The Other You

They were in the spaceship together. Flying to the new world. It was years away. But they were getting closer every day.

In their second year, she opened his bedroom door and snuggled under the covers. 30 days later, she was back in his bed, and this time they made love.

During the day, they had their duties. Keeping the spaceship working efficiently. If the motor needed oil, she poured more in the engine. If the electrical unit needed tweaking, he took care of it. They were a good team. Houston had done well to pair them. They never needed to speak to each other, although every so often he would ask her a question.

“Would you like some cheese?” he’d say, digging into the refrigerator.

She would shake her head, keeping her eyes on her book.

“Can I get you a drink?” he’d ask.

She would shake her head, keeping her eyes on the television.

Every night, he waited for her. But she only entered his quarters once a month. It became clockwork. The remainder of the days, alone in his room, were torture. He wanted her every night, but she seemed satisfied with their once-a-month routine.

***

One day, they arrived on Planet Nodan. The spaceship gently landed on a grassy null. She was so excited to see her family. She ran to her husband and two children.

He ran to his only child. A daughter named Beebee. His wife refused to make the journey to Nodan. She was back in Indiana with Jared.

“Hi, Daddy,” said Beebee.

“You look so grown up!” he said, a tear in his eye.

“You look so sad,” she said.

They went to their new house and settled in.

***

Exactly 30 days in his new home on Planet Nodan, he heard a knock on his bedroom window. It scared him. It was late at night. Someone was knocking on his window. He drew the curtain and found his travelling companion looking in, smiling. Her hair was down and she was wearing a pretty pink nightgown.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and climbed through the window. He watched her get in his bed and under the covers.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he said. “You have a husband and two children. I have Beebee. She’s sleeping upstairs.”

She reached out her long arm and placed her finger over his lips. She never said a word.

When he woke the next morning, she was gone.

“Why is this happening to me?” he asked out loud. “Will I have to wait for her every month? I did not think this would happen…” His thoughts ran wild with paranoia and hope.

***

But the very next night he heard knocking on his window. At first, he thought it was a dream. But it wasn’t a dream. She was there, in her nightgown, looking beautiful in the light of the three moons.

Without saying a word (what would be the point?), they got into bed and held each other and then made wonderful love.

The next morning, he was alone again, but instead of feeling downtrodden, he was smiling.

“This is really happening,” he whispered.

But then he thought about her husband. And everything came crashing down. It wasn’t right. He should never have let her in his room. He did not want to be the other guy. As much as he loved her, he couldn’t break apart a family. He decided that if she was going to knock on his window tonight, he’d have to ignore her. Yes, that’s what I’ll do, he said to himself. I’ll act as if I don’t hear her knocks. I’ll be good. And I will go on with my new life on this new planet. I’ll simply move on.

That night, he heard a knock. And then another knock. And then several more knocks. The knocking became very persistent. There was no end to it. Out of frustration, and feeling completely defeated, he got up and pulled back the curtain. To his astonishment, there, standing in the light of three moons, was a different woman. A woman he had never seen before.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Without saying a word, she got undressed and then slipped under his covers. Her movements were precise and quick, like a cat sneaking up and then pouncing on a mouse.

“Could you tell me your name?” he asked. “I think that would be a good start.”

“I am here to comfort you. I am here to make you feel good.”

“Did someone send you?”

“You called for me, and now I’m here.”

He was confused. He had not called anyone. He had not done anything.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “My travelling companion was here the last two nights. I didn’t want her to come back because she’s a married woman. But then you came. How could this be?”

She sat up in his bed; the covers fell to her waist. The moonlight washed over her. She said, “I can change into anything you want. The last two nights, I was in the image of your travelling companion. We knew you were very fond of her. But then you changed your mind. You wanted her, but you made a choice to refuse her. So I came here looking like this.”

“Who are you? What do you really look like?”

“Why would you want to know what I really look like?”

“It’s weird,” he said. “It’s a bit troubling. I feel as if I’ve been fooled.”

In front of his eyes, she transformed into someone else.

“What do you see?” she asked.

“I don’t know what I see,” he said, wide-eyed.

