"Now, what do you do?" I asked again, but as interested as I really was, I couldn't stop my attention from wandering over to the table of fairies. They didn't seem to have noticed me, for which I was grateful.
He finished explaining his job to me, then opened his mouth to ask another question, but his water glass tipped over. He hurried to right it, then attempted to blot up the water with his cloth napkin before it could spill onto the floor. "Oops, sorry about that," he said. "I can be a real klutz." Fairy laughter tinkled in the background. I immediately suspected magical interference.
I tried to help him blot up the water and said, "They need to put a few more sugar packets under that table leg to keep it from wobbling."
He didn't seem to think anything too odd was going on, so I tried to calm down. A disastrous first date could be a real bonding expertence if you handled it the right way. Fortunately, this place had good service, and we were quickly surrounded by waiters replacing napkins and water glasses. Soon, our salads arrived. Keith managed the delicate balancing act between eating and sustaining conversation. I wished I could do the same thing, but I was so sidetracked I couldn't help but wonder what An and
her friends might do next. I soon found out.
One of the sprites came over to our table. Even though I knew it was a pretty good bet that Keith couldn't see the wings, it still felt weird having a conversation with someone like that around someone who was supposedly normal. "Sir, I understand you're having a problem with your table," the sprite said. Then I realized the sprite was posing as the restaurant manager. I wished there was a way for me to know when someone was using an illusion. Seeing reality was handy, but it would help to know when I was supposed to be fooled.
"It was nothing. Everything's okay now," Keith said.
"Sir, I must insist. We can't allow these things to occur, so please tell me what happened." I could hear Art giggling in the background.
"Well, okay, I think the table may have a little wobble to it." Keith proceeded to demonstrate, trying to shake the table back and forth so it would wobble, but it remained steady. Peals of fairy laughter echoed through the room. Could everyone else hear that, or did they mask the sound, as well? That did it.
"Could you excuse me for a moment?" I asked, then grabbed my purse and headed for the restroom, hissing at Art as I passed, "I need to talk to you." She got up and followed me back to the ladies' room.
"What are you doing with that loser, Katie?" she asked before I could get on to her about her meddling.
"Loser? I'll have you know this is the greatest date I've had in a very, very long time.
He's got real potential, and I like him, so it would be very nice if you and your friends would quit interfering."
"But you don't want to be with someone like him."
"Why, is there something you know about him that I don't? I'd know if he were really an ogre in disguise."
She shrugged. "He's just boring. You can do better. We're doing you a favor."
"Believe me, I am perfectly capable of getting rid of a bad date without any help. But this isn't a bad date. At least, it wasn't until y'all started playing games. What are you doing here, anyway? You're not stalking me, are you?"
"Nah. Remember, I live around here, too. We just saw you and thought we'd have some fun." I noticed she didn't quite look me in the eye, but she also looked sheepish and ashamed of herself, so I couldn't tell if her evasion was because of embarrassment or because she was lying. "We're okay, aren't we? You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."
I sighed. "Yeah. We're okay. Just lay off it for the rest of the evening, okay?"
"Okay," she said grudgingly.
The fake waiter was gone by the time I got back to our table, and our food had been served. "Perfect timing," I said as I slid into my seat. Now that I no longer had to worry about magical interference, I could relax and enjoy the date.
"I hoped you weren't sneaking out on me," he quipped.
"There's no danger of that," I said, daring to meet his eyes. I wished I was a better flirt. I really wanted him to know I was interested. This was no time to play coy and risk sending mixed signals.
"Good, because I wasn't ready for this evening to be over so soon. I'd like to get to know you better."
"What would you like to know?" I asked, trying for some eyelash batting and hoping it didn't look like I had something stuck in my eye.