Chapter Five

My head was pounding. I rolled over in my bed and slammed my hand onto the alarm’s shut-off switch. I yanked the covers over my eyes to avoid the anticipated glare of the light that automatically switched on to accompany the blaring of my alarm clock. The clock was a concoction my parents rooted out of some novelty shop on one of their many trips abroad to assist me with my aversion to getting out of bed. It was annoying, but it worked.

I couldn’t believe it. Once again, I’d gone blank and didn’t remember the end of my date with Nevi. Once again, I’d awoken to find myself tucked safely in my bed. As before, my dress hung neatly in the closet. This time I was wearing my favorite Mickey Mouse nightshirt.

I thought about the amount of alcohol I’d consumed at dinner and scowled. I’d promised myself to go easy on it. I was so incredibly comfortable in Nevi’s company that I forgot about being cautious with my drinking. I’d tossed caution to the wind and paid absolutely no attention to how many times he’d refilled my wine glass. I think I’d have been all right if we hadn’t toasted with the Sambuca again. Sambuca had to be the axe that cut down my tree.

I groaned. I’d been so happy with the progression of the dinner.

“Damn. Leave it to me to ruin things,” I whined.

Once again, I was mortified.

I closed my eyes and savored Nevi’s smiling face with its seductive eyes as it rose up from my mind’s memory bank. After last night, would he consider me a lush? From what little I knew about him, he was the kind of guy who enjoyed a woman with culture and class. I heaved a sigh. I certainly fell short there. I may have been able to pass before I broke away from my parent’s home. My lifestyle had changed drastically since then. I thought perhaps it was ingrained in me and I could pull it out of the recesses of who I was. I guess I thought wrong. I was no longer the privileged girl my parents adored. I had no one to blame but myself. It was a change I’d initiated. It hadn’t bothered me until now.

I felt a wave of dismay sweep over me. I liked this guy. He was the perfect package; good looking, intelligent, witty, caring, nice, generous, and rich. How often do you find a man with all of these attributes? What made it worse was I knew, deep down, that we belonged together.

I’d blown it… again. Was a third chance possible?

Dragging my body from the sanctuary of my bed, I made my way to the family size bottle of Excedrin I kept on the top shelf of my bathroom’s medicine cabinet. I was no stranger to headaches. They were something I was getting more and more of as I grew older. My parents took me for innumerable medical checkups and tests—all of which found no explanation for them. The doctors slid my headaches under the generic category of “stress related” and prescribed migraine medication for the severe ones and an over the counter remedy—my choice being Excedrin—for the more manageable ones. I wasn’t sure what kind of headache the unidentified wine and Sambuca had landed me. Since I didn’t like the way I felt on the prescription stuff, I thought I’d give the Excedrin a chance to work its magic.

Closing the medicine cabinet, I jumped at Frank’s reflection in the mirror. The last thing I expected to see him was standing behind me! One of the few adjustments to the ancient family cottage was to create a second bathroom off the master bedroom for my personal use. Frank got the main bathroom for his personal space. He had no need to enter my bathroom and never entered my room without at least knocking; until today.

“You look like shit,” he stated flatly.

“I feel like shit,” I replied, while I inspected my bloodshot eyes. I chose to ignore the invasion of my space and said nothing.

“Is this going to become a regular thing?” he demanded.

“What?” I asked hesitantly.

“You know what. Coming home so shit-faced you can’t even get yourself to bed,” he said in a tone that bordered judgmental.

Okay, so much for the mystery of how I’d made it to bed.   Although, I thought Frank hadn’t come home the first night. I guess I was wrong.

“It’s a new side of you that I didn’t know existed,” he continued a little more gently, “This new guy doesn’t seem to be a good influence.”

I pushed my way past Frank and plopped back down onto the bed. I had to leave for work soon. I hated the breakfast shift on the best of days. This was anything but the best of days.

“What are you doing up at this hour?” I asked gruffly.

