Page 13 of Looking for Seth

"That first part is your opinion. I didn't need to tell you that," she pointed out. "And the second part, well there's no easy way of telling people."

"I suppose not."

"You can't really say anything. You didn't tell me who you were either," she pointed out, presumably coming to the conclusion that I wasn't entirely mortal myself. If I was, I wouldn't be down here. No doubt she could sense it too.

"That's because it wasn't any of your business." I studied her intently, trying to work out where Merry started, and Menhit stopped. And whether I cared about the deception. As she rightly pointed out, it wasn't as if I was innocent. I'd kept the exact same information from her in an attempt to protect myself. I probably didn't have any right to be angry at her.

"I guess it's my business now," she responded.

"Is there anything else you're hiding?" I asked her, the question bursting out of me before I could think twice about it.

"Nothing I said about myself was a lie," she said. "Merry is what I've gone by in the human world for hundreds of years."

"Mmm,"

"But there is one thing I've been keeping from you." Indecision warred over her face, as if she didn't want to say it out loud.

"Go on." I glanced at the clock, wondering how much time we had left to have this conversation before we'd be expected to move on to the next person.

I should have known this wasn't going to be a straightforward date when she suggested that we came here. Speed dating wasn't exactly the most romantic of situations to put ourselves in.

Her gaze flickered to the name tag I was wearing, the one that clearly said Saul.

"I know who you are," she said slowly.

The world disappeared, and the bottom of my stomach sank. "Who I am?"

"I know you're Seth."

A ringing started in my ears. The only way she could know that was if someone had recognised me and told her.

Or perhaps she knew from the moment we matched. It wasn't impossible, but it would change things.

"I didn't know in the beginning," she added quickly, seeming to sense the direction of my thoughts. "When we first started talking I had no idea. I just thought you were a nice guy. It wasn't until I saw a photo of you that I realised, and then I didn't know exactly what to do with the information. I didn't want to force you to reveal anything about yourself before you were ready, but then it became this whole thing where I had no idea what to do." The words came quickly, as if she was anxious to get them out so I knew that they were true. The problem was, I had no way of being certain of that.

"Perhaps you should have thought to reveal that you're a goddess yourself."

"I considered that," she admitted. "And I tried. I just didn't know how to say it, and I let the rumours about how much you disliked gods get to me."

Hurt rushed through me, though I couldn't tell exactly what was causing it. "You still should have told me."

"And you could have told me." There was a hint of pain in her voice. Or at least what I assumed was pain. It turned out that I didn't know her well enough to be certain of it.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the session. I got to my feet, readying myself to move on.

Menhit's face fell, as if she'd just realised that this was going so badly.

I turned to the next table, but paused before I sat.

She perked up, but I couldn't turn back to face her.

Instead, I turned and walked off, making my way through the bar and towards the exit.

A small commotion came from behind me, and I had to assume that it was Menhit trying to explain what was happening.

She could try all she liked, but none of it was going to sound very good. She'd tricked me into coming here under false pretences, and even if I knew she was partly right that I was also in the wrong for not telling her about who I was, it still made me angry to think that she'd lied, even by omission. Perhaps I'd be able to get over it in time, but I didn't think it could be now.

I made my way out of the door, tearing off the name tag as I did. It might say that my name was Saul, but it was still too much of a clue as to my identity for my liking.