|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 4, 2008 15:46:38 GMT -5
It was almost 10:30.
Claire was supposed to meet him here between 9:30 and 10:00, and now, it was nearly 10:30. There was no sign of her anywhere.
Edmund was not used to being stood up, not by a woman, or by anyone else for that matter. Where was she? He sipped his third cup of coffee, feeling as if the hot steam rising from his cup was instead coming out of his ears. Was she seriously standing him up? Had the date really gone that well? And how much longer should he wait before he left? It was humiliating, sitting in this nauseatingly decorated coffee shop, waiting for her.
Worst of all, he was all but convinced that he had lost. She'd left with the blue shirt guy just before he managed to coax Angelique into taking him home. Furthermore, his date with Angelique hadn't gone so well. Since the only way he had managed to convince Angelique that he was not an arrogant jerk was to act lovesick and heartbroken over Claire, he was forced to go back to his place that night and cry on her shoulder for a few hours. He kept giving her wine and trying to kiss her, but she kept insisting that he was only trying to kiss her on the "rebound" and that she wouldn't be his consolation prize. Just his bloody luck... he'd picked a liberated, opinionated woman.
Still, her blunt honesty and insightful comments were disarming, and if he dared admit to himself, really quite adorable. She had an energy and enthusiasm that was infectious and charming. He found himself wanting to get to know her better. And he spent most of the night trying to come up with excuses for her not to leave. He told himself that it was just because of the bet, but the truth was, he didn't want her to leave.
He just wished he could have stopped playing the heartbroken loser... it was really a humiliating way to get her attention. Still, he'd managed to get her to agree to a second date. He just had to figure out how he was going to play it this time, so he could get out of the rut he was in.
Taking a bite from his buttered croissant, he glanced at his watch. He just wished Claire would hurry up and get here already. He knew he was going to have to pay... he just wanted to get it over with.
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 4, 2008 16:00:38 GMT -5
Claire took a longer shower than usual. She had to clear her head. Too many disturbing thoughts. She wasn't supposed to get attached! It was just supposed to be a one-night stand for crying out loud! However, she did agree to a second date. She was pleased that he asked her out for a second date. The image of her kissing him was still fresh in her mind and she could still feel her lips on his. Claire shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. She began to wonder if Edmund's night went well.
She finally finished in the shower and everything. Glancing at the clock, she frowned. She was late! Claire scolded herself and literally ran out of her apartment and towards the tea shop. Realizing that she didn't even dry her hair, she paused and said a spell, drying her hair, leaving it curly. Straighting her clothes, she passed the tea shop window, and entered. Claire spotted Edmund sitting by himself and she walked over to him.
"Sorry I'm late," said Claire. "I wasn't paying attention to the time."
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 4, 2008 16:08:58 GMT -5
Edmund raised an eyebrow at her as he looked up slowly from his coffee. "Well, well," he said in a casual voice. "I was beginning to wonder what happened to you. I'm not accustomed to waiting for people, you know. I've spent the morning beating off little old ladies with my coffee spoon."
He took a sip of his coffee and looked her over curiously. She seemed... different. Not as much in control as he was used to seeing her. Her hair looked clean but messy, as if she'd dried it in a hurry. And her cheeks had an unnatural flush to them. "So, have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair across from him. "Tell me, love, how did your evening go?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 4, 2008 16:47:07 GMT -5
A smile spread across her face. "Ah, I'm sure that you didn't really mind the attention," she said taking the seat across from him. She studied him for a moment, knowing that it was probably evident that she was in a hurry this morning. She gave him a small 'what' look, but before she could vocalize the word, the waitress appeared and she ordered her usual, coffee, black with a little sugar. Claire turned her attention back to Edmund. "Things went, well," she said pausing just before the last word. "What about yours?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 6, 2008 0:43:35 GMT -5
Edmund didn't feel inclined to discuss his date yet. He was much more interested in hers. "Well?" he repeated with an arch of his eyebrow. "Judging from your late arrival, your somewhat... disheveled appearance, and the strange glow on your cheeks, I'd say that's a bit of an understatement, my dear." He leaned back and took a sip from his coffee cup. "So I take it that Mr. Blue Shirt was quite the charmer, was he? He seemed a bit dim when I talked to him, to be honest. But perhaps you saw something in him that I missed. Please, enlighten me. What did the two of you talk about all night? I need details, darling."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 6, 2008 8:56:30 GMT -5
"Well, for your information, I went back to my apartment to take a shower. I took longer than I usually do, and no, he was not there if you're wondering that. He had to go to work. I didn't realize how long I took, and when I did, I ran to here. I noticed that I didn't dry my hair, so I did it quickly before I came in," said Claire matter-of-factly. "But yes, Tristan was quite the charmer. We just about different things. Such as he had an ex-girlfriend, and how much fun we where having while dancing. I found out that he's a healer at St. Mungo's. Then we quickly talked about how funny you looked with your practical glaring." She took a sip of her coffee once the waitress returned. "Of course, after you talked to him I had to go along with whatever you had told him, although, he left out a bit of detail. I could tell that. Then I just told him that the reason why I ended up leaving you, was because you were with just about every woman in sight. Then after that, we danced again, went back to his apartment. There, we just talked about random things, and he is quite the gentleman I may add. Then of course you can figure out the rest." Claire started to smile. "So, now you know my night. Let's here yours. I want details you know."