“Do you want me to change back into your travelling companion?”

“Would you mind?”

“I don’t mind,” she said. “I can do anything I want. I can be anyone I want.”

There she was again, the woman he loved. But the image of the creature beneath it all was still fresh in his mind’s eye. Instead of making love, he held her and she held him back.

When he woke the next morning, he found himself alone and confused.

***

Beebee went to school. When she returned from school, he made her a snack. Then they went out to the back porch together to eat and chat about each other’s day.

“What do you think of it here?” asked Beebee.

“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “It sure is different. Sometimes I wonder if it was the right decision. I still can’t believe how much you’ve grown on me.”

“I love it here.”

This made him feel good. If she loves it, he thought, then that’s good enough for me.

They ate some more. And they talked some more. And everything was fine.

***

Every night, the image, the body of his travelling companion crawled through his window and into his bed. They even talked some. His jokes were going over really well. She was laughing and he was laughing, and it was very nice.

Occasionally, he’d run into the real travelling companion during the day. Once he saw her at the grocery store, but he was able to hide behind stacked cases of beer. He felt it was best to at least attempt to move on, to forget about that chapter of his life and act as if it never happened. He assumed this is what she had already done.

But then, later that night, when he was at the bar, she snuck up and took the seat beside him. The bar was called the Boo Bar. The owner was a humanoid, but not from Earth. He went by the name Boo.

“Hey there,” she said.

“Oh,” he said, feeling uncomfortable.

There was a strange mixture of feelings. For one, this exact woman was in his bed just the night before. Not the exact woman, but her body, was there next to his. He felt he knew her body as well as any person could know any other person’s body. But really, he didn’t know the real her. He only knew a portion. It was distressing, and in this moment, he felt as if he had done something quite vile.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said. “Are you okay?”

“It’s a little hot in here. I wish Boo would turn up the AC.”

“You always liked the temperature on the cool side. I remember that about you.”

For reasons beyond his understanding, he felt himself wanting to blurt out a confession. He longed to come clean and tell her that he’d done a horrible thing. That he’d used her beauty and taken it for himself. That he’d been taking her body into his bed, as if it belonged to him.

“Can I buy you a drink?” she asked.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Listen,” she said. “It’s okay.”

“What’s okay?”

“You’re probably feeling a bit weird about what we used to do on the ship. You know, once a month or so I would go into your room and we would be together. I’m just telling you it’s okay. My husband knows about us.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” he said, not looking at her face.

“He’s not mad, either. What do you think he was doing for three years when we were apart? Houston set us up as travelling companions. They knew we would get along better than I would get along with my own husband. Anyway, I should tell you something else.”

“I have a confession of my own.”

“Me first,” she said. She took a deep breath and said, “About a month after we arrived, I got a late night knock on my window. It was you. Or at the time I thought it was you. I told you to go home. I didn’t want you to wake up my husband. But you wouldn’t go. So I had to step outside and speak to you. I was trying to tell you that we couldn’t do this anymore. I was telling you these things. But you kept saying that it was me who called you.”

He was rubbing his temples, not knowing what was happening.

“On the house, folks!”

They looked across the bar and found Boo, a white rag over his shoulder, pouring them each a drink.

“I shouldn’t drink anymore,” he said.

“I don’t want to hear it,” said Boo. “You two are drinking tonight. End of discussion.”

He sipped his drink. She sipped her drink.

The drink tasted good and went down smooth.

“So, well, what exactly are you saying?” he asked her.

“I ended up making love to you, I mean the other you, in the backyard. It was very good. And it was wrong. And he was right.”

“Who was right?”

“You were,” she said. “I mean, he was. The person, the thing, who knocked on my window. I longed for you, and sure enough you came, because that’s what I wanted.”

He slugged his drink, set it down hard on the counter, and said, “I’ll take another, Boo.”

“Now we’re talking!” Boo poured him another drink.

“Listen,” he said. “You’ve been visiting my bed every night.”

“Really?” she said, gripping his arm, smiling so big. “How am I in bed?”

“What?”