“I haven’t gone to bed yet,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What? Why?” I gasped.

“You don’t remember, do you?” he asked incredulously.

I stared at Frank for a moment. His pale blue eyes looked sunken into the dark hollows that surrounded them. It was odd. I hadn’t seen him in about a week, which wasn’t all that unusual because we tended to operate on different schedules. I didn’t recall him looking so pale and sallow the last time I saw him. His cheeks looked grayish and sunken in. Was he dehydrated?

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked, genuinely concerned.

“I’ll live,” he replied rather sarcastically as he plunked his body down on the edge of my bed. This was a twist of attitude that I didn’t care for.

“You don’t look like you’ll live much past noon,” I stated, ignoring the fact that he was next to me in bed. We were roommates and friends, but I’d always kept a thin barrier between us. I wanted there to be no mistaken encouragement on my part for him to believe there could be anything further. Allowing him to lie beside me in the wee hours of the morning was not the best idea, but since he looked super sick, I decided to let it pass. “You don’t look good at all.”

“You didn’t seem worried about it last night,” he scoffed.

“I don’t remember last night,” I replied, hesitantly.

“I wonder why.” His voice hinted of sarcasm.

“Did I do or say anything that I shouldn’t have?” I held my breath while I waited for his reply. I’ve always enjoyed the control that I’ve had on my daily activities and not remembering how I got home and tucked safely into bed bugged me.

“Let’s just put it this way,” Frank barked, as he hopped up off the bed, clearly agitated. “You came home so pissed you hardly knew your own name. I had to help you out of your clothes and into bed like you were a child…a spoiled child at that…all while maintaining your sanctimonious privacy. God forbid if I caught a glimpse of your precious butt!” He paused to fill his lungs with fresh air and collect himself before continuing, “If it continues, I’ll have no choice but to move out.”

My mouth hung open as I watched my irate roommate stomp out of my bedroom. He’d never spoken to me like that before. It was a shocking revelation of a side of him that he’d kept well hidden.

I strained my brain to try to remember the night before. What had I said? What had I done? If I’d acted so offensively to Frank, had I behaved as badly in front of Nevi? This was not good…not good at all.

The Excedrin was working its wonders enough so that I was able to pull on my robe and follow Frank out into the living room. I stood in the archway that separated the dining room from the living room and watched him as he perched on the edge of the overstuffed sofa. His elbows rested on his knees in obvious troubled contemplation. There was something different about him. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was other than the fact that he looked gaunt and sickly.

I continued to the kitchen and pulled out the blender. Frank wasn’t a breakfast guy. In fact, he rarely put anything in his stomach until late afternoon. It was a bad habit, I know, but one there seemed no way of breaking him of. I took a chance on the fact that he hadn’t been to bed yet and made him a protein smoothie. He was in dire need of nutrition and it was the best I could think to do at five in the morning.

To my surprise and relief, he accepted it and drank it down without a word. I took the empty glass from him and returned it to the kitchen. Glancing quickly at my friend who had returned to his position of quiet contemplation, I shook my head and went back to my bedroom. I had no remedy for him and I needed to get to work. I never allowed much time in the mornings to get ready and I’d used the little bit that I had allowed recovering from my Sambuca head and dealing with Frank’s needs. I had no choice but to forgo a shower and go into work as I was. At least I was pulling kitchen duty again so I wouldn’t be under the scrutiny of the customers.

I took enough time to wrestle out of Frank my method of getting home. I was relieved to discover that even in my drunken stupor I’d had the sense to hire the Designator Driver Company. One of their perks was they had a second driver follow to take your driver home once you and your vehicle were deposited safely at their destination. It wasn’t a cheap service, but it was worth every penny.

With that question no longer weighing heavy on my mind, I steeled myself for the day. I could only imagine the comments and questions that Francine would assail me with.

