Aren

I made sure to show up twenty minutes early to make sure Leila didn't duck out early to avoid me. I had her number, but I was fairly certain she would ignore any calls or texts.

She was shy, which was completely different from how she had been when I met her the night before. Levi really did have a completely different personality. He felt no need to cover himself up, to regard anyone looking at him with suspicion. Leila was skittish. She was timid.

I liked them both.

I waited in my car until I saw Leila step outside in those perfectly short shorts with dirt marks on the back and white short sleeve shirt.

I looked at the clock in the car. It was just a couple minutes past five. It was a good thing I'd shown up early.

Getting out of the car, I looked both ways and jogged across the street.

"Hey there," I said.

Leila jumped, her hand going to her chest.

"You scared me!"

"Was that because you were hoping I wouldn't be here so you could sneak away?"

"No. I was...just done early. I was going to wait for you here." She turned back to the door, fiddling with a key in the lock.

"Well now you don't have to wait. I can take you as soon as you get that key out."

"I'm not exactly dressed to go on a date," she said, running a hand through that thick blonde hair.

"I think you look great. And it's not like it's something you need to be dressed up for."

"What exactly do you have planned?" She asked me, her eyebrow raising.

"You'll see when we get there." I gave her a smile.

"You see, I only just met you, and you seem to be sort of stalkerish. It's sort of hard to just blindly follow someone you don't know. What if you're a serial killer or something? I could be following you to my death."

"True, but how would me telling you where we're going settle your nerves? If I'm a serial killer then I could just be lying to you anyway. That leaves you with two options, either blindly trust me, or go home and hide from the potentially scary world."

Leila placed her hands on her hips. I wished I could hear what she was thinking. Sadly, that was not one of my abilities.

The silence killed me. I just wanted her to say something, anything. Well, I wanted her to say 'why the hell not' but at that point, I would settle for just a response, period.

She looked behind her and my nerves nearly broke me in two.

She sighed. "Fine."

I tried to contain my excitement. I really needed to figure out what it was about this girl that had grabbed me and refused to let me go.

"Great. My car is right there," I said pointing behind me at my Audi Spyder.

"Uh."

"Unless you would like to drive separately."

Once again waiting on her reply. I wondered if I was going to be waiting on her every time. Would it really be worth it if I did? My brain said no. I shouldn't even be doing this at all with her. It was against the rules now. But something else in me said of course she was worth it.

"No. I'll go with you." She ran her hand through her hair again.

I held out my arm, bent at the elbow. She hesitantly placed her arm in mine and I led her back to my car, opening the passenger side door for her before getting in and driving.

"So you're not going to tell me where we're going?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Where would the fun in that be?"

I weaved through the evening traffic, before parking near the Des Moines River. I got out and went around, opening the door for Leila, helping her out.

"The river?"

I went to the trunk, opening it and taking out a basket and blanket. "I was thinking dinner by the river would be nice."

She smiled, actually smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"That sounds great."

I got out and went around, opening her door for her and helping her out of the car before opening the trunk and taking out a basket and blue blanket. 

We went to the side of the river and I spread the blanket out and set the basket at the top corner. 

The sun was already starting to set, the days were getting increasingly shorter. Soon people would be wearing pants and jackets as Fall took over. But for now I had the chance to admire Leila's legs in those shorts. 

I opened the basket and pulled out the sandwiches, potato salad, mixed fruit, and bottles of water I'd gotten from the store. "Hopefully you like club sandwiches."

"It's just fine." Leila unwrapped the sandwich, and I dished out the other two items. 

We settled in, eating in silence for a couple minutes.

"So, tell me a little more about yourself. All I really know is that you dress in drag, and you like computer programming," I said. 

Leila set her sandwich on the plate. "Well, I live on my own here, have for a while now. Dad was deep into drugs and left, and my mom was never comfortable with my ... evening activities. My sister was two years younger, and our mom's favorite it seemed. But when she was fifteen she ended up taking after dad, getting into drugs and alcohol. Basically, my family is just really fucked up."

"Trust me, you don't know fucked up," I mumbled. When my sisters' children were also my brothers and sisters, and when my father had raped many women, and even birthed a child from his own forehead, well, I'd say that was pretty fucked up. Yes, thanks to my Zeus, explaining my family was nearly impossible, or extremely easy, depending on how I went about it. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Leila asked. 

"To try and talk about that would require a large bottle of vodka and a lot of time."

"Then tell me something else about you." 

Great, more shit to make up. "I moved here three years ago from Florida." Leila raised one of her eyebrows. "I know, I'm completely mental or something. But I did it to get away from my family. I've had my consulting business for a few years now, and it just traveled with me. I offer online services and travel quite a bit, so I reach across the globe."

"An accomplished man." She nodded her head. 

It was time to shift the conversation away from myself again. Leila was a woman that wanted to shift the focus away from herself as much as possible. "What's your ideal first date, Leila? And if you don't say picnic, then I may be heartbroken."

She laughed. "Picnics are nice. I can honestly say I've never been on a date like this before. Actually, the way all this happened is completely different. I like different things though, anything that had some thought put into it." She paused for a moment, looking down at her empty plate. "I also like taking walks beside the river." Her eyes moved back up to meet mine and it felt like my heart grew wings. 

What the heck was this woman doing to me?

"Then lets pack everything up and go for a little walk." Putting everything back in the basket, I took it up to my car before meeting Lelia down by the river. 

The last of the sunset was just disappearing, and the lights turning on above us as we walked slowly. Few people were out by the river that late, which made it peaceful. 

We talked a bit more, but there were bouts of silence. A silence we didn't feel forced to fill. 

It was crazy, the more time I spent with Leila, the more it made me want to spend even more time. I knew it wasn't a good idea, one of the twelve would find out. It would be best if I just kept my distance, left and never looked back, or just found a nice man to have some fun with. There wouldn't be any problems with that. But I just couldn't. 

And it seemed that Leila felt something similar. She had gone against all her hesitations to take a chance on a stranger. Levi seemed like the type to take chances and do whatever, but it really seemed like a struggle for Leila to push past her comfort zone. 

It was eight when we finally got back to the car and I drove her back to the flower shop where her car was still waiting. 

The heat was on low, trying to take the cool edge off from the night. 

"I want to thank you for giving me a great time tonight," Leila said. She fiddled with her hands in her lap. 

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you had a good time."

She looked up, her eyes meeting mine, and it felt like time froze. I waited for her to make her move, to get out of the car, say something else, do anything. But I hadn't expected what she actually did. 

Leila leaned over and her lips brushed mine in a light kiss. Her face moved back, separated by just an inch.

I inhaled sharply and held as still as possible. Until that was no longer an option. I closed that small gap and kissed her again. 

Her lips parted slightly, and I took it as my opportunity to deepen the kiss. 

I knew behind my closed lids that my eyes were glowing blue. I broke the kiss, keeping my eyes closed until I felt myself regain control, only opening them when I knew they would be back to normal. 

"I hope to see you again," I whispered. 

"I would like that."

She sat there for another moment before opening the car door and getting out. 

I waited until she disappeared in the dark before I pulled out, making my way back home. 

*****

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Red Assassin