“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 herlikedhis inquisitiveness.It was as if he truly wanted to knowher.
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,whatshe truly was, and they could perhaps truly befriends.Colleagues.She could assume the general role she should—teacher, boss, friend.
But Calliope yearned to tell him thetruth, 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’tbelievein 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 theDuck 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.
