Loving Kale: Selkrian Tales Novella Read online

  Copyright © 2017 Gabriella Clark

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means – by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my husband it’s been over 10 years and you thought I wasn't your type at first, honey with this face combined with this body, paired with this personality? How could I not be???

  Loving Kale

  Selkrian Tales

  By Gabriella Clark

  1

  I still remember the day when the aliens introduced themselves to the world.

  It was a typical Wednesday and I was cursing my rotten luck as I changed out of my coffee stained work shirt. That was my last clean shirt and I was shoulders deep in the closet trying to find anything remotely clean to wear. My washer had broken last week and I had been making do with short trips to the laundromat down the street.

  “Ah Ha!” I held up a shirt in triumph just as I heard my phone go off. “Hey girl what's up?” I asked my best friend Shaye as I struggled into the shirt. “Mia have you seen the news this morning?” “ No still trying to get ready for work,what's going on?” I asked as I walked over to my dresser and grabbed the remote. “Turn it on quick!” She said hurriedly “You'll never believe what's happening!”

  I tuned in to the news channel and sat down slowly in shock as the images on the screen showed the impossible. “ That's right folks” the news anchor said excitedly “As impossible as this may seem we have confirmed contact with alien life. Representatives from the world Selkrai have stepped forward with the shocking announcement that we are not alone in the universe and they have been living among us for years…..”

  Fast forward to today as more and more Selkrians came out the closet so to speak about their true nature, the world became more tense. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the human race that they had blended so seamlessly with us but was responsible for so many technological advances throughout history. Thankfully we avoided an all out war in the early days since they came with words of peace and offering to share knowledge and resources.

  Apparently the more advanced Selkrians had stumbled upon our world hundreds of years ago and decide to investigate. Upon learning that our planet was similar (although much younger) to their own they decided to keep watch and guide us along our way. That included some of them starting businesses and immersing themselves in human culture. This was made easy due in part to their advanced technology. Not to mention their appearance matched ours enough to pass. A few key differences is that they're taller than your average human with the females being at least 5’10 and the males over 6’3. The females are built along more lean lines with the males being pure muscle. The most telling difference would be their pointed ears, rainbow colored eyes and supernaturally good looks. They were at first content to be in the background and help without us ever knowing they were there, However with all the recent natural and political disasters happening they decided to step forward for a more hands on approach.

  Not much is known about their culture except that they are a male dominated society that values honor and they are quite long lived although how long no one was quite sure. They also have family groups called Hales that operate somewhat like a wolf pack, with the Lakai being the leader.They have mastered space travel and their robotics and weapons technologies would make the terminator hesitate. In the years since the reveal they have proved themselves to be quite helpful and willing to peacefully coexist. Although they have refused to show us anything to do with weapons development. To be honest I don't blame them, humans cause enough damage without adding super weapons to the mix.

  It came as quite a shock when the CEO of Totality, the parent company of big names such as premier vacation resort Bucket List and tech giant Autonomous recently stepped forward and revealed that he was a Selkrian and was in fact the founder of the company that had been in business since the 30’s. Did I mention that he only looks like he's 35, is my boss and is H O T? I never would have guessed that my job as human resources director would change so much. I went from creating powerpoints on sexual harassment to species equality. Luckily we were assigned a Selkrian named Ly’lah to the department to help us with blending everything together into a cohesive whole. She was a little distant and formal but I shrugged it off, chalking it up to the difference in cultures.

  I was going through my emails at work the week after the announcement was made, when I saw one that made me pause. It was from the CEO’s secretary and announced that there was going to be a meeting held in the executive conference room in one hour. It stated that the CEO would like to meet with all department heads and go over the direction in which the company would take in the future. I grabbed my phone and shot Shaye a quick text. Since she was the director of marketing I knew she would have gotten the same email.

  Hey have you seen the email?

  Hell yeah. She wrote back quickly if I had known I was going to see that hunk of alien hotness today I would have worn the good bra!

  I snorted out a laugh I don't think that would have mattered, have you seen their woman?’

  ‘ Girl plz have you seen these curves? He need some black girl magic in his life!’ I laughed out loud and shook my head, lacking in confidence my bestie was not.

  ‘Your too much sometimes’ I sent back with a shake of my head ‘ Save me a seat would you? I want to go over my notes on the internship one more time’

  ‘No problem, but dont worry too much! It's a great idea! She sent this with a thumbs up emoji

  I thought about everything that had been going on in the last few years, I mean aliens! Who would have ever thought that there were other life forms out there! I always thought that if we were here it would have to be others, but belief and actual fact are two different things. I’m still in shock since that announcement, a small part of me thinking that this is all just a hoax and the president will come on t.v. like surprise! Just playing! Then to find out my boss is one… my hunka hunka boss I’ve only caught glimpses of around the building and at the annual parties the company threw. It couldn't have been easy for them to reveal themselves and I thought back to the earlier years when there was looting and rioting going on. I remember Shaye and I hiding out in my house until the dust had settled, the mandatory curfews, and the worry that somebody would break in. Everything had been shut down for about a month before order had been restored and I had breathed a sigh of relief that we had remained unscathed from it all.

