Howl

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

As soon as Lukas was out of her truck, Emma called Beth. She was partially disappointed that Lukas had not been bored out of his mind as she had expected. Nor did he seem especially upset about her behavior towards him. At the same time, however, she actually felt pleased that he still wanted to go out with her. Although she rarely agreed to go out with anyone, part of her did want to find someone who would make it to the second date. Lukas was the first.

"What's the verdict?" Beth asked as soon as she answered the phone.

"He's up for number two," she said, making herself sound unhappy, even if she was secretly pleased. Or partially pleased. She really didn't quite know how she felt about the situation or Lukas.

"Really? You're losing your touch Em! No one ever goes out with you for a second time!"

"I know. Now I gotta think of another bad date idea. I can't believe a lecture wasn't bad enough for him."

"Or the fact you ignored him." Beth fell silent for a moment before she came up with an idea. "Why don't you take him to a bar and get completely trashed?"

"You know I don't like getting drunk. And definitely not with somebody I don't know."

"It's not like I'd leave you alone to get drunk with him. What kind of friend would I be? But seriously, you're kinda scary after a few drinks. I was scared that one time. If we weren't already friends, I'd probably never have wanted to talk to you after that."

"He seems determined to like me."

"Pretty hard to like someone when they're like your wasted self. Especially if you do to him what you did to Krystal."

Emma didn't remember too much of that night when she had first been drunk, but she'd heard plenty of stories and seen the bruises she'd left. At first, she'd simply been a mean drunk, insulting anyone who talked to her. But she continued drinking, which led her to get physical with others, especially when  

Krystal started hitting on her. It hadn't ended well.

"I've got until Tuesday to come up with a better plan," Emma said. "If I can't think of anything before then, we can get me drunk. Or at least fake drunk."

"As fun as this all is, you know, I think this might be the one, Em."

"The one? This isn't like the Matrix is it?"

Beth laughed. "I hate that movie. And no. What if he's your soul mate? The one person who you're destined to be with forever. He's survived a date with you and is still interested."

"I don't believe in that stuff. Don't know why you do. Aren't you into science?"

"Yeah, but if I just go with all the logical science stuff, it'd make life too damn depressing. I gotta believe there's happy shit out there too, so yeah, I do believe in soul mates. It might sound ridiculous, but it makes me happy. Especially since I think you just found yours."

After that revelation, Emma wasn't about to argue with her on the issue of soul mates and the fact that Lukas was not hers. If Beth needed to believe it was true, then Emma wouldn't say a thing, even if it might be depressing once Lukas did finally run away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was starting to get late, but instead of going back to his hotel, Lukas started driving out west to have another meeting with Sophia - one he was sure would go far better than the last. It would be at least nine o'clock by the time he arrived, but he knew that it wouldn't be such a big deal for a wolf. They preferred to stay up late in the night and do most of their sleeping in the middle of the day. Only if they had a regular job did they go against their body's natural cycle.