Broken Alien: Sci-fi Fantasy Romance Short Story

By Selina Coffey

When Emily gets a job at UCLA, she feels like something is finally going right in her life. Without a college degree, and after several run-ins with the law, she never thought she'd get a decent job again so to find something was a true blessing. Her love life had been just as bad as the rest of her life, and she has sworn off men. Justin has not had much luck in life either, and after his longtime girlfriend Angela dies in a tragic car accident just weeks before their wedding, he sinks into a deep depression. Still working at Mark's shop, it is the only thing that keeps him from losing it completely and Mark is still his mentor and ensures he at least stays out of trouble with the law. While being a certified mechanic now, he has lost all joy in life. On her way back from work one day Emily gets horribly lost, and Justin runs into her and helps her find her way. After finding her alone in a coffee shop several days later, looking lonely, Justin joins her for coffee and they start talking. Finding friendship in their shared misery, it doesn't take long for Emily to realize there is more to Justin than meets the eye and she decides she wants to get to know him better. When he reveals what he truly is, can she accept it as just another aspect of her life or will she decide her life was better without him?

 

WARNING: This book contains mature language and themes, intended for adults only.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lovy Books Ltd
• Release date: Aug 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223342045

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

With a sigh Emily left the administrative building at UCLA, happy to finally have found a job that might provide benefits at some point down the road, but not looking forward to the long commute. When her car had finally died a few weeks ago she had dropped it off at the mechanic, who had informed her it would be several thousand to fix. Knowing it would take her months to save up that kind of money, and it wasn’t worth it to begin with, she had sold it for parts which had paid for her past due rent. Now that she had a job, she hoped she would be able to afford some kind of transportation soon, even if it was just a bike, since it was over thirty minutes to walk to work.

Emily had only been in Los Angeles for a few months and so far she wasn’t sure if she liked it. She kept getting lost, with everything looking the same to her, and the people weren’t as friendly as she was used to from the mid-western and southern towns she had lived in before. After her last trouble with the law she had decided to come out west in the hopes of getting a fresh start and it appeared that she might be able to get that now that she had gotten a steady job. Without a degree, and with a record, it was hard to find and she would have taken just about any job if it meant putting food on the table and paying the bills.

Walking back through town she suddenly realized she had absolutely no idea where she was, and she started to panic. The part of town she lived in wasn’t the greatest and she had to walk through a good bit of it to get home, which scared her more than she’d care to admit. She heard loud voices and after walking in that direction, she realized it was coming from the shop where she had brought her car when it had broken down. She recognized Mark, the owner, yelling at one of his mechanics. She recognized him but they hadn’t spoken when she had been there before.

Justin, you have to get your act together! The next time you go out and get drunk I will whip your butt, is that clear? Mark said in an angry, menacing voice. Emily realized there was more to Mark than she had thought, as he had been very kind to her when they had talked before. Justin appeared to look apologetic and apparently slightly scared at the mention of a whipping, and he nodded.

I’m sorry. It’s hard! I thought we’d spend our life together! That man is lucky he’s in jail for killing Angela in that car wreck, because if he wasn’t I’d have killed him myself. We were supposed to be married a year today, I’m sorry if that makes me a little upset!

You are allowed to be upset but you are not allowed to ruin your life the way you have been. She would want you to move on and find happiness, you know that. She helped you get your GED and she pushed you to get certified. Don’t let that go to waste.

Justin seemed to deflate before her eyes as he sat down on a bucket. I know. I’m sorry.

You’re forgiven, but if you ever come home the way you did last night I will make good on my threat.

I know you will. I should get back to work, Justin said before getting up and walking towards the front of the shop. Emily decided it was a good time to