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 7, 2008 12:57:27 GMT -5
Edmund listened to her explanation with a frown. For one thing, she seemed quite taken with the guy. She was trying to sound casual about it, but he was quite certain that she was leaving a lot out of her story. Furthermore, he had most definitely lost the bet. His only hope had been that something would go wrong between them after they'd left the club, but he knew the minute he saw her that it hadn't. Edmund hated losing...
"Ah, well... Angelique was a lovely girl..." Edmund began, trying to spin the story as much in his favor as possible. "Very charming and funny, and a curious way of stating the blunt truth. It was quite entertaining to talk to her." He paused and took a sip of his coffee. "We got along very well."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 7, 2008 13:32:24 GMT -5
"I bet it was entertaining to talk to her, seeing as she probably saw right through the majority of your act," replied Claire. Seeing the look upon Edmund's face, things probably didn't go as well as he had planned. A smile started to spread on her face and she attempted to hide it behind her coffee cup as she took a sip. Placing her cup gently back on the table, she glanced over to him. "Well, tell me Edmund. What did you two talk about? You need to be specific love. I've got to have details too."
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 7, 2008 16:20:59 GMT -5
Edmund frowned. "Ah, you know me too well, love," he said, a hint of annoyance tinging his voice. "Yes, she did see through me, and I had to pull out all the stops just to keep her talking to me. I rescued her from a boring blind date, so that was a point in my favor, but otherwise, she thought I was, well... Let's just say she had me figured out pretty quickly. But I did manage to charm her, at least partially. I ended up having to give her som sob story about being in love with you, and having my heart broken." He rolled his eyes. "Well, it was nauseating and degrading, but I did manage to get her to go home with me. Unfortunately, nothing happened. I tried, but she thought I was just doing it to get over you."
He looked up at her, his lips curled up in an expression of distaste. "Well, so there you go. You won, and my charms failed me. Although, I did get her to agree to see me again. Despite everything, I rather liked the woman, and wouldn't mind having another try with her."
He took another sip of his coffee, and asked finally asked the words he'd been dreading. "So, what's my punishment?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 7, 2008 19:17:37 GMT -5
Claire put a hand over her heart. "So you do love me," she said with a grin. "I'm touched." Her grin turned into laughter. "Sorry, don't mean to laugh." She forced herself to stop laughing.
"You, having a second date? That's shocking. I myself am supposed to go out with Tristan again to dinner this coming week," said Claire. She wasn't going to admit it to Edmund, but she was looking forward to seeing Tristan again. Maybe everything would be just a fun as the first time.
A smile spread across her face. "Hm, what to do, what to do," she said as she put a finger to her chin in thought. It had to be something that would be pretty damaging to his ego. "I've got it. Since you seemed to have liked Tristan at the club, you have to become friends with him, and I mean good friends. During your befriending him period, you have to 'hang out' with him so to speak. Trust me, I will be watching and I'll know if you don't."
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 8, 2008 22:56:05 GMT -5
Edmund put a hand over his heart in a melodramatic gesture. "No, not that! Anything but that!" he exclaimed. "You want me to befriend him? Honestly, Claire, he already thinks I was trying to hit on him in the club... now you want me to spend time with him like we're... friends?" He wrinkled his forehead distastefully. "Really... as if I'd even want to hang around him with his utter lack of fashion sense."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 9, 2008 6:20:32 GMT -5
"I know that," she said. "I thought that was quite amusing however. Yes, you have to. It's your end of the deal." Claire wanted to see if Tristan would tell Edmund anything about her, and she hoped that if he did, he would tell her what was said. "I don't care if you think he has a lack of fashion sense. You have to do it even if you don't like it. It's the best thing I can think of at the moment. Plus, you know I'll be watching, and if you don't do it, I promise you, you will regret it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 10, 2008 15:31:40 GMT -5
Edmund took a long sip from his coffee, finishing the last of it and setting it down on the table. Raising an eyebrow at Claire, he remarked, "Well, Claire, darling, I must confess I was expecting much worse from you. Sure, it will be tedious and annoying to listen to that fashion victim talka bout his tryst with you, but I don't doubt that your devious mind could have come up with something far more punishing to me, like forcing me to hit on a guy, or something. Which, I assure you, I will not be doing with your blue-shirted healer friend."