“I mean you’re as great as ever,” she said. “But I was wondering how I am.”

“You’re wonderful,” he said. “But it’s a little strange. And it feels wrong. I thought I was being a creep. I thought you’d be grossed out by me if I told you that I was sleeping with the other you.”

“I’m so happy,” she said. “I’m so happy you want me.”

“But what does it actually amount to?” he asked, his eyes blood shot.

She looked down at her drink. Shaking her head like she used to.

“What if we went back home? Back to Earth,” he asked. “We could take our kids and just head back to where we came from.”

“I can’t do that,” she said. “I can’t take my children away from their father.”

He rubbed his chin, brainstorming ways they could be together.

“We could meet up tonight,” she said. “We could have an affair.”

“I don’t think so.”

“We’ve done it before.”

“Like you said,” he said. “That was different. You and your husband had an understanding.”

“What other choice do we have?”

He didn’t know.

***

That night, he heard the familiar knock on his window. He pulled the curtain and found his travelling companion. She was looking so pretty, as always. But there was something different about her. She was not wearing her usual gown. Actually, she was wearing the same thing she had on at the bar.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hey,” she said. “It’s me.”

“What do you mean? Who else would it be?”

“Don’t be silly!” she said. “Just let me in.”

He let her in and they met under the covers.

Their lovemaking seemed different to him. There was an intensity about it he had never experienced before. They connected. They were one. Like truly one.

“I should be going,” she said, gathering her clothes.

“Already?”

“Yes. I don’t want my husband getting any ideas.”

“So, it’s really you. You are really you?”

“Yes,” she said.

“I thought it was more intense. I thought there was something different.”

“I felt it too,” she said, and leaned over and kissed him hard on the lips. “But I have to go.”

After she left, he fell asleep. At some point in the night, he heard knocks on his window. Groggily, he stood and walked over. Pulling the curtain aside, he found his travelling companion in a robe. She was waving and the light of the moons was once again shining down on her.

He opened the window and said, “Hi there.”

“Are you ready for me?”

“That’s very sweet of you, but I don’t think I need you anymore. You see, the original you, the actual you, stopped by and it was very good. Very intense stuff. So, no need to waste your time tonight. You can head on out and call it an early night. Really, I do appreciate you stopping by.”

When he started shutting the window, her hand reached out and stopped it. Her nails were chipped at the ends. And he could see dirt under her broken fingernails. He had never noticed these things about her before.

“Oh, did you have something to say? Sorry, I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“I think I’d like to come in now.”

“Well, okay. If that’s what you want,” he said. “I mean. I’m pretty tuckered out. Probably won’t be much worth to you. You know with, you know, the other you, the real person who looks just like—”

“Please stop talking.”

“Sure. I can stop talking. Whatever you want.”

“Please get in bed with me,” she said.

“Well, sure. Why not? For old time’s sake. Nothing wrong with one more time before we call it quits. I’m sure I could muster up the old mojo.”

When they got in bed, he noticed a scent. He couldn’t recall ever smelling anything like it. The smell was strong in the air. He turned his nose to her and, sure enough, confirmed the pungency was coming from her. She smelled like old milk.

“Now you will make love to me, Charlie.”

“Charlie?” he asked. “That’s not my name.”

“We call you Charlie. And that’s what you will be.”

“Sure, Charlie, okay. But—”

She took him in her strong arms and lifted him above her. Wind was coming in, blowing the curtain wildly. Blowing the sheets off her naked body. Her body looked different. He could see her ribs, and the muscles on her arms looked like intertwined robes, rippling over her shoulders and forearms.

The light of the moons brightened everything and her eyes were changing color: first blue, then brown, then green, then red, then purple.

“You’re very strong,” he said. “I never knew.”

“There’s more to know,” she said. “You’re going to learn so much about us.”

He couldn’t tell if the room began spinning or if she was twirling him. Everything was askew.

“Will I ever go back?” he asked.

“Back to where?” they said, but her voice was multiplied. She had a thousand voices.

“Home,” he said. “I want to go home. I miss it there.”

“This is your home, Charlie” they said. “This is where you live.”