Chapter 7 #3
Though she was second-guessing herself a bit since she’d never actually been on a date in La Pear.
This isn’t a date, Callie. It’s just a dinner between colleagues. Between friends.
Though, as Callie said the words to herself, they didn’t feel right.
Theo was certainly a colleague. He was a work-study student in her gallery, and therefore, that made him a colleague, but she wasn’t sure friend fit the mold, either.
One typically didn’t sleep with their friends, after all.
Lover seemed to fit, but one night of passion did not declare one a lover.
One night stand did not fit, and so Callie forced herself to focus on the food and not a defining label for Theodore Lange.
“Do you have any allergies or things you dislike?” she asked.
“Not a fan of mushrooms or tofu, but anything else goes,” he said with a smirk. “How about you?”
The way he consistently asked, more and more curious, made her cheeks heat. He seemed to do that frequently. Turn the questions on her.
She didn’t hate it, and in fact, a part of her liked his inquisitiveness. It was as if he truly wanted to know her.
Most of the men and women Calliope had taken as patrons did not look past the surface. They saw a beautiful muse, a woman of inspiration. They wanted her gifts, her body, her beauty. They wanted her spark, and so they connected through their mutual interest and desire.
But Theodore did not seem to be looking for such things. She could not figure out what it was he wanted from her, and that was as perplexing as it was enticing.
“I have tried many things in my long life, there is not much I dislike.”
Theo squinted. “Long life? What are you like... twenty-seven?”
She laughed, unable to help herself. Of course, why would he think she was anything but what she appeared to be?
And then Calliope realized she was at a crossroads.
She could very well dismiss his words, agree with him and he would never be the wiser to who she truly was, what she truly was, and they could perhaps truly be friends.
Colleagues. She could assume the general role she should—teacher, boss, friend.
But Calliope yearned to tell him the truth, if only to see how he would react.
A man who did not believe in fate and magic may dismiss her admittance as a joke and that would solve the problem, now wouldn’t it?
His dismissal would solidify the response she needed to forget what had happened between them.
It would be easy to separate Theodore from the mix of men in her life if he truly was someone who didn’t believe in divinity or magic.
But the spark inside her she felt in Theo’s presence did not want to lie. It did not want to hide.
It wanted to be seen, heard, and known in a way Calliope had never known before.
“Technically, I am thirty. By modern beauty standards,” she said carefully.
Theo nodded, carefully twisting his lips. “I feel like I’m in the middle of Twilight or something.” He laughed.
Calliope furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”
Theo blinked. “You’ve never seen Twilight? The vampire movie?”
Calliope blinked. “No, I have not.”
Theo let out a nervous chuckle. “Well... there’s this scene where, like.
.. Bella, the high school human girl who’s in love with Edward, the vampire.
.. she...” He cleared his throat. “God, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but.
.. Bella starts to kind of figure out her biology partner is a vampire, and she asks him how old he is and he says ‘seventeen.’” Theo deepened his voice, embellishing this vampire character as he explained this movie.
“Because, you know, he’s a vampire and he’s in high school, but people don’t know he’s a vampire, they just know he’s weird and different, and—”
Calliope couldn’t help the soft smile that graced her lips as she watched Theodore awkwardly ramble about this movie, his words giving her a newfound sense of adoration and sparking hope anew.
“Well, she asks ‘how long have you been seventeen?’ and he just kind of ominously says ‘a while.’” Theo deepened his voice once more, laughing nervously. “This... kind of feels like that. But if you didn’t see the movie, I guess you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Calliope licked her lips and shrugged. “Are you asking me how long I’ve been thirty, Theodore?” Her voice carried an air of teasing, etched with hope and warmth.
He was flirting with her, but it wasn’t quite flirting alone. It was more. It was an insinuation. As if the man who claimed he did not believe in fate or magic somehow sensed or believed in her divinity itself.
Theo leaned back in his chair and sipped his Shirley Temple. “Maybe I’m just asking if you’re a vampire,” he teased.
Callie shook her head. “Fortunately for you, Theodore, I am not.”
He set his drink down, his dark green eyes imploring her with intrigue and mischief.
“But I have been thirty for... a little while now. About... one hundred years or so.”
He let out a nervous laugh. “Well, I’ve been twenty-four for a little while, about nine months or so, so I guess that makes us even.”
