Eli
Bianca and I soon finish our breakfast, or you could say our leftover muffins that the guests no longer wanted.
Zen came by once again, to pick up our dishes while Bianca gave me the following breakdown:
"So I'm going to first go downtown to get ingredients for a locater spell, then I'll meet you back over here to perform it so we can get an actual idea on where Jackson is." she explains to me.
"Do you want to come?" She asks.
I stare blankly at her, studying her face. Bianca looked back at me with pleading eyes. It's almost like she wanted me to go, but yet again her lips were formed into a small smile.
"Would you like me to go?" I hopelessly say.
She rolls her eyes, shifting her weight as she raises her eyebrows at me. "It's a yes or no question. Don't play the question game with me." She furrows.
I sigh, looking at Bianca, then at Zen who was now refilling the toppings at the salad bar.
His expression was rather more focused then happy. Was he happy? I wonder.
My gut told me to stay with Zen, perhaps try to get to know him better, help him refill the toppings with him. I mean, it's the least I can do. He did go out of his way to offer both me and Bianca leftover muffins, ones the guests didn't want anymore.
What if he was gay--
Of course hes not gay Eli, he's too cute, he probably has a girlfriend. I interrupt myself.
But he went was acting too nice--
IT'S HIS JOB ELI, HE HAS TO BE NICE.
I bit my lip, continuing to fight with the voices in my head until Bianca waves a hand in front of me, in front of Zen.
"You're practically drooling. Didn't know you wanted him that bad." She jokes, stiffingly a laugh.
I zoom towards her, grabbing her hand before she left. "Are you ok with walking around town--alone--somewhere you're not familiar with?" I question her. A wave of gulit washes over me. My grip on her only tightens.
She forces a smile "I'll be fine. The nearest witch shop isn't too far from here, only a block down. I'll just walk there. Plus, I need the exercise. Being locked in a car for nearly two days doesn't help the muscules." Bianca seemed to come across the problem so well--so, mature.
I sigh, letting my grasp on Bianca release as she waves to me, walking out the door.
I watch her brunette hair sway through the cold wind, her tan skin reflecting gracefully off of the bright Ohio sun. She looked beautiful. Totally not a crazy witch who's about to get ingredients for a locater spell to find the love of her life--
"Is that your girlfriend?" I hear a voice ask.
I swoop around behind me, my heart feeling as if it just dropped out of me, and then sprinted back inside of me in a matter of seconds.
It was Zen. Zen was behind me.
He notices my near freak out, letting out an apologetic laugh. A series of uneeded apologies flowing out of him. "Oops--sorry--I didn't mean to scare you--really-that's a lot coming from me." "I didn't mean to say--it like that--I just meant that like--I get scared really easily and--" He interrupts himself, inspecting my face that now had one hell of a dork smile on it.
"Sorry," he says again for the millionth time.
"It's fine." I laugh.
He rubbed his pink lips together awkwardly, scratching at a patch of skin behind his neck.
"No," I suddenly say, finally zoning back into reality. It was starting to become a problem of how quickly I could get lost in him, a stranger I had never seen before in my life.
"That girl--Bianca--she's not my girlfriend." I briefly add.
It seemed like in that moment Zen eyes danced around in circles, sparkling in joy. I almost wanted to point it out, but I contained myself.
"Oh. That's nice--I mean like not the part of you being single--or like having Bianca as your girlfriend--I mean I'm sure Bianca is a lovely girl--"
"ZEN" I interrupted him again.
He pauses, shutting up instantly, and letting out yet another swarm of nervous laughs.
"You can tell I don't talk to boys often." I say softly.
Zen slowly nods and shrugs, now examining my hair. It still had some bedhead, ruffling up on some of the edges on my dirty brown hair.
"You're right, I don't." He laughs eagerly.
We continue to stand there for a couple more seconds, the two of us not saying anything. I realized that I spaced out again, blinking aggressively. "What were your plans for today?" I ask next.
He shrugs, looking around at the empty hotel lobby. I just realized how weird it is for both Bianca and I to be renting out a hotel room in the middle of January. The hotel was so empty it hurt. My mind then flashes to the "guests" that Zen was talking about this morning.
"Probably just clean. I'm in charge of housecleaning today, and washing sheets. The most boring shift ever." I nod my head, "sounds boring."
I hesitate, currently arguing with my inner self to just ask him for a lending hand. I have nothing else to do today, you dropped Bianca for this man, put it to use.
"Do you need any help with that? I don't really have anything to do today." I finally slipped out.
An even bigger smile appears on Zen's face, though it quickly fades when he adds, "I don't think my dick of a boss would be happy that I'm letting one of the guests do my work around the hotel. I'd probably get fired for that." His mood seemed to change.
Of course, that sounded weird from the start.
"Oh," I simply say.
"But, we could go to a coffee shop downtown on my lunch break--if you're not busy." Zen offers his usual happy energy back. Mine seemed to sprint back. "Sure! I'm not busy." I add a smile.
"Cool, I'll meet you back here at like 1?" I nod my head, trying to now contain my excitement that was heating off of me. "Sounds good,"
-
I waited eagerly in my hotel room for the time to pass by. I nearly checked every nook and cranny in the room. Experimenting with the coffee machine, the shower--
The time ticked 1:05 as I hurried through the halls and into the elevator, trying desperately to get to the main lobby. Cold wind plastered onto me while I stepped out of the elevator.
