Succubus

Chapter Eleven

The day was surprisingly fast. I called my Mom and my sister to pass the time. Mom wanted to know about my grades so I lied and pretended all was great. Rebecca wanted to know how everything was going. I told her truthfully about my date with Emily.

At four, I picked Emily up from her house drive. This time she was dressed in a black and grey tartan mini skirt with leggings plus white top. She looked... Sexy. Drop dead gorgeous. She literally took my breath away and made me wish I had made more of an effort than my plain shirt and jeans.

"So where to?" I asked her.

"There's this nice restaurant we can go to. They do fantastic food." Emily gave me the directions to the restaurant which was in town again, like most things. The restaurant had an attached parking lot which was helpful as well. I parked and we went through the main entrance of the grand white building.

The restaurant was bathed in deep crimson reds with dark ebony wood furniture. Red tablecloths over tables, chairs with matching red cushions and pictures of bright colours decorating the walls. There was a bar where customers could go and buy alcohol. Waiters and waitresses all in black uniform were wandering about, serving food, serving drinks and taking orders. A sign by the entrance said 'take a seat!' apparently, no bookings were required.

Emily led the way through the tables and I followed her. She walked all the way to the tables by the windows looking out at the parking lot. There was nobody by these tables, most preferring the views of the back garden to the restaurant or the centre of the floor.

A waitress came over as we sat down, placing menus in front of us.

"Good afternoon, I'm your server, Catherine. What would you like to drink?"

"I'll have an orange juice please," Emily said.

"I'll have a Coke," I added. She wrote it down then left. I flipped open my menu.

"Have you been here before?" I asked Emily. Emily was fiddling with the menu as she considered something thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"Any requests on what I should eat?"

"The lasagne is nice." She said, still with the same expression and mildly interested voice.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She broke out of whatever trance she had been in and smiled at me.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?" Before Emily could say another word, Catherine came back with our drinks.

"Are you ready to order?" She asked.

"Yes, I would like the lasagne with a side of garlic bread," I said as I closed my menu and handed it to her.

"The same for me please," Emily said. Catherine took our menus and left again. Emily took a pull from her straw. I waited until she had finished.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked Emily. She started to fidget with her fingers.

"Well... You've been acting... Weird. And I wanted to ask what was going on. You can tell me you know."

"Why? What have I been acting like?" I spoke kindly and calmly even though I was anxious about Emily's answer. She looked embarrassed, her cheeks flushed a little.

"Well, when I first met you... You were kind and funny and a little bit shy I guess. Then you came out of your shell but it seems everything has got worse. Your grades are slipping, you being kept in class all the time, practice isn't going well... I don't want to be your mum, I just want to help you because that's what friends do." Emily said all of this very fast. I waited until she was done.