Not Another Love Story

Chapter 8

After my walk in the park I went to check on the restaurant and how things were going there. Me and Stephanie chatted some more about some changes that we could do there and had so much fun coming up with ideas that it felt like the other day was just a dream. And the cleanup crew did a great job, the blood was gone and the smell too. Stephanie was doing such a great job as the manager there, that on my way home that evening I was thinking of opening something else. Maybe a coffee shop. Or a bakery. Or a combination of both? Maybe I could throw a library in the mix too!

And so, by the time I entered my apartment, I came up with ten different ideas of stuff that I could create or do. And one of them was to learn more about Tom Goldman by watching some of his movies. Maybe one of them was about his life, who knows? So I chose a random vampire movie, pressed play, made myself comfortable on the couch and then I paused the movie and went into the kitchen.

I put a pan on the stove, poured some oil in it, and turned on the stove. I took the bag of frozen potatoes from the freezer, put some fries in the pan then took the cheese from the fridge. When the fries were ready, I put them on a plate, put a lot of salt and grated cheese on them, and some pesto sauce next to them. Did I own a restaurant? Yes. Did I love cooking? Hell yes! And every once in a while, some french fries with fancy cheese, too much salt and pesto sauce were heaven. With my plate of fries I went back on the couch, made myself comfortable and pressed play again.

Two seconds later, I heard my doorbell and I was thinking if I could get away with pretending that the sound from my TV was loud enough that I couldn't hear it. But then rang again and again so I went to open the door.

"Hi!" Steven smiled at me, his hazel eyes focused on me.

"Hi!" I smiled back, wondering how it would feel to put my hands in his hair and... I mentally slapped myself. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my favorite neighbor."

Or spying on your 'favorite' neighbor!

"Would you like to come in? I just started to watch a movie and you're interrupting that right now." I said jokingly.

"I would love to."

He went straight to the couch where he made himself comfortable and I sat next to him with my plate of fries. When I asked him if he would like some, he politely refused, looking at the plate as if I offered him a gigantic spider with cheese on top. More for me!

"What movie is this?"

"Uhm, something random that I found. Not sure what the title is." I answered with a mouthful of fries and cheese then I shrugged.

What I meant was actually that I chose that movie after searching all the movies that Tom Goldman was ever involved in some way, then narrowed my search to just vampire movies and then I chose a random one. But he didn't need to know that.

He just looked amused at my mouth then turned his attention back to the movie.

"Why? Did you already watch it? Because we could watch something else."

"No, it's fine. I don't think that I've seen it before."

Good. I wasn't paying much attention to the movie anyway, because I was planning how I could make Steven talk more about vampires without making him suspicious and eating the fries. Then there was a scene where one of the vampires compelled one of the humans in the movie and it looked similar to what Tom Goldman did to me and Steven, except that it didn't work.

"I wish I could do that!" I told Steven. "Can you imagine how much fun that would be?"

He didn't say anything, just nodded, not even looking away from the screen. Idiot!

"Do you think that vampires exist?"

Then he turned his attention to me, with an amused expression on his face.

"What? Don't tell me that you never wondered about that. Or if aliens exist."

"What if I am a vampire?" he asked me with a mysterious voice and I started laughing. I wasn't sure why, maybe because it was true? But, fortunately he thought that I was making fun of him. So be it.

"No, you're not!"

"But what if I am?"

"Yeah, sure!" I pretended to dismiss him and turned my attention back to the movie where another vampire was showing his fangs.

He continued to look at me and I did my best to look absorbed by the movie. I wasn't uncomfortable at all. Not at all.

"You think I couldn't be a vampire because I'm not good looking enough to be one?"

"More like, not pale enough, no fangs, and you are a cop Steven, a cop that likes helping people and not a bloodthirsty creature."

"And if I were a bloodthirsty vampire, would you have still invited me to watch a movie together?"

"Only if you promised that you are not going to drink my blood when you wanted to have a snack." I said jokingly.

"Would you be scared of me?"

"No. You're like a handsome puppy, Steven. You can't scare me, even if you grow fangs overnight."

He chuckled and turned his attention back to the movie.

"Why? Are you planning on turning into a vampire? Because if you do, you have to let me know. I will never forget you if you don't!"

He didn't say anything else. I didn't pay much attention to the movie and I knew that he didn't either. I was wondering if I should tell him everything, or at least that I knew that Stephanie was a werewolf. Did he know that? Yes, Stephanie mentioned something. Was he thinking about telling me that he is a vampire?

I realized that the movie was over when Steven stood up from the couch and started yawning. Fuck! I didn't even learn anything new about vampires. Did Steven and Chris have fangs? And could they hide them? How much blood were they drinking each day?

"Jen?"

"What?" pulling myself together, I stood up, took the plate from the coffee table and went into the kitchen, Steve following me.

"Can I tell you something?"

"I don't know, Steven. Can you?"

Yes, I was trying to be funny while freaking out at the same time. Was he going to tell me that he was a vampire? If he wasn't, I was going to cut him into pieces and drink his blood. Or maybe not. Too messy. I saw what happened at the restaurant and that was enough for me.

"Ok. Nevermind. I'm going home to sleep. I have to wake up early tomorrow." he started pretending that he was tired and yawning and I went in front of the kitchen door, with my hands on my hips and not allowing him to leave.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Really."

I didn't move. With a sign,he went and pulled a chair from the kitchen table and sat down. I stood my ground, looking at him.

"With everything that happened at your restaurant..." he lifted his gaze to look at me. "Would you think I am crazy if I told you that there were actually vampires and werewolves involved?"

Then I relaxed, went to the table and sat down on the chair in front of him.

"No." I answer with a warm smile.