I scanned the area, my eyes lingering onto every object that was near me. I soon spotted out Zen, in his red outfit.
He recognized me, shortly walking over to me with his usual smile on his face. "Hey,"
"Hi. Are you ready to go?" I ask, he nods.
-
The two of us walked out of the hotel campus, soon walking down a narrow dirty sidewalk with the sun beaming straight onto us.
"It's a good day outside." I tell him. Zen was staring at the ground, not being able to stare straight ahead of him because of the sun. "Yep, feels like I'm gonna go blind if I dare to look anywhere." He jokes.
Zen and I walked into a small Dunkin' Donuts that was nearly empty. Only two other people were there, and they seemed to be doing their work on their laptops.
We shortly ordered some drinks. Zen seemed to master the whole menu, getting a very complicated mocha with extra cream and sugar.
I stared at the colorful glowing menu that was reflecting back to me. I hesitated, lingering my eyes against the print, panicking to think of a simple order, but also something that I liked. "I'll just have a small iced sweet tea, please." I blurt out.
Zen didn't seem to mind my dragging, as we both returned to a small table by a window. We sat down.
"You seemed to be panicking back there." He jokes, and I almost wanted to throw up. It's crazy to think that out of all of the things in the world, the struggles and troubles of being a vampire, ordering a drink at a coffee shop is what really gets me off.
I force a laugh, trying to hide my undergoing urge to just cry on the spot. I'm a man for crying out loud. "Yeah--sorry--I don't usually go out, whenever I do, I certainly don't choose a coffee shop for preference." I stutter to say.
"Totally fine. I'm not any better. It's just I come here so often and order the same thing, the workers practically know what I want as soon as I come here." He giggles. The way he giggled almost made my heart melt, as his eyes wrinkle shut, and his tongue seems to linger ever so slightly off his bottom teeth.
"Have you ever been here?" He asks as a follow up. I take a sip of my sweet tea, and take a sigh of relief as it actually isn't that bad. It's just a simple tea, refreshing.
I shake my head. Not even five minutes into the conversation and I might have to expose myself. "I'm actually not from here. I'm from Greenwood, Indiana." I confess.
His eyes widen as he takes a sip of his drink. The wet sensation of condensation lathered onto his slim pale fingers. "Really?! I would have never suspected, but then again that's probably why you're staying in a hotel. Are you here for family, friends?"
Oh, was he so clueless.
Part of me wondered if I should actually tell him the reason I was in town, but the other half of me wondered if I shouldn't because he might call me crazy.
"Neither--actually I'm here as moral support for my best friend--Bianca--she's kinda here because she is seeing his guy--her boyfriend." The last part seemed to mush together, and I anxiously bit down on my straw to prevent me from screaming out loud.
Zen just bursted into a series of laughs. Trying to contain himself, he took a sip of his complicated mocha. "I don't mean to laugh, but we're two of the most awkward people ever." He continues to laugh.
I stared intently at him, and I couldn't help but smile myself--because it was true. "Pretty much."
"It's cool that you went out of your way to drive out of the state for your friend and her boyfriend." He says.
I try to not blush. He really did just make me fall apart, and I just started talking to this man. "Thank you. I'd do anything for my best friends. This man and her are kinda on thin ice right now. Their relationship is pretty complicated. Everything in my and my friends' lives is kinda complicated." I laugh, trying to brush it off, but couldn't help but feel hurt by my own words.
I take a sip of my sweet tea, the liquid hitting my tongue. The ice substance tingles on my teeth, causing chills to go down my spine.
"I think everyone's lives are complicated, just in their own way, yknow?"
I nod my head agreeing. "Mine is just very interesting. I guess that's what you get for being a va--" I stop myself before I could continue.
Shit.
Zen laughs, then actually takes in what I said and froze, narrowing his eyes at me. "A what?" he asks.
I blinked curiously at him, trying to play it off like it was a wording mistake, but it was too clear, too solid. I wanted to throw myself into the lake and sit outside of me. Or maybe purposely spill some of my tea on me as an excuse to run to the bathroom.
"Nothing--I was just joking--"
"A vampire?" he restates.
I gulp.
I'm too far in now to try to back out, then that'll just straight up be lying, and I don't want to lie to him. Just like I didn't wanna use compulsion on him that night we arrived here.
"Yes," I finally said.
He blows out some air, leaning back in his seat as if he was on the edge of it the entire time.
"Damn. That just made you even more attractive." He randomly says, peeling his eyes and hands back to his drink.
I almost choke on my own, as I stared at him, and I wanted to cry tears of joy. One, for him not caring, and two, this man just called me attractive. I laughed, finally giving in some thought of the statement. "Thanks for not caring."
"It's cool. I've never been friends with a vampire. Wait--how do I know you're not lying?" he asks me, a smile still clearly on his face. "Like, I do believe you, but like I did just meet you. How do I know for sure?"
I sit there for a minute, finishing up the rest of my drink as I think of a plan.
Then it hits me;
"Follow me,"