Gaia’s eyebrows shot up. He noticed they had been groomed a bit too.
“You’ve already decided we’re only friends?”
“Not at all. I just thought we would see how this goes. That’s usually what happens on dates. People see how they get along first and foremost. If we enjoy each other’s company, I’d like to spend more time with you.”
Gaia’s posture sagged. “I’m so hopeless at this stuff. I’ve never had to do dating. I hope you can forgive any mistakes I make.”
Aaron reached over and took her hand. She wrapped her fingers around his, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m not judging. I’m just enjoying your company, and I hope you’ll enjoy having dinner with me too.”
Gaia just remembered something. He could tell from the look on her face. Then she coughed and hesitated a moment.
“There is something I need to warn you about.”
“Oh?” He wondered what it could be. Were they about to experience an avalanche? “What is it?”
“I want to apologize in advance if somebody shows up and tries to ruin our date. It’s happened to me before.”
“Who would want to ruin your date?”
“A pesky little god named Pan. I rejected him, and now he’s made sure nobody else likes or wants me.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen. I already like you.” Aaron smiled and took a sip of his wine while she visibly relaxed. “What did he do to try and ruin your dates?”
“Well, the first time, he just showed up in his true form. He’s a satyr.”
Aaron’s brows shot up, but he didn’t comment, so she continued telling the truth.
“The next time, he put a truth spell on my date. Then the man told me all kinds of unethical things that he liked to do. It wouldn’t have been so terrible except he let me know he had no intention of quitting his bad behavior. I was pretty unhappy after hearing that.
“And the next time, Pan put the truth spell onme. I wound up scaring the pants off my date—oh, not literally. But I did have to loosen his tie, because when I told him I was Mother Nature, goddess of the planet and whole universe, he fainted. Apparently, he wasn’t used to powerful women.”
Aaron laughed. “Well, I’m very used to powerful women. My daughters are both witches and they are far more powerful than I am. That’s just a fact. It has never really bothered me, except when I was raising them alone and wasn’t sure how much magic I wanted them to use. When they both became health professionals, it was clear their powers were going to be used for good. I was happy to let them be as powerful as they needed to be as long as it was to help others.”
This time, Gaia reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “That’s so reassuring. I was told it might be a good idea for us to share our truths up front, even the ones we aren’t proud of. That way, if Pan shows up, he can’t get the satisfaction of shocking us by putting a truth spell on either of us.”
Aaron wasn’t sure he understood her statement. It sounded like she wanted to hear anything and everything that he had ever done wrong.Do I really want to confess everything? There could be a lot there, though most of it was not necessarily my fault. Going back to my younger years, however, would be embarrassing.
“Okay. You want us to reveal all our past transgressions so that this god, if he shows up, can’t surprise us with any truth we might be tempted to hide.”
“Um, is that not okay?”
“No, it’s all right… I get it. Usually, those things come out over time. You just want to push up the timeline for getting to know each other—warts and all.”
“You have warts?”
Aaron chuckled. “No. But if I did, would you like me less?”
“No. Exactly my point. That’s what I was hoping we could do. I’ll go first, if you like.”
“I think I’m going to need more wine for this,” Aaron said.
* * *
Gaia had launched into a long list of mistakes she’d made—starting with the big bang. She had indeed farted and caused an explosion that booted her out of the new galaxy. Aaron had quickly stopped her and pointed out that everyone has limited control over certain bodily functions.
She felt a little better until she started contemplating the things she’d done on purpose. Sometimes, she lashed out in anger. After that, she might try teaching someone a lesson. But was that her fault?
“I’m confused,” she confessed. “Some of the bad things I did were a reaction to other people’s bad behavior. Is that a mistake?”
