You know. Say hi and all that.” ( not to mention, stand around and stammer like a retard )
“Well, I'm glad you did. It's good to see you again,” she replied with that same smile. I could stare at that smile all day. Although I had a feeling I had better not do so for more than a few seconds; otherwise, I might end the day staring at the much less friendly smiles of building security.
Hold on just one second! What an idiot I am. She just gave me an opening.
Time to man up, pussy! suddenly screamed my Dr. Death persona from somewhere deep in my subconscious. It's about time he woke up. Yeah. I could do this. It was now or never.
“I'm happy to see you again, too. Speaking of which, Sheila, I wanted to ask you a...” *RING*
“Sorry. I better get that,” she said, going back into work mode and picking up the phone. Why now!? Does fate hate me so much? Don't bother answering. It was a rhetorical question.
She listened to someone speaking on the other end for a moment or two. Please let it be a wrong number. Maybe it was just some dickhead vendor making a cold call. Anyone who she could quickly get rid of before...
“It's the VP of Marketing. I should take this. Good seeing you, though,” she whispered quietly to me then, went back to the call.
Too late! The moment was over. I could feel whatever bravado I had spent nearly four years building up drain away in an instant. Damn you, Marketing VP! Damn you to hell!! It was even worse because I knew the guy was an asshole. His name was Harry Decker. He joined the company a short while after I contracted my condition . I hadn't met him in person but had been on enough teleconferences with him to know that he was useless in all areas except kissing the CEO's ass. Note to self: sic the coven on that fucker.
It didn't matter, though. I was finished. Rather than stand there and let fate continue to shit on me with the force of a thousand pigeons, I slunk away while she was still on the phone. I let myself out and got back onto the elevator. Once the doors closed and I was alone, I did the only thing I could think of...I banged my head repeatedly against the wall. I deserved it.
I looked up...OK, I didn't deserve it that much. Crap! Sometimes I forget the whole vampiric strength thing. There was a very visible dent in the wall of the elevator that hadn't been there a few moments ago. I quickly tossed on my daytime cover-ups so I could make a quick escape once I was back at the ground floor. I didn't need a repair bill from building maintenance to add to my shame.
* * *
Despite a nagging urge to rip off all my clothes and running screaming into the sunlight, I didn't. I managed to make it back to my apartment no worse for the wear, physically at least. Unfortunately, my pain was just beginning. Ed was in the living room waiting for me when I walked in.
“How'd it go?” he asked.
“Don't want to talk about it,” I said, walking towards my bedroom / office.
“She shot you down?” Even from behind me, I could feel the grin on his face as he asked it.
“Don't want to talk about it,” I repeated.
“You didn't even ask her did you?”
“You know,” I said, spinning around to face him and baring my fangs in the process, “it might not always be a good idea to piss off the scary-ass vampire you're living with.”
“So scary he can't even ask one girl out on a date?” he asked, his grin going into full shit-eating mode.
Goddamn, I hate when he's right! My anger deflated, and I walked back to slump down onto the couch.
“You know what your mistake was?” Ed asked, sitting down next to me.
“Being born?”
“No. That was your parents’ mistake. Your mistake was that you forgot one important rule: you never ever try to confess your feelings without first fortifying yourself. You should have stopped in a pub on the way for a little liquid courage, if you know
“Well, I'm glad you did. It's good to see you again,” she replied with that same smile. I could stare at that smile all day. Although I had a feeling I had better not do so for more than a few seconds; otherwise, I might end the day staring at the much less friendly smiles of building security.
Hold on just one second! What an idiot I am. She just gave me an opening.
Time to man up, pussy! suddenly screamed my Dr. Death persona from somewhere deep in my subconscious. It's about time he woke up. Yeah. I could do this. It was now or never.
“I'm happy to see you again, too. Speaking of which, Sheila, I wanted to ask you a...” *RING*
“Sorry. I better get that,” she said, going back into work mode and picking up the phone. Why now!? Does fate hate me so much? Don't bother answering. It was a rhetorical question.
She listened to someone speaking on the other end for a moment or two. Please let it be a wrong number. Maybe it was just some dickhead vendor making a cold call. Anyone who she could quickly get rid of before...
“It's the VP of Marketing. I should take this. Good seeing you, though,” she whispered quietly to me then, went back to the call.
Too late! The moment was over. I could feel whatever bravado I had spent nearly four years building up drain away in an instant. Damn you, Marketing VP! Damn you to hell!! It was even worse because I knew the guy was an asshole. His name was Harry Decker. He joined the company a short while after I contracted my condition . I hadn't met him in person but had been on enough teleconferences with him to know that he was useless in all areas except kissing the CEO's ass. Note to self: sic the coven on that fucker.
It didn't matter, though. I was finished. Rather than stand there and let fate continue to shit on me with the force of a thousand pigeons, I slunk away while she was still on the phone. I let myself out and got back onto the elevator. Once the doors closed and I was alone, I did the only thing I could think of...I banged my head repeatedly against the wall. I deserved it.
I looked up...OK, I didn't deserve it that much. Crap! Sometimes I forget the whole vampiric strength thing. There was a very visible dent in the wall of the elevator that hadn't been there a few moments ago. I quickly tossed on my daytime cover-ups so I could make a quick escape once I was back at the ground floor. I didn't need a repair bill from building maintenance to add to my shame.
* * *
Despite a nagging urge to rip off all my clothes and running screaming into the sunlight, I didn't. I managed to make it back to my apartment no worse for the wear, physically at least. Unfortunately, my pain was just beginning. Ed was in the living room waiting for me when I walked in.
“How'd it go?” he asked.
“Don't want to talk about it,” I said, walking towards my bedroom / office.
“She shot you down?” Even from behind me, I could feel the grin on his face as he asked it.
“Don't want to talk about it,” I repeated.
“You didn't even ask her did you?”
“You know,” I said, spinning around to face him and baring my fangs in the process, “it might not always be a good idea to piss off the scary-ass vampire you're living with.”
“So scary he can't even ask one girl out on a date?” he asked, his grin going into full shit-eating mode.
Goddamn, I hate when he's right! My anger deflated, and I walked back to slump down onto the couch.
“You know what your mistake was?” Ed asked, sitting down next to me.
“Being born?”
“No. That was your parents’ mistake. Your mistake was that you forgot one important rule: you never ever try to confess your feelings without first fortifying yourself. You should have stopped in a pub on the way for a little liquid courage, if you know
Similar Books
