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Once the host was gone, Keith grinned at me. He had warm hazel eyes that lit up when he smiled. I could definitely imagine cuddling on the couch with him. "Gemma said you were cute, but I had no idea," he said.
I wondered if he meant cute as in attractive or cute as in "just like my little sister." I knew I was blushing, which probably increased the "like a little sister" impression.
"Gemma didn't tell me anything about you," I admitted.
"Then it's very brave of you to take a chance on me in the blindest of blind dates."
Me, taking a chance on him? He had to be kidding. He was also way too good to be true. Maybe Gemma had hired him to go out with me, but that would defeat the whole point of Project Boyfriend. She knew I didn't need dates just to have someone to go out with.
We discussed the menu for a few minutes. He didn't have any weird food quirks that he felt the need to mention. He wasn't on any wacky diet, and he didn't reject menu items because they contained some food he hated. After too many blind dates with men who reminded me of toddlers on food jags, that was refreshing. I just hoped the conversation held up after we ordered.
The waiter came to take our orders and took away our menus, and we were left to work without a net. "So, what do you do, Katie?" he asked. It was the obligatory first question on any date. I wasn't sure why, when most people claim to hate talking about work.
"I'm just a secretary. Nothing interesting." I'd decided the best way around that tricky job question was to make my job sound so uninteresting that no one would want to ask more questions about it. "What about you?" I hoped turning the tables quickly would help move the conversation away from any possibility of me having to skirt the magic issue.
It didn't work. I'd found a guy who actually wanted to talk about me. "What company do you work for?" he asked.
"It's a small company. I'm sure you wouldn't have heard of it."
"Try me."
"It's called MSI Inc."
"You're right. I haven't heard of it. What do they do?"
I wished I could remember the way Owen had described it in that first meeting, which seemed so very long ago. "Oh, it's some kind of services stuff," I said at last, playing airhead. "I just type memos and make coffee. I don't pay much attention to what we actually do."
As boring as I tried to make it sound, he didn't look like he was about to fall asleep.
If he wasn't truly interested, he was faking it well. For a moment I wanted to really wow him by telling him I was Merlin's assistant and I worked with wizards and magical people, but I had a feeling that would lead to the kind of commitment that involved padded cells rather than diamond rings. Ordinary Katie would have to do. I just hoped ordinary Katie would be enough.
As if to reinforce the weirdness of my life, the party of sprites and fairies walked past us on the way to their table and I recognized Ari. She winked at me as she passed. I forced my attention back to my date while I wondered how big a coincidence it was that one of my cowork-ers was at the same restaurant I was, especially given that Ari claimed not to like dating her own kind. Why did they have to pick this restaurant, tonight of all nights, the one time when I wanted to go back to at least looking normal again for a little while?
"Now, what do you do?" I asked again, but as interested as I really was, I couldn't stop my attention from wandering over to the table of fairies. They didn't seem to have noticed me, for which I was grateful.
He finished explaining his job to me, then opened his mouth to ask another question, but his water glass tipped over. He hurried to right it, then attempted to blot up the water with his cloth napkin before it could spill onto the floor. "Oops, sorry about that," he said. "I can be a real klutz." Fairy laughter tinkled in the background. I immediately suspected magical interference.
I tried to help him blot up the water and said, "They need to put a few more sugar packets under that table leg to keep it from wobbling."
He didn't seem to think anything too odd was going on, so I tried to calm down. A disastrous first date could be a real bonding expertence if you handled it the right way. Fortunately, this place had good service, and we were quickly surrounded by waiters replacing napkins and water glasses. Soon, our salads arrived. Keith managed the delicate balancing act between eating and sustaining conversation. I wished I could do the same thing, but I was so sidetracked I couldn't help but wonder what An and
her friends might do next. I soon found out.
One of the sprites came over to our table. Even though I knew it was a pretty good bet that Keith couldn't see the wings, it still felt weird having a conversation with someone like that around someone who was supposedly normal. "Sir, I understand you're having a problem with your table," the sprite said. Then I realized the sprite was posing as the restaurant manager. I wished there was a way for me to know when someone was using an illusion. Seeing reality was handy, but it would help to know when I was supposed to be fooled.
"It was nothing. Everything's okay now," Keith said.
"Sir, I must insist. We can't allow these things to occur, so please tell me what happened." I could hear Art giggling in the background.
"Well, okay, I think the table may have a little wobble to it." Keith proceeded to demonstrate, trying to shake the table back and forth so it would wobble, but it remained steady. Peals of fairy laughter echoed through the room. Could everyone else hear that, or did they mask the sound, as well? That did it.
"Could you excuse me for a moment?" I asked, then grabbed my purse and headed for the restroom, hissing at Art as I passed, "I need to talk to you." She got up and followed me back to the ladies' room.
"What are you doing with that loser, Katie?" she asked before I could get on to her about her meddling.
"Loser? I'll have you know this is the greatest date I've had in a very, very long time.
He's got real potential, and I like him, so it would be very nice if you and your friends would quit interfering."
