Chapter 2: Anger Does Not Become Her

Harley Silva sat down at the table and smiled at the other woman. She looked older than her, but that didn’t mean much; Harley had looked to be in her early twenties since she’d died the first time. She opened her mouth to say hello, offering her hand to shake the woman’s hand, when the woman spoke.

“Thank god you’re not a man,” she said. “I’m so sick of these alpha male a*sholes thinking their d*ck is magic and can change who I am.”

Harley gave a nervous laugh, not really sure what to say. Her instincts told her immediately that this woman was not what she was looking for, but Harley forced herself to go through with the next five minutes anyway. “It’s weird that they’re sending us around without regard to gender, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I’ll say. Doesn’t really make sense. Just wasting my time having to spend five minutes talking to some idiot who thinks he’s god’s gift and can somehow make me think his gender is anything more than a festering cyst on the face of our world.”

Harley couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s good that you don’t keep your feelings all bottled up,” she said. “I’m Harley, by the way.”

The woman had the good grace to blush, just a tiny bit. “I’m Catherin,” she said. “Sorry, that last guy just really got me riled up. He didn’t even ask anything about me. He just talked about himself for five minutes straight.”

“Well, then, tell me about yourself,” Harley said. “Tell me what he missed out on.”

Catherin immediately smiled, tension flowing out of her body. It was almost too much, and Harley pulled her calming influence back a little bit. Wouldn’t do to have the woman pass out.

“Well, I’m a real estate attorney, I have two cats, I’m an SCA larper, um-”

“What’s that?” Harley asked. “Larper?”

“It, um. It means I get dressed up in medieval-type stuff and play pretend.”

Harley thought back to some of Jonathan’s swords, axes, and other weaponry from throughout his long tenure on the planet. Of course, everything HE owned had been used in actual battle and drawn blood. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held on to it. It was important to him that she knew that.

“That’s cool,” she said, trying to be encouraging. “I’ve never done any of that, but it sounds fun.”

“It’s definitely good to let go sometimes,” Catherin said. “You know, to put aside the real you and play a role for a while.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Harley said, her tongue idly flicking over where her sharpened canine would push out through her gums. “We all need that escape sometimes. That’s why I’m here, actually.”

“Getting away from yourself? Or just trying to start a new life?”

“Little of both. I mean, we’re all looking for that special someone to spend eternity with, right?” As she asked, Harley looked past Catherin and made eye contact with a stunning and almost regal-looking woman a few seats down. They’d get to talk soon, but nowhere near soon enough.

“Eternity? Sounds like you’re just looking to get married.” Catherin shook her head, a look on her face like she’d just tasted something unpleasant.

“Not right away,” Harley said. “But I do hope to find that kind of commitment at some point in the future. With the right person.” She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, Harley felt like that other woman, the one across the room, might just be that right person.

She looked over at Marian, watching the smirk on her face as she dealt with the man’s arrogance. Harley’s eyes traced over the curves of her features, the slight upturn to her lips, the aquiline features that made her look so commanding and regal. The way Marian raised her eyebrow made Harley’s heart beat. If she’d needed to breathe, she would’ve been forced to gasp.

Thankfully, Harley didn’t blush anymore, so the woman who was rattling on and on about the medieval recreationist society or whatever didn’t notice and get the wrong impression. She seemed to genuinely enjoy talking about her hobby, and the more she talked about it, the more she seemed to light up.

Catherin was much more attractive talking about this hobby than she had been ranting about how much she hated men. Harley wanted to say something, but as soon as she started to formulate the words, she nearly burst out laughing.

What was she supposed to say? Should she tell this woman that she was ugly when she was angry? Or that she’d be prettier if she smiled more? Is there any way to tell her that without sounding like exactly the wrong kind of - without sounding exactly like Johnathan.

That cut off her mirth quickly.

“Do you fight with bare blades?” she asked, wanting to show Catherin that she was really interested and perfectly happy to listen to her for the remainder of their time on the mini date.

She paid enough attention to ask questions and to seem interested, but she let Catherin lead the conversation. It was a familiar thing to do, letting the other person control the talk, and it gave her more of an opportunity to study the woman she felt an immediate attraction to.

Their eyes locked again for a split second, and Harley had to fight the temptation to travel along the bridge between their eyes and delve right into the other woman’s soul. But she knew that was a bad idea. That was against the rules.

As far as the living are concerned, vampires are a myth. And it has to remain that way. What little influence she used on Catherin was already almost too much. To jump into someone else’s head from across the room would definitely be pushing it too far.

Nothing wrong with just looking, though. Looking at the sparkle in Marian’s eyes as she stared into the eyes of the man across from her, a small smile on her lips and a distant look on her face. Clearly the man was doing all the talking. And while she had a polite look on her face, she didn’t seem to be enraptured with him in any way.

Just a few more minutes, and they’d be face to face. Harley could put a name to the beautiful face, and hear the other woman’s voice. They could get to know each other. And if they hit it off, it could be the first five minutes of the rest of eternity.