Leila Meyer

I trimmed flower stems, getting them ready to put in the arrangements. Fifteen orders still had to go out, and I had to finish a wedding order.

I placed the last rose in the Love's in Bloom bouquet, and tied a ribbon around the top. I wiped my hands on my jean shorts and tucked a hand into my back pocket, stepping back to take a look at it.

"Beautiful, just like you."

I jumped and turned to see Aren standing on the other side of the counter dressed like a guy from Ambercrombie, with the added shirt. He leaned on the counter, looking at my chest and I awkwardly put my arms up to cover myself.

"So you are Leila. That would have been extremely embarrassing if you weren't."

I relaxed slightly realizing he'd been looking at my nametag. Aren had one of those lazy grins, one that looked effortless but I'd had to practice for hours to nail.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," he said raising one eyebrow.

I realized that I hadn't said a single word. "It-it's fine." I wiped my hands on my jean shorts again.

"You look nothing like your ... other self," he said looking me over. While I didn't mind his looking, it made me want to cover up again.

"And you're much more confident this morning," I shot back. "How did you find me?"

"You told me where you worked, don't you remember?" He held a hand over his heart, his face twisting in mock hurt.

I kicked myself. I'd said a lot of things the night before I wouldn't normally have said. I never told anyone who I really was when I was in drag. I never told them my name, where I worked, anything, they never wanted to know. There had just been something about the guy. And even with him exuding confidence and clearly flirting, there was still that something about him. It was like he wasn't of this world, like there was more to him.

He honestly felt like an adventure, and Lord knew I could use an adventure in my monotonous life. But I knew nothing about him, and he just showed up at my work.

"Okay, so what are you doing here?" I picked up the flowers and began trimming. There was no way I could get behind, not for anything.

"I thought paying a visit in person would be far better than a call or text."

"What would it be better for?" I put the trimmed flowers into the crystal vase, arranging them as I snipped and added more.

"Asking you on a date."

I nearly cut my finger with the scissors. He certainly was straight forward. I recovered from the shock and put the last flower into the vase and looked around the empty shop.

"You want to go on a date with a drag king?"

Aren slid his hands into the pockets of his tight jeans. I sure did love a man who knew how to wear jeans.

"You say this as if the fact that you have a male alter ego is supposed to chase me away. You already said you were into guys, and I told you I swing both ways. It doesn't matter whether you're male, female, somewhere in between. I don't really see a problem unless you're not into bisexuals."

"That's not it. It's just that sometimes guys are put off when they find out I dress in drag." It had probably been the number one reason for every breakup I'd ever had. At least they had all been good for the purpose of learning how to act like a guy.

I was already starting to pick up some new things to try thanks to this guy. The hands in the pockets was a good move. Makes your eyes follow their movement ... straight ... down ... yes.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're perfect."

Heat flooded my cheeks. No one had ever called me perfect before, especially not after they found out how I spent most weekend nights. Compliments were not a common occurrence for me.

What was wrong with him?

"Is there really any such thing as perfect?" Why couldn't I just say thank you? It was like I was incapable of taking a comment, or Leila was at least.

"I believe there is, but if not, then you're as close as it comes."

I picked up a handful of flowers again. "You do say nice things, so what is it you're after? To get me into your bed by the end of the night?" I waved a Tiger Lilly at him.

"Why would you think that?" He smoothed his hands back on the counter, cocking his head to the side. "I think maybe you expect the worst out of men."

"I've just been disillusioned by them over the years. Sex, boobs, booze, that seems to be what you all think about."

"And yet you spend your nights pretending to be that?"

"Touché."

"So why do you do it?"

I finished up the arrangement and grabbed more to keep myself busy. I didn't feel comfortable just standing there while he scrutinized every little thing about me. I had seen him watching everything about the way I moved, the way I spoke, every little detail. I was just giving him more to watch, but at least I didn't have to see him do it.

"I do it because I like being someone else. It's fun, empowering, I feel like a whole other person when I'm Levi." I couldn't believe I was telling him all about me. I never talked about this, especially in public.

"I feel more confident. I don't have to worry about how I come across, whether I'm taking up too much space, if I'm sitting properly. It's like there's not a single care in the world."

"You shouldn't care about any of that anyway."

I turned to face him. "It's all up here," I pointed to my head. "I don't have a choice, because the thoughts are just automatic. We learn from those we're around as we grow up. Apologize for trying to get off the elevator when someone is waiting to get on, apologize for being on the other side of the door when someone opens it, basically apologize for existing. When I'm Levi, I don't have any of that."

Aren frowned. "I'm sorry you feel that way. That you have to be someone else to escape it."

I just laughed. "So are you really sure you want to go out with that?"

"Yes I do. As long as you want to go out with me. I don't care who you go out as, Levi, Leila, it's the same to me because it's you."

He hadn't even hesitated, and that threw me off. He knew exactly what he wanted, and none of my blabbering had made a difference. None of my warped reality had phased him at all.

"What are you hoping to get out of this?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Some good conversation, and maybe a second date." He gave me a toothy grin and I couldn't help but smile back.

"When are you hoping to get this date?"

"Well, when do you get off work?"

"I close the shop, so I'll be done about ten past five."

"Then I'll be here at ten past five."

He held his hand out expectantly and I raised an eyebrow slowly reaching one of mine toward his. He took my hand, moving it toward his mouth where he placed a kiss on the back.

"Tell me, was it better to come in person than to text or call?"

"I probably would have ignored your attempts," I admitted.

"That's what I thought. I will see you tonight, Leila." He flashed a crooked smile and walked out, leaving me disoriented.

A guy knew about me, and still wanted to go on a date. He'd kissed the back of my hand. There was no way he was real. Couldn't be.

*****

Chapter three. It would seem Aren is a persistent guy who has been smitten by our leading lady. What do you think of the two so far?

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Red Assassin