The virgin & the bad boy (Gravity)

Chapter 23/the dinner invitation from hell

/Earth/Atlanta/Scarlett's Apartment

The morning a couple of weeks later I got a surprise phone call on my earring.

It was Dante on the phone.

"Hi quick question. Are you going out any were tonight?" said Dante.

"No" I said.

"YESSSS!!!!!" said Dante absolutely delighted on the other end of the phone. "Would you like to go out to an expensive, and I mean seriously expensive restaurant?"

"What's wrong has someone given you a Groupon for Masa?" I said.

Dante came back quickly "What's wrong can't a guy phone up the woman he likes the least and ask her out to dinner?"  

"The traditional answer to that is no." I said  "anyway I don't have anything that a really classy restaurant would let me past the front door in" I said.

"Nothing really?" said Dante "Oh thank you god!" he said off the phone "OK How about this. How about I buy you some suitably expensive clothes this afternoon and then I take you out this evening, sound good?"

I was wondering if he was on drugs or something, he sounded really enthusiastic.

"You do know your speaking to Scarlett Banks?" I said just checking it wasn't a wrong number.

"It's a video phone" said Dante I turned around to see a picture of him had appeared on the wall " I know who I'm speaking too. Look just promise me you will let me buy you an expensive dress or something then we can go out to an expensive dinner"

I looked at the rather desperate Dante. "Hey I thought I was your nemesis or something" I said.

"You are my nemesis" said Dante.

"Well I don't know what the Earth nemesis play book looks like but on mars sworn enemies don't take each other out for dinner"

"I know. Anyway this is Earth. Please I'm desperate. I'm so so desperate. I don't know who to ask " said Dante.

"Don't you have a long line of floozies stacked up just for such a desperate need?" I told him.

"On August 11th? No. That would be mad. I've been through them all, seriously your last on my list"

"Really?" I said "What about that girl you said was the Sir Edmund Hillary of social climbing" 

Dante spoke rapidly "She was the one who let me down in the first place".  Even on the projection from Kentro's chest on the wall I could see the look of desperation on his eyes. 

"What about Io?" I said.  

"I think she said she was washing her hair in binary, then put the phone down" 

"You really are scraping the bottom of the barrel," I said 

"If I scraped any lower my fingernails would be full of wood splinters and barrel goo.  Please I'm desperate I'll do anything" said Dante.

Trust my luck, now I didn't need a troupe of ninjas, but I didn't have a barrel to put him over either. Perhaps Kentro could find a 24 hour barrel rental place quickly.

"Desperate really? Ok well if I go out with you, you will seriously owe me."

"That's a given" agreed Dante.

"This isn't a date. I want it clearly understood this is a romance free joint consumption of food."

"That's fine by me to. We don't even have to talk if you don't want to" said Dante.