"He tried seducing me, Veronica!" Henry yelled over the crowd of drunks playing pool to Veronica who sat on the other side of the booth, sipping holy water, an extract from the Catholic Church.

"Well, I can see it in your eyes that you're worried he's just trying to get you for your immortality." She patted her lips with a napkin.

Henry stiffened, scrunching his nose. "But he doesn't understand that it's not something you can easily do. It—it's a painful process!" A loud bang from the bar erupted along with cheering, covering Henry's words. He continued with the smoke of dames and men exhaling from their aching lungs stinging his eyes. "I mean, sure, look at yourself, you're a beautiful immortal: the angelic hues that hover around you but, but you didn't go through the pain I had to go through."

Veronica sighed, "Fair, but you're still worried, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes I suppose I am." Henry sat back, taking a sip of his 'wine.'

"There's one way to find out if he's the one you've been looking to turn." Veronica tilted her head as she suggested.

The lamp light hanging above them flickered. With more drinks, a waitress filed past the crowd of men and women at the pool tables, weaving between two men who blocked with their imposing hips. She scowled and sneered at their silly and drunk smiles. Looking across the room, there was a haze that smudged the image, forming a smokey film. Shadows filtered by like water down a sink.

Veronica took another sip of water, "You get to know people by dating them."

"You know I've never dated, Veronica." Henry lit a cigarette, bouncing it between his fingers. "Besides, I can't date Edward."

"Why not?"

"Because he's my boss, Veronica, and if anyone found out he'd have to fire me."

"Well, then, don't get caught."

"Are you serious?"

Veronica laughed, "Just take him to dinner once. There's no harm in that. Look: he's invited you to the luncheon, so why can't you invite him someplace else?"

"The luncheon is strictly business."

Veronica laughed again. "Oh yeah? So why is he inviting you and not someone else like Angela?"

Henry shrugged. He didn't have an answer to corroborate against her statement.

-

|||Two nights later, Edward sat in Veronica's seat, playing with his beer glass. He tilted it with the tips of his fingers at the edge of the glass ever so slightly.

"You know, come to think of it," He started, "It's surprising that no one's noticed your lack of eating or drinking." Edward lifted his eyes to him, sending a radiating heat down his spine.

Henry gave a stark laugh. "It's surprising given that I don't hide my vampirism at all. In fact, it's surprising that the neighbors haven't filed a restraining order on me for sucking their blood." Henry smiled as he puckered his lips around the tip of his cigarette.

Edward's eyebrows raised. "Wow!" He said with breath behind his voice. "Incredible. I mean, they don't know it's you?" Edward leaned forward into the light above them, reaching out for Henry with his glossy eyes.

"No," Henry laughed, "No they don't."

||| Earlier that Friday morning, Henry decided he'd ask Edward to diner—he'd be buying, of course—but he wasn't sure how he'd do it. He paced the long hallway outside the wing where Edward's office resided, up and down up and down. Do it. Don't do it. Maybe later. No, now—it has to be now, Henry!!!

Angela went back and forth between Edward's office and the general work area, eyeing Henry with each pass.

"What on earth are you so nervous about?" She finally prodded him her fifth go around.

Henry stopped his quick pacing, sending his tie to swing upwards and smack him in the face. "I've a huge idea to pitch to Edward and I can't seem to get myself to do it!"

Angela, with an enormous stack of papers in her awkward hands, shifted her weight, "Honestly, Henry, you look as if you're about to explode. Go in there and explode with energy. Any form of excitement shows true commitment."

Henry tilted his gaze down to squint at her as in "Uh huh, sure." He was about to turn away when Angela dropped her papers with a sounding *thump* to the ground and dragged him down the hall.

"Angela!" Henry stumbled as he followed behind her, "Angela! Please! Let's talk about this! I'm not ready!"

"It doesn't matter if you're ready or not, you just have to do it so you don't ever have to 'be ready for it,' and from there then is when you can grow as an individual."

He couldn't argue with that. Instead, he watched as the foreboding door grew to hover over him, and as his heart lurched from his chest, Angela pulled him through. When they entered—Angela still holding Henry by his sleeve—Edward was sitting at his desk full of papers.

"Hello, you two, what can I do you for?" Henry tried to quiet his mind to his internal answer to Edward's question since it was a whole laundry list of embarrassing things. He was ashamed his mind went there in the first place.

Angela let go of Henry, "Actually, Henry wants to talk to you." She gave Henry a pat on the back before darting out the door.

He took a deep breath to center himself: "There's—" Henry started smoothly, prepared from his thousands of years of experience with society "—happy hour at this one restaurant, wasn't sure if you'd want to grab something after work?"

Edward's smile, although light to begin with, froze with a sense of arrogance he held over the request. "What's protecting me from you dragging me to the back of an alley and sucking my blood?"

Henry winced at the reference, "Because of the consequences." He tapped his foot, waiting for Edward to continue. Finally, he stopped and sighed in frustration, "Look, why don't you just say it? Say it and I'll be happy!" Henry bit his lip.

"What. . ." Edward's face lit up at the sight of Henry teasing him—even if it wasn't executed great. "Wait a minute," He laughed, "You're wanted me to tell you everything I know?"

Henry nodded.

"So, this isn't a date?"

"No! It is!" Henry yelled out a bit loudly, trying to backtrack, "Well, it's whatever you want it to be, but—"

"Okay, I know, I know," Edward held his hand up to silence Henry.

"Speaking of which." Henry narrowed his gaze, flicking a coaster to Edward's beer. The bar was beginning to fill with people, and the room began to expand with noise and excitement. A shadow cast a faint hue on Edward's warm red skin. "How did you know I was a vampire?"

"I," He paused. "I was there in England as you hid from the sun and drank people's blood."

"You. . ." Henry paused, cutting his sentence short. He was encouraged to ask what Edward remembered about England and what happened, but the fear of him remembering and promoting the recovery of that memory was too risky. Then again, maybe he did remember since he prompted that he knew Henry wanted to taste his blood.

No, no he couldn't, could he? Any vampire would lust for a human's blood, but that didn't mean he had bit him. . . Let alone murder his wife.

Edward continued to drink his beer. "Is Veronica still around?"

Henry gave a little laugh. "Long story, but yes she's around now." He waited for the conversation to steer into conversing about Veronica's life but was glad when Edward didn't prod anymore and left the night to small chitter chatter about life in 1799 versus now.

Chapter 13

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