  I sighed quietly to myself and turned my attention towards opening the file i had on the internship. I knew it was a good idea but wasn't sure how it would be received since Totality hadn't ever offered an internship. I quickly typed up and printed out a rough draft, I hadn't been expecting to present the idea so soon but now was as good a time as any. I wanted to make sure I could give a satisfactory answer in case I was called on to give an update about what my department had been working on. We were really excited about this and I hoped it would be approved. As the leader in phone and computer technology, I know several prestigious colleges that would love to offer it to their students. This seemed a great time to get a feel for how it would be received by the higher ups.

  2

  I walked into the conference room and looked around quickly. I spotted an empty seat next to Shaye and headed
over, exchanging smiles with my fellow department heads. For all that it was a surprise to find out that our boss was an alien, this has been the best company I've ever worked for. The benefits and pay were awesome and the company seemed to genuinely keep their employees in mind when making decisions that affected them. Sure you have your personality clashes and differences in opinion, but for the most part everyone got along.

  “Hey” I said sitting down “ anything good happen yet?”

  “Not really” Shaye said rolling her eyes “everyone seems to be taking bets on whether or not this meeting is going to be about layoffs to have us replaced by Selkrians”

  I shook my head “Wow it's like they immediately jump to worse case scenario. They haven't given us any reason to believe there will be a mass layoff. Next thing you know it'll be bets on when the anal probing will start!”

  Shaye laughed “ I can see it now it'll be right up there with random drug testing”

  We giggled together but stopped as Tyler from accounting leaned over and said “Yeah laugh it up but you have no idea what these… aliens...are really up to. I mean why would they stay here and not just go back to their own planet? And what's up with this meeting? we've never had a meeting with the CEO before.”

  I just barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes, nevermind that in my 6 years working here there had never been any type of layoff and the department heads frequently interacted with Mr. Kapena’s admin “Calm down Tyler, let's not start manning the lifeboats before we hit the iceberg alright?” I replied calmly “let's see what's going on first and then we can go from there”.

  “Exactly” Shaye said “Hey you never know maybe we're all getting raises!” I stifled a laugh at that. Tyler narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to reply when the door to the conference room opened and the CEO stepped in.

  I could feel my eyes widen as I took in Kale Kapena, as good as he looked on tv it was nothing compared to him in person. An air of total command and dominance surrounded him, my instincts shouted do not engage! while my ovaries waved hello. Pitch black hair fell in a straight line to muscular shoulders and he had to be at least 6’5. Clad in what was obviously a tailor made suit, he paused at the head of the conference table and gazed around the room.

  I held my breath as his violet colored eyes came to rest on me. Was it just my imagination or did his eyes seem to linger before moving on? “Good afternoon everyone” he said voice deep and slightly accented. “I want to thank you all for showing up on such short notice. I felt it was best to provide some information about myself and the role I play in the Selkrian hierarchy and get everyone up to speed on a new venture that I have planned”

  His full lips quirked up into a smile before continuing “As I'm sure you're all aware my name is Kale Kapena. I am the original founder of this company and I am also the Lakai of the largest Hale in the United States.” Wow I thought to myself no wonder he has such a strong presence. From what I understood the Lakai is the strongest, most cunning member of the hale. It wasn't an inherited position, it was awarded through a series of trials that the stronger members of the hale competed in. “This company was originally founded as a way to help humans advance technologically and to use the profits to assist my people in living amongst you.” His smile widened before he said “ I doubt that the selk currency would be accepted at the local stores”

  Everyone chuckled at that and the tension in the room eased. “I would also like to advise you all that I believe it is time to begin a new facet of Totality. In the past we have taken some of the technology we Selkrians have and introduced it to you. We have also blended Human ideas with Selkrian tech to enhance and build upon human technology. I would like to propose that we gather the brightest of Human and Selkrian minds together to work towards something new.”

  Excited murmurs swept the room and he held up one tanned long fingered hand for quiet. “ This new venture is still in the early stages but I would like to see what each department may have to contribute. If anyone has ideas they would like to share they are welcome to set up an appointment with my admin.” His eyes swept the room again before he said “ I would like each department head to come up and introduce themselves and give a brief summary on anything new that they are working on or of any concerns. Seeing your names on paper is one thing but I would like to put faces with the reports i’ve been receiving from you all.”

  He looked towards where I was seated and this time I knew it wasn't my imagination as he deliberately held my eyes with his for a moment. “ Now I'm going to turn the floor over to you guys and we can start with the right side of the room.”

