"Would you like more wine?"
I lifted my sleepy eyes and blinked twice, seeing the elf in front of me who was pointing at the half empty bottle of white wine. I pasted a lazy smile on my face and nodded, realising that he was talking to me. This date was far from perfect and I was trying not to fall asleep. I’d stopped counting how many glasses of wine I’d had since we sat down.
"Go on, you’re being terribly generous today." I giggled. My head was spinning, and I hiccupped, heightening my embarrassment. I knew I’d had way too much, as the alcohol stirred the magic inside me. I needed to get rid of it fast, otherwise I was going to lose control.
You’re missing him.
“You're funny," he said, beaming. I smiled back and took a generous sip of the wine, ignoring the voice in my head. Loony was a nice guy after all. My friend Nicky had set me up on a blind date with him; I needed to remember to punch her for that once I sobered up.
On a Saturday night, Central London was always buzzing with people. It was hard to get a table in the restaurant, which had only opened last week, but Loony sorted everything out with no problem at all. He told me later that he knew the manager, and I managed to put on an impressed face. Despite not paying much attention to what he was saying, I also learned that he had an investment portfolio in Scotland, he was excellent with spells, and I found out that he twisted his ankle fifty times in the past year while playing tennis. He was going on and on about dull and uninteresting things, so I acquainted myself with the bottle of wine on the table. We both knew that this wasn’t going to go anywhere. I certainly tried to give him that impression, but for some reason he wasn’t taking the hint.
"Earth to Julia; is anyone there?"
He was talking to me. God, woman, focus!
"Pardon me, I missed what you said," I mumbled, once again plastering a smile on my face. We were finished with dinner. Now I just had to get through dessert and coffee. I met his clear blue eyes, nodding again. He looked like a typical elf, although his eye colour was more intense, delicious, and vibrant blue. His baby blond hair was cut short. I had to give him points—he was handsome with an obviously toned chest, muscular arms, and a scent that could seduce a troll. He pressed his palms together and smiled, revealing an incredibly white, perfect set of teeth.
"I asked what sort of music you prefer to listen to?"
"To be honest, I’m not that into music; I hardly listen to anything," I responded.
"Oh, well, that’s too bad, but I’m sure that I can con—"
I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying; to be truthful, I couldn't care less. It had been exactly thirty-one days since my vampire ended our relationship and I was doing everything possible to get back to normality.
I work for Paranormal Personnel, a recruitment firm for paranormal creatures that live among humans in central London. A few months ago, I managed to win the contract with La Caz Pharmaceutical, and that was how I met Nathaniel La Caz: half vampire, half human, who apparently couldn’t stay away from me. We dated briefly, the closeness only caused problems, and things blew up when he was near. We were perfect for each other and, yet, he couldn’t give me an exclusive relationship. Since then, my life went downhill.
Yep, my subconscious liked reminding me that I was still single. The vampire was out of my life and there was nothing I could do about that. I fought as much as I could with those unsettled emotions, but I was losing the battle; the memories of our time together were slowly driving me up the wall.
A loud cracking sound startled me, and I snapped back to reality, realising that the wine glass I was holding had exploded in my hand. My palm was bleeding; the sharp edges digging into my flesh. The red liquid dripped to my wrist and shooting pain ran down my arm. I was lucky the bits of glass didn't splatter on my face; at least my protection charm was working well. I moaned and stood, taking deep pulls of air into my lungs.
"Oh my, Julia, are you all right?" Loony asked, staring at me in shock, his pupils dilated at seeing my blood dripping on the table.
I shouldn’t have been drinking when I couldn’t control my magic. My unbalanced power could do more damage than good. I glanced around, finding that everyone in the restaurant was staring at me while I was trying to hold my balance and not scream. Humans didn’t know about magic; all paranormal creatures co-existed and we kept to ourselves. Through centuries we adapted and, so far, no one complained.
Loony swirled around the table to help me stand.
"Sorry, Loony, would you give me a hand to the ladies’ room?"
The waiter passed me a napkin as Loony took me by the elbow. He was over six foot two and obviously knew how to handle a drunken elf. I was going to burn something if I stayed here. I didn't give a flying fuck that I had become the centre of attention. I was too drunk to focus on anything but keeping myself under control.
Loony was doing his best to maneuver me to the toilet, but I couldn't even walk straight.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked, panic plain in his voice, though he was doing well to cover it.
"No... I’m good, ta."
I wasn’t sure how, but I made it to the loo without losing my balance. Lucky for me the toilet was empty. I glanced at the mirror and caught my reflection—I looked worse than I expected. My mascara was smudged, my cheeks were bright red, and my lips were swollen.
I clenched my teeth and washed my face, trying to ignore the thoughts about my ex-boyfriend. He’d already ruined my good mood, and my evening, but he wasn’t going to ruin my life. We shouldn’t have even gotten together in the first place because everyone knew that relationships between vampires and elves would never work. At the time, I wanted to show "those" people—including my father—that they were wrong. In the end, though, I realised they were right.
I took care of my bleeding hand, which hurt like hell, and left the bathroom. Loony was waiting for me outside, looking slightly pale, pacing up and down.
"Julia! Are you sure you’re all right?"
“I'll survive."
"Let me see. I'm great with healing spells," he suggested, staring at the large cut.
In normal circumstances, I would have just told him that this wasn’t a good idea, but, right now, I was out of line, lost, and unsure what was happening to me.
He whispered something really fast and moved his hand; the cut disappeared within a blink of an eye.
"Good, now, can you take me home?" I asked, yawning. I didn’t remember much from what happened later on. Loony probably helped me get to his car and took me home. I must have dozed off for a few minutes in the front seat because I woke up outside my flat.
"Julia, I had a really great time. Should I walk with you?"
"Nah, I’m fine. Say hi to Nicky for me."
That was that. I didn't acknowledge the fact that he paid for the meal, or that he patched up my cut with his magic. I just left him without saying a proper goodbye or without a kiss. Then without turning back, I walked through my door and took off my heels. I had a pulsing headache and needed my bed. I didn’t even have the energy to take off my clothes. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was out.
