In Search of Jeannie Pt. 01

Authors Note: For those of you that have been reading "Lisa's Second Chance" this story is a prequel and takes place around 7 years before Lisa is recruited to the commune. We meet some of the main characters before they met Lisa.

If you have not read "Lisa's Second Chance" then this story works well on its own and I hope you enjoy it.

Kisses. Lisa XXX

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Part 1 -- My name is Luna

My story starts a week after my 45th birthday, a Monday to be exact. I was feeling the effects of a pretty heavy hangover as I stared into the mirror in my bathroom and brushed my long, black hair. Eventually satisfied that all the knots were out of it, I walked into my living room and took a long look around my apartment. I caught myself sighing, this had been my home for almost 2 years, a basic apartment on the Interstar Science Base. Even if I left the base, I was in the middle of the dessert in Arizona so there was nothing to see. I'd been stuck here on a special assignment and couldn't wait to get back to my little piece of paradise on our little island off the coast of Florida where I'd spent a pretty awesome 5 years.

I had to be at work in only an hour but my commute, or rather, walk, would only take me 10 minutes at the most. I'd been working for Interstar for around 20 years. The first 13 were pretty mundane administration work but I loved working for Interstar, they had opened the heavens to the human race and made travel through the universe affordable and reliable, everyone wanted to work for Interstar.

Slumping back in my easy chair, I let my mind wander back 7 years and thought of that day it all changed for me, mostly, it had changed for the better but I didn't necessarily realise that at the time. For me, life felt pretty settled and sorted back then, things were great and I felt contented. I'd accepted that I was bisexual from an early age but as I grew older, I seemed to favour relationships with women and I was OK with that, I'd even met someone at work and we'd been dating for a couple of years.

Jeannie was beautiful, much younger than me but we clicked straight away and soon started dating. I loved her figure with all the curves in the right places. Her blonde air was always short and spiky. The naughty side of me admired her large breasts. The great thing had been that were totally comfortable with each other and as we were both totally addicted to sex and were open to all kinds of experimentation, the relationship really worked, it had been one of my longest. Jeannie and I started talking about moving in together and making it more permanent.

I knew that Jeannie was far more ambitious than I was, she didn't want to stay working as an administrator and applied for all sorts of other roles at Interstar and completed as many training courses as she could. One night, I met Jeannie in our usual bar after work had ended and, as I walked up to her, I could see that she had an enormous grin on her face. I remember her excitement as she kissed me, hard on the lips and then became super-animated as she started to tell me her good news. She'd been accepted into the bio research and conservation division of Interstar, subject to her successfully completing a 3 month training course. I clearly remember her smile fading as she explained the the course was residential and in South America.

Although I congratulated Jeannie and hugged her, my immediate feeling of sadness gave way to a wave of unease. Interstar didn't make a secret of what that division did, they had made themselves responsible for attempting to prevent species becoming extinct on other planets in the universe. Life was common on hundreds of worlds that we knew of and Interstar sought to protect all life. More disturbingly, there were rumours that communes of women existed across the planet that managed this programme of genetic engineering that sometimes involved cross breeding with humans. Although it was a rumour, everyone kind of knew it was true but secrecy laws prevented any negative reporting of this small element of Interstars' work. While I supported protecting any species, I felt like we didn't know the whole truth and I worried about Jeannie moving there.

I spent a few days deciding whether to share my worries with Jeannie but, in the end, I didn't, she seemed so happy and excited and I didn't want to be the one to shatter her dreams. Rather, I made up my mind that we would talk about it when she came back from training. After all, she would have met people and maybe looked around so she may have more factual knowledge than I had rumours. I did my best to put it out of my mind.

The day came a few weeks later where I said goodbye to Jeannie. We held each other in the transport hub until the very last moment and I watched her walk away down the tunnel to the jet that would take her to her training course. We were not allowed to communicate electronically, but she could send me old fashioned letters, and she promised she would. For me, left with my mundane life, I was already counting the days until I saw her again. Eventually, the door at the end of the tunnel closed and I could no longer see her. I remember turning slowly and walking home feeling a little empty.

