With the help of her best male friend Taylor, vintage toy seller Nina Cox opens a dating profile to comply with her family's dare to go on ten dates. Dating in the geek world proves challenging when among the dates are Star Wars fans, Harry Potter l...
I have been corresponding with RJ for the past week. I don't trust the site completely and wanted to make sure that I was talking to him and not some weirdo.
There is something fascinating about his emails. They are polite and elegant. If I didn't know better, I would say that this guy is time-traveling from another century.
We have decided to meet at the mall. In the large bookstore, there is a cafe. I need to get a new copy of the first Harry Potter book as my current copy is falling to pieces. I get teased for reading those books often. Lisa says that they are for children. Children my ass! Horror books haven't given me as many nightmares as those series.
I could have ordered it online of course, but I love walking around the bookstore and finding hidden treasures. Nothing beats the scent of a fresh print. I always head there for one book and come home with five.
I still have a few minutes, so I head to the paperback romances. They are my biggest weakness, and I go through them like there is no tomorrow. Should I pick the one about the lonely doctor or the misunderstood cowboy?
"Hello, Nina,"
I don't recognize the voice. I turn around to find a man with round glasses and a familiar face.
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"Hello. I can't seem to place your face. How do we know each other?"
"Well, we have been writing to each other for the past week. I'm RJ,"
Goodness, gracious! He is good looking but wasn't wearing any glasses in his profile pictures. I look down at my books and realize something. He is an adult version of Harry Potter...
"Well, pleased to meet you, Harry... RJ. I'm just picking some books," I say quickly, trying to cover my blunder.
"I love coming here. I'm a big fan of books. My house is starting to get too small for the ones I own," he says.
"Same problem,"
"What are you planning to read?" he asks, taking a peek at the books in my hand.
"Some romances," I say. I feel a bit embarrassed. Probably RJ is into biographies or business books.
"Oh, I know those. My grandmother used to keep them on a shelf in the bathroom,"
Lisa would die of shame hearing that.
"And Harry Potter. My niece was into those when she was little. Do you have children?"
"I don't," I reply as we walk towards the register.
"Are you gifting it to someone?"
I give him an embarrassed smile, and he just chuckles.
"It's not a deal breaker. My niece even taught me a few things. Out of my way muggle!" he says to the teen in front of us that is holding the line to pay.
The guy looks at him with a scowl but moves further. I find it fascinating.
"What else do you know?" I say as my turn to pay comes.
"Can I pay with leprechaun gold?" he says to the emo guy behind the register.
The guy gives us an empty stare and tells us all their payment forms in a boredom filled voice. I can't keep a straight face as I take my card and pay for the books.
"Should we have some coffee?" I ask.
"Well, you ought to know that I'm up to no good," he says and walks with me to the cafe.
Any guy that can quote the Harry Potter series wins my heart quickly. We get our drinks and get a corner table. As I place my phone on it, it falls on the floor and comes out of his case.
"Reparo!" I say as I pick the phone back and place it in the case.
"Reparo? Do you speak Spanish? Yo hablo poco espagnol," he says with delight on his face.
"Not really, but I understand a bit of Klingon," I say with a shrug.
The guy is looking at me as if an extra eye popped in my forehead, then starts laughing.
"You are something different Nina,"
"I hope that you mean it in a positive way,"
He doesn't add anything. I take a sip of my frozen caramel coffee, and he blows his tea to cool it a bit.
"Well, it's no butterbeer but will have to do," I say. I tried butterbeer in a theme park and had been trying to replicate the recipe ever since.
"Butter beer? Can you use dairy to make beer?" RJ asks. I feel a small disappointment that he doesn't know what I'm referring to.
"No, it is more like a frothy butterscotch drink,"
"What is butterscotch?" he asks with interest.
"Like the caramel that you put on your ice cream,"
"Oh, I wouldn't know. I don't eat ice cream,"
"Don't you like it?" I asked surprised.
"Of course not. It is full of fat and sugar," RJ says, eyeing my drink.
"So you eat very healthy food?"
"As much as I can. I avoid all sorts of fast foods," RJ says with pride.
"Not even pizza?"
"That is the worst of it all,"
I feel slightly offended at the remark about my favorite food.
"Have someone ever told you that you have a familiar face?" I say, thinking about the book in my bag.
"No, not at all,"
"Really? With the glasses and the green eyes?"
He thinks for a while and shakes his head.
"No,"
"Your name is not RJ, right? What does it mean?"
"Remus James,"
I choke on my drink. He stands up and claps my back. I can breathe again but can't get it out of my head that he has not one, but two character names of the Harry Potter books. A professor and Harry's dad.
"It would be complete if your last name was Black and you owned a rat," I say, referring to the other two characters in the series that were the friends of Harry's dad.
Confusion is evident in RJ's... no, Remus James' face.
"How did you know? I don't recall writing that in my profile. My last name is Zwart. It means black in Dutch. And I don't own a rat, but a guinea pig,"
This is too much. I feel the giggle starting in my chest and rising. I burst laughing, and people are looking at me, but I can't stop it.
"Is... that... Remus... werewolf... and... Harry Potter..." I try to say between the laughter.
"I don't understand what you mean," he says.
"You look like Harry Potter," I blurt.
Remus' face changes. He stands up and walks away. He turns around at the door.
"You are weird Nina," is the last thing he says before he leaves.
