do it tomorrow."
"Really?" Danielle said. "Come on. It'll be fun. I promise I won't bite. Unless you want me to. Between you and me, I saw you from across the room and I thought you were really cute."
"You did?" Zeke asked. "Well, I guess it would be okay if I stayed up a little while longer. I suppose I can take a nap tomorrow afternoon. You've got a good collection of books, you say?"
It turned out she lived in a small house a few blocks away. Her collection of books was as impressive as advertised as she had three tall bookshelves filled with books on a wide variety of subjects.
"Make yourself at home," she said. "I'm just going to go in the other room and change into something a little more comfortable."
"Yeah, you should do that," Zeke said as he pulled a book off the shelf about black holes. He flipped through it for a moment, but he was still too absorbed in the book he was already reading. He took a seat on the couch and looked for his place again.
He heard a faint humming sound and looked up to see the outline of a door appearing in the middle of the room.
"What the hell? Damn it, Max. This isn't a good time for a visit. We're supposed to talk through Milosh before any drop-ins."
It wasn't Max, though. The door opened and two rotund creatures covered in thick, shaggy purple hair stepped out. They wore grass skirts and carried long, pointy spears, which they aimed at Zeke's chest. "Are you the one known as Zeke?" one of them asked.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"Stand up," the other creature said as it waved its spear in Zeke's face.
"Okay," Zeke said as he lifted himself off the couch. "Can you please tell me what this is about?"
"You're coming with us."
"I am? Why?"
"You have a prior engagement. You will not back out on your promise. Now go." They each grabbed Zeke by an arm and shoved him through the doorway. It vanished into thin air just as Danielle returned to find an empty room.
"Zeke? Where'd you go?" She looked on the couch and saw he'd left his book behind. She shrugged her shoulders and took a seat and turned to the first page.
The End