Four weeks passed and I'd not heard from Jeannie, I went through emotions from misery to anger and I seemed to be swinging from emotional loss to sexual frustration in equal measures. Four weeks turned into eight and still no word. I really felt betrayed and I didn't understand why she hadn't contacted me. So frustrated was I that I started asking around at Interstar to see if I could find out exactly where the training course was being held. My email to the bio conservation division was met with an short reply saying that they were unable to divulge training locations.

I dragged myself home for yet another lonely evening but my misery turned to excitement when I opened my front door to find a letter on the floor with familiar writing on the envelope, it was from Jeannie. Leaving my front door open and dropping my bag on the floor, I rushed through to my kitchen and sat at my table, ripping the letter open as I walked. As my eyes scanned the surprisingly short letter, my joy turned to disbelief and then pain. The one thing worse that not receiving a letter had happened, I'd received this one and Jeannie was ending our relationship out of the blue.

I stared at her letter for an hour, tears streaming down my cheeks as I sobbed. Jeannie said that she loved me but that she couldn't come back but that she hoped that we'd see each other one day. She apologised for hurting me and she hoped that one day I would understand. My heart was broken and I got up from the table and dragged myself to my bed where I stayed for the rest of the night and all of the next day.

The rest of the week was a bit of a blur, I went to work and even that felt painful because that was where we'd met but I managed to pull myself together and, after a few weeks, I had accepted that it was over. I suspected that Jeannie had met someone else. I had to move forward even though I missed her and felt like I always would.

I felt like a needed a break and took a few days away to stay with some friends in New York City. It was just what I needed and we went out to clubs, got drunk, danced and, in a drunken state, I even let a random guy fuck me in a back alley. It kind of grossed me out a bit but I was drunk and I knew that I had needed to let my hair down and so, when I went back to work at Interstar I was feeling a lot better.

As I arrived, my manager called me over and told me that while I was away, someone had come in to the office looking for me. I asked who it was and she told me that the women didn't leave her name but described her as in her 20s, slim and having shaved blonde hair. The description meant nothing to me and I had no idea who this could be but I assumed that it was someone from another division needing some help and put it out of my mind. That is, until that evening as I was walking home.

As I left the main doors of the office building, I turned left and headed up the street. I was aware of footsteps approaching me from behind but I paid no attention as I was walking quite slowly. A softly spoken voice behind me said, "Excuse me, are you Luna?"

I swung around as I was replying that I was and I found myself face to face with a young blonde women with shaved hair. This couldn't be a coincidence and had to be the women who'd been looking for me.

"I know we don't know each other but I need to talk to you." The stranger said. I had no problem talking to people and I was intrigued as to what it was that she wanted.

"Yeah, sure, what's up?" I asked with a smile.

"I need to talk to you about Jeannie." She replied.

My smile faded and I felt my mouth drop open.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She took a breath and looked at me with a worried look. "My name is Nia, I met Jeannie in South America, I have a message from her."

I looked around and tried to keep calm, across the street was a park and I suggested that we go and take a seat on one of the benches. Nia nodded and followed me. We found a bench in a quiet area and sat next to each other.

"Is she OK?" I asked without thinking.

"Oh, yes, I didn't mean to worry you." Nia said while she looked around nervously.

Before I could say anything else, Nia said "Look, I could get fired from Interstar or, worse, if anyone found out that I'm telling you this. Its supposed to be secret but I made a promise to Jeannie."

"OK," I said, as reassuringly as I could, "I won't tell anyone, I just need to know what to have to tell me."

Nia took a deep breath and looked in my eyes as she spoke. "The training sessions in South America were really intended to recruit new women to the bio conservation programme."

"I knew it!" I said angrily. "What does that even mean?"

Nia looked a little awkward. "They explained that there are species at risk of dying out and without help from humans, they will be extinct. Over the course of a few weeks, one at a time, they approached us and asked us to join the secret programme. Of the 25 women that were there, 3 of us agreed, that was me, Jeannie and a another woman called Aretta."