My head was almost clear by the time I unlocked the kitchen entrance to the diner, tossed my coat and bag in the narrow employee closet, and started firing up the grills and deep fryer. I was late getting things warmed up and would be lucky to be able to produce home fries within the next thirty minutes. My only hope would be for the morning patrons to only be interested in coffee.

“Good morning sunshine!” Francine had the most annoying habit of being a morning person, all bubbly and such. I found this difficult to deal with in the best of times. This was certainly not the best of times.

“Hi,” I growled as I slammed pans around the kitchen trying to catch up with the clock.

“Late night?” she questioned as she stowed her handbag and coat in the little closet near the door in a much more graceful manner than I had.

“Sort of,” I grumbled. I knew at some point Francine would wrangle the story out of me, but I wasn’t up to telling it at the moment.

She studied me briefly before saying, “Good,” and headed into the dining area to start the coffee brewer. “Better get a move on back there,” she called through the order window, “Looks like the railroad crew is having a meeting here this morning. Home fries for all, I’ll bet.”

That figured.

The diner was located on the edge of town and it was the nearest eatery to the local railroad station where trains hauled freight of all description. The station happened to be in the hub of the freight operation and it was not uncommon for crews from other areas to meet there on occasion to discuss whatever it was they discussed. It was my bad luck to have this day be one of those meeting days.

“Try to discourage the home fries if you can for at least another ten minutes,” I begged.

“I’ll do my best, dearie.” She smiled smugly.

I found that term of endearment incredibly annoying and she knew it.

I scowled.

Her smile got even broader.

It looked like it was going to be one of those days. I have to say, I’ve had new years start with less ups and downs than this one had for sure. There just seemed to be far too many of “those days” since the year began only a few short weeks ago!

The next few hours crawled by as the orders for eggs and home fries just kept coming. Hadn’t anyone ever heard of a pancake or a waffle? Poor Nick looked overwhelmed with toast. At least Francine managed to push home fries instead of hash browns. We made our hash browns from scratch and the potato shredder acted up more than it didn’t.

As I wiped the sweat from my brow with my sleeve, I caught a glimpse of someone standing at the back door. Horror of horrors, it was Nevi. Oh no, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. I just couldn’t believe my incredible bad luck.

“W-what are you doing here?” I asked, clearly panicked, as he pulled to door open enough to show his tall, sleek physique.

“I thought it best I make sure you were all right. I have concluded you do not tolerate Sambuca well. I was concerned.” He shifted in the doorway, but made no move to enter.

I remembered the stories that vampires weren’t able to enter a person’s dwelling without an invitation. Was that why he was just standing in the doorway? Why didn’t he just walk in like Geoffrey had done? Almost immediately, I cursed myself for being so ridiculous. First of all, this was not a private dwelling so he could come and go as he pleased if he was a vampire. At least in the movies he could. Secondly, he couldn’t be a vampire because it was daytime and here he was, standing in the doorway. Thirdly, vampires were a myth and damned Geoffrey anyway.

It was snowing heavily. I watched it flit wildly around his head. The cool air flew into the kitchen past him. It was refreshing. It took me a minute to stop being ridiculous and come to my senses enough to invite him in. He shook his coat while mumbling that he didn’t want to inconvenience me and wouldn’t stay long, stomped his feet and entered, closing the door behind him.

The smell of burning potatoes yanked me back to my duties. “I’m sorry. It’s a little crazy in here today.” I hoped I didn’t sound too curt. It’s just there I was, sweaty, no makeup, matted hair…the not so pretty side of Cinderella. Then there was Nevi; clean cut, totally put together, and smelling just as yummy as he had the night before. He was wearing Fahrenheit, of course.

Why me?

“Of course,” he apologized, “I did not mean to intrude on you in your place of employment. I was just making sure you made it home all right. I would have preferred to see you home myself, but I understand your hesitation in allowing a stranger to know your address. Also,” he stepped so close my toes curled from the thrill, “I would like to take you out again this evening. To a movie, perhaps?”

