AE0
Encyclopedia of the Known Universe Vol I (excerpt 13 – appendix to “R” entry on romance)
On the planet Earth, there is a concept of love that transcends the care one has for those with whom they share a familial relationship, close friendship, or casual acquaintance. Because Earthlings are naturally social beings, love is a very common concept on the planet and many Earthlings have feelings of empathy and concern for their fellow beings because of their shared humanity. Romance is a special form of love that Earthlings reserve for sexual partners or potential sexual partners, though sex, is not a prerequisite for romance to exist. Romance seems to be related to the concept of monogamy because Earthlings tend to reserve romantic gestures for a single person from whom they desire sexual exclusivity. Romantic gestures generally involve promises of fidelity, or a desire to enact grand gestures on behalf of the romantic object to demonstrate the strong desire for a monogamous relationship.
On Bromeran, familial love is similar to familial love displayed on Earth, but their concept of romance is far more intense and exclusive than anything that exists on Earth. The Bromeris concept of monogamy is one of the core concepts of Bromeris social society. It is highly unusual for a Bromeris to have more than one sexual partner in their lifetime and sex is a tool of reproduction that is used to cement the bonds of their relationship with another. Romantic bonds between Bromeris partners are very intense, though they tend to reserve shows of affection for private settings.
Editor’s Intro
The Parallel Serials is a publication of mixed literary genres and stories that appear under the Cosmos signature should be regarded as fiction. That said, it must be mentioned that the concept of Romances and Mazes is based on the true life events of a woman as she recounted to PRL editors. Though the story cannot be corroborated, it has been fictionalized here with care. We do not know for sure if there are actually sentient beings of high intelligence anywhere in the universe other than Earth, but the experiences presented here are meant to represent one woman’s lived experience.
from the blog the stuff that happens:
March 2, 20XX
Ben is married. I say that first because it matters. It is the main reason that I can force myself to stay away, unless I become one of those women. You know the ones that insist that their married boyfriend will leave his wife and they believe him because they need it to be true. I don’t even know that he would care enough to make those promises to me, but I know better regardless.
I’m a simple girl, from a simple town, with a simple job; I’m really not a complicated person, so it’s strange that I’m even thinking about something like this, but I am. I am chin deep and feeling things that I should not. I’ve never loved anyone like I love him, Ben is something that I have a hard time describing but for some reason he feels essential to my happiness. That’s messed up, I know, way too dependent, but it seems to be true even though he’s brought drama to my life that I’m not used to. I wouldn’t allow anyone else to treat me the way that he does. But the thought of swearing him off forever is heartbreaking. What does he do for me? I know that he makes me better in subtle ways and the cumulative effect is a me that I am proud to be. This sounds stupid. It is stupid because I don’t even talk to him anymore, I just see him when I can, but you will think from my writing that I’m his mistress.
I am good on my own. I can do anything. I have my own things. I bought a fucking house by myself, I have my car and I Uber on the side, invest the profits. I’m 26 and I can be a millionaire in my 30s if I play my cards right. I did this largely on my own and with the help of books by rich men who got even richer by producing the books. It’s all about multiple revenue streams. If you don’t have more than one job, then you’re definitely not maximizing your earning potential. That’s what I am alone. I’m good alone. I’m good alone on paper, but apparently something was missing in my life and then Ben comes along and I can’t be sure that I was ever happy before, that I haven’t been waiting to meet him. People say stuff like that when they fall crazy in love. I’ve never been averse to it, the falling in love thing. I’ve had relationships, but I think guys find me intimidating. I am unassuming, picture a librarian. I don’t dress fancy and go crazy with makeup because it’s an unnecessary expense, so the few times when relationships in the past have gotten very serious and they found out about my net worth and my substantial hustle, they felt inadequate and ghosted me. So I was resigned to fleeting interactions with guys over the course of my life. Ben just hit me out of nowhere.
I knew that he was married when we met for the first time. He looked married. He is very manly, like a man stallion. Thick, hairy fingers, a jaw that you slice cheese on, and the kind of ass that you relax into a chair and watch bounce away. Sexy without trying, and obviously nitpicked over by someone who was proud that he came home to them. And focused like a laser.
I picked him up one night uptown after a late meeting and our conversation was sparse at first, then he talked to fill the silence. He lived just across the state line, a half hour drive, and by the end he had reviewed the dispute in his meeting out loud to me out of frustration. And just as I pulled into his driveway he said that he dreaded going into his house more than he did the meeting he would have the following day at work. I didn’t say anything. He gave me a big tip and asked to save my number.
“I like you. You’re better than a bartender.”
He called me every time he worked late because he said, “even though I hate to drink, I have to have at least three to get through those meetings.”
And soon, I was waiting for him to have meetings that he dreaded so that he would call me and I would get to listen to him sigh and worry that things would get more complicated with inventory or personnel or whatever it was that worried him, and then I got to feel good that somehow I made it all easy to navigate.
“You really are the best,” he said the last time I saw him. He put a hand on my shoulder and I had to craned my neck to look back at him. He lingered, I swear, I was not looking for things that weren’t there. He wanted to kiss me, he wanted me to be with him through everything in his life so that I could bring my talents at easing his tensions into every aspect of his being. He wanted to leave his wife for me.
But he didn’t kiss me, he is still married, and he never called me after that night. That’s just confirmation that I was right, that he did feel something in that moment that made him scared to get close again. Even though it feels wrong, even though I know that others will view my actions as something bad or obsessive, I had to find him. I had to see that he was still miserable in the life that he chose so that I could imagine that I was his one regret.
PRL Serials 