The Daemon's Disguise (Sequel to He Was A Dog + previously Out There)

Out There (Sequel to He Was A Dog) - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 -

Blue:

"Well, someone is dressed to get laid," my brother observed, his eyebrows raising as I walked into the kitchen. It was times like these that I regretted the choice to have him as number one babysitter. At least if I paid someone, I wouldn't be on the receiving end of comments like that.

"Shut up, Marshall."

Marshall raised his hands in defence, making a face.

"I'm not the one in hooker heels!"

"They are not hooker heels," I exclaimed furiously. "What the hell do you know about hooker heels, anyway?"

He shrugged nonchalantly.

"I know a couple."

Well, that didn't surprise me in the slightest.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I crossed the kitchen, trying to wrestle an earring in. My reflection in the window stared back at me and it was hard to not let the disappointment show. The hell was I playing at? I looked like mutton dressed as lamb - I was someone's mother. Dressing up for dates should have been illegal.

"Should I change?"

Marshall rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"You look fine, Blue; promise." He took another bite from his sandwich. "So, who's the lucky guy?" We had managed to avoid any questions about the date. In fact, after I'd asked Marshall to babysit, little more had been said about it. That being said, there was probably an element of curiosity on Marshall's part - I could count on one hand the amount of times I'd taken a Saturday night off to go out with a guy.

"My, um...my boss?"

My brother sat up straight, eyes widening.

"India! You're shagging your boss?"

Once I'd recovered from my twenty five year old brother squealing like a teenage girl, I fixed him with a glare.

"No," I said flatly. "I'm not "shagging" my boss. I'm going out to dinner with him." It was a perfectly acceptable, possibly un-platonic dinner date. That was all. And it was my first chance at trying to get Bruno to remember who I was.

Marshall quirked his eyebrow, sitting up a little straighter.

"Do I get to meet him?"

I stared blankly back at my brother, trying to work out if he was being serious. He had completely bypassed the courtship and impregnation segment of my life, whereby his protective older sibling routine would have been expected. But now, at the thought of a date, metaphorical hackles were suddenly rising.

It was good to see that his priorities were straight.

"No, no, you do not," I told him.

There was also the issue of Marshall having met Bruno when he was parading around as my gay best friend. I didn't exactly want the pair to meet again when one of them had no idea who he was.

"I can't even menace him? It's my brotherly right!"

A surprised, slightly strained, giggle rose up my throat at the expression on Marshall's face - the perturbed, insulted pout that had stolen his features was by far the funniest thing I'd seen all week. I suppose it was sweet in a way; that he cared enough to want to meet a prospective boyfriend.

"If he makes it past the first date, I'll let you meet him," I promised, pulling on my coat. "I just don't want to jinx things." Well, wasn't that the truth? I had to move things forward slowly, so as to not upset the balance. Isaac was going to be lurking in the shadows, in the event of Inga gate-crashing the evening.