I sat there, looking at Nia, unable to say anything as she carried on. "Essentially, we are there to actually breed with these species under controlled conditions and we live in special communes. It is a wonderful life I think but Jeannie felt she had to take part but could not stand to leave you."

"Are you shitting me?" I asked Nia.

"I know that's hard to take in, but it's true, there are about a hundred women worldwide in the programme. The reason I'm here is that I told Jeannie I was coming here to visit friends on my time away and I promised to find you. She can't come herself, she is in training now and anyway, we're banned from talking to other Interstar employees that aren't in the programme."

I was struggling to take in all these revelations in one go but deep down, I knew that Nia was telling the truth. I'd heard so many rumours over the years but I couldn't believe that I'd lost my lover to it.

Nia continued. "Jeannie says to tell you, she wants to be with you but she feels she has to commit to the programme. There is only one way you may be able to see her again and even be with her and that is for you to join the programme too. Obviously, she knows that's a huge ask but she wanted you to have the option."

"Oh my God, I can't even think about that." I said as I wiped a tear from my eye.

"I know," Nia said, "Listen, I am here for another couple of days, I'll find you on my last day and you can give me your answer. If you want in, I know someone that can make it happen, if not, that's cool, Jeannie will understand."

Nia stood and said, "I'll see ya."

As she turned I shouted after her and she turned and came a few steps back towards me.

"What's it like?" I asked.

A smile spread across her face. "Beautiful, wonderful, intense at the same time as terrifying and weird. After a few weeks, I don't ever want to leave."

I watched her walk away, looking around and she disappeared out of view behind a wall and with that, she was gone.

My mind was blank as I sat there for over an hour. How could I make a decision like that. It would be so hard to ignore the draw to see Jeannie again but it seemed to strange to make a choice to do those kind of things. It just seemed frightening. I slowly walked home and tried not to think about it but as I lay in bed, I couldn't sleep, all I could think of was Jeannie.

I probably managed a couple of hours sleep that night and I called in sick to work, I needed some head space. I got up, showered and sat in my living room weighing my options. OK, so, on the one hand, I love Jeannie, I am certain of that and I'd give anything to be with her or even just see her again. On the other hand, this was certain to be very obscure and I didn't know what to expect from a commune. I had no living family that I knew of, my parents had died when I was young and I grew up in foster families so I wouldn't be leaving anything behind.

The whole day was spent running over and over in my head, I was always left with the image of Nia's smile as she said "beautiful" and the fact that, Jeannie was sensible and balanced, if it was that bad she wouldn't have agreed to go, of that, I was sure.

I went for a walk to clear my head, it didn't help but I'd become exhausted and I crawled into bed by 9pm and fell straight into a deep sleep. I went to work the next day as normal and seemed to have an epiphany. All this was ridiculous, I wouldn't be going and if I ever saw Nia again, I'd just say no, send my love to Jeannie and let her go, she'd made her choice. I breathed deeply and smiled, satisfied that I'd made the right choice. I even managed to put it almost out of my head for the rest of the day.

Two days passed and I really felt like I could put the past behind me. I'd made my mind up about Jeannie, she's chosen to leave me and I had to respect her decision, it wasn't fair for her to expect me to go running after her into some sort of bizarre and who knows, maybe dangerous life. It also crossed my mind that I should have run into Nia again by now but there was no sign of her. As I left work, I was sure that I'd seen the last of her.

That night on the way home I got a surprise, Nia was waiting for me near the park. I was shocked to see her, I'd convinced myself that I wouldn't see her again but here she was and I would have to deal with but, you know, I'm an adult so hard hard could it be? I stopped and said hello as nicely as I could.

Nia smiled warmly at me. "Hi Luna, I'll cut to the chase, what would you like me to tell Jeannie?"

I opened my mouth to say my pre-prepared 'I'm really sorry but' speech but instead what came out was. "Tell her I want to come."

The second the words left my mouth I felt sick, why had I said that?

