“I am interested, but…” Sariel looked at the tombstone. “The circumstances, however, are not ideal.”
“You mean askin’ you out in a cemetery? Easy fix. We could head over to the sidewalk and I could ask you there.”
“I am afraid that would not change much.” Sariel smiled, but there was a sadness to it now.
“Are you in a relationship or somethin’?”
“Or something.”
“Well…”
Sariel returned his attention to his cleaning without waiting for Seymour to finish his reply, and all the lines in his face grew hard. He appeared as old and worn as the stone in front of him and twice as depressed.
There was definitely a story there, and Seymour was certain it was not a happy one.
“Well, if you need somebody to talk to?” Seymour cleared his throat. “I saw a coffee shop on my way in called Hallowed Grounds. Looks like it used to be an old church. Might be there, let’s say, maybe around eight o’clock? Probably in a corner booth or somethin’. So it’s nice and quiet.”
“I do not understand.” Sariel tilted his head as he cautiously glanced back up at Seymour. “Why are you telling me this?”
“’Cause I am plannin’ to be there and I dunno… I hope maybe you show up.”
“I cannot promise that.”
“No pressure.” Seymour shrugged again. “If you’re there, great. If not, that’s great too.”
“How can both things be great?”
“Because I’ll be thinkin’ ’bout you either way.”
Sariel’s face morphed into a spectacular shade of lobster red. “Oh, oh, that, that is very great. Nice of you.” He shook his head. “I meant to say, yes, thank you. I appreciate it. Not many people have shared such a kind sentiment.”
“Sounds like you’ve been hangin’ ‘round some real jerks then.”
“You have no idea.”
“Maybe you can tell me ’bout it. If you decide to come get some coffee with me, that is.”
Sariel nodded. “I will give it a lot of thought.”
“I hope you do. So! Uh.” Seymour turned to nod at Clancy’s grave. “I’m gonna go find me some flowers. Don’t forget. Eight o’clock.”
“Eight o’clock,” Sariel echoed, his expression softening.
“Good luck with your scrubbin’.”
“It was very nice to meet you, Seymour. Thank you for this. I enjoyed it. Very much.”
Seymour didn’t like the sense of finality in Sariel’s words, so he aimed for confident and said, “You can thank me plenty later when you see me tonight.”
“All right. Goodbye.”
“You take care of yourself.” Seymour waved and then left, heading to his car with a smile.
Okay, yes, asking someone on a date while hanging out in a cemetery was a little weird, but it wasn’t like Seymour was particularly mourning his father’s death.
Sariel didn’t seem to mind anyway.
After all, he’d been there cleaning up graves, so maybe he was all right with a little weird.