A movie?

Here he was, witnessing me in such a pathetic state after sending me home completely inebriated after each date and he still wanted to see me. He wanted to take me to a movie. A movie date was far more intimate than a dinner date. I could hardly keep my rubber knees from giving way over the mere prospect of sitting close to him in the dark theater for ninety minutes.

I turned and looked directly at him for the first time. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” he smiled, “Shall I pick you up?”

Oh boy. After the comment he’d made about my not wanting to give him my address, I felt that if I didn’t now, it would be like putting a huge “stay back’” sign on my forehead. I wanted to move forward with this man, not backward. We’d reached the point where he was going to actually come to my home and pick me up. Giving out one’s address was not something to take lightly and not something I did often. He would know where I lived. He would discover I’d been stalking him. If I denied him again, it would look just as bad. I could see no way around it. I couldn’t keep saying I’d meet him. It took all of two seconds of hesitation before I blurted out the directions to my house and agreed to be ready by eight.  He expressed his pleasure that this would give us time to grab a few slices of pizza before the movie started.

He didn’t tell me the name of the movie and I never asked. Did it matter?

Hmm, Geoffrey. This sounds like a pretty normal date to me.

As Nevi said good-bye, he surprised me with a quick kiss on my cheek. I hadn’t a clue if we’d done this at the end of our dates. I didn’t remember the end of our dates. Whether it was the first time or not, it felt pretty good. It felt quite natural.

The door barely closed behind him before Francine came bounding into the kitchen all aglow. “I peeked through the serving window,” she whispered anxiously. “Was that him?”

“Yes,” I replied dreamily.

“Oh girl, you struck the mother lode this time.” She put her hands on her hips. “Just look at you.”

“He’s taking me to the movies tonight,” I bragged.

“Well, whatever magic you’re working I want some of it. I spend hours and dollars keeping myself looking like this,” she emphasized her statement by smoothing her waistline, “and you…you just frump around in your…whatever…and you get a dreamboat.”

I’d never heard Francine this flustered. It was actually amusing, but I could understand where she was coming from. It didn’t seem right that someone who tried as little as I tried in the appearance department would land someone as outstanding as Nevi. He should be asking Francine out instead of me. She was good looking, well proportioned, and always put together. ‘Well-coiffed’, as my mother would say.

“There’s just no accounting for it,” she continued as she shook her head and returned to the dining room. “Don’t get me wrong,” she poked her face through the serving window, “I think you’re a knock out or, you would be if you’d make the effort.”

“Maybe he sees beneath it all,” I stated flatly, as I flipped the row of eggs on my grill.

“Well, you’re lucky, girlfriend. Take my advice and don’t take this stroke of luck for granted. You may be a fascinating anomaly now, but after he grows used to you, you’ll need to keep your man.”

I heard her words loud and clear and agreed. “Will you help me?”

Francine stared at me for a moment in shock. After all her nagging about my appearance, I’d finally asked for help. A broad smile slowly spread across her face and her eyes sparkled with pleasure, “You bet.”

I was actually giddy for the better part of an hour before Geoffrey’s uninvited entry into the kitchen spoiled my world. What was his problem?

“You aren’t allowed back here,” I grumbled, clearly annoyed.

“I smell vampire. He was here, wasn’t he?” Geoffrey growled.

“Who?” I asked innocently.

“Your vamp lover,” he said in what reminded me of a lion’s roar.

“Give me a break,” I growled back as I slapped some home fries onto a plate of eggs and set it in the pickup window.

“You still don’t believe me?” he asked with surprise.

“You need to go,” I demanded while I assaulted some whole wheat toast with butter before tossing it on a plate and shoving it on the pickup window next to a plate with the eggs and home fries.

I’d forgotten about Nick until he cleared his throat. He looked like he was at a loss of what to do. I couldn’t blame him. Nick was about five feet-six-inches in shoes—and of medium build. Geoffrey was taller than him, and double in size—not to mention all muscle. I just knew if I grabbed his arm, it’d be rock hard.

