"I'm thirty-seven," she responded.
"And that doesn't concern you?"I asked."The fact that I'm...not thirty-seven."
"You just said that you felt like you were forty-three," she pointed out."So no.It doesn't bother me.There are more important things than age."She picked up her wine and took a sip.
"Such as?"I hoped the answers were going to make it possible for me to pursue something with her, though, considering that she was very clearly flirting with me, I felt like the chances of that were good.
"Where we both are in our lives and careers, what we want from the future, what we're passionate about, that kind of thing."
I nodded."I'd like to think we match on some of those things."
"Certainly passion," she responded, popping another olive into her mouth.
"I have been enjoying your passion for food."
"I noticed."She smiled in a way that made it seem as if the observation was welcome."And I'd say we're in a similar place career-wise.You seem satisfied with yours, and I am with mine.Though we're both long-lived enough that it isn't likely to be a forever career."
"That's true."I paused."How do you feel about immortality?"
"I've never really thought about it," she admitted."I have so much of my natural life left, that it's not anything I've ever worried about.I'm sure that will change as I get older, and I'm certainly not opposed to it.Would you want someone you were with to be immortal?"
"I think I'd want them to be open to it," I responded."I know that things change, but I wouldn't want to date someone who said they definitely never wanted it.That would bring a finality to a relationship that I don't want."
She nodded."Fair enough.I imagine that an eternity is a long time to consider being alone."
"Yes."
"All right, so I guess the only things left that could be deal breakers are marriage and kids," she said, taking a sip of her wine."I'm not interested in the latter any time soon."
"I don't want more children," I said softly.
"Do you have many?"
"A few," I responded."Some of them have grown up and made their own lives, some of them have passed on."
"I'm sorry."She put her hand on my arm.
"Don't be.It's what they wanted, and as hard as it was to let them go, it was necessary.I wouldn't force immortality on any of my children for my sake.They lived fulfilled lives and decided that they were done.But I also don't want to go through it again."My heart ached at the thought of the people I'd lost over the centuries.It wasn't just children, but those were the goodbyes that always stung the most.Watching them grow old and die while I was still the same as I had been for four thousand years was just not something I wanted a repeat of.
She cleared her throat."Maybe we should change the subject."
I nodded, taking a moment to eat some more of the hummus.True to her word, she turned the conversation onto a more light-hearted track, which was only furthered when Dionysus arrived with our third type of wine.As much as I was never going to admit it to the wine god, I could feel the effects of the wine we'd been drinking already.
Laughter filled the air as I told Laila stories of my past, and she filled me in on the antics of her friends, though she was a little cautious when approaching the subject of Cupid, which was entirely fair.The enmity between the Greek and Roman pantheons had never fully waned, though most of my personal issues were with Neptune, not the love god.
"Oh, no, this is starting to go to my head," Laila said as she looked at her almost empty glass of wine.
I chuckled."That was the last one, though I can refill any you want."I gestured to the crate of wine sitting at the end of the table.
"I don't think that's a good idea.I didn't realise we could have more of it."
"You can have as much as you want," I said."Now or later, the bottles are ours."
"But if I havetoomuch, you're going to insist on taking me home, and the date will end."
"Yes."As hard as it would be, there was no denying that was what I'd have to do.I wasn't going to take advantage of her when I knew that I wanted something more than a quick tumble.
"Now would be a good time for those fried stuffed olives, right?"she joked.
