Page 2 of The Stolen Tribute
Usually, by nine in the morning, the business people had wandered away, leaving most of the tables empty for the serial entrepreneurs and students to feed off our wifi like computer-programmed vampires. But hey, as long as they bought our five-dollar coffee, I didn’t care.
I was cleaning the espresso machine when a particular conversation drifted past.
“Yeah, I was thinking of applying,” One girl said.
Her friend gasped. “But the Zexian Tributes, they never get to come home.”
“I’m sure they sometimes do. Just imagine how exciting it would be,” Girl One said.
Girl Two didn’t seem convinced. “Hey, I know you and Chris broke up, but I don’t know if jumping into intergalactic matrimony is the right way to solve it. How about ice cream?”
Girl One laughed. “I’ve actually been considering it for a while. You know how good they get paid, right? And living in space? And I’ve never seen an ugly Zexian.”
“If they’re all so dreamy, then why do they need to pay?” Girl Two asked.
My thoughts exactly. I glanced up at them. They looked like they’d just graduated college. Maybe a year or two younger than me. I never went to college; gaming was my life.
“Something about a shortage of females,” Girl One said with a wave of her hand. “Do you know they have incredible dicks? I’ve seen things on the internet,” Her voice dropped lower, and she pulled out her phone.
Her friend squealed when she looked at the screen.
I rolled my eyes and turned away from the espresso machine.
“Kylie,” My boss said.
I looked up. “Yes?”
“Come here and take out the trash for me,” He said.
I nodded, abandoning the customers’ conversation. It wasn’t my business anyway. These girls were crazy. Who would willingly give up their futures to marry alien hunks they hadn’t even met?