I decided to give Nick an out. “It looks like Francine could use a little help clearing the tables, Nick.”

“You got it,” he said gratefully before practically running past Geoffrey to get out of the kitchen.

It was clear Nick wasn’t hero material.

I scowled at Geoffrey, “You frightened him.”

“I meant to frighten you,” he said.

“By telling me I’m dating a vampire?” I bellowed incredulously.

“Exactly,” he said.

“Go away.” I hissed.

I should have been frightened. Not of the vampire thing—that was just plain annoying—but of Geoffrey himself. After all, I barely knew the man and he’d done nothing but talk crazy since our introduction on New Year’s Day. Maybe it was because we met at my parents’ house, but I was actually quite comfortable in his company. If only he wasn’t so crazy.

Before I knew what was happening, Geoffrey scooped me close. His hands held my upper arms in a grip that was firm, but not painful. Our faces were so close; I couldn’t help locking eyes with him.

“Give me a chance to make you see,” he whispered.

“Let go,” I said, rather weakly.

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he continued in his same soft, almost seductive tone.

His lips were dangerously close.

“I’m seeing Nevi tonight,” I said with a bit of uncertainty in my voice.

“The vamp?” he whispered huskily.

I nodded like a dumb doll while I stared into his oh so beautiful eyes.

“Break it.” His mouth was almost touching mine.

“No,” I whispered while I wantonly closed my eyes and positioned my lips for the kiss I knew was coming.

Never in a million years would I have believed what happened next to have been possible. His lips locked mine in a way I can only describe as the most incredible experience I’ve ever had in my entire life. His kiss was soft, yet powerfully demanding. I felt a tingle down into my toes. He tasted pleasantly nutty. Instead of his advances repelling me, I melted into him like the wanton woman I was.

My mind whirled. Stop, you hussy! You’re kissing a crazy man, you fool!, but my body just kept saying, Yes, yes, yes.

It was my body that I obeyed.

It was a good thing that he was still gripping my arms or I’d have landed in a pile on the floor for certain. I’d read about women going weak at the knees and having their heads spin dizzily when kissing, but I hadn’t believed it was something that did happen. I considered it romance novel special effects.

Boy, was I wrong.

We were standing in a dangerous spot—considering my physical reaction. He must have realized it because he moved me from the grill over against the cooler, his lips never leaving mine. Oh my, I could have just stayed in that luscious lip lock forever. Sadly, he eventually pulled away. One look into his eyes told me he wasn’t totally unmoved by what had just happened either.

“Let me take you out and show you that I’m not crazy,” he almost begged.

“Not tonight,” I whispered.

It took every ounce of strength I could muster to say those two little words. What I wanted to say was, ‘Yes, yes, yes. Anything you say, anything you want…it’s yours, I’m yours…let’s run away together.’

“I’m not crazy,” he said gently. I could feel his breath on my swollen lips.

“I believe you,” I replied. The funny thing was that I really did believe him.

“Then break your date,” he insisted.

“I, I can’t,” I panted. The kiss had left me breathless.

I can’t explain what force was driving me to stick to my plans for the evening. It was a powerful one. It had to have been to have kept me from succumbing to this incredible experience.

He searched my eyes for a while before slowly releasing his grip on my arms. Fortunately, my legs held my weight and I didn’t topple over like a rag doll.

Stepping back, he commanded more than asked, “Tomorrow night, then.”

I nodded my agreement as I watched him walk out of the kitchen’s exterior door and into the grayish world of swirling snow. The cold air that swooped in upon his exit aided in bringing me back to my senses.

“Now, that’s just wrong!” Francine screeched through the pickup window. “I’m telling you, life isn’t fair!”

Don’t ask me how I managed to regain my composure in time to salvage the majority of the food on the grill and continue through my day, but I did.