He reached across the table and brushed a hand against her cheek. "You must really like this bloke," he said. "Why else would you be asking me to spy on him?
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 10, 2008 15:57:04 GMT -5
Claire let out a laugh. "Me, really like someone? Come on Edmund. You should know me better than that. I don't ever really like anyone," she said. There was some truth in what she said. She used to never really like anyone, except for Edmund (he wouldn't ever know), however, ever since she met Tristan, that seemed to change. "Plus, I never said you had to spy on him, just befriend him. That's it." Claire hoped that she was believable, even to herself. She raised an eyebrow. "And, why do you think that I really like him? Just because I asked you to befriend him? Are you jealous about that thought?" Claire couldn't help but ask those questions. A little bit of her was hoping that Edmund was slightly jealous about the thought of her possibly liking Tristan.
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 12, 2008 12:29:44 GMT -5
Now it was Edmund's turn to laugh, although it was a strangely false and mirthless laugh. "Jealous? Me? Oh, Claire, darling, I think you know me well enough to know that I don't get jealous." Of course he was lying, but he ignored that though. "Perhaps some wishful thinking on your part?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 12, 2008 12:48:50 GMT -5
"Wishful thinking on my part," questioned Claire starting to play with the ends of her hair. "You're kidding. Right? Oh wait, I'm sorry. I just forgot to tell you that I'm madly in love with you, and hope that you and I can just run away together, so of course I'm hoping that you'll be jealous, and that that will cause you to tell me that you're madly in love with me too, and we can just run away together." She still held a straight face as she finished speaking sarcastically, then she started to laugh. Even though that thought would be a nice, it would never happen, and it was just plain out crazy. "I think you are mistaken greatly sweetheart, but if it helps you sleep at night, you can think that it was wishful thinking on my part," she said picking up her cup and bringing it to her lips to take a sip.
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 12, 2008 13:41:58 GMT -5
Edmund shook his head and laughed, even though the sarcastic edge in her words actually stung a bit. Did he really mean that little to her? "Ah, as always, my dear, you pain such a vivid and compelling picture. It almost makes one wish that things were different." He studied her a moment. "Honestly, love, why do you want me to spend time with this guy if you don't have an interest in him? Do you think perhaps you can get something from him?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 12, 2008 14:02:08 GMT -5
"Thank you," Claire said with a slight nod of her head as she placed her cup back on the table. "I never said that I didn't have an interest in him, nor did I say I did. Besides, do I have to have reasoning behind the reason I want you to do this? Look, I'll tell you this. Find out what you can. Whatever you can, doesn't matter, as long as it's nothing stupid. Then, you can come let me know, whatever it is. Okay? That's what you do, as you befriend him. What exactly would I want from him? Plus, what was the reasoning behind the bet anyway?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Edmund Fairfax on Apr 20, 2008 0:07:57 GMT -5
Edmund smiled at her and pulled a flaky layer from his croissant. "The bet, my dear, was supposed to be won by me," he answered truthfully. "And you know I don't like losing. I had such wonderful plans of what I'd make you do..." He took a bite of the croissant piece, and reached across the table to stroke the back of her hand. His fingers were still slick with the butter from the croissant, and they slid across her soft skin slowly and seductively.
"Nevertheless, I shall do as you ask," he said. "I'll make friends with your healer friend. Your wish is my command, and your command is my creed."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Weiss on Apr 20, 2008 19:26:34 GMT -5
As Edmund started to rub the back of her hand, Claire had to fight her eyes from closing. His slow, seductive rub on her hand felt wonderful, but she couldn't let him know that. His touch always brought goosebumps to her skin. She couldn't succumb to his charms like the other girls did. What would that make her appear to be?
Oh there could be a few other things Claire could make Edmund do, but she wasn't going to get them this way. Maybe she would figure out a way. She wanted to hold him close, however, she didn't want him to tire of her and just up and leave her like he does with the others. She wanted him to herself, but she knew that that idea wouldn't be a possible picture. Even if she did end up with him, and for some miraculous reason, Edmund liked her as much as she him, he would still look at every single woman. Claire wouldn't have that. She wouldn't be able to stand it. Even now she couldn't really stand it.
Besides the thought of Edmund just leaving her if she ever finally succumbed to him, was just as bad as the thought of the second date with Tristan probably being the last. What was going on? Even though she just met Tristan last night, it felt as if she had known him her whole life. He made her feel like Edmund made her feel. It was sort of scary, yet it was pleasant at the same time.
Claire gave Edmund a nod. "Alright then," she said finally swallowing slowly. She picked up her cup with her other hand and took a sip. "Plus, I have another idea. Since you are going to be going on a second date with Angelique, why don't we make it like a double date? Just so happen to show up at the same place, and we could end up sitting together. That way, you have a reason to talk to Tristan while we're out. That would be interesting, don't you think?"
|
|
