Watch and Whisper

Chapter 7

Julian had said the restaurant was close, so we walked a short distance, and then as we were crossing a street, I noticed a collection of wrought iron tables with chairs dispersed in front of one of the shops in the strip we were walking along. This was probably the restaurant. Julian confirmed my thoughts when he began to walk through the tables to get to the door. I looked up, and there was a huge sign that said "Mistretta's" and underneath the name, it said, "A little taste of Italy". Cute. I bet the food here was good. There were only a couple of people sitting outside, because it was cool. The last table I passed, I saw a guy with a brown leather jacket looking in our direction. His blood scent was mixed with a nasty chemical smell.

"Whoa, look at the rack on her..."

I almost stopped dead in my tracks. What did he just say? I looked at the man, but he acted like he hadn't been looking at me at all. I blushed then, not knowing if I heard him correctly. I kept walking behind Julian. If Julian didn't react, the man probably didn't say what I thought he did. Still, I was put on edge. It really sounded like he'd said something vulgar. As Julian came to a stop at a sign that read, "Please Wait To Be Seated", a dark haired host appeared with a smile. I immediately noticed a strange vibration in the air.

"Ahh, Julian! Long time no see!" the host exclaimed in a heavy Italian accent. He smelled different. It reminded me of Julian. Maybe they wore a similar cologne.

"Yes, I have been busy lately." Julian replied to him with a friendly smile. The host looked at me and held out his hand. "I can see you have! Who is this lovely young lady?"

I took his hand, thinking he meant only to shake it, but he lifted it to his mouth and kissed my hand. Blushing, I looked at Julian. He was amused. The vibration was stronger now that the host was touching me. It was a little alarming, but Julian was calm. So I relaxed.

"This is Jenna. Jenna, this is Benito."

"What a pleasure, my lady, Welcome to Mistretta's! Right this way!" Benito let go of my hand, and began to lead us to the back of the restaurant. We passed several tables, and people watched us. Did we look out of place?

We stopped at a small booth, and I wondered why there was no one seated back here. I looked around as Julian asked Benito to fetch some of their sweet wine. There was dark wood and green ferns everywhere. It was quite a nice place. As the host went to fetch Julian his wine, I sat down opposite of him.

"You drink?" I asked.

"Yes, sometimes. This wine is a special wine though."

"How is it special?"

"It is laced with blood."

I gasped. "Julian! Someone will hear you!" I whispered frantically.

He just smiled.

Wait. If the wine had blood in it...

"So, Benito knows?"

"Yes. He is also a vampire. Along with the whole Mistretta family that owns this restaurant."

My eyes widened at this knowledge. That's why the air vibrated, it was his energy. "Really? I knew his energy was different. Why don't I feel your energy vibrate like his does And he kinda smells like you too..."

"That's... complicated. And… I hope he doesn't smell quite as good as me." he smiled a flirtatious smile that I couldn't help but to return with a blush.

The idea that Julian and I weren't the only vampires in here was a little alarming to me. What if I said something I wasn't supposed to? Or offended someone? Are all vampires as good as Julian?