Turn Out The Lights

Visiting Hours

The week came and went, and we approached the day Aizawa was supposed to come over. I had less than twenty-four hours until he was at my house. Just the thought made me anxious, so I cleaned as much as possible to distract myself. I was helping Kimiko polish the silverware when we heard Gretchen's voice ringing over the intercom telling me someone was at the door for me. I asked Sakura to ask her who it was, and she told me it was a surprise. I huffed and set down the silverware, trying to straighten myself out a bit before meeting whoever was so important that I couldn't know their name.

I burst through the dining room doors and out into the foyer, reminding Gretchen that surprises were unacceptable in this house, only to stop in my tracks when I saw a blonde man with huge red wings. He was entrancing Gretchen, twirling her gray hair between his fingers. Once I entered he stopped, much to Gretchen's dismay. He spun around and graced me with a suave smile, walking towards me with his hand outstretched. He reached out and grabbed my hand before dropping on one knee, "Hello Miss McGillicuddy, it's quite the pleasure to meet you." He brought my hand up to his mouth and placed a kiss on it. I tried my hardest to keep a smile on my face, already guessing why he was here.

People never use McGillicuddy, and when they do, it's always in conjunction with Rialis. My mother sent him, that's the only reason he would be using one name and not the other. There was no way she didn't. I felt her words ringing through my ears and straightened my back a little to look as professional as possible while standing in sweatpants and heels. "Hello to you too. How can we help you today mister..."

He raised up from my hand and smiled at me, "You can call me Hawks." I nodded and motioned for him to continue, "Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

I shook my head and held up my other hand for him to stop, "No thank you." Both he and Gretchen looked at me like I'd just lost my mind. Hawks even made a little confused noise, and I explained how I felt. "Look, you're here on behalf of my mother, right? I've told her at least a hundred times that I don't want help finding a partner. She wants me to find some kind of magical fairytale love and be happy until the end of time, but that's not what I need. I don't want some prince or a knight in shining armor on a white horse or whatever. And that's how she's told you to act right? That's how she told you you'd get me?"

He looked away, seeming almost embarrassed, and it struck a chord in my heart. I pulled him back up to his feet and tried to be a little kinder. "Listen, I really appreciate the effort, and it's very kind of you to ask me to dinner like that, but I'm just not looking for my happily ever after right now. But," I held up my finger and grabbed a nearby pen and pad of paper, pushing them into his hands. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you write down your personal number and whenever I decide to fall in love, you'll be the first person I contact. How does that sound?"

He wrote down his name and number and handed the paper back to me, "Actually, if you won't go to dinner with me, why don't we just go to coffee instead?"

I put my polite smile back on and took the paper from his hand, "I can't have coffee, my body is very sensitive and it can harm my ability to work. Thank you for the offer though."

"Okay, what about a cappuccino or a nice latte?"

"Those both have caffeine in them."

He smiled widely and grabbed my hand again, "Hot chocolate then?"

I pulled my arm away from him, "The answer is no. I already told you that I would contact you if I had an interest in seeing you. Now, Gretchen can see you out. We'll be in touch."

"Is that a yes then?"

"Get out of my house or I'll burn the paper."

He headed towards the door and had Gretchen open it before calling back, "I can't wait for our date! I'll see you later!" I waved him off and let out a sigh when he was gone, feeling like I needed a bath or a glass of wine after that. I decided that Miso would work just as well and set off to my wing to find her.