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Darian smiles warmly, nodding to them as he tosses a piece of calamari into his mouth, “Delicious as usual. Thank you so much.”
Ilana beams, “Would you like anything else?”
“I’ll take a steak, medium rare with potatoes and asparagus.”
Ilana nods and turns to me.
“I’ll have the same but with a side of caesar please, and if you have truffle aioli, I’ll die happy if you can add that.”
Ilana giggles, “Our truffle aioli is the best! You’ll love it and I’ll have them put extra on for you.”
I hold my hands to my chest with appreciation, “You’re the best, thank you so much.”
She smiles widely at both of us before heading to the kitchen as I hold up another shot for a ‘Cheers’.
Darian raises a brow and his lips twitch as he mirrors the action.
“To a wonderful dinner, with not-so-terrible company and damn good tequila.”
Darian barks a laugh, and we take our shot before digging into the appetizers.
“Alright next little known fact.” He swallows a bite of his egg roll, “What would you like to know?”
I think for a moment and grin, “What was the earliest time you remember invading my personal or private space?”
Darian’s eyes widen, and then winces as he thinks back.
“I sort of broke into your house when you went to the lake once. That was when I first started monitoring you at a much closer proximity instead of from afar.” He says as he pulls his hand behind his head, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
I burst out laughing. “My window?! That was you?”
He smirks, “Yeah, I didn’t realize I left it open.”
“God, I thought I was going crazy. I walked through the entire house with a bat after seeing the window open.”
He winces again, “Sorry. I knew you were being hunted but didn’t fully understand why, so I needed to learn more about you.”
I laugh again, “You could have simply asked. You know, like a normal person. Maybe a dinner, a drink or two. Hell, even a coffee together would have given you enough information.”
“The people after you are not normal. They also don’t typically go after normal people, so forgive me for being overly cautious.”
I consider his words for a moment and nod, “You’re forgiven, but only because these egg rolls are divine.” My voice is laced with amusement, and he chokes out a laugh.
“Your turn, Ray” He smirks and sips his whiskey between bites of calamari.
“What do you want to know?” I parrot his earlier question and he grins.
“What is your happiest memory?”
I fall quiet, pursing my lips as I filter through memories.
“When I graduated from university and earned my Ph.D., I met Tammy while doing research and over the course of a month she seemed to learn everything she could about me. She never asked about my past or why I didn’t talk about things, just kept herself open if I wanted to talk about things I’d gone through, which I never did.”
“The first year of meeting her, she had found out when my birthday was and the morning of, surprised me with flowers, cake, presents, some ice cream and a really corny comedy movie. Not only was that one of the few happy memories I’ve had, I remember at the time not understanding what I was feeling because happiness was foreign to me. So considering it’s the first time I ever felt happy, andit’s one of the few times I had been in such a state, I’d say that would be my happiest memory.”
Quiet falls over us and my stomach sinks as I worry that I’ve ruined the mood. Chancing a glance at Darian, he nods once in silent acknowledgement, then raises his remaining shot into the air and I mimic the movement as he speaks.
“To the future and making more happy memories.”