  I took a deep breath and silently cursed my luck, I was sitting in the second seat on the right. Tyler was on my right side so I at least had some time to gather myself and my thoughts together. I hated speaking in public, I could do it but I wasn't the type of person that liked a lot of attention on me. Tyler usually droned on like that guy from the eye drops commercial and it would be a miracle if any one was left alive at the end of his speech. I looked around the table and smirked to myself as he stood up and walked towards the front of the room. I could see lots of quickly hidden grimaces and found it hilarious. My eyes swung back around the table and landed on Mr Kapena. I noticed that he was watching me and quickly wiped the smirk from my face. He raised an eyebrow at me and I gave a little shrug before smiling and turning away.

  “Good Morning everyone. I’m Tyler and I’m one of the heads of accounting” he said standing at the front of the table with a sheaf of papers in his hands. I looked at it in horror Oh I know he is not going to try and read all of that! I thought in dismay. He shuffled the papers in his hand and began to go over the figures from last month’s budget report and I resisted the urge to drop my head on the table.

  Shaye lened close and whispered in my ear “ At least there’s no powerpoints or graphs” we watched in silence as Tyler reached over and turned on the projector located at the front of the table and brought out a laser pointer from his pocket “ Oh God” she groaned quietly before sitting back in her chair.

  “As you can see here by this chart I project that if we cut back on certain departments expenditures we can save a project 3% each quarter” he said moving the laser to circle the figure on the chart. He droned on for another ten minutes and I stared at the wall across from me until a movement caught my attention. Looking down I noticed Mr. Kapena held hi chin on one hand between his thumb and pointer figure. What had caught my attention though was the fact that his head was bobbing forward and he kept catching himself. He caught himself again and shaking his head sat up straighter in his chair. Taking a look at his watch he grimaced and stood up. Tyler trailed off as Mr. Kapena rose and smiled a bit stiltedly at him.

  “Thanks so much for your contribution Tyler,I’m sorry but we are on a bit of a time crunch here….”

  Tyler looked confused “ But...but i’m not done..I haven't even gotten to our gross projections for next quarter”

  Mr. Kapena looked pained but smiled again “ That's quite alright Tyler you my email them to my admin and I can go over them at a later date”

  Tyler looking subdued turned off the projector and gathered his papers. I stood up as he started walking back to his seat, giving him a sympathetic smile as I moved past him to take my place at the front. I guess CEO even get bored, although I would have thought he would like going over the numbers Tyler had presented. I noticed as I took my place at the head of the table that Mr. Kapena had yet to take a seat. I stood almost even with him and couldn't help but notice the difference in our heights.

  I felt positively dwarfed as I stood there standing next to him in that moment. I was only 5’3 and 150 pounds (since I've never met a dessert I didn't like) the differences between us was obvious. He looked to be made of pure muscle with a long lean runner's body. He looked at me as he sat back in his seat, his eyes running down my body slowly. He raised his eyes back up and met my gaze and I watched as his eyes darkened slightly. I tore
my gaze from his and turning towards the front of the table, smiled brightly at everyone “ Hey guys my name is Mia Jones and I'm the head of human resources, I’ve been with the company for over 6 years and really enjoy my work here” I shrugged and laughed a little “ Never could have imagined that I would be working with aliens, it’s been an experience to say the least” As my coworkers laughed and murmured their agreement, I glanced towards our CEO. He was sitting back in his chair relaxed and his face was calm, but just as I thought he may not have liked what I said, he caught my eye with his and smiled slowly.

  I blushed and coughed to clear my throat, looking down at my notes as I tried to gather my thoughts after that one smile scrambled my brains. “ My department has been working on a new project. Since Autonomous and Bucket list are arguably the best in the technology and travel industries, I thought we could start an internship program. Not only will it be a way to get in some fresh new ideas but it will also help clear some of the mystery and distrust that exist between Humans and Selkrians.”

  Looking at the nods I was receiving from my coworkers around the table, even the one coming from Mr. Kapena, I felt an immense feeling of pride. It seemed as if the idea had been received well. I gave a little bow and concluded with a “thanks for your time today” and walked back to my seat. Catching Shaye’s eyes as she passed me on her way for her turn she gave me thumbs up and mouthed ‘told you so’. I crossed my eyes at her before dropping into my chair and directing my attention towards the head of the table.

  As we all stood gathering our things after the meeting had ended, I snuck a glance across the room at Mr.Kapena. I stilled as I saw that he was up and moving in my direction. I quickly turned towards Shaye and whispered “ Is he coming over here?” she glanced casually over my shoulder and whispered back “ Danger Will Robinson, danger” I choked back a laugh as I heard a “Ms. Jones?” coming from behind me.