Second Date

Chapter 20: Eluveitie and The Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 20: Eluveitie and The Phantom of the Opera

Jim dropped his CDs. Ariel dropped hers. They smattered and mixed on the floor as the sales attendant threatened to charge them for any scratches.

"Sorry." Ariel scrambled for the CDs. Kneeling, Jim started to help. He stopped after noticing that Ariel - despite her staggeringly upbeat wardrobe - had been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red.

Uneasily, Jim gathered the CDs. Crying women were not really his forte. He'd had too little exposure. After all, costarring opposite Captain Amelia in Treasure Planet had taught him how to makepeople cry, not comfort them.

Jim proceeded cautiously. "Hey, uh. You okay - "

"Fine. Totally fine." Ariel ducked behind her hair. "Just listening to a sad song, that's all. I am absolutely, totally, one hundred percent fine."

Jim waited. When Ariel didn't continue, he scanned the store.

"Where's Eric?"

"He's-" Ariel glared at her CDs. Then she slapped a plastic case on her knee. "-probably eating sushi!"

Jim was lost. Although he did not understand the reference, Ariel looked ready to cry again so he attempted humor.

"That's...ironic. You'd think since you were a mermaid....you know....half fish versus raw fish...sushi would be out."

Ariel welled like a leaky faucet. Then, she laughed.

"That's what I said!" Smiling, Ariel wiped her eyes. "Ohh gosh, Jim. Eric is so, so stupid!"

It was a bizarre experience. Even with her simultaneous crying and smiling, Ariel still looked incredibly beautiful; Jim thought it must be analogous to a rainbow created by sun and rain.

"Well uh." Jim shuffled the CDs. "I guess you can't blame a guy for trying. Anyway...here are your CDs. I think that you had this one...this one...and - "

Jim stopped. He flipped over a case.

"Eluveitie?" Jim lifted the CD case. "Did you pick this one?"

Ariel sniffed. Shaking away her last tear, she nodded. "Yeah. Eluveitie. Swiss metal band, right?"

"Swiss folk metal." Jim gestured with the CD. "I can't believe you know them."

"Sure." she said. "They're great. I like them. Why? Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well... it's metal. And it's Swiss. And it's folk. Eluveitie can get pretty hard."

"Princesses can't listen to heavy metal?" Ariel challenged.

"Apparently they can. It's just that..." Jim handed her the CD. "...I mean...I listen to Eluveitie. And I'm me...and you're you."

Incredulously, Ariel grinned. "Excuse me?! What does that mean? What type of music do you think I listen to?"

Jim couldn't resist. "Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, or Brittany Spears."

Ariel couldn't stop laughing.

"First of all!" she joked. "Taylor Swift is life and her music is AH-mazing!"

"And second?" Jim grinned.

"And second, I'm not the only one with unexpected taste." Slyly, Ariel displayed one of Jim's selected CDs. "Phantom of the Opera?"