The Time Traveler's Date

"Hey stranger," he said from behind her, the right corner of his mouth betraying his smile.

She was too happy to see him to play the game, stumbling into his arms and that spot on his chest just below his neck where she fit perfectly. Her fingers clutched the fabric of his back, her breath quivering as she inhaled the scent of him - sandalwood and that strange woodsmoke smell of his machine.

"Hey baby. Has it really been so long?"

"You know it always is," she whispered.

He kissed her forehead. "Yeah, but you're married." It came out sounding harsher than he had meant it to, as though his tongue had somehow sharpened the words after they had already left his throat. He felt her stiffen and tried to add in a softer voice that was still edged with sandpaper, "Right? I mean, you always are."

She pulled back now, her teeth visible as they pinched her lower lip. "Am I just supposed to wait for you every time?"

The poison of her words crept into his chest, crawling over his lungs like a millipede. He forced a smile. "Please darling. You know we never have enough time. Let's just..." his hands swam through the air, searching for the words - "Let's just be together."

Nodding with only a slightly sharpened gaze, she resumed her seat at the table. He took the chair across from her, silverware clinking as he scooted in. He topped off her wine glass before filling his own.

"You look beautiful," he said after a sip.

"Do you like my hair? It felt too short at first, but have to keep up with the times."

"It suits you. It makes your eyes look bigger. It reminds me of when you were Egyptian."

She laughed. "Those were the days."

He took the opportunity to lean over the table and kiss her. Her lips were melting wax. He tasted her fire. "I'm still trying to find a way so that you can come with me."

Her smile faded like a sunset. "You've been saying that for centuries."

"For me, it's only been ten years."

They were interrupted by the arrival of their salads, momentarily dissipating the intensity of the air between them, a tension so tight even the candle in the floral centerpiece kept flickering. She sat back and began stabbing at the romaine lettuce. "How do you keep finding me? You've never explained that."

"I really have no idea. I swear to God. Every journey I make, you walk by in front of me, and that's my arrival."

"I've never believed that ridiculous story and I don't believe it now."

"Why did you agree to meet me if you're just going to be mad at me?"

"I just don't understand."

He paused to chew a crouton for a moment, pondering what he could not explain. "My machine is drawn to you. I thought it might have to do with your unique nature. I was thinking maybe you could give me -"

"- A blood sample? Good Lord, again?"

"I think this will be the last time."

"Are you interested in me or in my blood samples?"

His toe playfully tapped hers. "I just want to find an answer because I hope it will allow me to find a way to keep us together." He smiled at her face. "For more than three days at a time, I mean."

"Every handful of decades or so," she added.

"Every handful of days for me, darling. You know you are my only one. Consider that. In all of your centuries, in all of your years of marriages, I have been loyal and faithful only to you." He knew as soon as the words left his lips that they had come out twisted and dark rather than a proof of passionate love as he had intended.