Nia threw her arms around me which I wasn't prepared for and it almost knocked me over. She pulled herself away and said "OK, I'm gonna go, someone will be in contact soon."

I watched, stunned as she almost jogged away down the street. I was left standing with my arms at my side wondering what the fuck had come over me. Shaking my head to myself as I began to walk away, I felt stupid more than anything,

By the time I arrived at home I was feeling quite strange, thoughts of Jeannie flooded through my head and there we an uncontrollable urge to touch her, hold her and to be with her. I thought about what may happen, how long would I have before someone contacted me? How would that happen? I thought that the actual decision would really come then. Laying on my bed, I thought that, at least it was the weekend and I had some time to myself to think it all over.

As it turned out, I didn't have very long at all. It was a little after 10pm as I stepped out of my shower and pulled on my towel robe as I prepared for bed. I jumped as someone rang the buzzer on my front door. As I walked down the hall, I assumed it was a neighbour or even a prank, but as I slowly opened the door and looked outside, there was a strange woman in front of me, certainly not a neighbour or anyone I'd met before.

"Hello, can I help?" I asked the woman politely.

"Hey, you must be Luna? My name's Helena, I work for Interstar."

I had a sinking feeling as I managed to say, "OK." This must have been Nia's contact and she had called her straight away.

Helena smiled at me. "I hope I didn't wake you but I though that we should talk sooner rather than later. Would it be OK if I came in?"

She seemed really light and friendly. I guessed that she was about my age , maybe a bit older and certainly a very attractive woman with short curly black hair and a sweet, warm face. Helena didn't look some stereotypical Interstar manager but she was dressed casually in ripped jeans and a white vest top under an open pink chequered shirt with a light blue neck scarf.

"As long as you don't mind me like this?" I said as I motioned down at my attire.

Helena laughed. "Oh, I feel a little overdressed but it will be fine, I don't need much of your time."

I swung the door open and stepped aside as Helena stepped into my apartment.

"This way," I said as I shut the door and lead the way into my living room, I motioned for Helena to take a seat on the big arm chair and offered her a drink which she declined with a smile. The formalities complete, I sat on my sofa.

"I think I know why you're here. I think I've made a mistake." I said, trying to sound in control.

Helena let me finish speaking and then leant forward. "I know Jeannie, I have gotten to know her on our little home island where she lives now, with us. I've also been helping with her training and transition into the bio programme."

There was a silence as Helena looked at me with an easy smile and waited for her words to sink in before she continued. "It so happens, we need more women at the moment and Jeannie thinks you would be ideal. She also thinks you'd love it and, lastly, she misses you and it would be easier for her if you were both together. I'm thinking that it might be easier for you too"

Opening my mouth to reply. Helena spoke again, quickly, stopping me from speaking. "Before you say anything, let me just tell you what it means. If you join us, you will be with Jeannie sometimes and not always, relationships in our commune tend to be a little more flexible due to the intimate nature of our work and lifestyle. If you don't think that you can handle that then please say no. All that said, our life is loving, fulfilling and interesting but more than that, we help so many species thrive and live who would otherwise die out. Plus, it's actually incredibly erotic and sexy at times and who doesn't like that?"

My head was spinning to the point I couldn't hold on to the words. I managed to string a legible sentence together and decided just to be straight with this women, she seemed to be being honest with me. I looked at her directly and asked. "Look, I've heard rumours of what goes on in your communes, does this lifestyle involve actually fucking alien creatures?"

Helena threw back her head and let out a huge laugh. "You're funny, I like you already," she giggled. "But yes, I wouldn't put it like that but some of our work involves mating with certain species that have been tested or genetically modified, sometimes with the creature itself and sometimes in a lab based impregnation. What I would say is that this is the only way to save these species and it's safe, completely safe. Of course, it takes some getting used to and is often very intense but you would be at no risk."

So now I knew for sure. How could I respond to that? Actually, what the fuck had Jeannie been thinking, I mean, I knew she had a kinky side as I do but this was way out there. A question popped into my head. "How long do I have to decide?" I asked Helena.