It was the way he said the words, humorously, but also nonchalantly. As if it didn’t matter. As if age was truly just a number. Calliope relaxed as she picked up her menu.
“I would suggest the Duck L’Orange. No mushrooms, and the orange sauce is rather... sweet.” She looked up from behind her menu. “And memory serves me correctly, you like sweet things.”
Theo smirked at her, just as the waiter came by to take their orders.
“I’ll have the Coq au Vin, and he will have the Duck à l’Orange,” she said with a smile as the waiter took their menus.
“Merci,” Theo said with a grin, and Calliope’s eyes widened.
The waiter took his leave and Calliope cast Theodore a grin. “I did not know you spoke French.”
“I don’t. I barely passed high school French. I know three phrases and thank you is one of them.”
She shook her head. “What are the other two?”
“Je ne sais pas,” he muttered, and then his cheeks turned scarlet. “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?” he said.
Calliope laughed. She truly laughed. She seemed to do that a lot with Theodore.
“So all you know is ‘thank you, I don’t know, and do you want to sleep with me?’” she teased.
“Yeah, and the last one I learned from the song, so I’m not even sure it counts.”
Calliope sipped her virgin drink, feeling slightly emboldened. “Oui,” she said with a blush of her own.
“Huh?”
“Oui means ‘yes,’ in French. So now you know another word.”
Theo smiled. “Up to four words. Before you know it, I’ll be able to say a whole phrase.” He laughed.
Calliope felt warm and excited. Talking to Theo even now felt easy.
Carefree. His humor, his shyness, his awkwardness.
.. it was endearing. But there was also an understated sort of determination and confidence, buried beneath his surface that she loved seeing.
She got the feeling it wasn’t something many people were privy to.
“So... did you guys figure anything out? About the missing McGuffin and all?”
Calliope’s smile faded.
“Yes and no,” she said carefully. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to divulge to Theo.
There was still much he didn’t know and though he seemed open to some things, he was still a non-believer.
She didn’t want to ruin the moment and sound like a lunatic.
She was having far too much fun enjoying her time with Theo.
“The tapes... were... altered,” she said carefully.
Theo sipped his drink, slurping a bit and she had to refrain from giggling.
“Altered how?”
“Well, as I mentioned... the diviner is an artifact of divination for... non-human entities.”
Theo nodded. “Right. Gods, goddesses, fairies. Magical beings and stuff.”
He didn’t sound judgmental. In fact, he sounded intrigued. Analytical almost. Studious.
“Suspend your belief for just a moment, and believe that magic is real,” she said softly.
Theo pursed his lips, nodding for her to continue.
“If you believe that, then you would understand that magic can affect everything. Even security cameras.”
Theo sat up straighter, leaning in as he regaled her with interest. “Go on.”
“The tapes were... altered. Blurred. The thief walked in, blinded the cameras with their light, and blurred the feed. It’s impossible to make anything out.”
“Could have been a glitch. Internet could have gone down or—”
“No, there was no glitch. It is perfectly timed to their arrival and retrieval. Everything comes back into sharpness the moment they disappear.”
Theo rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Could have hacked the system.”
“Isabelle checked. The system wasn’t hacked. It was spelled.”
Theo twisted his lips. “So you think whoever stole the Heart of the Ocean, is a... what? A supernatural being? Like a ghost or something?”
Calliope shook her head. “More like a shifter.”
Theo’s gaze was lost.
Great, now he probably thinks I am a lunatic. Talking of spells and shifters and—
“Like a werewolf?” he asked curiously. “Or a hellhound, or—”
“Yes, like that.” She found herself shocked at his notations. Primarily hellhound.
Had Spike... told him the truth?
And if so, how much had he divulged?
But before she could press Theo about his sudden interest in the supernatural, the food was delivered and all talk of missing diviners disappeared in favor of dinner.
They both ate without haste, groans of satisfaction echoing between them.
“This is fantastic!” Theo exclaimed with delight, dredging his duck around in the remaining sauce.
Calliope grinned as she finished her bite of chicken. “I had a feeling you would like it.”
Theo grinned at her as they continued their dinner, and when the waiter came with the check, Theo did not give any chance for Calliope to intervene, even though she insisted she could indeed, pay for her meal herself.
“I said I was taking you to dinner,” he said as he tossed his credit card down and handed the folder to the waiter.
“Theodore...”