The Wrong Sister

The Date

For the date I wore a short mustard yellow dress. It was loose and comfortable.

The color was bright. It did not reflect my mood, but I figured that I could possibly force a jolly mood.

I wasn't expecting it to be a great date. Gabriel and I always end up at each other's throats. Him more than me.

Kyle introduced himself to me when he picked me up. Chloe and Gabriel took a separate car, which seemed a bit dramatic, but Chloe demanded some alone time with her man.

We eventually arrived at what was a surprisingly isolated brandy distillery/restaurant. It was next to a small lake.

Willows dripped into the water and arum lilies covered the banks of the lake.

As we went to enter the building, the waiter at the door waved frantically. I followed his line of sight to see Chloe and Gabriel already seated.

Gabe snapped his attention over to us and smiled.

I grinned back a little nervous.

The man, once again focused on Kyle and me, turned to show us in. We passed a wall blocking the seating area from the front a wall of sunflowers came into view.

I gasped. Their brightness completely distracted me from absolutely all nerves plaguing me.

My heart thundered in my chest and my throat felt thick.

They were so beautiful. I turned to Gabriel. He smiled as I beamed.

"I thought you might like it."

"I love it. How did you find this place?"

Gabe paused for just a second, "I'm a local. I know all the secret places here."

Chloe reached forward and grabbed his hand, "When are you going to surprise me with a restaurant with a wall of orchid flowers?"

"I couldn't do that. Orchids are polycarpic. It would be too cruel to cut off their flowers." He glanced back at me winking.

Kyle stifled a laugh, "Cutting a few flowers is cruel. Wow. This is new."

There was an awkward silence.

Gabe glared at Kyle, Kyle watched my face and Chloe was slumped in her chair miffed with Gabe.

"Shall we sit?" Asked Kyle.

"Oh yes. Sorry."

Gabriel was seated facing the Sunflower wall. Chloe was seated next to him. I took the seat on the other side of Gabriel so as to keep the sunflowers in my field of sight.

The lighting on them was perfect. They seemed to glow.

"Artemis, please tell me everything about yourself." Kyle said. He placed his elbow on the table and leaned his head on his fist watching me with soft eyes.

"Everything? That's quite a lot to tell." I chuckled nervously.

"Well then, I suppose we'll just have to spend a lot of time together." He grinned.

I smiled. It was a lame line, but it was sweet. It felt nice having someone not so terrifying interested in me.

Don't get me wrong. He was tall and muscular, but he had a gentleness to him.

"Gabe tells me you are in university. What are you studying?"

"Human genetics."

"Well fancy that." He glanced at Gabriel. "My family have a bit of genetic differentiation to our- Ouch" He winced suddenly.