"Athanasius." He replies dryly. "I am here for the proposed fun, where is it?"
God why is he so rude?
Chloe laughs. I am not. "Please forgive him, he's foreign."
Athanasius is standing right behind me. I mean his chest is against my back kind of touching. "I need no forgiveness, woman."
"Well, Athanasius, that's an interesting name." Chloe begins.
"Easier for the human tongue." He sighs. "You would not be able to pronounce my true name."
"Let's go inside." Shaking my head, I take Chloe's arm before hissing at Athanasius. "Behave!"
As we near our table, what I don't expect is for Athanasius to pull out my chair. He takes my hand in his and helps me to sit. His thumb brushes over my fingers and Chloe compliments him on being a gentleman.
"The bare minimum?" He replies, sitting next to me. "She is my avatar, I will make sure she is taken care of."
"What's an avatar? Are we talking the movie or—"
"So, boneless wings? Quesadillas? Chips and dip?" I ask, cutting her off. "I'm feeling wings."
Athanasius leans over looking down at the menu. "I want to try everything." He whispers.
"You got everything money?" I whisper back, only to earn his grunt of disapproval.
He touches my purse in my lap, and I feel it get heavier. He's smirking, proud of himself as he sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Opening it, stacks of green stare back at me, and I make a choked noise in my throat before closing it.
"Now we do." He smiles.
He can't keep getting away with this. Is what I want to scream in my head, but when it's working out so well for me? What's the point? A little bit of everything is brought to the table, and Chloe's date begins to strike up conversation with Athanasius.
"So, what do you do?" Greg asks, sipping his beer.
Athanasius looks at me before he responds. I can feel the sass dripping off of him. "I work in long-term rest solutions."
Dear god.
Chloe's interest is piqued. "What does that mean? I'm curious."
He licks his lips, reaching over slightly to touch the ring on my finger. "I curate endings. Very exclusive clientele."
"He's a forensic pathologist." I reply. "He also a mortician."
"Ohh." Chloe's eyes go wide. "You deal with death. Is that the reason for the eccentrics? Usually people in that job are very mundane or very unconventional."
Only the right side of his tongue licks his lips. "It's just the way I am." He replies, picking up another mozzarella stick. "Ione likes it."
Chloe chuckles, tapping my thigh under the table. "Let's go to the bathroom?"
"Sure."
Athanasius grabs my hand before I leave. "Hurry back."
As soon as we hit the bathroom door, Chloe is on me. "You go and take PTO, buy a new house, and nab some hot goth guy with a PhD like it's a weekend getaway. Explain now."
I shrug. "There's nothing to explain, really, I just—" What do I say? "We met coincidentally, and he's been stuck to my side."
"Well," She enters a stall. "Color me jealous, and I mean that in a good way. Does he have a brother? Cousin?"
