“Message him? Facebook?” Gaia pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m so confused!”
Fate sighed. “Tell you what. Just set up a place to meet. You can always shake hands and walk away if you don’t hit it off.”
“Okay.”
“So, shall we poke him back?” Karma asked.
Gaia shrugged. “I guess so.”
“You should give him your phone number,” Karma said. “If he abuses it, I can take care of him.” She winked.
“Yes,” Fate said. “He’ll need that to text you if he can’t make it. Then you won’t wind up sitting and waiting and waiting. Very embarrassing.”
Karma added, “If you decide you want to talk to each other, he can call the same number and you can talk. If you don’t like him, you can always ask him to stop texting and calling. That should do it. You don’t really have to worry about blocking someone unless they become a nuisance.”
“Or you can just say, ‘New phone. Who dis?’” Fate said and chuckled.
“I don’t get it,” Gaia said.
Fate patted her hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll be with you every step of the way, Sister. Let’s set up something so you can get to know each other, and if you like him, then you can find a place to meet.”
“Okay.” Gaia sighed. “Let’s do that.”
Right before they all went their own ways, her sisters kissed both her cheeks, then exchanged some kind of sly look.
Oh crap. What have I gotten myself into?
* * *
Gaia arrived at the restaurant where Fate had set up her first meeting with the young man she had chosen for her. All Gaia knew was what his picture looked like and that he seemed to be into nature andthe craft.
It was that second part that intrigued her. He called himself a Wiccan priest, and Fate explained he already believed in the Goddess, so revealing her real identity wouldn’t be too difficult. He might not believe her at first, but at least he would believe her eventually. Many of the online profiles she’d read seemed to favor other religions or none at all, which would deny the existence of a goddess altogether.
She spotted him at the back of the restaurant, and he rose immediately. He wasn’t bad looking. A little on the short side, so she shrank herself a couple of inches to appear about the same height. He had longish light-brown hair, parted in the middle. He also sported a nice tan, meaning he had probably been outside in the sun. So his claim to like the outdoors and nature seemed valid.
Encouraged, she walked briskly to the table and put out her hand for a handshake. “Hi, I’m Gaia. I take it you’re Bruce?”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Yes, I’m Bruce. It’s lovely to meet you.”
Interesting. Kissing my hand and‘lovely to meet you’… Perhaps he was European. No accent though.
“So did you want to eat here? Or take something to go?” he asked.
“I hadn’t thought of ordering something to go, but that sounds wonderful. We could take a walk, find a nice spot, and watch the sunset, since both of us like to do that.”
“Indeed.”
Gaia glanced at the menu to look as if she didn’t already know what she wanted, but most restaurants had at least one vegetarian option. She’d just ask for that and be done with it.
The waitress came over and asked, “Are you ready to order?”
“I would like a vegetarian wrap on whole wheat bread,” Gaia said.
“That sounds good to me too,” Bruce said and closed the menu. “Is there any way we can get that to go?”
“Oh. We don’t usually do takeout, but I’ll ask the chef to wrap it in plastic.”
“No plastic!” Gaia calmed herself. “Can he wrap it in something biodegradable, please? Like plain brown paper?”
