There’s a long pause.
I’m glad she keeps you sane and out of trouble. It must be nice to have someone you can confide in.
The fact that I haven’t told her about Phantoms makes my skin prickle.
It is.
And it’s time I tell her the truth.
CHAPTER 3
Squeezing my hand with the tentacle wrapped around it, Kita says, “Um… I am not complaining, but when you said you wanted to take me out, I did not expect the fancy schmancy treatment.”
“Well, I know for a fact that Agan and his friendscan’tjoin us here.”
I reallydon’tneed an interruption.
They won’t get past the host stand without reservations, and if they do, I will make a waiter kick them outsofast.
Balphor’s is booked out for months.
Taking advantage of Phantom’s connections is the only reason I got us a table
If they put in the request for us, apparently we’ll have a table, no matter what. And tonight… Tonight I wanted something special.
The conversation with Sirin had gone on for over an hour with brief spots of silence when his work intruded. He’s lonely, and I hate that.
And when he had to go, all I wanted to do was tell Kita.
But telling Kita meant admitting to more than a few secrets, and that was why I brought her here. Buttering her up before I“break the news”.
The waiter brings us our drinks and takes our orders—it’s fancy, but there are only three things to choose from on the menu for any species that sits down, so it’s not a hard decision to make—and when we’re alone again, I bite my lip.
I ran through a dozen different versions of the script for this in my head and… none of them are right.
“So,” I say, prompting myself and forcing the conversation to start. “I have something to tell you.”
Kita folds one tentacle onto the table and under her chin—it’s a gesture she’s copied from me, even though she doesn’t have human arms. “Why do you look nervous?”
Exhaling, I say, “I’ve kind of been lying to you?”
Her head tilts to the side, her smile absolutely incredulous. “What could you possibly be lying to me about?”
“I changed jobs a few months ago.”
“Okay… I don’t see why that would need to be a secret.” She takes a drink and wiggles with joy.
“The important thing is that I love my new job, but also, I needyouto keep it a secret.”
“Of course.”
“I work at Phantom’s.”
“Oh! That’s awesome! And it explains this.” She waves a tentacle around to indicate that she’s talking about the restaurant. “Balphors is not someplace we would go on either of our salaries—well, your previous one.”
“No… I definitely could not have swung my half of this, much less offer to treat you.”
“Nice.” She takes another drink. “You promise you love it?”
